Outlander: Blood of My Blood Season 2 begins on Starz with Henry Beauchamp (Jeremy Irvine) trapped in what feels like a living nightmare — and closes with the apparent arrival of one of the wider Outlander universe’s most cherished supporting characters, who may be his only hope of escape.
**Spoilers for Outlander: Blood of My Blood Season 2 Episode 1, “Remembrance Day,” now streaming on Starz**
Blood of My Blood Season 2 Episode 1, “Remembrance Day,” confirms that Henry made it back through the stones to 1924 after Arch Bug (Terence Rae) drove a jewel-encrusted dagger into his shoulder. Julia (Hermione Corfield) and baby William, however, fail to cross with him and are forced to return to Castle Leathers and Lord Lovat (Tony Curran).
Henry awakens confused and restrained in a straitjacket at the Inverness Lunatic Asylum in 1924. His pleas that his wife and child remain stranded in the past are dismissed as symptoms of World War I-related PTSD. The asylum’s staff decide to use electric shock therapy in an effort to “wipe” away his painful wartime memories. Instead, the treatment strips away his memories of young Claire.
When DECIDER spoke with Blood of My Blood star Jeremy Irvine this week, the actor explained that one aspect of Henry’s harrowing ordeal proved harder to portray than the other.
“The physicality stuff isn’t too hard, I suppose. I found some good reference videos of people actually having it done to them and sent that to the director and he sort of let me have free rein with how I wanted to play that,” Irvine said. “The forgetting about Claire stuff is a bit more difficult. Yeah, then being sort of a bit unsure as to how to play that. But it’s just traumatic, it’s just really traumatic for him.”
Just as it appears Henry may be condemned to remain in this terrible place, he encounters a compassionate reverend whom longtime Outlander viewers will recognize. Young Reverend Wakefield (Tom Ashley) gives Henry a much-needed measure of kindness, then tells his housekeeper, Mrs. Graham (Emma Hartley-Miller), about the man’s extraordinary story. Upon hearing that Henry believes he traveled through time at the stones of Craigh na Dun, Mrs. Graham suspects he may be telling the truth. She visits Henry in the final scene of Outlander: Blood of My Blood Season 2 Episode 1, offering him his first real glimmer of hope.
Why do Reverend Wakefield and Mrs. Graham matter so much? Where have Outlander fans seen them before? And how did characters who appeared in the original series’ very first episode find a new role in Blood of My Blood?
Blood of My Blood Season 2 Premiere Ending Explained: Who are Mrs. Graham and Reverend Wakefield?
Not immediately familiar with young Reverend Wakefield and Mrs. Graham? No problem. Their roles in the main Outlander series were relatively small, but hugely important. And for viewers just beginning their journey into Outlander, there is plenty of company.
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“I’m still sort of discovering the Outlander world as I go as well,” Irvine said when asked whether he felt the significance of those scenes. “I think any sort of thing like that which can resonate with the original fans is great.”
We first met Reverend Reginald Wakefield (James Fleet) and his housekeeper Mrs. Graham (Tracey Wilkinson) when Claire (Caitriona Balfe) and her first husband Frank Randall (Tobias Menzies) visit the Reverend when they travel to Scotland for a second honeymoon after World War II. They stay with the reverend, who helps Frank research his ancestor Captain Jack Randall (also played by Tobias Menzies in the 18th century scenes. While there, they don’t just hang out with the reverend and Mrs. Graham, they meet Wakefield’s adopted ward, his orphaned great-nephew Roger.
“When we’re breaking story, what we look for is when an Outlander legacy character would naturally appear,” Outlander: Blood of My Blood creator and showrunner Matthew B. Roberts told DECIDER. “For the opening of the season, this felt perfect. It was like, oh wow, we can get both of them in there.”
He then explained that any time a “legacy character” pops up in Blood of My Blood, “they have to be able to affect the story.”
“We don’t want just a drive-by. You don’t just want somebody walking by just to have — because that’s really not the Easter egg you’re looking for,” Roberts said. “So the fact that both of them could affect the story was perfect for us.”
“I love the actors we cast for these roles,” Outlander: Blood of My Blood executive producer Maril Davis said. “There was just such a spirit of the original characters, but they always embodied their own take on them as well.”
Who Plays the Young Reverend Wakefield and Mrs. Graham in Blood of My Blood?
The young versions of Reverend Wakefield and Mrs. Graham are played by Tom Ashley and Emma Hartley-Miller.
Ashley is an actor whom you may know from British shows like Emmerdale Farm, Red Eye, or The Witness. Hartley-Miller has also appeared on Emmerdale Farm, as well as Crime and the BAFTA-winning film, I Swear.