‘Outlander’ Season 4 Spoilers: 8 Things To Know About The 2018 Episodes

There’s no new “Outlander” tonight nor will there be a new episode for months. That’s right, it’s officially Droughtlander.

While hiatus is difficult for all Sassenachs, spoilers can make passing the time a little easier. We don’t want to give away everything about “Outlander” Season 4, but here are a few teasers for what to expect in the 2018 episodes.

Cast: Obviously, Sam Heughan and Golden Globe nominee Caitriona Balfe are going to be back as Jamie and Claire. John Bell will return as Young Ian and César Domboy and Lauren Lyle will reprise their roles as Fergus and Marsali.

New “Outlander” Season 4 cast members include “Orphan Black” alum Maria Doyle Kennedy as Jamie’s Aunt Jocasta as well as “Wolf Hall” actor Ed Speelers, who will play pirate Stephen Bonnet. Perhaps most noteworthy, however, is the addition of Ian’s new dog Rollo, who will be played by multiple adorable Northern Inuit puppies.

Brianna Returns: We can’t give away too many details for non-book readers, but both Brianna (Sophie Skelton) and Roger (Richard Rankin) come back into the story in a big way in “Outlander” Season 4.

Location: Though they landed on the shores of Georgia, Jamie and Claire will spend most of Season 4 in North Carolina. Don’t get excited, American fans. “Outlander” Season 4 will not film in the U.S. They’ll continue to shoot in Scotland.

Native Americans: Jamie and Claire’s new neighbors will be Native Americans. They’ll see similarities between the natives and Highlanders. “The Native American tribes that Claire and Jamie end up living so closely beside, they form a great bond with their neighbors,” Balfe revealed to the Hollywood Reporter. “That’s such an interesting element to this season, and it will be really cool to see how they live side-by-side, and they have an awful lot of respect for each other.”

Small Changes To The Book: As with every season, expect the TV show to differ from Diana Gabaldon’s books. Showrunner Ronald D. Moore confirmed that there would once again be tweaks to “Drums of Autumn,” the book Season 4 is based on, but nothing drastic.

“There [are] departures from the book, and we embroidered certain storylines in different ways,” he told Deadline. “We’ve probably re-sequenced the order of certain events in that book, changed some storylines here and there. I wouldn’t say it’s anything radical, you know. I think readers of the book who still love the book will definitely recognize the story and the characters, and the general shape of the season is definitely the shape of the book as well.”

Theme: Executive producer Matthew B. Roberts told Entertainment Weekly that “home” is the theme of “Outlander” Season 4. “Over the last three seasons, Jamie and Claire didn’t know where they are going to live,” Roberts said. “They never plant their feet. Now they’re getting to that place that they can call home. But the meaning of home is different for people. That’s what we will dig into in Season 4.”

Tobias Menzies Might Return: This isn’t definite yet, but Moore mentioned to Deadline that they were considering writing in some flashbacks to bring back Menzies as either Black Jack or Frank. “We’ve been talking about doing some way of getting Tobias back in the show in Season 4, at least for some flashbacks, or some other kinds of sequences. So nothing’s been committed yet, but yeah that’s on the table,” he said.

Release Date: This Droughtlander won’t be as long as the last. While Season 3 has been airing, Season 4 has been filming. That should help the Starz drama avoid another 14-month hiatus. The network still hasn’t revealed exactly when in 2018 the new 13-episode season will air, but Moore has previously indicated that fall would likely be premiere time.

If you are dying to know more about “Outlander” Season 4, read the book. “Drums of Autumn” by Diana Gabaldon is available everywhere books are sold.