Outlander author Diana Gabaldon was reminded about a character
Outlander author Diana Gabaldon had to be jogged about a significant detail in her books after she queried the show’s producers about the inclusion of a character in the Starz series.
The second season of Outlander saw Jamie (portrayed by Sam Heughan) and Claire Fraser (Caitríona Balfe) throwing a dinner party in Paris.
The couple were fervently trying to alter the course of history, aiming to prevent the catastrophic Battle of Culloden from happening and stop Bonnie Prince Charlie (Andrew Gower) from journeying to Scotland in an attempt to regain the throne.
As part of their plotting, they hosted a dinner party and invited some crucial guests including Bonnie Prince Charlie, the Duke of Sandringham (Simon Callow), and various French nobles including the Comte St. Germain (Stanley Weber) and his wife the Comtesse St. Germain (Gaia Weiss).
However, it appears that author Gabaldon completely overlooked the Comtesse, as previously disclosed in the official Outlander podcast, reports the Scottish Daily Express.
Screenwriter and producer Toni Graphia stated: “The Comte St Germain shows up and he’s a surprise guest and that woman – that is his wife.
“I had a really great time watching the [fans] when we released the photos of the dinner party, long before the season started, all the fans trying to guess who is this woman at the dinner table? Who is she?”
“The answer they’ll find out in this episode [La Dame Blanche] was that she was the Comte’s wife.”
Graphia revealed, “Which is something that Diana had in the book [Dragonfly In Amber] that was only one sentence. Diana herself actually forgot it.”
She recounted a humorous exchange with the author: “So when I wrote in the script that the Comte brings his wife, Diana actually sent a note that said, ‘The Comte doesn’t have a wife.’
I said, ‘Actually, he does. It’s in the book. You wrote it!'”.
“And she laughed and said, ‘Oh my gosh, I forgot it! I forgot that he had a wife that I wrote that.'”.
Graphia added, “Which is understandable considering how gigantic the books are and how many she’s written and how long ago she wrote it.”
She further explained, “But he did have a wife and we were like, ‘Perfect, we’ll put her in the dinner party’ and everyone was trying to figure out for the longest time who she was.”
In Gabaldon’s novels, the Comte is unveiled as another time traveller with connections to Master Raymond (Dominique Pinon), both aware of their unique abilities.
The future of the Comte on the show is uncertain, but in the books, he’s intertwined with Fergus Fraser’s (César Domboy) narrative, hinting that the young man might be his son and heir to a substantial fortune and estate.
Gabaldon is currently working on her next book, the yet-to-be-named 10th installment of the Outlander series, which is anticipated to conclude the sprawling tale.
However, fans shouldn’t hold their breath for the novel’s release before the eighth season premieres and concludes the television adaptation.
However, the creators of the Starz adaptation have already made it clear that the TV version will deviate from the original books.
The grand finale of the Outlander series is anticipated to conclude Jamie and Claire’s sweeping saga differently than the novels, with fans eagerly awaiting answers about Jamie’s ghost, a mystery that has been lingering since the show’s debut episode.