Season 6 of Outlander is long gone, and the next installment’s premiere date has still not been announced, so fans are desperate to find out more about the hit historical drama series.
Already, it has been announced that Jamie Fraser’s (Sam Heughan) son, William Ransom (Charles Vandervaart), will show up in Season 7.
In addition, two new characters, the siblings Denzel (Joey Phillips) and Rachel Hunter (Izzy Meikle-Small), will debut.
With their arrival, viewers are already anticipating the storyline, thanks to the fact that Outlander is based on a series of books written by Diana Gabaldon.
Now, a new casting announcement has confused viewers as two previously dead characters will show up out of the blue, leading to much speculation among fans about their unexpected return.
So, let’s examine how and why these characters will appear again.
New casting announcement for Season 7 of Outlander
As previously reported by Monsters and Critics, Starz made a recent announcement detailing 11 characters who will definitely be appearing in Season 7 of Outlander.
Among the names were Graham McTavish, who portrayed Dougal Mackenzie previously, and Lotte Verbeek as Geillis Duncan — both of which are currently dead in the show.
Many fans of the TV series automatically assumed that these characters would return thanks to flashbacks from other living characters in Season 7.
Of course, with Outlander being a historical show that also includes time travel, this may be how viewers will get to see them again.
Here’s how Dougal and Geillis return in the Outlander books
According to Fansided, the books show how Dougal and Geillis will return in the next season of Outlander.
TV fans be warned as the following discusses the Outlander books and may include spoilers for Season 7.
In An Echo in the Bone, the seventh book in the Outlander Series, Roger MacKenzie (portrayed by Richard Rankin in the TV show) believes that someone has taken his son, Jem, through the standing stones.
Because of this, Roger also steps through the stones, going back in time to 1737, where he bumps into both Geillis Duncan (Lotte Verbeek) and Buck MacKenzie (previously portrayed by Graham McTavish and now portrayed by Diarmaid Murtaugh in Season 7).
This will occur at Cranesmuir, and it will be in the period of time before Claire (Caitriona Balfe) gets there.
In addition, Roger will bump into Dougal MacKenzie while he is out collecting rent.
Dougal invites Roger, who is also traveling with Buck at this point, back to Castle Leoch, where he meets Colum MacKenzie (Gary Lewis).
What happens next remains to be seen, so viewers will just have to wait until Season 7 of Outlander drops — or start reading the books.
Outlander has been renewed for Season 7, but the premiere date has not yet been advised.