‘Outlander’: Diana Gabaldon on [SPOILER]’S Return for Season 4

Fans of Diana Gabaldon‘s “Outlander” books know there have been some changes from the novels to the STARZ tv series, but on the whole, it remains one of the more faithful adaptations around.

Some of the choices, like the Culloden survival of clansman Murtagh (Duncan LaCroix), are ones we absolutely love, especially considering how his character can be utilized in season 4.

For those who haven’t read the Outlander books, there is a character who comes into play for Jamie and Claire, and Aunt Jocasta, during their time in the Americas. We even speculated with the reveal that Murtagh had survived the battle, that maybe, just maybe he’d become this particular character. Which would be GREAT because we’d have more time with him.

In a recent interview Parade, Gabaldon spoke a bit about the decision to keep Murtagh, and kind-of-sort-of confirms our theory about his use in season 4:

Parade: There’s a big change in season four of the TV series because we’re going to meet Murtagh again, who died at Culloden in the books. So did they consult you? Once you said it was OK for them to keep him alive, did you give them any input when they were talking about the stories that he would appear in?

Diana Gabaldon: When I went to visit the writer’s room, we had a conversation walking through what they had for season four and so forth. I said, “It occurs to me that assuming, of course, for the sake of argument that you are keeping Murtagh alive, it would be interesting if this happened or you could use him in this particular plot line.” And, in fact, they took both those suggestions. But by and large, I leave things like that up to them because they have to build the story.

Parade: But they did ask you what you thought when it was completed?

Diana: Yeah. I am a consultant, which means they show me everything, the script outlines, the scripts and the revisions to the scripts. They show me the daily footage that they shoot and they show me the episodes as they’re edited and come together. They also go through several versions before the final one, so I see it with music, without music and different things put in and taken out. I can comment on anything in the course of this, and I tell them everything that I think.

Outlander season 4 returns to STARZ on Sunday November 4th.