Fans of Starz’s Outlander series are in the middle of a serious Droughtlander, as season 5 is still months away. Rewatching seasons 1 and 2 on Netflix is one way to get your Jamie and Claire fix in the meantime; reading Diana Gabaldon’s source material is another. But Gabaldon has given us something else to look forward to in the Outlander universe: A spinoff book series that will fill in Master Raymond’s back story.
TV series-specific spoilers ahead!
In case you’re blanking on who, exactly, Master Raymond was (Outlander loves nothing more than introducing one thousand tertiary characters), Claire befriended the crafty apothecary owner in Paris during season 2. An intriguing character who seemed to hold many secrets, we don’t see him again after the episode in which he evades execution for sorcery. It felt too soon to say goodbye to Master Raymond when we still had so many questions about him—fortunately, Gabaldon has plans to tell his full story.
In a frequently-asked questions section of her website, Gabaldon reveals some very interesting tidbits about Master Raymond. She confirms, as suggested on the show, that he’s another time traveler…a “prehistoric” time traveler, at that. Kind of.
“I think he came from somewhere about 400 BC or perhaps a bit earlier (not technically ‘prehistoric,’ but they certainly weren’t using written records where he started out), and the 18th century is not his first stop.”
According to Gabaldon, Master Raymond is a shaman “born with the ability to heal through empathy,” a talent we saw when he helped save Claire from placenta-related infection after her miscarriage.
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