Outlander (Kinda) Casts Lord John 

Claire, prepare to have your honor defended.

has cast Oscar Kennedy as John William Grey, someone who will play an incredibly important role in both Jamie and Claire’s lives for decades to come, TVLine has confirmed. (The series first announced the casting via Twitter.)

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But if you’re a fan of the books who’s dying to meet the smooth, blonde British officer… you’ll have to wait a while. The Starz series is introducing Grey as a boy, the same way readers meet him in 

— the Diana Gabaldon novel on which Season 2 is based.

Now we’re going to talk about what happens in books, so if you don’t want to be spoiled, skip to the bold print at the bottom of this post. In the book, John (who’ll later be known as Lord John) stumbles across Claire and Jamie and immediately assumes that she is his captive. Though he is woefully unequipped to challenge Fraser and his men, John nonetheless attempts to save his countrywoman from the ruthless Scots — and the interaction has ramifications that extend throughout the rest of the books.

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Outlanders, are you ready to meet Lord John? Sound off in the comments!

Lord John is one of my absolute favorite characters in the Outlander world (I basically love the Grey family as a whole). I’m super stoked to see baby John this coming season and adult John in (hopefully!) the third season!

Most of us are ready to see any Outlander character. This break is really long with still months to go. Lord John and Jamie is one of my favorite relashs in the book, true friends for most of their lives after a very shaky beginning.

The incident when Lord John tries to save Claire’s honor as a young man shows his character, and is one of the cleverest of Jamie’s “tricks”. I am very excited to see all the new castings for season 2!!! The casting has been very well done for my vision of the books.

Lord John! So excited to see his story play out. He’s one of the most fun and complex characters in the books. (Can we start petitioning for a spinoff series based on his books now, or do we need to wait for the adult John to be cast?)

If Starz wanted to build Outlander’s brand and air another series set in the same universe, this would be perfect. They’d have to cast an adult actor with enough star power to carry a series himself though. And how they handle and celebrate both Grey’s sexuality and Grey’s character despite his sexuality, could be a source of praise for the network, the best since Spartacus.

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