‘Outlander’ Season 3 Will Stray From The Books, Unpredictable And ‘Epic’ Episodes Ahead For Diana Gabaldon’s Loyal Readers

Is Outlander gearing up for some surprising changes in the near future?

The Starz hit has done a great job sticking to the books during the first two seasons. In an interview with Bustle, however, executive producer Ronald D. Moore revealed the next two seasons will stray from Diana Gabaldon’s bestselling novels.

“Our goal is still to try and be as faithful as we can to the books. [That’s] the way we started the project,” Moore shared.

True, Outlander — which stars Sam Heughan and Caitriona Balfe as Jamie and Claire Fraser — has kept close to the book series so far. But as the series continues to develop in the coming years, Moore admitted that things are bound to change.

How much will the show stray in the coming seasons?

“I think the longer that you go, the more the TV series inevitably veers from the book and certain plot lines then take on a life of their own. Certain characters change, and you have to follow the way they change.”

Despite their successful attempts to remain true to the books, Outlander has already added some things that are not included in the books.

“Rupert and Angus weren’t even really in the book as a duo, that’s part of our storyline. That’s always gonna be different than it was in the book,” Moore stated. “Our version of Frank is different than he was in the book. Those changes add up, and the further in you go, the bigger those separations become.”

These changes will certainly become more noticeable as the show expands over the next few years. That being said, Moore also revealed that some big changes are ahead in Season 2.

“Definitely in the finale, there’s a storyline that was not in the book, but it’s around one of the characters that is in the book,” Moore hinted. “We expanded on that and broidered on that because it just seemed like it was a great opportunity, it was a lot of fun.”

Unfortunately, Moore did not explain what the major shift in the plot is going to look like. He did, however, promise that fans will be thrilled with the new developments.

While Outlander’s second season continues to unfold, Collider reports that Starz has officially confirmed that two more seasons are on the way.

The two-year renewal is a clear indication that the network is happy with all the success Outlander had in its first season. This includes several Golden Globe nominations and an extremely loyal fan base.

The next season of Outlander will be an adaptation of Gabaldon’s third book in the series, titled Voyager. The fourth season will be based on book four, called Drums of Autumn.

Although the current season isn’t over yet, fans are already wondering how long they will have to wait until Season 3 is released. According to Enstarz, Droughtlander will not last very long this time around.

In fact, producers have already started working hard on the next season, which means the normal hiatus will be shortened.

“We haven’t stopped working, and we just went straight over from season two to season three,” Matthew B. Roberts, a writer for the show, revealed to The Hollywood Reporter. “Now the fans can have it sooner than what they think. The Droughtlander won’t be as long as they expect.”

Exactly how long fans will have to wait is unknown because an official premiere date has not been released. It is possible that another season will be out months ahead of schedule.

What does Moore think of the future seasons?

“Epic. It’ll just get bigger and bigger,” he stated.

Fans can watch new episodes of Outlander on Saturday nights on Starz.

Do you think straying from the books is a good idea for Outlander?

[Image via Starz]