‘Outlander: Blood of My Blood’ Stars Loved Playing Henry and Julia’s Happier Moments in the Season 1 Finale: “Thank Goodness Because the Heartache Has Been Pretty Extreme”

Henry Beauchamp (Jeremy Irvine) and Julia Moriston (Hermione Corfield) finally catch a break in the Outlander: Blood of My Blood Season 1 finale. After weeks of suffering apart, Claire’s (Caitriona Balfe) time-traveling parents are able to not only reunite, but hatch a plan to leave 1715 behind for good.

**Spoilers for Outlander: Blood of My Blood Episode 10 “Something Borrowed,” now streaming on Starz**

Now, if you’ve already watched the Outlander: Blood of My Blood Season 1 finale on Starz, you know that it ends on a cliffhanger that teases Henry and Julia (and baby William) reaching for the Stones at Craigh na Dun. Do they touch it? Does Henry travel alone? Do they wind up stuck in a brand new time together? We won’t know the answers to these questions until Blood of My Blood Season 2 eventually comes out.

What we do know, though, is that Outlander: Blood of My Blood Episode 10 gave us some of the sweetest — and most desperately needed — Beauchamp clan scenes to date.

One of the most intriguing things about Outlander: Blood of My Blood is how it reframes the tragedy of Claire’s childhood. In Outlander author Diana Gabaldon’s version of events, Claire’s parents died in a car crash when she was young, leaving her in the care of her eccentric Uncle Lamb (George Kemp).

Blood of My Blood imagines a different scenario wherein Henry and Julia traveled back in time to when Jamie’s (Sam Heughan) parents, Brian (Jamie Roy) and Ellen (Harriet Slater), met and fell in love. There, Henry works as the Grant Clan’s bladier while Julia endures the trials of domestic service before seducing Lord Lovat (Tony Curran) to protect her baby William.

In Outlander: Blood of My Blood Episode 8, Julia and Henry initially reconnect. In Episode 9, they hatch a plan to run away, and in this week’s Season 1 finale, they finally pull it off. Julia stages her own “abduction” so she, Henry, and William can hurry to Craigh na dun. On the way to the iconic Stones, the family pauses to rest by a fire. There, Henry gets to hold his son for the first time. It’s a tender moment that offers everyone a much-needed boost.

“It’s funny because I had no memory of filming that,” Jeremy Irvine said, when we asked him and Hermione Corfield about the scene. “I watched it and went, ‘Oh, I’m so glad that’s in there.’ Like we need to show that they have just a moment. The stakes are high.’”

“I do keep seeing comments from fans being like, ‘Oh, we want to see them together. We want to see Brian and Ellen together,’” Corfield said. “So I think any moments where you do — I think that’s the first time you see them through the stones as a proper unit on their own, isn’t it?” 

“Yeah, and, you know, there will be more of that to come,” Irvine teased. “But, yeah, thank goodness because the heartache has been pretty extreme for them.” 

Besides everything they’ve experienced in the past, they still have little Claire (Mae & Tuesday Roberts) waiting for them in the future. Outlander: Blood of My Blood Episode 10 features multiple flashbacks to the 1920s that emphasize how idyllic their post-World War I life was and how cute Claire was as a kid.

“I love working with kids because it’s real for them. You tell them to play make believe and that it’s real, and then you just react. I mean, the script goes out the window. There’s no point trying to tell them to say the exact lines, but you just play off them and it’s just great,” Irvine said. “I just love it, especially a fun scene like that.”

“I remember the morning we were saying that day when we were watching them on the beach going, let’s make this as fun as we can because we need to. We’ve seen so much pain, we’ve got to have the light.” 

“Yeah, they were very sweet as well. All the children have been very sweet and fun to work with,” Corfield said, before echoing Irvine’s comments about how kids love to improvise. “It is actually nice in that respect because it shakes it up a bit. You know, you’re just listening to the child and reacting off of the child rather than feeling wedded to the script.”

“So actually, it’s quite nice as an actor because it gives you an excuse to say, ‘Oh, sorry, I couldn’t possibly follow the script to that,’” she said.

“Yeah, yeah,” Irvine said. “Which we all want to do all the time.”

Irvine and Corfield also revealed that even the most intense moments in the Blood of My Blood Season 1 finale were full of fun behind-the-scenes. Case in point? The moment Henry has to face off with Lovat’s brutal enforcer Balloch (Chick Allan). 

“Chick’s like the biggest, hairiest, cuddly teddy bear you’ve ever met. He’s an absolute sweetheart, isn’t he?” Irvine said, giggling.

“He’s so lovely,” Corfield said. “Very gentle. He’s not like [Balloch] at all.” 

“The idea that I, as Jeremy, could take him out is laughable,” Irvine said. “I mean, the guy could crush me with one of his hands.”

Luckily for us, in the world of Outlander, Henry is the one who comes out on top.