Brianna's Decision To Stay In The Past Explained By Outlander Star

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Brianna and Roger sitting together beside a cart full of items in Outlander season 8

Published Apr 29, 2026, 5:32 PM EDT

Time travel has always been at the forefront of Outlander, with the choice to stay in the Revolutionary War era they've found themselves in, or return to the 1940's, post-World War II era that the show originally started in, one that's always on the characters' minds.

ScreenRant's Tatiana Hullender spoke to Sophie Skelton ahead of episode eight of the beloved Starz series, about Bri and Roger's decision to stay in the past, and why she believes they fit so well in this 18th-century time period.

Sophie Skelton: I think, because without sounding too cheesy, I think home really is where the heart is. And I think at this point there's been so much loss in all of the time periods, and I think Fergus dying in this one, just really elevates her belief and solidifies that feeling that family is everything.

Bri also knows that she'd be largely leaving Roger without a support system if she went back, a move that would stand to have a lasting impact on the family they've built together.

Sophie Skelton: And I think she also knows that Roger would be isolated and without a support system if you went back. And I think she probably knows Roger well enough, too, to know that he could, if something happened to her, he might have a gut reaction and just leave the situation. And I think she's also protecting him in that moment, and saying, "You know what? I want you to have people around you. I want the kids to have people around them, and I know what you need almost better than you do yourself. So please promise me you'll..." I think she's kind of saying, "Promise me you'll take care of yourself when I'm not here to do it." And I think in that, she means let family be there for you, and let me live on through my family, with you, kind of thing.

Brianna's decision to stay and the way she's shown up for her siblings, helping them through everything from navigating their identity to Fergus' devastating death, confirmed that she made the right choice to remain just where she is.

Sophie Skelton: I think one theme that has come out of Brianna's character this season is that she really is the rock for the family. And so whether that means she's at the forefront of it, or she's at home waiting for people to return from danger, as we saw in, I think [episodes] five and six, whichever side of the battlefield she's on, she has become the rock of the family. And so I think whatever happens, she is going to be the one that people come to, to find kind of peace and some kind of solace.

Episode 9 of Outlander airs Friday, May 8, at 8:00 p.m. ET on Starz.

Release Date 2014 - 2026-00-00

Showrunner Matthew B. Roberts

Directors John Dahl, Metin Hüseyin, Jamie Payne, Stephen Woolfenden, Anna Foerster, Brendan Maher, Brian Kelly, David Moore, Jennifer Getzinger, Mike Barker, Philip John, Joss Agnew, Lisa Clarke, Jan Matthys, Ben Bolt, Charlotte Brändström, Christiana Ebohon-Green, Denise Di Novi, Douglas Mackinnon, Julian Holmes, Norma Bailey, Richard Clark, Justin Molotnikov, Stewart Svaasand

Writers Toni Graphia, Matthew B. Roberts, Ronald D. Moore, Luke Schelhaas, Anne Kenney, Karen Campbell, Shannon Goss, Joy Blake, Richard Kahan, Jennifer Yale, Megan Ferrell Burke, Ira Steven Behr, Diana Gabaldon