Outlander season 4 character questions: What’s ahead for Billy Boyd’s Gerald Forbes?

One of the things that we promised earlier this week was daily editions of our Outlander season 4 character questions features spotlighting all of our new additions to the cast. These are a way to introduce yourself further to some of these characters, including where they fit within the books (at least to a certain extent) and then also where they could fit in the story.

Today, the focus is on Lord of the Rings alum Billy Boyd and his role of Gerald Forbes — which, for those wondering, just makes us think of former President Gerald Ford the moment that we see the name. It’s great to see a known performer like Boyd sign for the show, as he knows a thing or two about literary epics and the high expectations fans have for the end result.

Who is Gerald Forbes? – The name may not immediately strike a chord to some, but this is actually Neil Forbes from the book series … who also went be Gerald on some occasions. His full name is Cornelius Gerald Hamish McKay Forbes and he has a role to play across a number of different books in the Diana Gabaldon series.

What does he do? – Forbes is a prominent lawyer in the books, one who works with Jamie’s Aunt Jocasta in order to help update her will. Beyond that, he eventually becomes a suitor-of-sorts for Brianna. While he has a role to play beyond Drums of Autumn, we don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves here in the event that the show uses him in a different form.

How should Outlander take this character on? – We do have a fascinating in seeing him, just from the vantage point that we are getting a chance to see what being an attorney looks like in 18th-century America before the revolution. Beyond just that, we do think that he could become an interesting character to focus on when it comes to the appeal that Brianna has to many different men within the region. It does feel that he should be presented at least slightly antagonistic if not more so — if Forbes is an attorney in this particular era, he probably carries with him a degree of confidence and with that, won’t take kindly to being rebuked or not getting what he wants.

More so than anything, we do want to get a chance to see Boyd explore the ins and outs of someone who should serve as a nice conduit of life for a certain sector of people in this period. We may also learn something more about both Jocasta and also Brianna through him.

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Related – Read our spotlight about Lizzie Wemyss!

What do you want to see for Forbes on Outlander season 4 and beyond? Share right away in the comments!

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