Outlander season 5 EP on their Fiery Cross origin story

Outlander season 5 is based on the Diana Gabaldon book The Fiery Cross, so of course that necessitates said cross being a part of the story. Also, there is a higher degree of meaning to this for a number of different reasons. This cross is representative of a call to arms, something that could be a catalyst for the beginning of the Revolutionary War — or at least a part of it in Jamie and Claire’s neck of the woods.

So coming up with the right image for the fiery cross was a challenge for Jon Gary Steele and the production design team. You don’t want it to be overly religious and therein controversy; yet, you also need for it to be striking. If you’re going to incorporate it into promo art like the image above, it needs to stand out.

In speaking about the cross image and the design for it via Entertainment Weekly, we think that executive producer Matthew B. Roberts lays out the thought process in a pretty fantastic manner:

We had Gary come up with maybe 10 different designs. We didn’t want it to be a religious symbol. We wanted it to be a Scottish symbol. This is the one we collectively picked because, well, to tell you the truth, it looks cool.

“Cool” is fundamentally the best way to describe this. It’s a cool image for what feels, as a whole, like a foundation for a great season. We’re hoping that season 5 will be able to showcase the cross in some important ways so that, even years after the fact, it can be this image that is iconic with this batch of episodes. There are so many memorable ones over the years already, whether they be costumes, locations like Lallybroch, or of course the sign outside the oh-so-famous print shop.

Outlander season 5 will be premiering on Starz come Sunday, February 16.

What do you most want to see when it comes to Outlander season 5?

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Photo: Starz