Outlander season 3: Lauren Lyle on the growth, bravery of Marsali

To CarterMatt, Marsali is one of the most interesting characters in Outlander season 3, and there is one very specific reason for that: We still haven’t had a chance to view her through her own lens. In many ways she is still a vessel for her mother Laoghaire — she hates Claire and perceives Jamie to be at least in part a traitor. The only things we’ve really come to know about her so far are that she hates Caitriona Balfe’s character and loves Fergus enough to hop on board a ship and travel to the other side of the world to him.

Will we understand Marsali more over the rest of the season? Probably so, given that what we’ve got right now is a small introduction at best. Just because she feels the way that she does towards Claire now doesn’t mean that she will forever. Remember, Marsali has been emotionally influenced by her mother for the entirety of her life — it’s a form of conditioning, and she has to experience things through her own eyes for preconceived notions to change.

If you are looking already to get a little bit of a different perspective towards Marsali right now, we do think that Laurel Lyle herself provides some of that in a new joint interview she gave with Cesar Domboy to Elle Magazine. In it, she speaks about Marsali’s ambition and ability to take risks — with this, we get a good sense that there is so much more we’re going to get to see from her and she is definitely an independent thinker in her own right:

“I think they’ve grown up together, sort of, and they have a bond of some kind. And also, I don’t think love has to make sense. I mean, technically, we have the same dad! But it’s not incest. And Marsali is so brave that she gives up her whole life. She’s from a teeny little farm, and she doesn’t have that much of an education, and yet she throws herself on this boat and goes after what she loves, and doesn’t give a shit what anyone thinks.”

There are actually some interesting similarities we see between Marsali and Claire in that both are effectively entering a world that is totally new to them on the show, and they each have to find their own way in this world. We don’t think that Marsali has anywhere near the skills or the maturity that Claire does, but if she gets her attitude in the right place and expresses a willingness to learn she may discover that she can do so much more than she realizes. Claire could be the perfect mentor to her in this sense and that would make for a very interesting story!

What do you want to see from Lauren Lyle as Marsali?

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