‘Outlander’ Star John Bell on Delving Into Ian’s Mohawk Story & What’s Next

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[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Season 6, Episode 4 of Outlander, “Hour of the Wolf.”]

In Outlander‘s latest episode, “Hour of the Wolf,” the show delves into the time Ian (John Bell) spent with the Mohawk between Seasons 4 and 5, filling in some serious story gaps and unveiling a heartbreaking tale of love and loss.

Faced with the demons of his past when he is unexpectedly reunited with his Mohawk brother Kaheroton (Braeden Clarke), Ian opens up to his uncle Jamie (Sam Heughan) about his love story with his Mohawk wife, Wahionhaweh (Morgan Holmstrom), who he referred to as Emily and their children lost to miscarriages. As the episode plays out, Jamie learns that Ian was asked to leave the Mohawk as Kaheroton and Emily were matched to improve her chances of bearing children.

Feelings of betrayal begin to resolve for Ian when an unexpected duel with a crooked Indian Agent and Kaheroton arises. Knowing the high stakes, Ian goes on an emotional journey opening up about his trauma and forgiving his Mohawk brother for the way that things turned out between them. Below, Bell discusses Ian’s big episode, sharing his love story, deepening his bond with Jamie, and teases what’s to come.

(Credit: Starz)

We’ve known for some time that Ian had been through some trauma during his stay with the Mohawk. As a performer, does bringing that trauma to life seem easier now that he’s lived through those moments onscreen?

John Bell: Yeah, completely. It’s difficult to play something that’s so chronologically not there. It’s a benefit because I know where I want my character to be by the end of it. I wanted all the dots to connect, and of course, I knew what had happened to him back in Season 5. I’d already known that he’d fallen in love, he had tried to have children with her and was basically told to leave the tribe, but what I didn’t really know was how Kaheroton was going to be involved and this reckoning of him being the catalyst for him having to deal with his past yet again.

I think at the end of Season 5, [Ian had] managed to compartmentalize it, stick it in a box and shove it to the back of his head and just go on with things. Now, he’s confronted with this ghost from his past, and that all comes flooding forward again. But through the power of talking about your feelings, he is stronger.

(Credit: Starz)

Yes, he is healing.

Not healed, but healing definitely.

When you receive a script where most of the episode focuses on you, is there excitement or nervousness that takes over?

It was excitingly nerve-wracking. It was also an interesting thing because it was the last episode we filmed. When you’re doing a shoot, you get really excited at the start, and halfway through you get the mid-shoot blues and everyone’s trudging along, let’s get this over and done with, and then there’s this zoom of energy at the end. Everyone goes, “we’re really near the finish, let’s go with a bang.” That little zoom of everybody feeling great happened during my episode at the end, and we had a huge influx of new actors all from various First Nations. It was just a fabulous experience. There was pressure on my shoulders. Yeah, I had late-night phone calls with mom where I was like, “I don’t know if I can do this.” And she’s like, “Oh, shut up.” And then I just had fun with it.

Ian reunites with Kaheroton in this episode and it forces him to open up to Jamie about his experience. Would Ian have kept it a secret if they didn’t see Kaheroton?

I could see the wall that he’d kept this behind breaking a little bit before he met Kaheroton again, because of course we had that lovely scene with him and Marsali (Lauren Lyle) where he was finally able to admit that he did have a child. So, certainly the process of how he was dealing with this — there’s no therapy back then — you just had to go out to the woods and talk to trees. I think that he was beginning to process that, but he probably was nowhere near ready to talk about it yet.

(Credit: Starz)

It’s only when he’s confronted out of the blue that he is like, “I can’t hide it anymore.” Something I love about Ian and Jamie’s relationship is that they do seem to have this unspoken [thing], they’re able to be vulnerable around each other and talk about these things. It seems to me, whatever Ian’s going through, Jamie’s already gone through it. Look at Season 4 when he is explaining about Geillis, look at this in Season 6 when he is speaking about losing Iseabail. Jamie is basically like, “me too.”

Yeah, he’s been there, done that.

It’s just lovely to see that relationship on screen. I think it’s really special.

There is such a lovely relationship between Ian and Jamie. Will this moment of sharing strengthen their bonds even more moving forward?

Yeah. I think you’re going to get to see young Ian really become Jamie’s right-hand man. A deer needs to be hunted, someone needs to be killed, Ian will do it, no questions asked, because that’s the trust. That’s the loyalty that he has for his uncle. That’s only built upon sharing those intensely emotional moments with each other.

(Credit: Starz)

And Ian tells Jamie towards the end of the episode that he’s now realized he can be his Mohawk self, Wolf’s Brother, and Ian Murray at the same time. What does that look like moving forward?

I think it’s more about that he doesn’t need to choose that he can take what he wants from either and be stronger for it and that there’s no shame in not actually knowing exactly who you are at this point and really just being a hybrid of the two for now. But you can’t deny that he did spend three, four years with the Mohawk. He will never lose that part of his history and he will always carry that with him. He’s fierce because of it. He proved to himself, I think, that he could survive without Jamie, without any of his family. He’s proved that to Jamie too. So of course those skills and experiences of life he will carry forward, but I do think he’s more settled now into being a true Fraser/Murray.

Would Ian have kept his promise to Kaheroton to return to the Mohawk if he died in the duel?

Yeah, I think he would have. Although he doesn’t say it, when he takes that bracelet, he knows that if this is the way it goes down, I’m going straight to her and telling her what happened and going to provide for them, because that’s who young Ian is, that’s who he’s been brought up to be. Jamie has always instilled that in him. When you swear an oath, you don’t break it. You see it through, which is what was so upsetting to him because he had made that oath to her.

(Credit: Starz)

What made Ian come to the realization that he needed to let Emily go and give Kaheroton his blessing?

I think obviously his conversations with Jamie led to that realization, and then I think it’s also the fact that he saw Kaheroton was willing to die for his honor. I think [Ian’s saying], “you will protect her. You will keep her safe and you are her people. I can never fully deeply understand that the way that you can.” It’s that Ian’s caught between two worlds, but realizing that the world he truly belongs to is that of his aunt and uncle back with the Ridge and that that’s where he will be, that’s where destiny seems to be sending him.

Jamie shares with the Cherokee chief the sad fate that awaits the Native Americans with the Trail of Tears. Would Ian approve of his uncle revealing this? And is this fate one of the reasons Ian doesn’t return to the Mohawk?

I think he would’ve approved of that decision taken by his uncle. Anything to help who he sees as his family too, as someone that has looked out for him. It’s like in the ceremony where he has his white blood washed from him. They say we will fight for you, we will die for you as we do our own. And so, that’s something that Ian’s strongly opinionated about and takes action to support. So, I don’t know if it was because of his knowledge of the history that he didn’t go back to the Mohawk or more just that his knowledge of history meant that he knew where he needed to be now, and that was what Jamie said. Ian is going to protect Jamie because he can get himself into a lot of trouble.

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'Outlander' Stars Sophie Skelton & Richard Rankin on 'Solid' Season 6 Dynamic

We’re halfway through Season 6, what else is on the horizon?

Well, of course, Outlander is not Outlander without some sort of high-stakes trauma drama happening and developing in the background. You’re never going to get a break. I think there’s a huge challenge coming for the Frasers. I think the world is turning in on them and they are turning into each other as in getting stronger. It’s like a core getting stronger, but Jamie is only a man. You can only be in one place at one time. So, I think Young Ian is going to be there to maybe provide some much to do backup if needs be. That’s all I’ll say.

Outlander, Season 6, Sundays, 9/8c, Starz