

What the New Opening Credits for Outlander Teach Us About Season 4

Jamie and Claire return to the small screen this Sunday.

In a television culture where many title sequences have been reduced to a single card or passed over entirely, thanks to the Netflix "skip intro" button, Outlander's theme song, and the corresponding credits remain essential to the show's DNA, changing slightly to reflect the themes of each season.

In the lead up to this weekend's premiere, we're breaking down the new opener, looking for clues about the episodes ahead.

As always, Outlander's theme song is the deeply catchy "Skye Boat Song."

Courtesy of Starz

But this year, the song takes on an American flavor. As Jamie and Claire make a new home in North Carolina, the tune is influenced by folk music, and features the addition of a banjo and more drums.

The theme song has changed a number of times over the course of Outlander's four seasons, but don't expect the tune to ever completely drift away from the original. "The bagpipes and the Scottish and Celtic musical influence is very much rooted in Jamie and Claire. That will always be their sound," McCreary said last season, of the Afro-Caribbean-inspired change to the theme song.

"They could go to Mars, and I'll still use the penny whistle or the uilleann bagpipes or the fiddle. It's like a blanket for us, we get to wrap up in it."

Aside from the song, there are a few other bits of footage that remain consistent season to season. We still see the shot of the deer looking straight to camera, and of a woman's legs running, covered in dirt. And of course, interspersed clips of the druids dancing around the stones continue to be a part of the credits. But that's where things start to get interesting.

The first new footage in the credits is of Claire filling a bucket by the river, quickly followed by a scene of Jamie entering a wooden cottage.

Courtesy of Starz

Season four will center around the home Jamie and Claire are building together in North Carolina. After years of watching them fight to be together, audiences will see them living their lives as a family unit, and these first images highlight that focus on domesticity.

Native Americans make two appearances in the opening credits.

Courtesy of Starz

Given that Jamie and Claire arrive in America in the colonial era and settle along a frontier, it only makes sense that the Frasers would encounter Native Americans over the course of this season. First in the sequence, we see a man wielding an axe, and later on Native Americans are pictured traveling as a group on horseback. If you look closely, they appear to be holding someone wearing a green vest captive and forcing him to walk with them.

African-American hands are seen in the credits as well.

Courtesy of Starz

It's unclear what exactly is happening in this scene, but we see a white woman folding a black person's hands over their chest. The person appears unconscious or asleep and the woman is gentle in her touch. Could Claire be doing the folding? Whoever it is is wearing a gold wedding band. We also see a birds-eye-view of River Run, Jamie's aunt Jocasta's plantation home.

The credits preview not only 18th-century America, but they offer a first look of the 20th century as well.

Courtesy of Starz

Look beyond the dancing legs in patterned socks for a peek of the 1960s or 1970s. While we don't see any characters in the modern day, like Roger or Brianna, we do see a few extras in period-appropriate clothing, nodding to the dual timelines that will continue this season.

Someone takes a bath, but is it Claire?

Courtesy of Starz

The credits show someone tenderly giving a women with curly brown hair a bath, but is it Claire—and is Jaimie washing her? We can't say for certain just yet. Whoever is soaking appears to have an injury on her back—a red mark on her left shoulder blade.

The stones will continue to be part of the story.

Courtesy of Starz

While Claire and Jamie have reunited in the 18th century, the stones still play a role in season four of Outlander. The credits preview another traveler wearing a modern-looking green coat paired with a tan bag. As always, the stones also serve as the ending image of the credits, representing the crux of Claire's story.

Who is wearing Jamie's mother's pearls?

Courtesy of Starz

Jamie gifted Claire his mother's pearls on their wedding night, and over the course of the first few seasons, they change hands several times. In season 3, Claire gave them to her daughter Brianna in the 20th century before she travelled back to Jaimie in the 18th. But they appear once again in the credits of season four on the arm of a woman dressed in 18th-century garb, walking down stairs. Could they be on Brianna's arm after a trip back in time? We'll have to wait and see.

The final scene, a view.

Courtesy of Starz

The last shot of the credits (before the stones, that is), is of Claire and Jamie looking out into the wilderness, emphasizing that this season will focus on the future of their relationship, but also on the future of America as a nation.

Outlander's fourth season premieres on November 4 at 8 p.m. on Starz. Watch the series below:

Outlander: Season Four
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