'Outlander' season 2 spoilers: story plot to take place in France, new characters

Fans of "Outlander" are excited for the second season of the show to begin as it will present new challenges for Jamie (Sam Heughan) and Claire (Caitriona Balfe). The couple will be meeting new people as they live the life of aristocrats in 18<sup>th-century France. 

Along the way, they'll be making new allies, be reacquainted with family members, and they'll also be making new enemies in France. E! Online reports that season 2 will be filled with new faces that fans of Diana Gabaldon's books will be familiar with. As season 2 is based on Gabaldon's second book in the "Outlander" series, "Dragonfly in Amber," fans can expect to meet characters such as Mother Hildegarde, Jared Fraser, Alexander Randall, and more. 

Mother Hildegarde will be played by Frances De La Tour. In the books, she is the Superior Mother of the L'Ospital des Anges where Claire volunteers her services as a healer after she gets bored of making appearances at the palace. 

Jared Fraser will be played by Robert Cavanagh. He is Jamie's cousin who happens to be a wealthy wine merchant in France. Jamie and Claire will be living in his mansion while they embark on a mission to stop the Jacobite rebellion and prevent the slaughter on Culloden Moor. 

This season's villain will be Le Compte St. Germain, played by Stanley Weber. In "Dragonfly in Amber," St. Germain is a wine merchant, a business rival of Jared's, who instantly develops an intense loathing for Claire after she correctly diagnoses one of his men of having smallpox. Her diagnosis leads to the burning of one of his ships — which carries a sizable cargo of imported wine — to prevent the disease from spreading. 

Black Jack's kinder, gentler brother Alex will also be introduced in season 2, and he will be played by Laurence Dobiesz. Alex works for the Duke of Sandringham and shares none of the qualities of his brother, except for a slight resemblance to him. 

Claire will be introduced to Jamie's former love Annalise de Marillac, who will be played by Margaux Chatelier. It will be interesting to see how Jamie will react upon seeing the woman whom he was formerly infatuated with, and even more interesting to find how Claire will react once she learns who she is.

Season 2 of "Outlander" is slated to premiere in 2016 on Starz. 

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