Harriet Slater, the actress who plays Ellen MacKenzie on Outlander: Blood of My Blood, says the show’s stunt team taught her a lesson she did not want to learn: firing a bow and arrow takes serious strength. In Season 2, Episode 3, Ellen leads a group of women defending Castle Leoch from invaders while the men are away staging a Jacobite rebellion. The episode began streaming today, and Slater tells TVLINE that getting the shot right was a challenge.
“I fully didn’t appreciate how much strength is required in order to fire a bow and arrow. It’s hard!”
Ellen’s Arrow Lessons
Slater says the camera had to catch the arrow at exactly the right angle so the string did not cover her face. That meant she could not actually pull the bow back fully, so she had to fake the tension while shaking slightly to sell the effort. She laughs about the difficulty, calling it “a lot harder than people think.”
She was accurate with targets by the end of training, but she admits she was terrible when she tried it on her own later. “Clearly, I need a coach there with me, and I need to keep it up,” she says.
Ellen’s Ponytail Choice
TVLINE noticed Ellen’s side ponytail in the episode and wondered if a back ponytail would be more practical. Slater disagrees. “I don’t think we’ve ever seen Ellen with her hair up, and the first time is a side pony, but I actually love it. I think it really suits her.”
The comparison to Merida from Brave came up often during filming. Slater watched the Pixar film as research early in her role, and she sees parallels between Ellen and the Scottish princess, who has annoying brothers trying to marry her off.
Janet’s Dying Moment
The episode also reveals that Ellen is pregnant as her sister Janet dies. Slater explains why Ellen shares the news in that moment: “We decided as part of our backstory, we discussed this with the director, that Janet had always wanted children and had always wanted a child for Ellen, and that was something that they dreamed about.”
Ellen says that if the baby is a girl, she will bear Janet’s name. Slater says the scene moved her deeply, especially the performance by Sadhbh Mailn as Jocasta.
A Turning Point for Ellen
Executive producer Maril Davis says the episode was designed to show that women held down the fort during wars just as strongly as men. Davis describes the idea as “‘Home Alone’ with murder, and it kind of worked out that way.”
Slater’s account of the stunt work makes the scene feel earned rather than staged. The shaking, the fake tension, the careful angles — all of it suggests the effort behind the shot.
The episode is streaming now.
Ellen vs. Katniss
The episode draws a clear parallel to The Hunger Games. Ellen, like Katniss Everdeen, brandishes a bow and arrow and leads a group of women defending their home. Slater’s eyes lit up when she talked about the moment.
| Character | Weapon | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Ellen MacKenzie | Bow and arrow | Defends Castle Leoch |
| Katniss Everdeen | Bow and arrow | Defends District 12 |
That comparison runs through the whole episode, with Ellen stepping into a position of physical threat the way Katniss does in the film series.
Jamie Roy, who plays Brian, appears alongside Slater in a video on TVLINE discussing what Ellen’s newfound fighting prowess might mean for their partnership.
Source material: “Outlander: Blood Of My Blood's Harriet Slater, EPs On Ellen's Episode 3 Showcase: 'Home Alone, But With Murder',” TVLine.
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