Outlander 10 Facts About Geillis From The Books The Show Leaves Out

Geillis is the thrill and mystery factor in the endless romance saga Outlander. She was the one character in the show who kept the fans guessing “how” and “why” throughout the first three seasons. She first appeared as a healer wife of an influential man, a procurator fiscal by occupation, Arthur Duncan.

Much like Claire, we too thought she was a beautiful naïve woman with a little cynical outlook on life. However, she transformed into a dark character so strong and so soon than anyone could ever imagine. Without further ado, here are 10 facts about her that exist in the books but not in the show.

10 Origin

Geillis was a Scottish woman, who belonged to 20th century. She traveled back in time on purpose, from the year 1967, to aid the Jacobite cause. She was born as Gillian (most probably, as there is no evidence to it) and took the name Geillis after an 16th century witch when she decided to choose the dark path as her life goal.

9 Family

Her family is not explored much in the show or the books. The only part of her family this is adequately touched upon is her child born out of love, William Buccleigh MacKenzie who was illegitimately fathered by Dougal Mackenzie.

Her first husband was Greg Edgars. He’s part of the series of countless other men from the past who became the victims of her ambition. She also seems to consider a fellow time traveler Kenneth as her family and shares news and secrets with him.

8 Aliases

Gillian took on several names to get by smoothly. She was self-admittedly and openly a witch, which is not an accomplishment or an acceptable thing to do in the 17th or 18th century. So, she needed to cover her tracks. She goes by a variety of different aliases, including Gillian, Geillie, Geillis, Mrs. Ibister, Mrs. Abernathy, etc.

7 Geilis Knew Who Claire Was

Geillis most probably already knew that Claire was a time traveler. In the books, Roger had found her journal in which she had recorded the disappearance of a woman named Claire Randall who had mysteriously vanished near Craigh na Dunn in 1945.

One another instance is from 1743 when she met Kenneth after she arrived in Cranesmuir. She told him about her plans and that she wanted Colum to die so she could control Dougal. When Kenneth told her about a new woman at the castle, she wondered aloud if the woman was a time traveler.

6 Number Of Husbands

We shall only be talking of the known husbands, of course! Geillis’ first husband was Greg Edgars, whom she set on fire along with his car and left burning on the site, to travel to the past. When she arrived in around 1738, she reached home to a husband named Ibister waiting for her. After she killed Ibister, she married Arthur Duncan in Cranesmuir. Then, she married Mr. Abernathy!

5 How Geillis From The Books Looks Like

In the books by Diana Gabaldon, Geillis is a tall woman with white skin and very fair hair. Her hair looks like it is a bunch of baby fine strands of heavy cream. She has deep green eyes which are so attractive that they can lure any man into complying to her wishes.

4 Early Life & Struggles

When Geillis was young, she joined Scottish Nationalists. Shortly after, she became very interested in Scotland and joined the Society of The White Rose. Just like it’s members, Geillis started dressing in 18th century clothes like kilts. They (and Geillis) used to talk in Gealic and discussed Bonnie Prince endlessly. Here Geillis’s enthusiasm turned into dangerous obsession.

She subscribed herself for the Study of Highland Folklore and Antiquities at the institute; and discovered the stones and their time travel abilities.

3 First Marriage

Greg Edgars was the first husband of Geillis. She met him when she joined the Scottish Nationalists and married him soon after. Geillis was highly ambitious and obsessive, she was never really too fond of Greg and when he started complaining about how much money she was wasting at the institute, she decided to leave him.

2 Personal Diary / Artifacts

Geillis had a Gimore, a personal diary from the days when she had first discovered the stones and chose a new name for herself. Fiona, Mrs. Fitzgibbons’ granddaughter found the diary in her things and kept it for herself. Geillis also maintained a journal (a mish-mash of myth and science) in which she used to record her research, studies and remarkable findings nearly labelled in three sections.

1 Why Did She Kill Arthur?

In the series, it is not mentioned explicitly why Geillis killed Arthur. The books explains the motive in detail. Geillis had already been administering poison slowly and in little quantities, in the form of white Arsenic. But, when Arthur discovered that she was pregnant and it was not his child, Geillis killed him immediately by giving him bromide.

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