Why Season 3 Is the Right Time to Start Watching Outlander 

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In many ways, Outlander is heading into a fresh start when it opens with Season 3. If Season 1 was about bringing together main characters Claire Randall (Caitriona Balfe) and Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan) after Claire accidentally traveled 200 years into the past to Highland Scotland, and Season 2 was about testing their love before Claire was forced to travel back to her present time period of the 1940s, then Season 3 is about what it takes to get these two to cross time yet again and stay together for good.

As such, there\'s a sense of starting from scratch in Season 3 that should prove welcome to those who haven\'t yet taken the plunge into watching Starz\'s breakout hit drama. That\'s why IGN sat down with showrunner Ron Moore and executive producer Maril Davis to lay out just how time travel works on Outlander as Claire travels back and forth in time as she passes through the stones at Craigh na Dun. Yes, there are more rules to traveling through the stones than meet the eye.

Rule #1: Time Passes at the Same Time No Matter Where You Are

One of the most important time travel rules to understand on Outlander is that time travels at the same time no matter what point you\'re at. So when Claire was in the past with Jamie, the same amount of time was passing for her husband Frank (Tobias Menzies) in the \'40s when she left him. This is particularly important for Season 3, as it\'s how Claire determines where and when she should return to the past to try to reunite with Jamie again.

"The fundamental concept that Diana [Gabaldon] established is that when Claire goes into the past and spends two years there, when she returns to the 20th century, two years have also passed," Moore told IGN. "So in the 1968 story, in this season when they start thinking about sending her back again, they realize that twenty years have also passed for Jamie in the past. One of the conceits of this show is when you’re travelling through and spending time, that much time elapses on the other side."

Rule #2: You Need a Precious Gemstone for a Successful Trip Through Time

While not as complicated as a mathematical equation to determine how to travel through time, it takes more than just a will and a way to time travel on Outlander. In both the show and Gabaldon\'s books, it\'s revealed that one needs to be wearing a precious gemstone to travel through safely, or else you risk not making it to your desired point in time -- or not making it through at all.

"You’ll notice in the last season, the ring that she goes through with Jamie, the gemstone is gone. That seems to be another consistent rule to get through so you don’t kill yourself," said Davis.

Gabaldon\'s books get into the science and reasoning behind this a bit more than the show will, said Moore. "We had a couple conversations with Diana about it and we took the rules and we did simplify them a little for the TV audience to make them a little cleaner, a little easier, less to think about," he said.

While a gemstone is the safest way to be aided on a trip through time, there is speculation that both blood (i.e. sacrifices) and fire help aid the passage.

Rule #3: Time Travel Is Most Effective via Specific Locations and Dates

When Claire first traveled through the stones at Craig na Dun in the story, she just happened to be in luck that she stumbled across both a sensitive location to time travel on an important seasonal day. As explored in Gabaldon\'s books, there are certain dates and locations that make the ability to travel between eras easier: in particular, the four seasonal solstices, and the four Gaelic festivals meant to celebrate them.

Additionally, there are several notable locations that have documented time travel in the world of Outlander. In addition to Craig na Dun, several other similar historic stone circles and caves and tunnels were known locations where people traveled through time.

Rule #4: The Ability to Travel Through Time Is Inherited

As more and more characters on Outlander begin to discuss and even experience the ability to travel through time, it becomes clear that the people who are able to pass through these sensitive areas have a shared lineage -- though saying anymore than that would get into spoiler territory.

Rule #5: You Only Get Limited Trips Through Time

Time travel on Outlander isn\'t as simple as stepping through a portal; instead, it\'s an exhaustive experience that wears on the mind and body. As such, people can\'t sustain multiple trips back and forth, which becomes important as Claire weighs the decision between whether she should return back in time to reunite with the love of her life, or stay with her daughter in the \'60s and live out their lives together.

There are several more key details one needs to know entering this season: there will be a time jump of about 20 years as Claire and Jamie are aged up, which allows the audience to get to know Claire\'s now-teenage daughter Brianna (Sophie Skelton) and their charming Scottish ally Roger Wakefield (Richard Rankin). Because of that 20-year time jump, there are as many new characters this season as there are aged-up young ones, from the Parisian orphan Fergus to Jamie\'s nephew Ian Murray. For more on Outlander, make sure to check out these 7 things you need to know about Season 3.

Terri Schwartz is Editorial Manager of Entertainment at IGN. Talk to her on Twitter at @Terri_Schwartz.