The rift that has torn apart one of Outlander‘s most complicated friendships was finally healed in the penultimate episode of the time-travel romance’s final season. Warning: The following post contains spoilers for Outlander Season 8 Episode 9, “Pharos.”

Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan), along with Claire (Caitriona Balfe) and William (Charles Vandervaart), rescued Lord John Grey (David Berry) from his kidnapper, but the two men had one more shouting match before settling down to a game of chess, the competition that has always bonded them.

“It’s always in this metaphor of the chess game. They’re friends, but they’re always on opposite sides of a game board or a chess board,” says Berry. The actor reveals there was much discussion of the showdown scene. “There were a lot of opinions and uncertainty about how we were going to do it. That scene went through several drafts, and we only settled on something pretty much the morning of. Sam and I had conversations about it. I talked to [executive producers] Matt [Roberts] and Maril [Davis]. It was about making it an equal conflict so that both men had to meet each other halfway. It wasn’t just Jamie apologizing. John had to do some work to forgive and to be forgiven.”
 

Starz

John’s unrequited love for Jamie was an ongoing thread in the series. After what John experienced with Percy Wainwright (Michael Lindall) and other men in his life, we wondered if Berry thought his character would ever find love.

“The episode’s really sad in that we see the price that a gay man has to pay for love in the 18th century,” Berry says. “It’s the ultimate price of someone’s life for Percy. Lord John has compassion for Percy, but they’re both men of their time. Percy perhaps did love Lord John, but because of that, it’s exposed Lord John to so much danger and vulnerability. So will he ever find love? Probably not. Not in the way that he wants.”

Even if this ends up being the last episode in which we see Lord John, we’re not giving up on his story quite yet. Just think of the possibilities if fans get their wish for a spinoff. Berry would not turn it down, saying, “I’d love to explore more of the character. He’s an amazing character. I’d happily live in this character for as long as people would let me. And if people want to see more of it, then yeah, absolutely. I’d be excited to play the character again.”

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Watch the video above for the full interview with Berry, wherein he talks more about that key scene with Heughan, how Lord John feels about the resolution between William and Jamie, and the fun of playing an “unhinged and unraveled” Lord John in captivity.

Outlander, Season 8, Fridays, 8/7c, Starz