[Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers for Season 7 of Outlander.]In Season 7 of the Starz series Outlander, war, change, and evolution are always looming, while the Frasers work to protect their home and their way of life. A growing family also means the possibility of new dangers that separate them across the centuries, with their love for each other being the thread that always ties them together.

During this interview with Collider, co-stars Sophie Skelton and Richard Rankin talk about how there’s still a lot more time to spend with these characters before ultimately saying goodbye to the series with Season 8, the most important lessons their characters have learned in their journey, how this super-sized season is like several shows in one, how Jamie (Sam Heughan) might react if he ever got to experience Disneyland for real, and the importance of family acceptance.

Collider: What does it feel like to be at the point with Outlander where you can say that you only have one season left? Was there like an immediate feeling or emotion that you had, when you heard Season 8 would be the last season?

RICHARD RANKIN: Yeah, I had to be consoled. I was depressed for days.

SOPHIE SKELTON: We went into Season 7 thinking that it was gonna be the last one, so Season 8 is a bonus for us and a bonus for the fans. It means we get more time with these characters and with the family that we’ve created, so it’s good. There’s still joy to be had yet. And Season 7 is such a fantastic season. There are 16 episodes, so we’re a long way off it feeling like the end yet.

RANKIN: We’ve got a good bit to go before thinking about the end.

Image via Starz

What does spending so much time with the same character feel like? Has there been a happiest surprise of that experience, that you weren’t expecting?

SKELTON: For Roger and Bree, they’ve been through so much and had so much trauma. For me, just seeing Brianna come out the other side of that, and just be the woman that she’s become and the mother she’s become, is just really cool to see. You feel very protective of your characters. It’s almost like they are friends now. It sounds weird, but they are real people to us now. We’ve been in their heads for eight years, so it’s just really great and it’s very comforting, having that constant.

What do you think is the most important lesson that your character has learned, since they started on their journey?

SKELTON: I think they’ve both gotten better at communicating, which I do think is a great lesson. They’ve both been through their own traumas and they dealt with them in different ways, and that’s a good lesson too, to see that people don’t necessarily have to come through things via the same path. It’s about just learning how to help people through, if it’s not necessarily the way that you do it.

RANKIN: Adaptability, and just listening, and understanding that people can have differing opinions. It’s often worth taking the time to evaluate your own because you’re not necessarily always right. I am.

SKELTON: Sorry, can you repeat that?

RANKIN: But generally for other people, they just need to take the time to think.

SKELTON: What I’ve learned is that Richard is always right.

RANKIN: Richard is usually right.

Or you just tell him that he’s right.

SKELTON: Exactly. Tell him that he’s right, and then I’ll fix the problems later.

Image via Starz

What are you most excited about fans getting to see, with what’s in store for this season? Especially with twice the episodes of last season, it feels like there’s so much room for exploration.

RANKIN: It’s like several shows in one, to be honest.

SKELTON: We have such a cool family now, the MacKenzies. I’m excited for the fans to see that. We have a cute little clan going.

RANKIN: A nice family and a nice kitchen.

SKELTON: We do have a nice kitchen. Our 1700s kitchen is fun. It’s really equipped.

How would you say they feel about pregnancy, this time around? How is it for them to really be in a different place this time? Do they feel much more solidly like a family of their own now?

SKELTON: Yeah, definitely. This time is a lot less scary, for obvious reasons. Just giving birth to a child in that time period has its own dangers, but also the circumstance in which Brianna was pregnant before wasn’t exactly ideal and very comfy for her. Just being by each other’s side this time, they get to enjoy pregnancy as a duo and giving birth as a duo. The fact that Roger is even there for the birth of the child is just incredible and it speaks volumes, as to how far they’ve come in their relationship.

RANKIN: Yeah.

Image via Starz

Sophie, as a fan of Disneyland myself, I was amused at Bree trying to explain a theme park to Jamie. What was that scene like to shoot? How do you think Jamie would react, if he ever got to take her to Disneyland?

SKELTON: I wonder how Jamie would feel on a roller coaster. It was such a beautiful scene. It was this childlike element of Jamie coming out, which we never get to see. He’s this big, strong Highlander, and then, all of a sudden, there’s this vulnerability in these almost childlike, beautiful, inquisitive questions. That was just such a nice dynamic. It almost made me, and Brianna, laugh. It was just so endearing to see somebody quizzing about something that we, in this time period, take for granted, like Mickey Mouse. We’ve all grown up with it, but to have to explain that to somebody, it was a really, really fun scene. “Is that a big rat?” I’m like, “Don’t call Mickey a rat!”

Sophie, what is it like for Bree to know about William and even get to meet him, but not be able to tell him who she is and even who he really is? What is that opportunity like for her?

SKELTON: Obviously, it’s very bittersweet for Bree, but I also think she’s a lot more settled in who she is now. She’s had such a search for family, so much of her life. She didn’t really have much family growing up and now she has such a clan around her, so even just knowing that William is there and loved and safe is enough for Brianna. Obviously, it would be such a bonus to be able to get to know him, but even just meeting him and seeing him, and seeing how much he looks like her and Jamie, and his mannerisms, is just so rewarding and beautiful for her anyway. I think she’s content with that for now. She understands the reasons that she can’t have him properly in her life.

Image via Starz

Richard when you are all together at the stones, saying goodbye before you all leave with your children, Claire tells Roger that she felt like he was family, from the first moment she met him, and there seems to be a really emotional reaction from her saying that to him. What does that moment mean to him? How important is it for him to know that he really does have the respect and love of these two people, with Claire and Jamie?

RANKIN: That’s a good question. Roger and Claire have always had a closeness, really since the end of Season 2 and Season 3. They have a lot in common. They have a mutual respect for each other. They have their love of Bree in common, and her best interests at heart, a lot of the time. I think they’ve always had a good relationship, but with the family element, there’s always been a struggle. A lot happened with Roger not knowing whether or not he was gonna come back in Season 4, which was a whole thing. Plus, there was the relationship that was developing with Jamie, which didn’t get off to the best start. There was a lot of friction there and a lot of questions hanging over that, as to what that relationship was gonna be. From that point, a lot of that emotion comes from just understanding. It encapsulates the closeness of this family, of the Fraser and MacKenzie family. By that point at the stones, ironically we’re all saying goodbye because we are leaving a home that we’ve not only accepted but embraced, and that we’ve loved since taking on our place in the 18th century. That’s where we should be, with Jamie and Claire, and settling down in that time. It was just mixture of things, really. It means a lot to Roger because sometimes he does feel a little bit on the outside and that’s an acceptance, which I think is quite important.

As far as moments that Bree and Roger get to share in Season 7, is there an episode that has your favorite moment? Is there one episode that fans should specifically look out for?

RANKIN: Episode nine.

SKELTON: Yeah?

RANKIN: Yeah, episode nine is my favorite. I can’t even allude to why that might be, but wow. And it’s not even gonna be out till next year, so I’m sorry. You’re gonna have to wait to see it.

SKELTON: What happened in that one?

RANKIN: I’ll tell you later.

SKELTON: Some of my favorite ones are much later in the season, but in the beginning, episode two is really the catalyst for the rest of the season and the rest of the storyline.

RANKIN: You’re right, episode two is the catalyst for us.

SKELTON: We shot it so long ago that we forget what’s actually in the season and what’s not.

Outlander airs on Friday nights on Starz.