Outlander season 2 was set right in the middle of the Jacobite rebellion of 1745, and saw Bonnie Prince Charlie (Andrew Gower) make his debut, becoming famous for his oft-repeated “Mark me” – but what was the reason for Charles Edward Stuart’s famous catchphrase on the show? In Outlander season 2 Claire (Caitríona Balfe) and Jamie (Sam Heughan) were in Paris, trying to do their best to stop the disastrous battle of Culloden by secretly working against Prince Charles’ efforts to raise money for the cause. While, Jamie and those close to him still supported the cause for independence, they couldn’t rally against the prince. Still, as they knew the defeat the battle of Culloden would have brought, they tried to limit their losses.
Outlander season 6 saw Bonnie Prince Charlie come back in a flashback that depicted Prince Charles’ escape from Scotland following the crackdown on Jacobites that forced him to flee with the help of Flora MacDonald. Some of the quirky circumstances Outlander’s Prince Charles found himself in were true to historical fact, including those detailing his unusual escape. Still, one of the things that set apart Outlander’s Bonnie Prince Charlie was his repeated use of the phrase “Mark me,” making many viewers wonder whether that was also historically accurate.
Bonnie Prince Charlie’s iconic catchphrase actually resulted from both the work by the Outlander’s writers and Andrew Gower’s own intuition. While the phrase wasn’t in the biography Gower studied to bring the character to life, it was in a first draft of Prince Charles’ onscreen debut in Outlander. Gower decided to build on that, making the catchphrase the way the prince demanded attention, as he “wanted to give him a phrase that he routinely uses and that speaks to who he is.” (via Yahoo! Entertainment)
Prince Charles’ catchphrase reappeared in his Outlander season 6 cameo. Gower explained that he tended to repeat it not only because he was trying to build upon a character “with a lack of identity” but also as it was a military phrase, and, as Bonnie Prince Charles was trying to lead a rebellion, he was very interested in conveying that image. As revealed by Gower, the moments when the catchphrase was used by Bonnie Prince Charlie in a scene were decided conjointly by the writers, the directors, and the actor himself, and they chose to exclude it from more emotionally raw scenes.
Prince Charles’ “Mark me” became so recurrent that drinking games were devised by viewers. His famous catchphrase became such a part of the character that Prince Charles is recognizable by it in the show. What makes it even better is knowing how writers and Gower collaborated on letting “Mark me” develop, truly speaking to the commitment of Outlander.