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One of the biggest twists of “When Calls the Heart” Season 8 happened when Nathan revealed his Fort Clay secret. The showrunner for the hit Hallmark series, John Tinker, revealed whether or not this secret was something the writers had in mind for a long time before the season or if it was a newer development.
The Writers Didn’t Plan the Fort Clay Secret Until Season 8
Tinker and Rich talked with fans about the show in a live stream on Facebook on April 22. In the video above, around the 14:45 mark, a fan recalls when Tinker revealed that McGarry didn’t know about Nathan’s Fort Clay secret, only that he was supposed to act reserved. The viewer then asked if the writers in Season 6 and 7 planned the Fort Clay secret, or if it was a more recent development.
Tinker said:
The very clever writers did not, to my knowledge, plan it in Seasons 6 and 7. But the very clever writers, Derek Thompson and Elizabeth Stewart… We all came up with that one, but they really, you know, supplied the material for it.
The secret they’re talking about was revealed in Season 8 Episode 8 of “When Calls the Heart.” At the end of the episode, Elizabeth demands to know what Nathan has been hiding from her about Fort Clay. Her husband, Jack, was killed there several years earlier during a training mission. She learned that Nathan’s stay at Fort Clay had overlapped Jack’s.
Nathan revealed to Elizabeth: “At Fort Clay, I was the one that was supposed to lead the training mission, not Jack. I was disciplined for an earlier incident and your husband… Jack replaced me. I’m sorry Elizabeth, there was never the right time to tell you. I wanted to…”
Then in the next episode, Nathan elaborated more on what happened and why he didn’t tell her.
“I felt guilty,” Nathan said. “After the accident, I requested to transfer here to Hope Valley. I never met Jack, but I knew he left behind a wife and child, and I felt it was my responsibility to look after you. To protect you. … I felt it was my duty. When I found myself … falling in love with you, I felt like I was betraying Jack and his memory. That’s why I didn’t tell you. I fell in love with you. And I think that love is always worth fighting for.”
Last Week, Tinker Said McGarry Didn’t Know About Fort Clay Either
At about 17:00 in the video above from last week, Tinker answered a question from a fan about whether or not Kevin McGarry, who plays Nathan on the show, knew about the Fort Clay secret in previous seasons.
Tinker said:
No he [McGarry] didn’t. He did not know that [about Fort Clay]… He was reserved but… It’s funny you should ask that question, and we’ve talked about that in the writers’ room. There was a reservation to his character that I’ve personally, just as a viewer, found frustrating. I always wanted him to speak up. …
That’s why in the very first episode, he blurts out, ‘I love you.’ I think that signals a turning and a change in his character. And I think this season is about Nathan, really his character coming out of perhaps a shell in which he cloistered himself, due ultimately to all those things that happened. … When he first arrived he wasn’t ultimately received that well and he was having conflicting feelings about Elizabeth. Which again, that will continue to be played out this season. And we’ll see what happens after that.