Warning! Spoilers for Outlander: Blood of My Blood ahead!
TheOutlanderfranchise long ago established an overarching mystery, and it looks as if it will finally be solved in the upcoming final installment. Though we would naturally hope that season 8 would lay all ofOutlander’s biggest questions to rest, the Starz TV series is under no obligation to tie up all of them. After all, author Diana Gabaldon’s books aren’t quite finished yet.
The fact thatOutlanderseason 8will wrap up the TV series before Gabaldon releases her tenth and final book suggests that we won’t get resolutions to every established storyline.We saw similarly disappointing endings with shows likeGame of Thrones, which was also forced to continue on and wrap things up beyond what had been written in the books. Still,Outlanderhas taken a unique approach.
LikeGame of Thrones,Outlandernow has a prequel series. UnlikeGame of Thrones, however,Outlander’s prequel,Blood of My Blood, has kicked off before the central series has officially come to a close. This is a significant asset to the Romantasy TV show, sinceBlood of My Bloodcan work in tandem withOutlanderseason 8to bring a satisfying close to the story. This means we could actually get the answers we are looking for.
Outlander’s Prequel & Season 8 Seems Aimed To Answer Why Claire Time-Traveled To Begin With
There has always been a significant sense in theOutlanderbooksthat Claire’s adventures had a very specific purpose. Clearly, Claire and Jamie were meant to be together, but there’s some other key reason that this particular woman was swept away in time. It was her destiny, and like any good time-travel series,Claire’sOutlanderstory must comefull circle.
While this is also true, to an extent, in theOutlanderTV show, that nuanced concept of fate hasn’t come across the same way on screen. Add in the fact thatOutlanderseason 8 will be unique from Gabaldon’s book ending, and I had lost hope that Claire’s story would meaningfully come full circle. Sure, we would get a nice ending, but thebigquestion of why Claire had this adventure to begin with might have been ignored.
The release of the prequel,Outlander: Blood of My Blood, has officially changed my mind. This new installment in the franchise has introduced Claire and Jamie’s parents, and it’s evident from the first episode that destiny is already at work here. Against all odds, the Beauchamps and Frasers crossed paths long before Jamie and Claire met and fell in love.
Thenew details from theOutlanderprequelare sure to have an impact on the story of season 8. The fact that the spinoff premiered before the final season of the central series guarantees a cooperative story. This is deeply exciting, since it means we can look forward to a thrilling, full-circle conclusion to Claire’sOutlanderstory that answers the big question—why?
How Destiny Can Bring The Outlander Franchise Full Circle
The question ofwhyClaire began her journey in the first place is rooted in a handful of additional mysteries established by the start of her story. First, there wasJamie’s ghost, which Frank saw watching Claire in 20th-century Inverness inOutlanderseason 1. The reason and manner in which this apparition appeared are guaranteed to relate to Claire’s destiny. Then, there are the forget-me-not flowers at Craigh na Dun.
Ever since this moment, it has been theorized that someone purposely planted these flowers to draw Claire toward her destiny.
Back inOutlanderseason 1, Claire noticed forget-me-nots planted around the stones at Craigh na Dun. This detail stood out since this type of forget-me-not wasn’t native to Scotland. This is what drew Claire back to investigate the stones, ultimately resulting in her first big jump through time. Ever since this moment, it has been theorized thatsomeonepurposely planted these flowers to draw Claire toward her destiny.
With the combined efforts ofOutlander: Blood of My BloodandOutlanderseason 8, new details should be revealed that would bring the story’s ending back around to these key season 1 moments. Perhaps it will be Claire’s mother who plants the forget-me-nots. Or, it could be Jamie’s father’s ghost that appears in Inverness.
More than likely, a couple of other bigOutlandermysterieswill tie into this as well. Master Raymond, the puppet master of the series, appeared in season 7 and inspired Claire’s hypothesis that her daughter, Faith, had lived. Whether this is true or not, it’s clear that Claire is being pushed in a particular direction, and her parents' stories have something to do with it.
There’s Still A Major Problem With Any Possible Answer In Outlander
Though I’m eager to seeOutlander: Blood of My BloodandOutlanderseason 8 work together to bring Claire’s story full circle, there’s still a problem here. My primary hope is that the show’s ending will come with the delicious feeling that everything worked out exactly as it was supposed. It should be evident that the characters were working toward this ending all along.
Of course, even if the ending ofOutlanderseason 8 feels this way, it won’t be the case. Gabaldon’s book ending will be the final word on Jamie and Claire’s story, and it can’t possibly be the same as what we see on the screen. After all, in Gabaldon’s version of the story, Claire’s parents didn’t time-travel, andFaith Fraserdidn’t survive in any capacity.
Said and done, we will have two different endings to Jamie and Claire’s stories. The best we can hope for is that bothOutlanderresolutions will be satisfying and bring things full circle in that perfectly magical sort of way. They may not be entirely cohesive, but so long as they are entertaining, we can live with it.
