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Outlander Season 7's Big Fake-Out May Be Trouble For Season 8's Next Death

Published

5 days ago

8th April 2025

Warning! Spoilers for the Outlander books ahead!

Outlander season 8 should feature another big character death, but this may feel anticlimactic after a fake-out from season 7. The romantacy series is known for its big twists and turns, but this means it will be even harder for the upcoming final season to blow us away. Diana Gabaldon has a great book story that Outlander seems to be working toward, and if done right, this could be the perfect, climactic ending to the overarching series. However, the TV show’s condensed format may make it more challenging for this big death to strike audiences in the way it should.

Another factor that will complicate Outlander‘s ending is the unfinished status of Gabaldon’s book series. The author currently has nine published books in her Outlander series, but her tenth and final installment has yet to be released. It won’t hit shelves until after Outlander season 8 wraps up Starz’s version of Claire and Jamie’s story, so the upcoming episodes will have to be based predominantly on book 9, Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone. The climactic high point of this novel could be the perfect ending for Outlander, but it won’t be so simple.

Jamie Is Set To Die (Again) In Outlander Season 8

Claire Will Again Believe That She Has Lost Her Husband

Jamie looking defiantly at something in Outlander

In the ninth Outlander book, Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone, Jamie heads off into battle once again. The American Revolution finally finds its way to North Carolina, and the Frasers and MacKenzies can no longer avoid the fight when it comes time for the Battle of Kings Mountain. This is a battle history dictates would be won by the Continental Army. However, Brianna also discovers that Jamie Fraser is recorded to have died during the Battle of Kings Mountain. Jamie marches off to fight anyway, and Claire is devastated when he doesn’t return following America’s victory.

Of course, this isn’t the first time that Jamie has been presumed dead in Outlander. Just as every time before, things ultimately turn out okay. Claire heads to the battleground on Kings Mountain and hunts down her husband’s body. She ultimately finds that Jamie maintains a sliver of life, which she can supernaturally sense within him. Claire then uses her healing powers to bring Jamie back to life. It’s a tragically dramatic moment, made all the more impactful by the implication that Claire’s own love saved Jamie. However, the fact that Jamie was just presumed dead in Outlander season 7 puts a damper on things.

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Jamie’s Next Death May Be Anticlimactic After His Season 7 Fake Out

Jamie’s Near Misses Seem Far More Repetitive In The TV Show

In Outlander season 7, Claire came to believe that Jamie was dead when the ship he was meant to travel to the colonies on was lost at sea. Claire was devastated and took to locking herself in her room and drinking herself into a stupor on a daily basis. Of course, Jamie returned in a blaze of glory (with Redcoats on his tail) and explained that he had taken another ship last minute. Claire was so relieved that she laughed out loud, and all the tension of the previous, painful episode was released. It was a great moment—one Outlander season 8 will have difficulty following up.

Jamie’s death in the Battle of King’s Mount didn’t seem repetitive in the books since his presumed death on the ship from Scotland happened two books before (and 11 years passed between these two books’ publishing dates).

If Jamie is again presumed dead in Outlander season 8, it could come across as a bit repetitive to audiences. Such a similar situation will be harder to care about in the coming episodes since audiences have already been faked out this way. Jamie falling on the battlefield would ultimately feel anticlimactic in the coming episodes since there will be no real question about whether he will actually die. Since Outlander needs a big climactic ending that keeps audiences on the edge of their seats, the repetitiveness of this story would be a significant obstacle.

How Outlander Can Keep Jamie’s Repeated Deaths Interesting In Season 8

Outlander Has To Put Its Focus On The Correct Things

Sam Heughan as Jamie Fraser pointing a gun at the screen in Outlander season 7 midseason finale

Even audiences who haven’t read the books are unlikely to be tricked by Jamie’s Outlander season 8 death. After so many fake outs, no one would expect Claire’s husband to actually meet his end. Of course, Starz could really surprise everyone by making significant changes to how things played out in Gabaldon’s version of the story. However, actually killing off Jamie really wouldn’t be the way to go here. Such a dramatic shift that’s only for shock’s sake would never be well received by Outlander audiences. Still, there are a handful of other options—one of which Outlander season 7 already set up.

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If Outlander season 8 adapts Jamie’s Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone death story, then it would be important that Claire’s healing abilities, not the death itself, be the focus.

If Outlander season 8 adapts Jamie’s Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone death story, then it would be important that Claire’s healing abilities, not the death itself, be the focus. In canon, Brianna saw in a history book (written by Frank Randall) that Jamie would die in the Battle of Kings Mountain so Claire could begin practicing her powers from that moment on. The question would be less whether Jamie would live and, more precisely, how Claire would refine her abilities before being faced with her husband’s death. It will take some careful maneuvering, but Outlander season 8 can surely pull it off.