The seasons of Outlander have been building in emotion and tension for Jamie and Claire Fraser and the historical show’s seventh season is currently filming.
To the relief of Outlander fans everywhere season 7 of Outlander was confirmed back in March last year and it is set to be a mammoth 16 episodes long. This is amazing news as it allows even more scope to explore the plot details of Diana Gabaldon’s book series that Outlander on STARZ is based on and to delve into the repercussions of the Outlander season 6 finale. The high-stakes ending made this an unmissable watch and anyone who hasn’t yet looked into how to watch Outlander has plenty of big moments to catch up on. It also raised questions about what lies in store for main characters Jamie and Claire Fraser and viewers might well be wondering about the future of the show.
But is season 7 the last season of Outlander and how many seasons of the time-traveling historical drama could there be? We reveal what we know so far…
*Warning: Outlander spoilers ahead!*
Is season 7 the last season of Outlander?
Outlander season 7 is the last season of Outlander to have specifically been confirmed by STARZ, however that doesn’t necessarily mean that it will be the last season of Outlander to ever air. Outlander season 7 is currently in production and it’s reported that the upcoming installment of the hit show will be adapting parts of author Diana Gabaldon’s sixth book in the Outlander series, A Breath of Snow and Ashes, as well as the seventh book, An Echo in The Bone. The previous season was shorter than those that came before it but season 7 is set to be a whopping 16 episodes long, providing plenty of scope to explore the novels’ themes and characters’ many storylines.
How many seasons of Outlander will there be?
Until the future of the show is confirmed officially by STARZ, any speculation about how many seasons of Outlander there will be remains exactly that - speculation - and it’s not known how many seasons exactly there could be. However, given the popularity of the show if the demand is still there, it’s perhaps reasonable to predict that Outlander could continue for at least as many books as there are in the series at the moment.
So far Diana Gabaldon has written and published 9 Outlander books and is currently at work on the 10th. The show has generally followed the books, if not exactly, as one might expect from even the best book-to-series or book-to-movie adaptations. And aside from some plot points, each of the different seasons of Outlander adapts the material from a single one of Diana’s books.
Although it’s not yet known how many more Outlander books Diana Gabaldon could be planning to write, showrunners certainly have scope to take the show further if they adapt books 8 and 9 and potentially 10 depending on air dates and publication dates.
Is season 7 the last we’ll see of Jamie and Claire?
From the moment fans were plunged back in time to 18th century Scotland alongside 20th century nurse Claire Randall it was clear that she and highland warrior Jamie Fraser were going to be the anchor for this spellbinding series and the love-interests-turned-married-couple have certainly been that. However, as the show has gone on we’ve seen other characters rise up to share their screen time, including their adult daughter Brianna, her husband Roger, and son Jemmy.
Meanwhile the Outlander season 6 finale certainly left things looking bleak for Claire and dropped some heart-wrenching hints (shortly followed by absolute certainty) that her life could be in danger in season 7. This in turn might have got some people wondering what their fates could be if Outlander season 8 does happen.
The Outlander season 6 finale saw Claire explaining the concept of a last supper for a death row prisoner doomed to die, to her 18th century husband. Both were holding out as long as they could whilst Richard Brown and his Committee attempted to force them from their house. Although they claim to be there purely to take Claire to Salisbury to stand trial for the as-yet-unsolved murder of Malva Christie, it’s also pretty clear that Richard would like revenge for the death of his brother Lionel.
Eventually, the two are taken by the Committee, and while she might deserve one it’s looking like the possibility of a fair trial is pretty well non-existent for Claire. Richard Brown has been spreading the news that she’s a witch as far and wide as he can, leading to her and Jamie being pelted with stones by people on their journey to Salisbury.
Along the way and a change of plan later, the Committee prepares to take them to Wilmington, with Richard’s men grabbing Jamie and the man himself spiriting Claire away from her loyal husband ready to face the gallows. Upon their arrival in Wilmington Richard swears to the nurse that he will see her die - again suggesting that Claire won’t have an easy time convincing people she’s innocent.
In the final scenes Jamie is rescued from his captors who’d been attempting to send him back to Scotland and he is seen riding away with his allies including Young Ian, hopefully to try and save his wife. However, this Outlander ending does suggest that there is still a huge amount of peril lying ahead for Claire.
Despite this, though, it’s highly unlikely that if there does go on to be an Outlander season 8 that Outlander season 7 will be the last we see of Jamie and Claire who are - after all - the original Outlander power couple. Although the show doesn’t rigidly follow every single aspect of the storyline of author Diana Gabaldon’s books, the remaining novels in the series have Claire and Jamie still very much front and center.
In a major plot twist, however, book 8 in the series, Written In My Own Heart’s Blood, Claire is left astonished when Jamie apparently returns from the dead and she has remarried his friend, Lord John Grey, leaving her concerned about how her former and current husband might handle the revelation.
If Outlander does go on to be renewed for a season 8 and it does follow this major storyline, then while we will see Jamie and Claire again, fans who haven’t read the books might face an agonizing wait wondering about his fate after season 7. Whatever happens, many viewers will no doubt be hoping that Outlander continues for many more seasons to adapt all of Diana's Outlander books.
