Adapting a beloved fantasy novel is tricky, and adapting a whole series doubly so, especially when the author is still in the middle of writing it. The showrunners of Game of Thrones learned that the hard way. At first, they were able to use George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire novels as the basis for the show’s early seasons. But problems arose when the show ran out of source material, since Martin still hasn't finished the novels. That forced the showrunners to craft their own ending (with Martin's help). It was met with a divisive reaction, to put it mildly, and is still debated today.
Fans of Outlander are worried that show could meet the same fate. The Starz series has done a great job adapting the Diana Gabaldon novels about former World War II nurse Claire Randall, who is transported from 1947 to 1743 where she has a whirlwind romance with highlander Jamie Fraser. However, the eighth and final season of the show will outpace the books. Gabaldon plans to release the tenth and final book in the series, A Blessing for a Warrior Going Out, sometime in 2026.
Are we in for another Game of Thrones situation? What does this mean for the conclusion of this epic saga?
What one actor says on the Outlander ending
Speaking to Popverse, Charles Vandervaart, who plays William on Outlander, shared how the series is trying to navigate these challenges:
"In season eight, we kind of had a Game of Thrones situation. Where we’re past the books now. We had to… we did a lot of talking to Diana [Gabaldon], the writer, about what she thinks is going to happen in the final book that she writes. So there has been a little bit of collaboration there on the book side and the film side."
George R.R. Martin has already made it clear that the Game of Thrones finale won’t match what he had in mind for his novels, even if the broad outline may be similar. It’s likely Gabaldon is in the same boat as the series has made some alterations to her stories along the way, so its finale can stand on its own, separate from what she plans for the tenth novel.
That Gabaldon is taking care to work with the producers is smart of her. She's also aided in the development of the upcoming prequel series Blood of My Blood, which has a wild plot twist where Claire’s parents go back in time to the 1720s where they meet Jamie’s parents.
Blood of My Blood premieres on Starz on Friday, August 8. We don't have an exact release date for the final season of Outlander just yet, but we're expecting it to come along early in 2026, and then we'll see how the cast and crew navigated these tricky waters.
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