Fans of Outlander are still debating the show’s wild finale, and now another star has chimed in.
The series finale of Outlander had Jamie facing his fate at the Battle of King’s Mountain. At first, it appeared Jamie had beaten destiny to survive, only to be shot by a defeated Lord Ferguson and die in the arms of his beloved wife, Claire.
After spending the night with Jamie’s body, with the audience getting a montage of their epic romance, the camera showed a now-white-haired Claire with Jamie, as both appeared to return to life. Caitriona Balfe had already shared her confusion at the ending. And, speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Sam Heughan shared his own views, hinting that the ending may have been shifted from the original plans.
Sam Heughan theorizes what the ending of Outlander means
“I don't know if I fully understand it, Heughan admitted. “There was, I believe, an element of Claire having a power. It goes back to her being la dame blanche, this white witch. She brings the child back to life earlier. There’s the Faith of it all. Her hair changes color using her special ability. But I think they changed their minds on quite how that was going to play out."
Heughan added, "In my head, or the way I'm interpreting it, is it’s really up to the fans, whether they're alive again together. They’re, of course, always together. But are they alive in this world or in the next? I'd like to believe that they're alive together. I think them even waking up on the standing stone itself might signify that perhaps they're somewhere else.”
His words on the writers possibly changing the scene refers to how the showrunners filmed multiple endings. Heughan hints that one of these alternate endings may have been a bit clearer. He also agreed with Balfe on how he’d prefer to imagine a living Claire and Jamie staying out of future adventures.
“Hopefully in retirement, in a nice, peaceful place,” Heughan responded when asked what he imagines Claire and Jamie’s lives are like, if they are alive together. “They've done their battles. They've made amends. For me, I think the story stops there.”
There was one key part to the finale that Heughan fought for a long time.
Why Heughan fought for Jamie’s ghost
One part of the finale finally brought a key plot point of the series full circle. Way back in the very first episode, Frank (Tobias Menzies) saw a ghostly figure resembling Jamie at the manor in 1946 before Claire went back in time. The audience now saw that from Jamie’s point of view, seeing Frank and then heading through the stones.
Heughan explained he fought to film that scene himself rather than reuse old footage to close up this dangling thread.
“That, for me, was key. I didn't know how [showrunner] Matt [Roberts] was going to end the show specifically, but it was something that I pushed for,” the actor stated. “I think I said quite early on that I really wanted to do it. I feel that initially, when I said it to him, he wasn't going to go there. But I know a lot of people really wanted to do that — not only the fans but ourselves and a lot of other execs and creatives involved. It was just so important.”
Heughan added that the actual scene “was really cool to film.”
“My interpretation is that he called her, or called for his love or called for something to come into his life, and the rest is history,” he added.
Notably, Heughan revealed that he’s one of the few people who know exactly how the Outlander books will end, as Diana Gabaldon showed him the last few chapters of the final novel way back when the show started production in 2014 to aid his performance. That means Heughan has more authority to discuss the ending’s meaning and add to the debate on the series finale.
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