Review: Outlander's season 7 finale leaves us with a shocking, unexpected twist

This season of Outlander has been a whirlwind journey, but every single moment has been worth it now that we've seen the finale, "A Hundred Thousand Angels."

Courtesy: Starz
Courtesy: Starz

Wow, what a finale, folks! Outlander gave us everything we might have wanted ahead of the eighth and final season, which will wrap the show up (hopefully) later this year. After an elongated seventh season with a big break in the middle, we finally saw the conclusion of season 7, and I must say, "A Hundred Thousand Angels" did not disappoint.

In the penultimate episode of the season, we saw Claire (Caitriona Balfe) fighting for her life after being shot while Denzell (Joey Phillips) operates on her. The episode ended before we learned of her fate, but luckily, the season 7 finale wastes no time in giving us the updates.

There is a lot to unpack regarding the season 7 finale of Outlander, including a bombshell revelation about Claire and Jamie's (Sam Heughan) family. Buckle up, fellow Outlander fans, this one was a doozy! BEWARE MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD!

Catching up with Jane

While Claire's well-being is at the forefront of our minds, the series chooses to focus on Jane (Silvia Presente) in the opening scenes. We see her chatting with a reporter who wants to know about how she murdered Captain Harkness. Of course, the reporter is trying to get a glamorized version of the story by asking her all the juicy questions that might appeal the readers.

But it wasn't so glamorous, was it? This man hurt Jane, and there is no reason why she needs to divulge details about it. It was amazing to see Jane stick up for herself in this moment. She's not taking the reporter's nonsense, saying that the only reason she wishes the captain was alive so she could murder him again.

Desperate to get anyone's help to save Jane, William (Charles Vandevaart) turns to Lord John Grey (David Berry). Even though things have been contentious between them since the "Your real father is Jamie Fraser" reveal, William will seemingly do anything to save Jane. Unfortunately, Lord John doesn't have a way to help Jane because she signed a confession. He makes a snide remark about Jane's profession but is taken aback when William reveals why she killed the captain in the first place. Nonetheless, Lord John's hands are tied.

Claire lives!

Clare did indeed survive the surgery performed by Denzell, and Jamie is happy to hear Claire whisper, "I have decided not to die" as he sits next to her. Can I just say, this man defied the U.S. army to be by his wife's side. Do such men even exist outside of Outlander?!

As the war wages on without Jamie, Ian (John Hunter Bell) comes in with the news that William is alive and well. He's not so sure about Jamie's fate, however, given how he quit, but Jamie doesn't seem to care. He needed to be with his dying wife, and so that is exactly what he did. Hell or high water.

As the episode carries on, Claire's health continues to improve, and while she and Jamie can't quite be intimate yet, they certainly are thinking about it and missing it. Hopefully, fun days are ahead for this couple, especially as they make plans to head back to home to Fraser's Ridge.

What I found striking about this episode is Claire's hallucinations of people she once knew, people we haven't seen in a long time. Of course, she is recovering from a brutal surgery and she can't take antibiotics and medicine to help with her recovery. One night, she imagines a character from season 2, Master Raymond (Dominque Pinon), showing up in her room. If you recall, he ran the apothecary that Claire would frequent in Paris in season 2. He asks for Claire's forgiveness, but it is unclear why he might need it. There is an image that flashes across the screen of what appears to be wings. This again is a reference to the second season and a conversation with Master Raymond about healing and pain. Fun fact: that episode was called, "Faith", which has a certain significance in Jamie and Claire's life.

Faith is brought up a lot in this episode. Faith was the name of Jamie and Claire's daughter who died. After seeing the vision of Master Raymond, Claire can't help but think about something he once said to her about seeing her again. While talking to Jamie, she ponders if they will ever see their daughter Faith again. Jamie seems to think so because once Murtagh alluded to the same thing as he was dying.

Oh, the connections! We got to love it!

Lallybroch reunion

We catch up with Roger (Richard Rankin) and Buck (Diarmaid Murtagh) who are leaving Lallybroch just as a figure emerges in the fog. That figure would be none other than Jemmy (Blake Johnston Miller)! It turns out that when Brianna (Sophie Skelton) and him ran after Mandy (Rosa Morris) just as they were about to travel through the stones, they ended up right where they needed to. Seeing them reunite is everything, even if it is in a time period different than Jamie and Claire's.

I loved to see the MacKenzie family at Lallybroch almost three centuries before they would call it home. It's such a jarring yet familiar feeling, and it's even cooler to see Brianna get in touch with her roots, and her paternal grandfather. It's a special moment when she thanks Brian Fraser (Andrew Whipp) for his hospitality. That is her grandfather after all!

As Brian points out, Brianna looks so familiar to him and so much like his Ellen who has now passed. Little does he know that Brianna is his own blood. This whole moment makes me so excited for the Blood of My Blood prequel series! We're going to learn so much more about Jamie's parents.

Dad, I need a favor

In a surprising twist, William comes to Jamie asking for his help in rescuing Jane, and Jamie does not disappoint. Instead of refusing to take action, Jamie leaps into a dangerous situation with William in an effort to save Jane.

Jamie knew that he couldn't refuse his son help, especially when he literally came asking for it. Given the low-stakes security at the prison, Jamie and William manage to get into the room Jane is in. However, they are too late. She has committed suicide and her body lays lifeless on the floor. It is absolutely heart-breaking and gut-wrenching to see this moment and to see the look on William's face. It hurts to know how much this hurt him, and how he wishes things could have turned out differently.

After returning to Claire, Jamie shares that Jane has passed, but leaves behind a sister named Frances (Florrie May Wilkinson). They decide they will take this young girl back with them to Fraser's Ridge so she can be safe and live her life free of the dangers she is used to. Before Frances can even agree to any of that, she wants to see her sister one last time. While that request doesn't play out exactly as she wanted, Jamie and Claire do learn of where she was buried and take Frances there to say her last goodbyes.

A moment between Claire and Frances again references the visions and thoughts Claire has been having all episode. Claire asks Frances what she will recall about Jane and remember most about her. She shares that Jane loved the stars in the sky, which she called "dancing lights." Frances references their mother by sharing something she once said to them about "a hundred thousand angels dancing" in the sky. If you remember, Claire did have a vision of stars right after she got shot. Is everything starting to come together? If not, don't worry, it will.

Frances is given some of Jane's stuff back, including a locket with the word "Faith" inscribed in it. Once again, Claire is jolted back to the thought of their late daughter and the loss they experienced.

An unexpected death

We haven't touched on Ian and Rachel much in this recap, but it's time. As Ian returns home to Rachel after rescuing William, he shares that perhaps going to Fraser's Ridge might be in their family's future. Of course, he doesn't want to pull Rachel away from her brother, but he does have land in Fraser's Ridge that Roger gave to him.

Rachel isn't opposed to the idea because as long as this place is safe and fruitful, they'll be able to raise their family there. A family that is already beginning to form because Rachel is PREGNANT! Yay for joy!

Of course, things take a drastic turn as they awaken the next morning to find that Rollo has died. It broke my heart to see that our favorite resident Outlander dog is no more. Why do we have to have this kind of heartbreak in the finale?! And why Rollo?! Naturally, Ian is shattered to see his best friend no longer alive, but he has plans to bury him somewhere special, and Rachel insists she will join him as Rollo is just as special to her now.

Ending of Outlander season 7 finale explained

As things wrap up in the season 7 finale, a lot comes together at once. Back in Lallybroch, Roger contemplates if they should wait for a young Jamie to return home so they can see him. Brianna rejects the idea because any more meddling with time can spell disaster, so they start thinking about where and when they want to live. They could go back to the 1980s, but Mandy is okay now, and the reason for them going there in the first place was to get her medical help. If they are going to live in the past, why not return to Fraser's Ridge and be with Claire and Jamie? It looks like Season 8 is going to get the gang back together!

Okay, now for the big dramatic conclusion and ending to Outlander season 7. As Claire is bidding farewell to Ian and Rachel, she thinks she hears someone singing a song, a song that is very familiar to her: "I Do Like to Be Beside the Seaside." It's a song from the early 1900s so the fact that someone is singing it is completely unexpected, and it's even more shocking when Claire realizes it is Frances who is singing the words. We get a flashback to season 2 when Claire is holding baby Faith singing the very same song as her lifeless body lays in Claire's arms.

I'm not sure how, but Frances says her mother used to sing her this song all the time. Suddenly, everything hits you like a train when you connect the vision of Master Raymond, the "Faith" of it all, and now, this song. Claire looks to Jamie and says she believes Faith may have actually lived. SAY WHAT?!

I am having a lot of thoughts in this moment, but IF Frances is indeed Claire and Jamie's granddaughter, that means Jane was too. So this means William is potentially related to Jane, so that's something. Let's take a moment to dissect here...Faith was Claire and Jamie's daughter, William is Jamie's son, so Faith and William would be half-siblings, and any children of Faith's would be William's nieces. Yikes, that feels uncomfortable; I do not know how William is going to handle yet another family bombshell revelation, especially one this jarring.

With that, we come to the end of Outlander season 7. What a ride it has been. I have so many thoughts and feelings about the conclusion and I cannot wait to find out what happens with the Faith revelation, and how that all can be possible. It's so insane and out of this world, yet we can trust Outlander to get away with it.

There is a lot at stake when Outlander returns for its eighth and final season, and I must say, we are not ready to say goodbye just yet. Until then, folks!

Episode Grade: A+

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