Outlander season 7 ending explained: Is Faith alive and will there be a season 8?

Outlander season 7 came to a shocking conclusion and many viewers are likely hoping season 8 will clear up the mystery.

The popularity and enduring nature of Outlander shows no sign of slowing down, with viewers on the edge of their seats for the duration of season 7 and hoping there's more to come now the finale has aired. With a beautiful love story spanning not only generations but centuries, incredible backdrops and bringing history to life like you've never seen it before, it's unsurprising Outlander has reached an unprecedented number of seasons.

Season 7 saw more insight given into the role of mysterious time traveller, Buck MacKenzie, while also leaving fans increasingly concerned that should Jamie and Claire die in the Outlander books, the pair could suffer a similar fate in the show.

Of course, there was also the big worry that season 7 might be the last season of Outlander - nobody is ready for a permanent 'Droughtlander' as dedicated viewers have named the wait between seasons. The finale wasn't entirely straightforward and threw up a number of sinister questions fans are keen to have answered - let's break down everything that happened in the final episode of season 7, and look at what we know of the series continuing into season 8.

*Warning: Spoilers ahead*

Outlander season 7 ending explained

While it appeared during the penultimate episode of season that Claire might die, the finale healed millions of hearts around the globe by revealing that she did actually survive her gunshot wound. Through a combination of the excellent medical training she'd given Denzell, and being gifted some roquefort cheese by the The Marquis de LaFayette during a prior episode, Denzell was able to save Claire by using his newfound skills and making much-needed penicillin from the cheese mould.

While recovering from her injuries and with Jamie refusing to leave her side, Claire has a vision of Master Raymond, an apothecary she first encountered during her time in Paris during season 2. Master Raymond had a large part in helping Claire recover following the devastating stillbirth of her first daughter, Faith.

When a confused Claire asks why he is visiting her, he reveals he's come to ask for her forgiveness. This still doesn't clear the matter up, as Claire asks him what on earth he needs forgiveness for - remaining elusive, he isn't explicit, simply telling her that one day she'd know. Unsure whether Master Raymond had really visited or whether she'd dreamed his presence, Claire asks Jamie if anyone had come to her bedside during the night - he confirms nobody had.

Meanwhile, Jane had been arrested for the murder of Captain Harkness and William is desperate to find her. Although still reeling from the discovery Jamie is his real father and not really wanting to ask for his help in locating her, William has few other choices. The pair break into the prison where Jane is being held, ready to bring her back under their protection.

Sadly, Jane had decided to take fate into her own hands and avoid the hangman's noose by taking her own life. William is devastated and filled with remorse that he didn't do more to protect her, but the least he can do is ensure her young sister, Frances, has decent people to care for her - who better than Jamie and Claire, who waste no time in agreeing to take on the little girl and prepare to take her with them for their move back to North Carolina.

Jamie and William later reach an uneasy truce after Lord John Grey warns William he should be grateful to have a great man like Jamie as a father. William asks Jamie lots of questions about his birth mother and really wants to know whether Jamie had forced her into the relations that resulted in his conception - which of course, was definitely not the case - it had actually been Geneva Dunsany who'd blackmailed Jamie into sex. The conversation ends as amicably as it could, but not before William cuttingly tells Jamie he'll never call him father.

Ian and Rachel who don't appear to often in the finale, are also gearing up to join the exodus back to Fraser's Ridge, and both are delighted to discover Rachel is pregnant. There's also sadness for Ian, when he wakes one morning to discover his faithful and beloved dog, Rollo, had died in his sleep. Outlander has offered up some seriously tear-inducing moments, but Ian sobbing over Rollo's lifeless body has to be up there with some of the most devastating.

Roger and Brianna have an unexpectedly happy ending when they manage to find each other in the 1739 wilderness. Having realised Jemmy had never gone through the stones and was still in 1980, Brianna gathered her children together to head back in time to find Roger and Buck who'd gone looking for him.

The family head to Lallybroch where Jamie's father Brian Fraser puts them up in the past version of their current home. She and Roger don't confirm their next steps - when they left 1980, Rob Cameron was threatening them and sending gunmen to trash their home. Although Roger asserts he will kill Rob, it could be better for the family to make their way to Claire and Jamie's time and stay safe in the past for the time being.

As the episode draws to a close, Claire heads off to find Frances and overhears her singing I Do Like To be Beside the Seaside. Frances had already left Claire disconcerted by showing her a pendant given to her by her mother, engraved with her name, Faith - the same name as Claire's deceased daughter. As Claire approaches Frances looking like she might pass out, she asks, "How can you possibly know that song?" because it was in fact, written in 1907. Frances replies that her mother, Faith, used to sing it to her, and Claire had also sung it while cradling her apparently dead daughter, Faith, all those years ago. Claire's final words in the episode are to tell Jamie she thinks their daughter lived...

Is Faith alive in Outlander?

Whether Jamie and Claire's daughter Faith lived or not, remains a mystery. If Claire's Faith survived, we don't know how that happened. Did Master Raymond want Claire's forgiveness because he took the real Faith and had a part in telling Claire she'd died? Did he know the real Faith had been swapped and told Claire a lie?

If Frances' mother is Claire's daughter Faith, she isn't alive in Claire's current timeline because Jane and Frances were orphans. We still don't know if the two Faiths are the same person, and the show could've simply laid out a series of compelling red herrings.

Realistically, a newborn baby would never be able to memorise an entire song when they're just a few hours old, and although Outlander forces viewers to suspend disbelief on the whole, trying to encourage them to believe this could happen is almost one step too far. It appears that Claire's daughter and Frances' mother are linked somehow - probably not the same person, but there's a link and it seems Master Raymond knows what it is. We just need this great mystery resolved as soon as possible.

Will there be an Outlander season 8?

Yes, there will be an Outlander season 8. However, despite the series already having wrapped filming, there's currently no news on a release date. Brianna's actress, Sophie Skelton, has teased huge twists are to come during the show's eighth and final season.

Speaking to Collider, the actress said, "The final season is going to blow people's minds a little bit. The fans have been put through the wringer coming into the second half of this season - we've really played with the emotional heartstrings.

But I feel like the end of the season is just a bit more of a nice sigh of relief, maybe a little bit more peaceful. But then season 8 we're just going to mess you up again emotionally. I think it's a really big and a really magnificent season. I’m excited for the fans to get to see it."

Fans, it looks like you'll have to use the gap between seasons to prepare yourselves - things could get emotional.