Sam Heughan knows “Outlander” fans are wondering what happened to his character, Jamie, after that series finale, and he has thoughts.
The Starz series ended its eight-season run on May 15 with a finale that saw Jamie getting shot (and presumably killed) by Major Patrick Ferguson during a battle.
Earlier on in the season, Jamie read a book from a future and learned he was fated to die in the battle. He, along with viewers, likely assumed he was a goner.
But the end of the finale complicates things. Claire (Caitriona Balfe) sits with Jamie on the battlefield after he’s been shot. Her hair turns bright white then and there — seeming to confirm a prophecy that said when her hair turned white, she would come into her healing powers.
The episode ends with Jamie and Claire gasping for air. Was Claire able to heal her husband?
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Heughan was asked to share his interpretation of the finale.
“I don’t know if I fully understand it. 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,” he said.
Heughan then said he thinks the writers “changed their minds” on how to present the story.
“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?” he said.
If Heughan had his way, the characters would be “alive together.”
“I think them even waking up on the standing stone itself might signify that perhaps they’re somewhere else,” he said.
If Jamie and Claire are alive, Heughan said he hopes they’re in a “nice, peaceful place.”
“They’ve done their battles. They’ve made amends. For me, I think the story stops there,” he said.
Heughan told The Hollywood Reporter that the ending was originally more clear-cut.
“Initially, they wanted to make it quite clear that she used her power to bring him back to life. But, actually, it’s more ambiguous the way it’s been presented to us, and we don’t really know whether they’re alive or perhaps somewhere else,” he said.
In his mind, they’re together — either on the Earth or in the great beyond.
“We’re lying on the main standing stone that’s been through with us, that’s transported Claire through time. It is cracked down the middle; it’s broken. So yeah, that journey is probably over. So maybe they’re together alive on Fraser’s Ridge, or maybe they’re together somewhere else eternally,” he continued.
What’s important is that the characters are together in some capacity.
“I think that’s why season eight is quite magical. Even the (number) eight, which is the infinity sign. I think they’re together forever,” he said.