Outlander S8, Episode 10 Series Finale Recap: “And the World Was All Around Us”

As the series finale of the long-running Starz series Outlander began, the scene panned from a dark sky with thousands of stars shining down to a burning cross with Jamie standing before it. The scene then moved over all of the men who were called to action by that fiery cross in preparation for the impending battle against Major Patrick Ferguson that was foretold in the book written by Frank Randall for which Jamie had been reading throughout the final season.

Jamie then sternly stated, “Je Suis Pret” (which means “I Am Ready” in French), the motto of Clan Fraser, while the other Scottish men gathered before him began to shout out what was presumably their own family mottos, as all of them were shouted in another language (most likely Gaelic).

It was then that the original opening credits, used during season one of the show, was played featuring the vocals by Raya Yarbrough, who sang the theme “The Skye Boat Song.” It was quite moving to revisit those scenes, seeing the names of all the current cast members play overtop and ending with a panned shot of Craigh Na Dun and the forget-me-not flowers that were the reason for Claire to be in that spot before her inadvertent trip back in time.

The first full scene then unfolded with Jamie’s voiceover as he read out his Last Will and Testament, which he was seen writing out. In that Will he decreed to leave everything to Claire except for 2,000 acres of land on Fraser’s Ridge, which would be given to his daughter Brianna. He then decreed in that document that all of his grandchildren – naming each of them, including Fanny – would receive £100 each and his books, to which he said would be overseen by his son-in-law Roger. He then bequeathed to his beloved sister Jenny their mother’s silver stag brooch and young Ian – who he always saw as a son – all of his tools and weapons. His daughter-in-law Marsali would receive his quills, ink and stationery and even William, who he rightfully (finally) claimed – in writing – as his natural son, who would receive three casks of special whiskey and his Bible.

Then he and Claire were seen in bed together while Jamie gently brushed his hand down her cheek. It was clearly very close to time for them to leave for the battle with Ferguson, but while they had one last, quiet morning together they spoke softly to each primarily with Claire talking about her conversation with the bees. She shared with Jamie that she told the bees that life on the Ridge would go on without them (Jamie and Claire). She even shared that she discovered two bees curled up together inside a flower, holding each other feet and that it wasn’t just a one-time event but something she had seen several times before. What a fitting metaphor it became for her and Jamie.

Jamie then began to quote a small section of the W.B. Yeats poem “The Lake Isle of Innisfree,” which Claire shared had always been a favorite of hers. He then talked about Heaven – should he die in the upcoming battle – and that maybe God would be willing to let him have “a wee look” at his family to how they were doing without him and stated, “being a ghost might be quite interesting.” [If only he knew…more on that shortly.]

Claire then spoke about her parents, losing them when she was so young; and even talked about the blue vase she had been staring at when she was in Scotland – before her first trip through the stones. That was (not ironically) the first scene of the pilot for those who need a reminder.

The next few scenes were the family members basically saying goodbye to each other while demanding that they either didn’t go at all or at the very least made sure to come home. Roger and Brianna dreamed about their home; something Roger would start on as soon as he “got back” and Brianna stressed to him that he had to “bring my Da home.” Then it was Claire and granddaughter Fanny’s turn with the young girl very upset with her grandparents for leaving her. Then it was time for Jamie and Brianna to have a father-daughter moment, where they briefly talked about Frank’s book and how Jamie thinks Brianna looks like her mother – perhaps not in hair color or her overly looks – but in the way she looks at those she loves. That, Jamie said, was just like Claire. Most especially Brianna tells Jamie, “I love you Da.” Then it was time for Rachel and Ian to part but rather than a drawn out conversation, they simply touched foreheads and Rachel watched him walk toward his uncle’s home. Lastly, it was time for mother and daughter to say goodbyes.

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Before all the men (along with Claire) left Fraser’s Ridge to head toward King’s Mountain, Jamie went to talk to the bees where he asked they to “feed her,” and stated that, “I trust you with her” – namely if anything should happen to him in battle. Eventually, all of Jamie’s men as well as Cleveland and his men – over 900 strong – met up and built an encampment near the base of the mountain.

It was here, in this spot, where Frank’s voiceover was heard talking about how many men Major Ferguson had in comparison to those on Jamie’s side. It was also in the spot, along the river, where Jamie talked about their grandchildren Jem and Mandy – how they are connected because of their ability to travel, the colors that Mandy can “feel” when she looks at certain family members. Jem feels red to Mandy but Jamie is “the color of water” to Mandy.

It was additionally in this spot where Jamie asked Claire three things of her: 1) if he should die in battle, he wanted her to find a priest in order to have a mass said; to which she consented although she said they would have to go all the way to Maryland to find a priest; 2) if he should die in battle, he wanted her and the entire family to travel through the stones back to their own time, but since Mandy said that wee baby Davy was just like Jamie – in other words, he couldn’t travel through the stones – Davy should be left with Rachel and Ian who could raise him. Claire said there was no way Brianna would leave her child and that “this is my home” so no she would not make that promise and 3) if she should die in battle, “Remember me” he asked of her. That would be extremely difficult not to do. That night Claire and Jamie made tender sweet love to each other as if they knew it would probably be the last time they were able to hold each other again.

For the rest of the series finale, the battle was on with Major Ferguson and his redcoats at the top of the mountain and Jamie’s men at the bottom working their way up. A lot of men on both sides were shot down, killed or injured. During the heat of the battle, Claire could not just wait at the base camp for it to be over so he raced off – with Roger in hot pursuit – to make sure that Frank’s words from his book did not come true: that Jamie did not die on that damn mountain. And when the words “Surrender” were yelled out by the Redcoats, and Jamie defeated Major Ferguson it looked like Frank had been wrong and that Jamie and his men would win this battle.

Unfortunately, despite being gravely injured and far outnumbered, Ferguson shocked all of them by pulling out a gun and shooting Jamie directly in the heart. Claire, who was sent back down to treat the men after she found Jamie amongst the battle, felt the bullet as if it hit her. As Jamie fell to the ground with Ian, Kezzie and Buck shooting Ferguson to death, Claire raced to his side and screamed, “No” over and over again. In fact, she refused to leave his side even when Ian pleaded with her that he was gone; even as night fell and she was on that mountaintop virtually alone except for his lifeless body beneath her and even into the next morning when Roger came to her saying, “let’s take him home.” Claire then whispered, “He is home,” and that’s when she laid down beside him seemingly taking her last breath too.

Then the scene went black for a moment and the next moment we saw Claire in the window of that bed and breakfast in Scotland where she and Frank had their second honeymoon. The storm that rolled in that night was just starting and the ghost of a Scottish man was standing outside the B&B watching Claire in the window. This time around the view was from the front instead of from behind and it was a young Jamie watching his beloved. Frank came up from behind asking if he could help the man only to have the man literally disappear before him. As Jamie walked off the cobblestone street of Inverness, he ended up walking into a large field that turned out to be Craigh Na Dun, where he walked up to several of the stones, looked around and even touched one of the stones. Nothing happened, of course, as 1) Jamie can’t travel through the stones and 2) this was his ghost after all. But as he walked away from those stones and faded into nothing, the forget-me-not flowers began to bloom – the same flowers that drew Claire back to that spot and became the start of their story.

Then a quick succession of clips of their life together over the course of all those years played out and at the culmination of that montage, the scene flickered back to Jamie and Claire laying on a large broken stone – similar to that in Craigh Na Dun, Claire’s hair was now completely white and they clearly were both dead – Jamie was his mortal wound and Claire seemingly from a broken heart. But as the wind began to lightly blow through her hair, they both opened their eyes and each made a small gasp before the scene faded to black and so ended 12 years of the show.

Now, a lot can be said about how to interpret that final scene (which was written by showrunner Matthew B. Roberts): some have said that they traveled through the stone upon which they lay, but all viewers know that Jamie cannot travel; some say they awoke in Heaven – since Jamie mentioned that earlier in the episode – while some say that they awoke right where they were on King’s Mountain after the battle. I want to believe it was the latter and that they simply got up from that ground in order to go back to the Ridge to live out their days with all of their loved ones.

What say you?

Please share your thoughts about the stunning series finale and enjoy all of the pictures below from that episode.

Slainte Mhath (which is pronounced “slanj-a-va” and translates to “Good health” in Scottish Gaelic).

[All images courtesy of Starz]