Disclaimer: This post contains spoilers related to the Outlander season two finale. If you would prefer to watch the finale without knowing how the book give us clues to the outcome, then please stop reading this post at the point where it heavily warns of spoilers.
Dear God, sorry to disturb you, but… I feel that I should be heard loud and clear. We all need a big reduction in amounts of tears.
Did you know that the season two opener was the original ending to season one? (Yes, really. Until the network intervened to make the finale “happier”.)
So while we escaped its wrath last year, there will be no avoidance this year. We will all now be subjected to its terror. Word to the wise, be sure to read Anne’s Gavin’s Finale Survival Guide.
What, on earth, could make someone utter, “I wished I were dead?” Perhaps it’s the lack of sex since they arrived in Scotland, but I digress. . .
You’re always letting us humans down.The wars you bring, the babes you drown.Those lost at sea and never found.
Soon we will all know what leads Claire to that realization. Like you all, I both dread and desire to understand. It’s no accident that STARZ chose the “Dear God” theme for the season two trailer.
So HOW DOES it all end? I’m sure we’ve all seen some spoilers by now, and book readers know the gist of it. But no one knows how it will actually end.
If there’s one thing I don’t believe in, it’s you.Dear God.
Our blog writers thought we’d have a little fun and try to guess the ending, those last critical scenes that lead up to season three.
And now, our staff predictions. First up, our non-book reader:
Blake Larsen
Jamie: Jamie’s final scene will obviously be Claire and Jamie at the stones. He will push Claire to go through stones after she has killed Dougal (because Dougal will attempt to kill Jamie for being in charge and perhaps giving an order to not fight in Culloden. Remember Jamie loves Scotland but he loves his men more). But Jamie knows that he is under the gun and will more than likely die or be captured/jailed because of his involvement. Knowing this, he sends Claire back to the future to raise their unborn child. Ahh. . . but when Claire goes through, who’s waiting behind them? Black Jack Randall – ready to finish the job he started at Wentworth and fulfill his promise to kill Jamie. Cut to black.
Claire: This is where things get really interesting. Something tells me that she is speaking to her older daughter, Brianna, and recounting all the stories of her time in Scotland with her real father. Brianna probably won’t believe her all that much, thus, all the voice overs from seasons one and two. But given that they are in the US and and it’s probably right around the late sixties, this is when we see **GASP** Geillis Duncan. But now the roles are reversed – Claire knows who she is and Geillis is the one in the dark. But given Geillis’ fervor, and I think the fact that Geilis finds out about Claire’s story, Geillis decides to go back in time and see if she too can change history. So to support Geillis and convince her daughter that Jamie really is her dad, she and Brianna fly to Scotland and watch Geillis go back in time at the stones – leaving both Claire and her daughter with a choice: abandon Frank the only dad Brianna has ever known? Or go back to meet her real father, and see if they can once again find the love of Claire’s life? SMASH CUT TO BLACK, credits roll.
RING THE BELL BABY!
Next up, our staff book readers weigh in with their predictions:
Mary Larsen
Jamie: I am nervous and excited to see the scene with he and Dougal, as well as preparing for the gut wrenching moments at the stones. I also am betting we will get the MUCH needed love making scene before they go to the stones, the one that Claire can remember him by. This scene will be amazing, brilliant, tear worthy, and worth the publicity like the EW cover!
Claire: We will find out that Blake’s amazing Outlandish Theory is true, and that all of her voiceover has been telling the story of she and Jamie to Brianna and Roger. I can’t wait to see Jamie’s stubbornness shine through in Bree as she is in disbelief of what her mother has told her. I’m excited to journey back to Scotland with Claire, and see the places she used to visit and once call home. I’m ready to get nostalgic along side her and her fabulous 60’s hair! We will hear Roger share the great news at the end of the episode that, in fact, Jamie did not die that fateful day! I also think we as viewers will see 1968 Giellis – even for a brief moment, possibly out of Claire’s view!
Holly Richter-White
1746 – With a Redcoat on her tail, Claire barely makes it through the stones. With nothing to lose, warrior Jamie will mow down the British, but finds Murtagh seriously injured by. . . Black Jack Randall. Finally, the duel to the death. Jamie will strike a mortal blow to Black Jack Randall but he won’t die right away. But this time, each are willing to die, and BJR wishes Jamie to kill him. But a forlorn Jamie has no will to honor BJR’s request to finish him off, in mercy.
1968 – The first of two records comes in for Roger, showing that it’s possible a Fraser survived Culloden. Shocked, Claire begins to believe that he’s possibly still alive in his time. Meanwhile she seeks out Geillis for help to go back.
1746 – A now-furious BJR will inflict a sudden serious wound upon Jamie as his last act of retribution. Losing blood, Jamie will fall to his knees, dying. This is the last thing a dying Murtagh sees before he strikes a fatal blow to BJR in vengeance. BJR will fall upon Jamie’s mortally wounded body, not out of altruism, but as a repentant narcissist, realizing that if Jamie lives all of the pain and anguish he caused will continue and will not have been futile. With Murtagh dead, Jamie “dies” on the moor, drowning in a massive puddle, only to gasp for breath as the water covers his mouth. He LIVES. . . and Jamie will utter “Claire” right before he is swooped up to be executed by Cumberland’s “no quarter” order. Just as the firing squad props him up, aims, his last words will be of her…”Lord, that she be safe, she and the child.“
I’m thinking, like most of you, that this episode will be based in 1968 with flashbacks as Claire tells the story of Culloden to Bree and Roger. For the final scenes though it will be . . .
Claire: Roger reveals to Claire that he has discovered that Jamie did not die at Culloden. As he tells Claire of his findings, we will go to a close up of Claire looking into the distance in disbelief and wonder.
Jamie: Cut to Jamie lying on the battlefield at Culloden (with or without BJR on top of him) with eyes closed. Then he opens his eyes to mirror the first scene of episode one with Claire. Maybe we will even hear him say the words that Claire utters in that first scene, “I wished I were dead. And if I kept my eyes shut, I could’ve almost touched the edges of oblivion.” No matter the ending, it will be devastating. We will need lots of tissues and whisky!
Full disclaimer:
I must admit these thoughts are not completely my own. I have had this discussion with my dear friend and total resource of all things Outlander, Bitsy. Thanks, Bits!
Anne Hawkinson
Claire: In Reverend Wakefield’s home with Roger and Brianna. Brianna has finally come to terms with who her father is, and they are researching to see if Jamie is still alive. Roger tells her, “he meant to die on Culloden Field, but he didn’t.” Claire stares at the documentation of his escape and has a flashback of she and Jamie in the deserted cottage, their lovemaking, carving of initials, and their last coupling before she flees, travels through the stones, and ends up where we saw her in the first episode of season two.
Jamie: He is in Claire’s flashback, telling her he is a traitor and murderer, with a price on his head. He means to die, telling her “it will be over quickly.” Claire is in denial about going back and Jamie confronts her with his knowledge of her pregnancy. “Tomorrow I will die and this child will be all that is left of me. I beg you to see it safe.” Cut to Jamie’s present on the battlefield. He goes out to meet his fate, sees Murtagh fall, and as he reaches him, Black Jack Randall comes into focus. If he is going to die, let it be battling Randall. He is ready.
Claire: Claire, Brianna and Roger will have the final scene. I’m waffling between whether the final shot will be Geillis going through the stones or whether that will be the penultimate scene, but given Ron Moore’s promise to end on a hopeful note, I’m leaning towards the latter. We will see Geillis knock off her husband, light him on fire, and hurl herself through the stones before Claire can warn her. This will finally bring it home to Brianna that her mother has been telling her the truth. The final scene will be Claire, Bree and Roger back at the Reverend Wakefield’s study. Roger will have a “Eureka” moment where he will realize that Jamie meant to die at Culloden, but didn’t. This scene may also play out at the kirkyard where Jamie’s headstone is discovered. The last shot may be a quick image (just a flash, really) of Jamie’s eyes opening, pinned underneath the body of BJR. We pan out and cut to black.
Jamie: In the final scene, the camera hovers above a face-down Black Jack Randall on the ground. He soon is rolled over and we that lying underneath him had been Jamie, eyes sporting a look of utter disbelief at being alive. He had witnessed Black Jack deal a “fatal” blow to Murtagh and it spurred him into one final duel to the death with the captain that just won’t die. The camera begins to zoom out and Jamie’s face moves to the right of frame allowing for . . . Murtagh to crawl into view! He delivers one of his signature, witty one-liners (akin to a modern day “so that happened”) and we fade to black. Because this is my dreamy version of the story. And in my perfect, happy bubble – Murtagh lives! Or we at least get to exist for a few months wondering if he’s alive or dead. Because, Murtagh. Siiigh.
So, there you have it.
Not one of us predicts a happy outcome, indeed Jamie and Claire must descend the depths of Hell before . . .
We are not presuming Jamie and Claire avoid Culloden and jump on a boat bound for the Americas. That would not make a good TV drama. (yet)
STARZ didn’t need to focus on new subscribers after all. Instead, they should have marketed a season two survival package in the Outlander store, chocked full of tissues, whisky and psychological referrals. No doubt they would have sold out immediately.
Cue tears now.
24 Comments
Leave your reply.