Sumith Prasad
The seventh season of Starz’s historical series ‘Outlander’ revolves around the Revolutionary War as the Continental Army fights the British Army for the freedom of America. Although James “Jamie” Fraser decides to leave for Scotland to avoid fighting the War against his son William Ransom, he gets enlisted in the Continental Army. In the seventh episode of the season, Jamie joins his fellow Rebels to fight the Crown’s soldiers as the Battle of Saratoga begins. The episode ends with a startling shot that makes the viewers alarmed about Jamie’s fate. Is the Scotsman dead? Let’s find out! SPOILERS AHEAD.
Is Jamie Dead?
In the seventh episode of the seventh season, after conquering Fort Ticonderoga, the British Army decides to not wait any further and attack the Rebels when they are vulnerable. Simon Fraser leads his soldiers to the battleground to fight the First Battle of Saratoga against the Militia’s riflemen, led by Daniel Morgan. Jamie fights the battle as one of Morgan’s riflemen. The episode ends with a shot that shows the dead bodies of the rebels who lost their lives in the battle, only for the same to freeze on Jamie’s motionless body. Naturally, the viewers must be wondering whether Jamie is dead.
Since the show is an adaptation of Diana Gabaldon’s ‘Outlander’ novel series, the books in the same shed light on Jamie’s fate. In the novels, Jamie doesn’t die during the Revolutionary War. During the Battle of Saratoga, he even accidentally shoots the hat off his son William’s head, which is yet to happen in the series. Furthermore, Jamie, Claire, and Young Ian’s return to Scotland, which happens in the seventh book of the novel series, ‘An Echo in the Bone,’ hasn’t yet unraveled in the show, which makes it clear that Jamie hasn’t died.
In addition, Gabaldon is yet to conclude Jamie’s saga, which is expected to happen in the upcoming tenth novel of the book series. Since the show seemingly will not deviate from the narrative of the novel series regarding Jamie’s fate, we believe that he is alive. The closing shot of the seventh episode of season 7 can be a typical cliffhanger conceived to increase the narrative tension, similar to the explosion that happens at the end of the second episode of the season. Does that mean Sam Heughan is not leaving the series anytime soon? Let’s see.
Is Sam Heughan Leaving Outlander?
No, Sam Heughan is not leaving ‘Outlander.’ The actor, who also serves as an executive producer of the series, is committed to the historical drama until it concludes with the eighth season of the series. “I also can’t wait to tell the end of the story. I wanted to finish it; I didn’t want to just walk away,” the actor said about being a part of season 8 while appearing on the podcast ‘Happy Sad Confused.’ Since Jamie doesn’t die in the Battle of Saratoga, we may not even need to worry about the actor taking a temporary break from the series.
Heughan was a part of the filming of the seventh season throughout, which settles any doubt regarding his screen time in the same. “220 shooting days, a whole year of Outlander. THANK YOU to our amazing crew who have worked so hard and to our brilliant fans… we CANNOT WAIT for you to see season 8,” the actor shared in February. Once the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes conclude, the already planned eighth season filming is expected to start with the actor back on the sets.
“The end of this, Season 7, suddenly you could feel it on set. Everyone was starting to go, ‘Oh, actually, we’re going to come back and do this one more time and that’s it.’ Everyone was getting pretty emotional about it. I think it’s going to be a huge change in our lives and also really sad to say goodbye to this amazing journey,” Heughan added, as per ‘Happy Sad Confused.’ Considering these factors, it is safe to say that the actor will continue featuring in ‘Outlander.’
