Sumith Prasad
The seventh season of Starz’s historical series ‘Outlander’ depicts Brianna “Bree” Fraser MacKenzie, her husband Roger MacKenzie, and their children Jemmy and Amanda’s journey to the future to save Amanda’s life. Brianna’s parents Claire and Jamie Fraser struggle to deal with the separation from their daughter and her family. Brianna and her family’s journey to the future have intrigued the viewers concerning the possibility of Claire and Jamie traveling through time to meet her daughter and grandkids. There is no doubt that Claire can travel through time but can Jamie do the same? Well, here’s everything you need to know about it! SPOILERS AHEAD.
Jamie Never Physically Travels to The Future
Jamie has never traveled to the future in ‘Outlander’ in flesh and blood as Claire, Brianna, Roger, and a few others do. When a fan asked Diana Gabaldon, who wrote the ‘Outlander’ novels, which serves as the source texts of the show, about the possibility of Jamie traveling through time to remain with his family, the author replied, “Sorry, Not Happening.” Since the show is expected to not deviate much from the source novels, Jamie most likely doesn’t ever go to the future to remain with Claire, Brianna, his grandchildren, and others.
However, Jamie’s ghost does exist in the future. The spirit Claire sees in the first episode of the series, according to Gabaldon, is Jamie. The author also revealed the age of Jamie’s ghost. “Sam Heughan [Jamie in ‘Outlander’] asked me and I hadn’t thought about it before but I just answered him immediately. […] He [Jamie] is about 25,” Gabaldon said while talking in ‘The Outlander Podcast.’ At the age of 25, Jamie has a near-death experience while battling in the Battle of Culloden. We may need to wait for the last book of the ‘Outlander’ novel series to find out how Jamie’s ghost can exist in the future when he cannot.
“The ghost is Jamie–but as for how it fits into the story, All Will Be Explained—in the last book,” Gabaldon stated in the FAQ section of her website. While answering another fan query, the author revealed about Jamie’s ghost that “ghosts don’t exist in a place where time has meaning.” From Gabaldon’s words, it is clear that the only way Jamie can exist in the future will be as a ghost and the same detail may play a vital role in shaping the ending of both the TV show and the novel series. Considering that Jamie cannot time travel, Claire may decide to remain in the past to die with her husband.
“Yes, the last book will have a happy ending, though I confidently expect it to leave the readers in floods of tears, anyway,” Gabaldon wrote about the same in her book ‘The Outlandish Companion.’ Regardless of Jamie’s ability to travel through time, Caitríona Balfe, who plays Claire in the show, expects the former and Claire to remain together. “I think it has to be a Romeo and Juliet moment, right, where we are both together, or a Naoise and Deirdre moment where Jamie and Claire sort of lie down together and slowly drift off,” the actress told Digital Spy.
“I don’t think one can survive without the other and I don’t think Claire will leave him at all. Nobody is eternal, so at some point, someone is going to have to croak it so they might as well do it together!” Balfe added about the ending. Therefore, it will not be a surprise if Claire decides to stay back in the past only because Jamie cannot travel to the future.
Read More: Does Young Ian Die in Outlander? What Happens to Him?
