Is Outlander ending after season 7? Explained

Based on the best-selling novels by Diana Gabaldon, Outlander tells the time travel romance story of a WWII nurse Claire Randall, played by Caitriona Balfe, and the rebellious Scottish Highlander Jamie Fraser, played by Sam Heughan. The show has had a high rating since it debuted in 2014, maintaining a 90% score on Rotten Tomatoes seven seasons later.

Fans have been mourning the end of the series temporarily after the Outlander season 7 finale on January 17 but season 8 has been confirmed since 2023. It will bring another chapter of the Fraser family saga around late 2025 to early 2026, though the upcoming season comes with some bittersweet news—the final "droughtlander."

Outlander season 8 will be the final season of the series. It's also shorter than most seasons, with only 10 episodes before the show comes to a close.

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Jamie and Claire's story ends in the new Outlander season 8

Starz has confirmed the return of Outlander for an eighth season in January 2023. At the time, season 7 was still in production. The renewal news brought was a positive one for those wondering about the future of the series although it didn't last long because Starz also confirmed that it will be the show's last.

Kathryn Busby, president of original programming in Starz, teased giving Claire and Jamie's story the conclusion in seasons 7 and 8. She spoke about the end of the series in a statement, per Deadline on January 19, 2023, saying:

"For nearly a decade Outlander has won the hearts of audiences worldwide and we're pleased to bring Claire and Jamie's epic love story to a proper conclusion. But before we close this chapter, there is plenty of their passionate story to tell over the course of 26 new episodes and even more to explore of this dynamic world and its origin story."

16 out of those 26 episodes have come and gone in Outlander season 7 part 1 and part 2. The eighth and final season of the time-traveling historical romance will feature the rest of the ten episodes.

However, while Jamie and Claire's story ends in the next season, the world of Outlander continues in the spin-off featuring Jamie and Claire's parents: Brian Fraser and Ellen Mackenzie as well as Henry Beauchamp and Julia Moriston.

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What to know about Outlander season 8 so far

While the show has made some creative liberties like many book-to-TV shows, it has faithfully followed events from Diana Gabaldon's books. However, things will be different for season 8.

Considering that there are two novels left from Gabaldon's planned 10-book arc, including the tenth novel that is still unpublished, season 8 will have plenty more source material than it can fit in a 10-episode run. With that, the author said, per a September 3, 2024 ScreenRant article:

"It [season 8] really won't resemble the end of the book series."

With the filming of the eighth and final season wrapping in September 2024, the creators and Gabaldon already have a pretty good idea about how the series ends. Producer Maril Davis said during the New York Comic-Con in October 2024:

"We are ending [the show] the way we are, we just wanted to be respectful of not ending it the way maybe the way she [Gabaldon] would."

As for what Gabaldon thought of the ending, she said "It was interesting" and "well done." Both Davis and Gabaldon also teased about what fans can expect from season 8 during an interview with The Direct on November 7, 2024.

Davis said that they have adapted Gabaldon's book 9, Go Tell the Bees I Am Gone, for season 8. Meanwhile, the author admitted that "little pieces of book 10," which remains untitled, will also be featured in the series finale.

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Catch the complete installment of seasons 1 through 7 of Outlander on Starz while waiting for the eighth and final season of the series.