The Outlander TV show is based on the popular romantacy book series, but the finale of season 7 has officially placed season 8 on its own unique route. Author Diana Gabaldon has published nine books within her primary Outlander series, along with a handful of spinoff novellas. While her version of the story contains far more adventures and details, the Starz TV show has remained largely faithful to the books with what it has covered. That has officially changed going into Outlander season 7, however.
Gabaldon’s Outlander books are not yet complete, as the author has a tenth and final installment in the works. Similarly, the Starz TV series is also approaching its final season. However, Outlander season 8 will be released long before Gabaldon’s last book. The events of season 7, part 2, were based on the 8th Outlander book, Written in My Own Heart’s Blood, which means there is still one published novel, Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone, for the TV show to base its final season on. However, the events of the most recent finale indicate that Outlander book nine has mostly been cast aside.
Outlander Has Officially Diverted From Diana Gabaldon’s Books
Season 7’s Faith Twist Leads Outlander In A New Direction
Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone explores the Frasers’ return to North Carolina, as well as the impending arrival of the Revolutionary War to Fraser’s Ridge. This has been set up by Outlander season 7, but the biggest twist of the finale hints that these basic details are about all audiences can expect to be the same from book to screen. Claire’s theory in the fin ale that Fanny Pocock’s mother, Faith, was her own daughter is a significant change from Gabaldon’s books. The author herself has said that Starz went its own way with this twist and that such a thing will not happen in her novels.
Written in My Own Heart’s Blood marks the official point that the books and TV show will no longer resemble one another.
The fact that Outlander season 7 took such an abrupt turn in the finale further hints that the primary stories of Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone will not make it to the screen. Season 8 will have to bring Claire and Jamie’s stories to a close, and the adventures of book 9 wouldn’t cut it. Starz has instead opted for its own route, and it seems the ending of Written in My Own Heart’s Blood marks the official point that the books and TV show will no longer resemble one another.
Outlander’s Final Season Will Be On Its Own (For Better Or Worse)
All Bets Are Off With This Final Season
While the Faith twist at the end of Outlander season 7 was certainly a surprise, Starz leaving the canon story of Gabaldon’s books behind is not. The author has been candid about the fact that the TV show would not end the same way as her books. This is disappointing for those who loved Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone, but it will be interesting to see Starz’s vision for Jamie and Claire’s ending play out. For better or worse, the Outlander TV series is no longer limited to adapting Gabaldon’s books. The sky is the limit, and virtually anything could happen in Outlander season 8.