The ending of Outlander season 7 implies that characters can be brought back from the dead—but is this really true? The season finale saw Claire develop a theory that her stillborn daughter, Faith, had somehow survived infancy. Precisely how this came to be is sure to be explored further in Outlander season 8, but, in the meantime, we are left to turn this massive twist over in our heads. There was never any serious indication in Diana Gabaldon’s book series that Faith might have lived, but that isn’t to say the canon story doesn’t provide some explanation.
Since Claire saw Master Raymond in a dream before she heard Fanny Pocock singing the 20th-century song “I Do Like to Be Beside the Seaside,” it seems to be implied that the mysterious man brought Faith back to life. This is a significant shift from how Master Raymond’s powers had previously been understood within the Outlander show. Sure, the character magically healed Claire from her infection, but bringing someone back from the dead is another thing entirely. However, the Outlander books suggest that this isn’t quite how things went down.
Claire Has The Power To Bring People Back From The Brink Of Death In The Outlander Books
Claire, Master Raymond, & Others Have A Mysterious Blue-Light Healing Power
While Faith’s potential survival isn’t a feature of the Outlander books, Master Raymond’s healing powers are. Just as in the TV show, Raymond tells Claire she possesses the same power, and Claire later learns that she will one day master her healing ability (once all her hair has turned white). For a time, it seems that this only extends to helping those injured or suffering an illness. However, moments in the Outlander book Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone reveal that Claire can heal someone who appears to others to be deceased.
There are two instances in Go Tell The Bees That I Am Gone when someone is deemed dead, but Claire magically senses a tiny spark of life within them. She can focus on this spark, and using her powers and her mysterious connection with loved ones (especially Jamie), Claire coaxes this small sign of life to grow within them until they begin breathing again. It’s never entirely clear if these characters are altogether dead—but they are certainly mostly dead. Whether Claire could resurrect someone who has been dead beyond the existence of this spark is uncertain.
Outlander’s Faith Twist Likely Draws From 1 Specific Book Moment
Claire Brings A Baby Back In The Outlander Books (But It’s Not Faith)
In the Outlander books, more specifically, Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone, Claire delivers a set of twins on Fraser’s Ridge. However, one of them was stillborn and seemed to be beyond saving. Claire held the baby close to her body and relived the agony of losing Faith all those years before. Jamie held Claire close to comfort her, which is when she subtly began to sense that small spark within the infant’s body. She used her powers to make these subtle signs grow, and the baby started to breathe—seemingly coming back to life after having been concluded dead.
Outlander season 8 will revolve largely around the events of Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone, so we may see this big moment on screen in the coming episodes. However, given the similarities between this situation and what is implied to have happened with Faith in Outlander season 2, it’s possible that the TV show is twisting the book story to apply to Claire’s daughter rather than the twin on Fraser’s Ridge. It could even be revealed that Claire herself unknowingly resurrected Faith when she held her all those hours in France. Of course, only season 8 can provide a definitive answer.
Faith Won’t Be The Only Miracle In The Outlander TV Series
Season 8 Will Likely Adapt Another Of Claire’s Miracles
Regardless of whether Claire saves a baby at Fraser’s Ridge or it is revealed that she previously saved Faith in France (or both), this likely won’t be the only big healing miracle of Outlander season 8. There’s another instance in which Claire uses her power to bring someone back from the brink of death in Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone. Once the Revolutionary War makes its way to North Carolina, Jamie will have no choice but to rejoin the fighting, and after years of lucky near misses, he will finally succumb to injuries on the battlefield.
In the Outlander books, Claire finds Jamie’s body, and, just as she did with the baby, she senses the spark of life within him despite the general signs of death.
In the Outlander books, Claire finds Jamie’s body, and, just as she did with the baby, she senses the spark of life within him despite the general signs of death. She desperately uses her power to heal Jamie, and, given the immense drama of this situation, this is all but guaranteed to play out on screen in Outlander season 8. She may even be inspired to save Jamie in this way because of the big Faith revelation (or from healing the Fraser’s Ridge twin, if the show takes that route). It would certainly make for a powerful ending, whether it’s truly bringing these characters back from the dead or not.