Outlander season 7, part 2, is right around the corner, but critics and audiences are already looking ahead to the final installment of the beloved historical fantasy series. Based on the novel series by Diana Gabaldon, Outlander stars Caitríona Balfe as Claire Randall Fraser and Sam Heughan as Jamie Fraser, a pair of star-crossed lovers who have had their share of heartache and adventure across the show’s many seasons. As the series has progressed, Outlander has taken some liberties with the source material but has overwhelmingly stayed true to the heart of Gabaldon’s novels.
Outlander season 8 won’t premiere for some time, as season 7 part 2 still needs to air, and Outlander season 8 just wrapped filming. However, there’s already some concern about how the final season will shake out since Gabaldon hasn’t finished writing the book series. The tenth installment of Gabaldon’s work doesn’t have a title or release date yet, but it will likely come out after season 8 has premiered. This raises some questions about what the differences will be between the TV show and the novels and if this could spell disaster for Outlander’s final outing.
Outlander’s Ending Will Differ From The Books Because The Last One Isn’t Out Yet
Season 8 can’t adapt a novel that hasn’t been released
Like many of the best romance TV shows based on books, Outlander has kept a decent pace with the corresponding novels in each season. Season 7, part 2, will finish the adaptations of the seventh book, An Echo in the Bone, and the eighth book, Written in My Own Heart’s Blood. This leaves season 8 with book nine, Go Tell The Bees That I Am Gone, which was published in 2021. Unfortunately, from there, the ending of Outlander season 8 will differ from the source material since the tenth installment is yet to be released.
The series has no other choice than to extrapolate the conclusion of Jamie and Claire’s story using the setup from book nine. It’s been confirmed that Outlander season 8 will change the book’s ending and that the series won’t try to copy whatever Gabaldon has in store for the novel’s thrilling conclusion. This is a risky decision that will cement Outlander’s legacy for better or worse. There are high expectations for the final installment, and whenever a series must create an original storyline without a road map, the results can be mixed.
Outlander Faces The Same Source Material Complaints As Shows Like Game Of Thrones
The disappointing conclusions of other fantasy series are bad news for Outlander
This isn’t the first time that a fantasy show has gone off course in the final seasons of the story. Adapting a book series that hasn’t finished always risks the show running out of material if the screen iteration produces content more quickly than the author. One of the most famous examples of this is with Game of Thrones. George R.R. Martin has only written the first five books of A Song of Ice and Fire, but the show went on for eight seasons. This left storylines unfinished and rushed character arcs that had been building for years.
Endings are critical moments for a TV show, as a series legacy hangs in the balance of the story concluded on a satisfying note.
Critics and audiences are still asking what went wrong with Game of Thrones season 8, but there’s a clear reason why the hit series began to flag as the seasons progressed. Endings are critical moments for a TV show, as a series legacy hangs in the balance of the story concluded on a satisfying note. Additionally, Game of Thrones isn’t the only series that has fallen victim to this problem. The Magicians kept going for two seasons after the books had run out and made some divisive changes. Diverging from the source material isn’t necessarily bad, but it’s controversial.
While it’s true that not every audience member reads or has kept up with the source material, many do and might be disappointed with how the two stories differ. For some fantasy shows based on books, the novels are a loose inspiration, and the screen iteration makes many changes from the beginning, making the original writing ancillary to the show. However, this has never been the case with Outlander, a TV series that has drawn directly from Gabaldon’s novels since the beginning and faithfully brings her plots to life.
After Other Shows Failures, Outlander’s Perplexing Ending Choice Makes No Sense
While other series were forced to diverge from the source material, Outlander doesn’t have to
Outlander didn’t have to do this, and there was a strong incentive for the series to make different creative choices. With Outlander’s dedicated fanbase and the promise of more work from Gabaldon, the show’s ending seems premature. The release model of Outlander season 7, which premieres in two installments, could have been used again in season 8, buying the show more time and giving it room to fully adapt each one of Gabaldon’s novels. Even waiting and ordering further seasons would have ensured that Outlander got to use Gabaldon’s work instead of rushing through to the end.
The decision to fast-track Outlander’s ending and leave the source material behind could be driven by behind-the-scenes choices and extenuating circumstances. Outlander has been on the air since 2014, which is a long commitment for any actor or member of the creative team. Only a few fantasy series have gone on as long as Outlander has, and it wouldn’t be surprising if members of the cast and crew were ready to move on. Unfortunately, this doesn’t mean audiences are, but Outlander’s fate has already been sealed as the last two parts of the show draw closer.
There’s One Silver Lining To Outlander Diverging From The Books
There’s still hope that Outlander season 8 will stick the landing
Outlander’s season 8 update has revealed that Gabaldon has been instrumental in crafting the final season and has ensured that season 8 and her tenth novel are different enough that there will be no book spoilers in the show. As with much of Outlander, Gabaldon has been a key creative inspiration for season 8, even if her last novel won’t be touched upon onscreen. If Gabaldon is on board with the show going down a different path than the novels, then the fans and audience members must trust that she knows what’s best for the series.
No matter what, there would be a discussion about how the final season looked and how Jamie and Claire’s story came to an end.
Additionally, this could relieve some pressure on Gabaldon as she reaches the end of her long-running series. The decision to change Outlander’s ending differentiates the two iterations of the story and lets each stand on its own as a separate entity. No matter what, there would be a discussion about how the final season looked and how Jamie and Claire’s story came to an end. It’s unlikely that the last season will please everyone, and this would be the case even if the show followed the book series down to every last detail.