Outlander season 8 is officially the last. We know that, and that means there are particular storylines that we need to see. Sadly, there are two storylines that we definitely know won’t make it into the story.
Not everything from the books can make it into the series. The Outlander showrunners have, throughout various interviews, made it clear that some of the big ongoing book storylines won’t make their way into the TV series. They haven’t been important elements of the TV show, despite book fans constantly talking about them.
Don’t expect to learn about Ghost Jamie in Outlander season 8
The first of the two storylines is all about Ghost Jamie. During Outlander’s series premiere, Frank saw a Scottish highlander watching Claire. However, it turned out that this man was a ghost, and we know it looked just like Jamie.
The question for many people is how Jamie is even there. Diana Gabaldon has made it clear that the last book will answer the questions of the ghost, confirming that it’s Jamie. In the TV series, we won’t get the answers. This is because the ghost hasn’t been a huge thing in the series.
To be honest, I had to admit that we don’t arguably need the ghost explained. We know that it’s Jamie from the look, and we know that it’s likely Jamie from the Culloden battlefield. Death doesn’t know time, and Jamie could have temporarily died, his soul passing to the future to see Claire as he promised. There’s a lot that we can infer, and there’s a power in inferring meanings.
In the book, we just got Frank’s description to Claire. She never saw him, and we never saw the ghost through Frank’s eyes as the first book was only from Claire’s point of view. Because of that, the ghost needs to be explained.
Claire won’t come into her full power in Outlander’s final season
The other storyline involves Claire’s powers. In Outlander season 4, Adawehi explained that Claire would come into her full power when her hair turns white. This is something taken from the book, explained by Nayawenne. While the book has continued with this storyline, the TV series dropped it.
In the books, we’ve seen Claire slowly develop her blue healing glow. We’ve seen her ask Jamie about the color of her hair. This plays on her mind. It doesn’t happen in the TV series as much, so it makes sense to cut out the storyline.
It was hinted in the leaked images of the final episodes of Outlander season 8. It was clear that Claire’s hair hadn’t turned fully white in those scenes. Then when Outlander season 7B but out the character of the doctor who treated Buck’s bad heart, it was hinted that this power part of the series would be discarded.
There isn’t a lot of time to cover all the storylines in Outlander season 8. It’s a shame that it means some storylines from the books will be skipped over, but with the way the series has developed, I don’t blame them for cutting out some storylines.
Outlander is available to stream on STARZ.