The Outlander fandom was divided when Outlander Season 7 concluded with the revelation that Faith may be alive.
For a show that’s run as long as this one has, divisive plots are inevitable.
Thankfully, the Outlander Season 8 Premiere followed up with a storyline that does the plot justice and showcases that there are still some big surprises in store.
As I discussed in my Outlander Season 8 Episode 1 review, Jamie found the man who brought Jane and Fanny to America.
He was the man who sold the girls into the brothel and killed their mother, Faith, in the process.
Claire’s Theories Could Lead Her Down a Dark Path
Claire is sure that Jane and Fanny’s Faith is her Faith, but Jamie questions how it’s possible.
The best thing is that the show doesn’t focus on this. Sure, there are a couple of theories thrown out there, but this isn’t the important topic to discuss.
Claire and Jamie now believe she is alive and seem more than happy to accept Fanny as their biological grandchild.
As a parent, wouldn’t you do the same? If someone told me a child I believed had been stillborn survived and had children of their own, I’d question it at first, but I’d ultimately accept it.
This is a universe where time travel is possible and where Master Raymond healed Claire from childbed fever.
Claire and Jamie are choosing to just believe in the impossible because the impossible brought them together.
If they focus too much on how Faith survived, they could go down a dark and hurtful rabbit hole that wouldn’t be an appealing final season arc.
Claire’s theory that Master Raymond had something to do with it holds water, but if she dwells on it too much, it could complicate her dynamic with him.
Another possibility is that she could believe Mother Hildegarde did something, which would lead to anger toward a woman who saved her life, offered her hope and closure by burying Faith, and helped her get Jamie out of the Bastille.
Outlander Needs to Focus on What Matters During Its Final Season
Even if this weren’t Outlander’s final season, it would feel like wasted effort for a storyline that might never deliver real answers.
Do we need to know how Faith survived? Do we need all these storylines wrapped up in a magical bow?
It’s not like Outlander has ever fully explained anything, so I’d argue that we don’t!
Look at the theories of time travel. There are plenty of them, but none have been fully confirmed.
The theories between the book and the show have differed, as well.
On the TV show, they seem to be able to time-travel at any time, while in the books, they have to wait until specific times of the year.
Gemstones are necessary in the books, while the TV series seems to just suggest that gemstones make time travel safer.
The Outlander TV series hasn’t even explored all the theories about how people travel, what they specifically need, or that some people can get stuck in the stones.
Outlander has never felt the need to explain everything. Time travel is magic, and we accept it as part of the story.
Claire and Jamie have accepted everything that comes with time travel, so it makes sense that they would accept anything that seems magical and otherworldly as just that.
This isn’t bad writing, but true to life. Things happen in our lives that can’t be explained.
Okay, it’s not on the scale of Outlander, but things happen, and they seem like miracles.
We’ve seen mothers lift cars off trapped children and people push through life-threatening injuries to accomplish one final task.
Faith’s storyline is just that: a miracle that can’t be explained.
While it could come up again on Outlander Season 8, especially with Claire deciding to tell Brianna about Faith and Fanny, it hasn’t become the huge mystery that many people feared it would be just yet.
The knowledge lingers, but it isn’t taking over the story, because it never really had to.
Claire and Jamie have handled it the same way they’ve handled every other magical twist in their lives. They’ve accepted it at face value and moved forward.
Still here? You’re our kind of people.
It’s time for you to share your thoughts on the topic. Do you think Outlander did the wrong thing keeping the Faith storyline, or do you respect how it’s handled, looking at it from Claire and Jamie’s point of view? Let me know in the comments below!
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Outlander Season 8 quickly picked up with the theory that Faith somehow survived. While it is a plot point, the way it’s handled works well.
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While there is a question about Faith during the Outlander Season 8 premiere, the episode doesn’t put too much focus on it.
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Outlander Season 8 brings this epic journey to an end, and it’s not easy to stick the landing. Matt B. Roberts & Maril Davis discuss that in this exclusive interview.