Ziggy

Oh, shoot! You're right. Sorry about that :-)

Season 7 is based on Books 7 & 8. Season 8 is based on Book 9 and ... guess we'll see. Also, Season 8 will be 10 episodes, so 2 more than Season 7.

I get that, but, first of all, she hasn't written a prequel. That is all Starz. I believe she has some notes that she gave them, but this is something Starz chose to do, rather than something based on a book Diana wrote. But I completely get the being annoyed that Diana hasn't written the final novel, yet. It seems like Book 10 will be the last (big) book, but I don't even think Diana has confirmed that. I believe the most she has said is that it will likely be that last (big) book. It is what it is, so the only thing to do is decide whether or not it's worth it to watch the first episode and give it a try. I plan to watch it and see what I think from there. I might decide to watch the series, and I might not. But I'll give it a try.

Me, too! I thought Sinatra was the First Lady.

One thing the show has shown is the connection between Jem and Mandy. A MUCH bigger deal of this is made in the books, but they definitely have a connection. There is a chapter in the books where Bree and a family friend each take one of the kids (Jem and Mandy) and go further and further apart to try and determine how far apart they can be (a mile, several miles, a hundred miles, etc.) and still have the connection. They do this just before she and the kids go back to find Roger.

I would not go so far as to say that it didn't happen in the books. What happened in the show is roughly what happened in the books: 1. Fanny does have a locket that has "Faith" inscribed. 2. Faith is Fanny's mother. 3. Claire and Jamie's first child was named Faith. 4. Claire wonders if Fanny's mother is actually her daughter. All of that was in the books. Master Raymond does seem to have some powers, so who knows what he might have done. He said he needed to ask Claire for forgiveness, so it does lead one to wonder whether he knows something about Faith or somehow saved her.

Absolutely! I can still find it surprising that anyone cares, can't I?

I'm surprised there's so much focus on the marriage situation. Whatever happened, most likely happened off screen. I don't see a need for show time to be taken explaining it. It reminds me of the conversation when Roger and Bree (and kids) went through the stones. So many people freaking out about how Mandy was going to get medical care without a birth certificate. Just because the show doesn't use exposition (thankfully) to explain every, little detail, doesn't mean there isn't a backstory to explain it all. There is a war going on. The British troops were in charge of Philadelphia when Claire married Lord John. When Jamie came back, the Colonial Army had seized control of Philadelphia. War = chaos. I hardly think anyone cares about this marriage, in the legal sense. John knows Jamie is alive, and he doesn't have any desire to be married to Claire. The people involved all know. I don't see why this is an actually talking point, here.

Ug, I just replied to my own post instead of editing it! Wish I knew how to delete it :-)

This is one of the things about Diana that baffles me. I wish I could find a quote from 2021, but right now the internet is flooded with Season 7 finale statements. But in 2021, Diana said something like, "I supposed you could read Bees and think that Faith could have survived, but I certainly wouldn't read it that way." And then she says, "They [the show runners] actually did get the (general) idea from me, though," and then goes on to explain how Faith survived. She did the same thing with Frank. There were so many things that happened in the books that seemed to really point towards Frank not being faithful, but Diana says, "I never said Frank cheated." It just seems like she's trying to act as though this is the craziest story and where did the writers come up with it, when it was really her story all along.

I promise I'm not picking on you. I just noticed that there were a few things you said that no one responded to, and I thought you made some excellent observations that deserved a response. Faith would likely be about 2 years older than Bri. Bri was probably 22 when she first came through the stones. Jemmy is about 10 now, so Bri is 33 ish? So, it's really not crazy for a 35 year old to have a daughter (Jane) who is, what 15 or 16? Even now that's not crazy, and in the 18th century, it was probably the norm. Jamie owns about 10,000 acres. The house burned down, so they would have to start over. But NC is most definitely still home. I didn't think it was strange that Rachel so eagerly agreed to move to NC. They don't really have a place of their own. They have both been traveling with the Army. She probably already thought NC would be where they ended up going. I think the only other option, really, is to continue traveling with the Army. Jamie has clearly focused all of his emotions on, "John betrayed me and slept with my wife." You really would think he'd be just as mad at Claire. I suppose he wants to be in a good place with Claire, so he doesn't want to be mad at her. But he's still mad, and he still feels betrayed. So he feels the need to blame someone. He can't blame Claire, so that just leaves John. He's flawed. Hopefully he gets past it. How many times do we see something like this play out in real life? Someone's boyfriend or girlfriend (or spouse) cheats on them, and, rather than being upset with their significant other, they blame the other person. It might not make sense, but it's quite common.

Oh, me too! (providing context). I was surprised so many were discussing it, but then I thought Dianna’s written more far fetched story lines than this. Curious to see where they’ll go with it.

That's true. Still, it was discussed quite a bit by fans.

I don't remember the book well, but whatever was in Bees was enough to have Outlander fans discussing the possibility of their daughter being Fanny's mother. It really was all over the internet in 2021.

I want to know if it's going to be any longer than the other episodes. They did that with Dragonfly in Amber, but I think that's the only time. I would love a 90 minute Season Finale.

So far, it hasn't been mentioned in the novels, either. It's come up in interviews, and Diana has posted this in the FAQ page on her website: Who is the ghost in OUTLANDER? (SPOILER) The ghost is Jamie–but as for how it fits into the story, All Will Be Explained–in the last book. https://dianagabaldon.com/wordpress/resources/faq/faq-about-the-characters/ So, now you know everything that anyone (except Diana) knows. And possibly Sam Heughan. I feel like I may have read somewhere that she told him something about the ending. But don't quote me on that :-)

Yes. It was made up of high ranking British Officers, all of whom fled the city. The Continentals are in control of the city now, and Jamie is one of them.

I'm sorry, I meant for that to say "Isn't Claire's marriage to John ... invalid ... " - "Isn't" not "Is." I asked, because you were wondering why there wasn't an uproar about Claire and Jamie resuming their marriage. I was saying that I didn't think anyone would find her marriage to John valid. Also, I don't think there was anyone around to care.

Isn't Claire's marriage to John automatically invalid simply because Jamie is not dead? Also, i think anyone in the community who might question this is long gone, as the British Troops were leaving and the Continental Troops where now in charge.

In Episode 5 (of Season 7), in the last 10 minutes, Roger shows Bree the drawer. She calls it a hidden drawer, and he said he found it earlier when something got stuck. They don't go into detail, but it looks like Roger was reaching along the top of the drawer for a latch or something.

Isn’t the drawer in question a trick drawer? It was a fluke that Roger discovered it, and Bree was about to use it hoping Roger would specially look there. I agree that it’s quite fortunate that Roger’s letter to Bree was still there, but not completely crazy. It wasn’t a drawer that was used regularly. Also, keep in mind, “coincidence” is Outlander’s middle name.

Ok, I do get your point, but I think it's important to look at the difference between the show, itself, in Season 1 vs. Season 7 (and all the Seasons in between) In Season 1, all we knew was Claire and the MacKenzies of Leoch (and a few other random characters). It's in Season 1 that we meet Geillis Duncan, and (mind blown) she's a time traveler, too. In the next few seasons, the world grows, both geographically and in the characters we meet. As the world grows, it would be stranger if we didn't meet more characters who could time travel. By Season 7, if you really think about the number of characters than can time travel, it's not that many (Claire, Bree, Roger (Jem & Mandy), Geillis ... Windego Donner, Buck .... anyone else). Buck is the only traveler we've met who can go forward from his "time," since one could argue that Jem & Mandy could easily call the 20th Century their time. Claire has been through the Stones 3 times Bree & Roger two times (the kids just once) Geillis, Windego and Buck once each. Roger was writing a book about Time Travel as a way of protecting Jem & Mandy. He and Bree talked about the book throughout the 1st part of Season 7. It's a major part of their story in Season 7, so it feels much bigger than it really is. If you pay close attention to the details of their conversations, they are trying to figure out how it all works: gem stones, lay lines, blood sacrifice?, 202 years, Geillis went back farther, how did Buck travel to the future ... these are all the questions they are asking. They don't have answers to all of them, yet, but they are trying to figure it out. The show is explaining it through the characters. We know as much as they know.

Yes, he literally said, "great-grandfather," but it was more like "great, uh (hand motions indicating many greats) grandfather." His body language implied an uncertain number of greats.

I did not notice Claire! Jamie is standing towards the back of the cannon, with his hand resting on the wheel.

Did anyone else think the title card was Frank and Bree looking at a picture of Jamie?