Outlander fans will be on the edge of their seats this week as the season seven finale will reveal if Claire Fraser (played by Caitriona Balfe) survives a fatal gunshot wound.
As the American Revolution ramps up and Claire’s husband Jamie (Sam Heughan) becomes increasingly involved in the conflict, the Frasers find themselves caught in the crossfire in episode 15, Written in My Own Heart’s Blood.
They both faced peril during the Battle of Monmouth, Jamie leading the charge on the battlefield while Claire put her healing abilities to good use in a church being used as a temporary hospital.
After butting heads with dismissive doctor Captain Leckie (Ben Cora), Claire proves her expertise far outweighs that of the male doctors when an injured soldier is brought in and she quickly saves his life with a handy aspiration technique.
However, she soon finds herself on the operating table when a group of fleeing British soldiers pass by the church and trade barbs with the Continental troops, leaving Claire shot in the abdomen in the frenzy.
Jamie is left devastated, resigning his post while his wife weakly prepares to talk Denzell Hunter (Joey Phillips) through the process of saving her life. But does Claire survive the ordeal in Diana Gabaldon’s novels?
Does Claire die in the books?
Following a short hiatus, the series will return to cap off the penultimate season with the finale on Friday, January 17, titled A Hundred Thousand Angels.
Fans will then have another lengthy ‘Droughtlander’ to wait through before the eighth and final season of the hit Starz series, which is expected to take inspiration from Gabaldon’s ninth book, Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone.
As another season is already filmed, it’s all but guaranteed that Claire will be back as Balfe has confirmed she has been filming with Heughan. But is the series pulling a surprise switcheroo?
Viewers who haven’t read the novels will be relieved to know Claire does indeed survive the injury.
The events of the books were adapted accurately in this episode, with the time-traveller shot in the abdomen with a slim chance of survival.
Denzell is able to remove the bullet following an intense surgery. Although Claire is left fighting for her life for several chapters, she eventually wakes up in chapter 87.
She then returns to Fraser’s Ridge with Jamie for the rest of her recovery.
It remains to be seen how accurately the series will depict these events, but it’s expected that such a pivotal moment in the Fraser saga will remain 100 percent faithful to Gabaldon’s original story.
Of course, there’s every chance the series could pull a blinder but, given Balfe is confirmed to be returning in season eight, expect Claire to be alive and more or less well by the end of the finale.
Outlander season seven, part two concludes Friday, January 17 on MGM+ via Prime Video in the UK and on Starz in the US.
This post was originally published on here
