Spoiler Alert: This post contains spoilers for the series finale of Outlander, “And the World Was Around Us,” now streaming on Starz.
The ending of Outlander ended a chapter in the lives of stars Caitriona Balfe and Sam Heughan, but they’re still debating the fate of beloved characters Claire and Jamie by the end of season eight.
“Are they in this realm or the next realm? Is Jamie a ghost or another ghost? Maybe his younger self is calling Claire,” Heughan said on Starz’s “In Conversation With” series, hosted by Emily Longeretta. “And if you look closely, you can see that they are both lying on magic stones, so maybe they are in another realm.”
“Everyone probably has their own idea of what should happen,” Balfe says. “And as people who have been on the show since the beginning and lived and breathed these characters, you have your own aspirations.”
Based on Diana Gabaldon’s series of historical fantasy novels, Outlander follows the romance between Jamie (Heughan), a resident of the Scottish Highlands, and Claire (Balfe), a time-traveling nurse. Season 8 ends with Claire and Jamie lying next to each other with their eyes closed, Claire’s hair turning gray, and then suddenly gasping for air as the credits roll.
Balfe explains that the day they were filming that scene was especially emotional for her, “because we were almost done filming, and I remember[Sam]being really nice to me. One day, I was completely sick…I was a wreck!”
Another memorable scene for Heughan was the final montage that wrapped up the season and told Claire and Jamie’s love story. “We get to see all of the great moments and great characters that we had on this show,” he said. “Every character has a lot of farewells, and each character has their moments. The whole series is our legacy.”
However, Outlander almost never made it through all of Season 8. The two explained that their contract for the show was originally only for season 7.
“At the time, it felt like we were cheating by ending the story too quickly,” Balfe said. “We wanted to honor this journey and say goodbye the right way.”
Heughan added, “When we got to the end of[Season]7, there was no sense of satisfaction.”
Two years after production ended, Balfe and Heughan reconciled and bid farewell to the acclaimed show they starred on for eight seasons. Heughan said: “But I think the final goodbye is a farewell to the fans, right?”
