Well, that was quite possibly the fastest nine weeks I’ve ever had. Shall we speculate on the Season 6 finale?
Warning 1: SPOILERS, SPOILERS, SPOILERS! If you are not a book reader you may want to opt out now. I’ll be talking about major plot points from the novels and I wouldn’t want anything ruined for you.
Warning 2: I know nothing! Literally, nothing. I get no screeners and I have no insider information. This is all speculation and it’s meant to be fun.
Ready then? Starting off…
What we know for sure:
1. Episode 608 is titled “I Am Not Alone” and has a run time of one hour and six minutes which, with the exception of the series premiere, has been the standard for all episodes this season.
2. The official episode synopsis is as follows: “Richard Brown and his Committee of Safety arrive to arrest Claire for murder but finding a judge to try their case proves difficult.” Which…doesn’t tell us a whole lot. So first let’s discuss…
What is likely:
3. People will be alone until they’re not. I mean, it’s right there in the title, right? But pay attention to what’s happened over the past few episodes…everyone has peeled off, one by one. Fergus and Marsali are gone. Brianna and Roger are on their own mission. And it wouldn’t be an Outlander season finale if Claire and Jamie weren’t split up at some point, working to fight their way back together (I think the Season 4 finale is the only case where this hasn’t happened). Since this season has adhered fairly tightly to the novels, I suspect the hour will be mostly devoted to Claire’s trial (or lack thereof) and the various ways in which the family fights together. I have a feeling the episode will find the characters flung in different directions but together in the end. And there will be some unlikely people standing by their side. Which leads me to…
4. Redemption for Tom Christie. Book readers know how this episode is likely to play out, with Tom Christie accompanying Claire and Jamie when Claire is arrested and, ultimately, taking the fall for Claire. I predict we will see a completion of this character’s arc in 608…recall the man in 601 who wouldn’t share anything with his fellow prisoners? Well, he’s about to make the ultimate sacrifice. Tom is an enormously complicated and flawed character who repeatedly conflicts with Jamie, but he also admires Jamie for his courage and leadership. In this episode I suspect we will see Tom become the man he wishes to be. And speaking of character arcs….
5. The ether thing will be done. Love it or hate it or love to hate it, I suspect the ether use will be more or less resolved with this episode. This is Claire’s character arc and it was the narrative tool used to convey the processing of her trauma. In the last episode we saw her finally open up to Jamie about her struggles and she was reminded that any challenge she faces she is not alone (hey, there’s that title again)…she will always have Jamie to help carry her burdens. I would be extremely surprised if the ether use carries over to the next season…its purpose in this story is finished. But in terms of other characters’ arcs, I’m not so sure. Which leads us to…
Things that are less likely, but possible:
6. Allan’s story is wrapped up. We might see the completion of his story arc, but I somehow don’t think so since Alexander Vlahos has been in Edinburgh recently and is likely filming Season 7; I think they’re going to leave the Allan-Claire-Ian scene until next season. They’re already going to have a ton of story to cram into this finale, and a scene like that needs quite a bit of breathing room. Plus, all our characters will be off the Ridge for much of the episode. Since that scene takes place in Claire’s garden, I think it’s too much to expect that much movement in just one hour. But if we do somehow end back up at the Ridge, we might also get…
7. The burning of the Big House. The writers did quite a bit of setup this season for this event—Bree inventing matches, Claire using ether, the reintroduction of Wendigo Donner, references to the stolen French gold—so it seems possible that we could see this. Additionally, all of the promotional art for this season has referenced snow and ashes (after the novel on which it was based); you can’t have ash without a fire. Still, it’s a huge scene to try to fit into one hour of television and the timeline of events of things that need to happen make it a bit less likely. Plus, Brennan Martin- the actor who plays Wendigo Donner – has also been spotted on set for Season 7 and Donner is supposed to die in that fire. I think the majority of action for this episode will take place in Wilmington, making the Big House fire improbable. And if our characters do stay off the Ridge, we may run into….
8. All our favorite secondary characters. Will we see Jocasta leave for Nova Scotia? Will Lord John, the Frasers’ personal deus ex machina, once again find a way to come to the family’s aid? In the novels Claire attends to Governor Martin’s pregnant wife, which is how she manages to get out of prison. The writers may somehow find a way to insert Lord John into this “friends in high places” narrative. From the released episode stills, I do know we will see a return of John Quincy Myers, to which I give a two very enthusiastic thumbs up.
And speaking of characters…
What seems pretty unlikely but maybe…just maybe:
9. A surprise character introduction. This is nothing except pie-in-the-sky wishing, but the writers just might throw our fandom a bone. It was an insanely long Droughtlander and we are about to embark on another after an abbreviated season. It’s also been a brutal past two years, and it would be a great cliffhanger and a nice treat if we got a surprise character introduction in the form of one adult William Clarence Henry George Ransom, Ninth Earl of Ellesmere. Perhaps no other character generates as much fan-casting, and the writers know it. Other possibilities: Rachel and Denzell Hunter, Percy Beauchamp, or Dottie Gray. The timing doesn’t fit with the introduction of any of these characters, but that hasn’t stopped the series before; we’ve jumped around between the novels in years past. And on the subject of novel jumping…
What is unlikely:
10. Mandy is born and the MacKenzies leave. Brianna is barely pregnant, and it seems pretty unlikely that the story is going to move ahead that many months in one hour. Additionally, there have been photos from the Season 7 set of Richard Rankin still in 18th century costuming. While I do think Roger and Brianna will spend the majority of Season 7 in the twentieth century, I don’t think they’ll travel through those standing stones in the finale.
So that’s it! What does everyone else think? Let me know in the comments what you’re predicting and I’ll see everyone back here over the weekend to see how we all did.
Slàinte
Photos provided by STARZ, Outlander-Online, and OutlanderTVNews
Outcandour 
My thinking is that we’ll have the Browns take Jamie and Claire, with Tom, to find a judge…somewhere. Claire will end up in prison with Wendigo Donnor, last heard whistling Colonel Bogey’s March. Of what I am less certain is: the season will end with Claire being freed after Tom confesses to killing Malva.
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We did see the wheels turning in Tom’s head during the funeral, putting 2 & 2 together. There is a lot left to the book still. I’ve been wondering how the fire, and that goes with it, is going to fit in. It doesn’t seem like there is enough time. I agree Mandy will have to be next season. I heard next season will be longer to make up for this short one. I suppose that’s where most of this will go.
I was happy to see Claire open up to Jamie. The whole Lionel lurking in the background was very disturbing for me on a personnel level, a little bit triggering. I will be glad to see it finished.
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