Keeping Faith

Oh, Outlander. You got us. You got us good. Because I’m fairly certain that no one—novel readers and television-only folks alike—saw that ending coming. My recap of Episode 716 will be up shortly (hopefully), but in the meantime let’s discuss what is surely the talk of the fandom.

So. Did Faith live? My bold prediction…

(ducks out of the way of the fandom)

Yes.

Now, let me preface this by saying I know absolutely nothing. I get no screeners and I have no inside knowledge or connections to the show. My guess is as good as anyone else’s, and I am often wrong. But the more I chew on the story the more I am convinced they are going to go all the way with this, and here’s why.

1. Master Raymond

More than any other season that precedes it, Season 7b leaned heavily into the Outlander novellas. And if you’ve read them, you know that things that die around Master Raymond often do not stay dead, including (major spoiler alert) Le Comte St. Germain, who himself is (another spoiler here) a time traveler. Indeed, The Space Between opens with St. Germain returning from another time-travel hop and attempting to resurrect dead rats. In the novella, he recalls the time when Master Raymond seemingly brought him back to life several hours after the events of King Louis’s Star Chamber:

“And an hour later he thought his life had ceased, the cup falling from his numbed hand, the coldness rushing through his limbs with amazing speed…an icy core of disbelief in the center of his mind.[]He didn’t recall any feeling of regret or fear, just astonishment. This was nothing, however, to the astonishment he’d felt when he regained his senses, naked on a stone slab in a revolting subterranean chamber next to a drowned corspe…ten to twelve hours from the moment of apparent death to revival.” -Diana Gabaldon, Chapter 1, The Space Between

And how can Master Raymond do this? Gabaldon has suggested that the character is quite old, possibly pre-historic, and therefore has had centuries to fine-tune his supernatural arts. Recall that he tells Claire that her aura, like his, is blue. Those that possess this blue aura—likely his descendants— have an ability to heal, and often magically. Moreover, the character is potentially more of a puppet-master than anyone realizes. A man named Raymond shepherds Otter-Tooth and his companions through the stones, possibly placing the man in the 1960s. Is Raymond moving his descendants deliberately through the centuries? Could there be a larger purpose for raising Faith away from Jamie and Claire? Maybe.

Is it far-fetched? Sure, but this is a story about time-travel. And is the idea of resurrection really so unbelievable? There are billions of faithful worshipers around the world who wouldn’t think so.

2. That song

Written in 1907, “I Do Like to Be Beside the Seaside” is entirely anachronistic—there is no way Fanny could know that song unless taught (either directly or indirectly) by someone from the twentieth century. Yes, it is very unlikely that a newborn infant would remember Claire singing that song. But someone (ahem, Raymond) watching Claire sing that song to Faith would remember. And here’s a wild thought…if Raymond was in the twentieth century at some point, then potentially so was Faith. We know Comte St. Germain (as Paul Rakoczy) ends up fighting in WWII alongside Jerry MacKenzie. Everyone could potentially be hopping back and forth a few hundred years, and on the discussion of time…

3. …the timing fits, but it doesn’t necessarily have to

What do I mean by that? Well, Faith was born in 1744, making her 34 years old in 1778 (when we know for certain that the Battle of Monmouth was fought). Could she have a daughter as old as Jane? Sure. Assuming Jane was about eighteen years old, it would not have been uncommon at all for a sixteen year old girl to have given birth in the eighteenth century. But…maybe Jane isn’t biologically Faith’s. Plenty of children in the Outlander universe are raised by parents who are not their own, and this theory would honestly make me feel much better about William potentially sleeping with his half-niece.

4. Speaking of family…

Secret granddaughters, ahoy! Thematically, it makes sense that the writers would have two parallel stories here with characters not realizing they are conversing with their grandchildren: Brian and Brianna, and Jamie and Claire and Fanny. But how would we ever know? Indeed…

5. …the future is yet unwritten

…literally and figuratively. The television series will end before Gabaldon has a chance to finish the novels. And I while I suspect Gabaldon has given some hints about the fates of the characters, it is unlikely anyone except Gabaldon knows definitively how this all will end. The show, therefore, has some creative room for the final season and may very well write the Faith storyline as an original creation. Which leads me to my next point…

6. I don’t think they would mess around here

Stillbirth and child loss are not subjects to fling willy-nilly into a cliffhanger finale—the writers are going to have to take this one all the way. It’s much too serious a subject matter to place upon the audience and characters to ultimately say “just kidding.” In rewatching this half of the season and realizing how many references there were to Faith and Episode 207, this was deliberate; there is likely a plan already written and in place for a Faith arc in the last season. But maybe not only in Outlander but also in…

7. …Blood of My Blood

Have you heard? STARZ has a whole new show to promote, and I suspect much of the Season 7b finale has teed us up for the first season of Blood of My Blood. This episode deviated in several ways from the novels, and my theory is that we will eventually find much of it served as exposition for the new series. Surely it is not a coincidence that one of the tag lines of the new series is “I’ve decided to call you my hope.” Hope and faith…we cannot have one without the other, no?

Similar to Outlander’s final season, Blood of My Blood will largely be original and not based on Gabaldon’s writing. The sky is therefore the limit regarding which characters they can introduce into the worlds of Brian and Ellen (Jamie’s parents) and Henry and Julia (Claire’s parents). They are counting on Outlander fans connecting with the new show, and undoubtedly we will have more than one Easter egg to find in the new series. What is the fun of crossovers otherwise? And in the words of Master Raymond maybe, just maybe, “we will see each other again.”

Sláinte.

Screencaps and stills: Outlander/STARZ, Outlander-Online