The final episode of Outlander dropped on the Starz app last night and now we finally know how Jamie (Sam Heughan) and Claire’s (Caitriona Balfe) epic love story ends.

**Spoilers for Outlander Season 8 Episode 10 “And All The World Was Around Us,” now streaming on Starz**

The final season of Outlander has been building to one pivotal battle in the Revolutionary War, the Battle of Kings Mountain. When Brianna (Sophie Skelton) returned to Fraser’s Ridge with Roger (Richard Rankin) and her children, she brought along a few key reads from the future. One of these, a history book written by her adoptive father Frank Randall (Tobias Menzies), claimed that James Alexander Malcolm MacKenzie Fraser would perish at Kings Mountain.

The Outlander series finale follows Jamie and Claire as they emotionally prepare themselves for this possibility and then shows us the battle and its aftermath.

As it turns out, the Outlander finale cleverly circles back to the show’s very first episode in more ways than one, finally revealing how deep the magic that connects Jamie and Claire goes.

But what does the ending of Outlander mean? Does Jamie die at Kings Mountain? And what does that final shot mean? Here’s everything you need to know about the Outlander finale…

Outlander Ending Explained: Does Jamie Die?

Well, we can’t say Frank Randall didn’t warn us… James Fraser does indeed die at the Battle of Kings Mountain.

The first half of Outlander Season 8 Episode 10 essentially follows Jamie and his loved ones making their final goodbyes as best as they can. The episode opens with Jamie writing his will, followed by a tender scene where Jamie and Claire talk about the possibility that this could be one of their last mornings together. Jamie makes a joke that “being a ghost, may be quite interesting” because he can think of a few folk he wouldn’t mind haunting. Claire asks if he would check in on her as a ghost and he says he would only steal a “wee glance” for fear of scaring her. She also recalls how all the way back in Episode 1, she coveted the stability that owning a blue vase would symbolize. Instead, she followed rare blue flowers to the stones at Craig na dun, kicking off their love story. (This will be important later!)

Claire accompanies Jamie and the men to Kings Mountain under the cover of providing medical treatment to the wounded. However, as soon as the battle begins, she grabs her pack and pistol and goes straight into the action, with poor Roger doing his best to follow and protect her. When Claire finally makes it to the top of the summit, she hears that the rebels have won and the Redcoats are surrendering. She and Jamie see each other and embrace.”It’s over, Sassenach,” Jamie says. Elated that Frank was wrong, Claire decides to return to the field hospital.

A triumphant Jamie then points his saber at the defeated Major Patrick Ferguson (Charles Aitken), asking, “Do I have your surrender, sir?”

“I will never surrender!” Ferguson declares, firing a gun that hits Jamie square in the heart. Even before he falls, Buck MacKenzie (Diarmaid Murtagh), Young Ian (John Bell), and the rest of his loyal men shoot and stab Ferguson to death in vengeance. Oh, and Claire feels the moment Jamie is shot in her heart.

Claire rushes back to the summit and goes into medic mode, desperately trying to save Jamie despite his lethal injury. Jamie says, “Forgive me, Sassenach,” and dies in her arms.

Claire then refuses to let go of Jamie, telling Roger and Young Ian hours later that he just needs rest to get his strength back. Claire spends the whole day and night like this. Roger tries one more time to reach Claire, explaining that it’s time to bury Jamie so they need to bring him home, to Fraser’s Ridge. However, Claire says he’s already home — with her.

At some point, Claire cries out, “Where are you?” She’s remembering that Jamie promised to haunt her as a ghost. We then go back all the way to 1946 Inverness. It’s the night that Frank saw a mysterious young highlander staring longingly at Claire brushing her hair. However, this time, the camera shows us that it is indeed Jamie’s ghost.

We then follow Jamie’s ghost to the stones at Craig Na Dun. He holds the main stone and looks up and walks away. We see that the blue flowers that drew Claire to the stones only blossomed where Jamie stood. Meaning, Jamie used his magic to draw Claire to the 1700s.

Then we get an emotional montage of Jamie and Claire’s love story over the years, full of key scenes from Outlander‘s entire run.

The final shot takes us back to Kings Mountain. Claire is still intertwined with Jamie, although her hair looks whiter. Her body is eerily still. The camera circles around them until it’s just Jamie and Claire in frame. In a single second they awake with a gasp. So what does that mean?

What Does the Final Scene of Outlander Mean? Are Jamie and Claire Alive or Dead?

There are a few ways to interpret that final gasp and the ambiguity seems to be on purpose. Meaning, you can read it however you wish. (At least until showrunner Matthew B. Roberts gives an interview that says otherwise!)

One possibility is that the power of Jamie and Claire’s love brought him back to life, but I don’t think that would be the close-ended ending author Diana Gabaldon teased when she told DECIDER’s Caitlin Gallagher that “[Roberts] and I agreed that it should just end very conclusively. And what he did … works effectively.”

Another reading is that Claire herself died in Jamie’s arms, perhaps of a broken heart or exposure to the elements. (She was on that mountain for a while, folks!) That gasp is them awakening together in the afterlife.

Of course, there’s another more poetic way to explain that final shot. Earlier in the episode, Claire explains to Fanny (Florrie May Wilkinson) that everyone in their family is connected somehow in their hearts. Meaning, no matter where in time or space they go, they are always together. That gasp could be that very connection reverberating.