Outlander Season 8’s Latest Time Travel Twist Will Save The Show’s Finale
Angel Shaw is a Lead Writer and Critic on ScreenRant’s TV team, covering new-release and classic TV shows across all major streaming platforms. She has been a writer with ScreenRant since 2022 and specializes in Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings, and fantasy.
Angel holds a bachelor’s degree in language interpreting and is passionate about all things culture and communication—especially in how it relates to popular media throughout history (from Shakespeare to Friends to Game of Thrones).
Warning! Spoilers for Outlander season 8, episode 8, ahead!Outlander just introduced a new time travel twist, and it’s just the thing the show needs as it approaches its grand finale. There’s been a whole lot of buildup for the conclusion of this romantasy series, and now we’re just a couple of episodes away from seeing how Claire and Jamie’s story will come to a close. It certainly looks as if we have endless action and excitement in store as Outlander season 8 approaches the Battle of King’s Mountain. The ill-fated event will likely stay at the center of the story, but now another intriguing element has been thrown into the mix.
In Outlander season 8, episode 8, Fanny Pocock’s story had an interesting development. She had become concerned during this episode that her sister, Jane, was condemned to hell, considering the circumstances of her death. So, Fanny prayed at Jane’s cairn, asking her sister to send a sign that she is there. Just after this moment, Fanny discovered a gemstone that, when she picked it up, appeared to burn her hand. It cracked across the center, and Fanny immediately heard that tell-tale buzzing.
This was the last we saw of Fanny, so we don’t yet know what will happen to her next. However, anyone who has watched Outlander for this long knows what that buzzing means. Fanny has the time-travel gene, and it seems extremely likely that she is going to use it. It’s a thrilling revelation, especially since Outlander‘s ending was starting to feel a bit predictable otherwise.
Outlander Needs Another Time Travel Element In Its Ending
Outlander season 8 has done a great job of bringing back the magic. However, ahead of episode 8, things were starting to seem a bit predictable. We know that Jamie is destined to die in the Battle of King’s Mountain, and given the recent emphasis placed on Claire’s healing abilities, we can guess that this is how Jamie will ultimately survive. It will certainly be thrilling to see on screen, and just the performances from Caitriona Balfe and Sam Heughan will make it worth it. Still, it would be a bit disappointing if this were it.
This is a time-travel show, but there isn’t much need for Claire to time-travel anymore. Brianna and Roger just returned to the past for their own safety and have both decided they have no plans to travel again. This means that, before episode 8, there seemed to be very few opportunities for the time-travel elements of Outlander to play a significant role in the show’s grand finale. Fanny’s revelation changes that.
It would be very strange (not to mention frustrating) for Outlander to reveal that Fanny can time-travel in this way but not do anything about it. Precisely how Fanny inevitably slips through standing stones or takes advantage of those lay lines is unclear, but that’s precisely why this is such an intriguing twist. Unlike Jamie’s upcoming battle, this storyline is a bit less predictable. Even better, with the return of the mysterious forces of time travel, Fanny’s new revelation has the power to bring Outlander full circle.
What Fanny’s Future Might Look Like As A Time Traveler
At this point, just about anything could happen with Fanny’s story, which is exactly why a twist like this was needed. Still, there are a couple of likely routes. When Fanny discovered the mysterious gemstone, she was begging her sister for a sign. It seems that Jane is trying to guide Fanny toward something—some answer that she needs to discover. If this involves time travel, then it’s likely that this will all have something to do with Outlander‘s Faith.
Fanny could go back in time to several key points in the story to discover whatever Jane wants her to know. She could return to the events of Outlander season 2 to discover how and why Master Raymond brought her mother, Faith, back to life. Perhaps Fanny will travel back to when Jane was little, and meet her sister and parents in a time before she was born. She could even travel to some of Claire’s biggest moments in Outlander, perhaps weaving their adventures together.
There may only be two episodes left of Outlander, but the sky is still the limit. Whatever happens is guaranteed to be a surprise to all, since it certainly hasn’t happened in Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander books. It remains to be seen whether this twist will give us a satisfying ending, but just not knowing is a great sign.
