While Season 7 Part 2 of the Starz series Outlander is currently airing, the actors have already wrapped shooting the final season and said goodbye to a world they’ve been a part of bringing to life for the past 10 years. The second half of the season has seen Claire (Caitriona Balfe), Jamie (Sam Heughan) and Young Ian (John Bell) return to Scotland, at the same time Brianna (Sophie Skelton) was searching for her kidnapped son in the ‘80s and Roger (Richard Rankin) found himself in 1739. Always full of emotional turmoil for the beloved characters who are no strangers to facing enemies threatening to pull their family apart, Outlander continues to highlight how love will endure across centuries and provide hope that the Frasers and MacKenzies will be reunited again.

During this interview with Collider, co-stars Balfe and Heughan talked about how intense the impending ending of the series was, the heightened emotions they experienced, having Jamie make amends with Laoghaire (Nell Hudson), Claire’s emotional low point, how different it felt for each of them to film Claire and Jamie’s reunion, and the drama and trauma of the series’ relationships.

Shooting the Final Season of ‘Outlander’ Felt Like Being on an Emotional Roller Coaster

Collider: What most surprised you about the emotions of wrapping this show? Did it feel anything like you thought it would, at the end of the last day?

CAITRIONA BALFE: The leading up to it was the hardest part. A lot of people were feeling very out of sorts. The anxiety of the impending ending was quite intense for me anyway. And then, there was a lot of ugly crying on my behalf.

SAM HEUGHAN: The last day was emotional, but so were the weeks, even months, beforehand. Sometimes there were things happening or emotions where I’d be like, “Where is this coming from? What is this?” And you’d realize, “Oh, my God, it’s because we’re doing the last season.” There were days like when we did the last final read-through where I was crying, but then the next day, I’d be good with it. You make your peace. And then, we kept getting reminded, throughout the show. There would be these moments where you were like, “Oh, this might be the last time that I work with this person, or the last time we see this location.” There were multiple goodbyes. It was so draining. It was so tiring because you were constantly feeling like you were on this roller coaster of emotions. I can’t even imagine what it feels like for the fans. But there is still so much to look forward to. We haven’t finished just yet.

Jamie Fraser Returns to Scotland in ‘Outlander’ Season 7 Part 2 To Make Amends

Image via Starz

Sam, Jamie makes a bit of amends with Laoghaire (Nell Hudson) this season. How do you feel about the way that relationship was able to come back around and wrap up?

HEUGHAN: Coming back to Scotland is very, very bittersweet. Obviously, Jamie has always wanted to return home and to take young Ian back to his sister Jenny and fulfill that promise. But also, then to be confronted by Laoghaire and that past tumultuous relationship that they had, to make amends there, to also care for Joanie, and to see the situation that Ian’s in, his best friend, is very troubling. Jamie is there to make amends and to put a lot of that to rest, and I think the fans are going to feel the same. There’s a moment when you see it, when Jamie and Claire and Ian walk up towards Lallybroch, where the fans are just gonna be so happy to return home.

Caitriona Balfe Appreciates How the Actions of Her ‘Outlander’ Character Can Still Surprise Her

Image via Starz

Caitriona, after everything, Claire finds herself in a place where she believes Jamie to be dead, which leads to some rather interesting events for her. What was it like to take Claire to that place, emotionally, with all the times they’ve been separated? Is this really the most grief she’s experienced?

BALFE: I think so. I don’t know. Maybe. It’s something similar, perhaps, to when she said goodbye and went back when she was pregnant with Brianna. For all of us, it would be hard to believe that Jamie Fraser is not going to be around in the show, so there’s that element to it. But as a character, you have to believe it. You have to go there, and it’s very hard. That whole storyline was wild. When I first read it, I was like, “Oh, my God, how are we going to do this?” But working with David [Berry] was incredible. He did such an amazing job. We worked a lot with Vanessa Coffey, our intimacy coordinator, and she was amazing. It was just one of those things where it was nice, in a way, to get surprised by your character’s actions and by the storyline this deep into a show. Sometimes we do things in our lives that defy logic and it can be surprising. It’s good to be able to do that. I thought they found an interesting way to cover that.

As the audience, we know that obviously Jamie is not gone, but even still, with that moment when he comes into the room, I audibly gasped. What was that moment like to shoot? Does it feel extra important and special to have a moment like that, when the characters get to reunite, especially with Claire thinking that he’s really gone?

HEUGHAN: Personally, I think it was harder for Caitriona, and she did remarkably well, to convince the audience that he is dead and to go that far into the grief. For Jamie, he’s just walking into a situation and he has no understanding of how in-depth or how complicated it is. That is the moment where we really start to see all of these relationships unravel in some way. It causes great drama and trauma to the characters. That’s a huge part of the season.