Jamie and Claire’s Obituary Was Discovered in Season 4 of ‘Outlander’
Outlander Season 7 is currently in production and star Sam Heughan (Jamie Fraser) says “there’s just so much going on.” After season 6 was cut short due to the pandemic and Caitriona Balfe’s (Claire) pregnancy, there are a number of storylines that need to be resolved before they move on to the material from Diana Gabaldon’s seventh book — An Echo In The Bone.
From Malva Christie’s (Jessica Reynolds) murder to the start of the American Revolution, there’s turmoil both inside and outside Fraser’s Ridge. And as Heughan noted, there’s also the issue of Jamie and Claire’s death prophecy.
‘Outlander’ Season 4 introduced Jamie and Claire’s death prophecy
Outlander began with World War II nurse Claire accidentally traveling back in time to 18th century Scotland, where she ultimately fell in love with Highlander Jamie Fraser. However, when she was pregnant with their daughter Brianna (Sophie Skelton), Jamie forced Claire to travel back to the 20th century to keep them safe ahead of the Battle of Culloden.
The star-crossed lovers were apart for 20 years before Claire traveled back to be with the love of her life. Then, in season 4, Brianna and Roger (Richard Rankin) stumbled across an obituary from the 1770s that revealed Claire and Jamie died in a fire at Fraser’s Ridge.
“It is with grief that the news is received of the death by fire of JAMES MACKENZIE FRASER and his wife in a conflagration that destroyed the home and the settlement of Fraser’s Ridge,” the obituary read.
The date was January 21, but the year remained a mystery. The ink was smudged with only “177” visible, keeping the actual year of their death unknown.
Jamie and Claire’s death prophecy explained
When Brianna and Roger saw the obituary, they traveled through the stones to warn Jamie and Claire. In Gabaldon’s sixth book A Breath of Snow and Ashes, there is actually a fire at Fraser’s Ridge. But because Outlander Season 6 was cut down to just eight episodes, they weren’t able to reach that point in the story before the season ended.
“We pick up shortly after with the end of last season, which is a great cliffhanger. America really is in sort of turmoil. There’s revolution, and Jamie and Claire are separated,” Heughan told Us Weekly.
“There’s also the prophecy of Jamie and Claire’s death, you know, that they’re supposed to die in a fire. There’s just so much going on.”
Will the fire happen in ‘Outlander’ season 7?
If they stay true to the books, there will be a fire at Fraser’s Ridge during Outlander Season 7. But it won’t result in Jamie and Claire’s death. In Gabaldon’s book The Drums of Autumn, there was more detail given to the obituary.
The year of the fire was 1776, and the obituary claimed that both Jamie and Claire died. The passage also said they left “no surviving children.” It’s later revealed that this was a bit of a misdirect, but fans will have to wait and see why. The fire also sends Jamie and Claire on their next adventure — a return to Scotland.
“We really start off with a bang. The first couple episodes are really strong, and that’s as far as we’ve got shooting-wise,” Heughan revealed.
But I know there’s so much that we are still about to get to. Not only that you’ve got a lot of new characters coming in or characters that I think are anticipated by fans — including, of course, Jamie Fraser’s son — but a bunch of new characters as well.”
Seasons 1 through 5 of Outlander are available on Netflix. Seasons 6 is now playing on the Starz app.
