Already have an account?
Get back to the

‘Outlander’ Finale Recap: Claire Frasier Tells Her Daughter the Truth About Jamie Fraser, Goes Back to the Future

Outlander
Sam Heughan and Caitriona Balfe in the Starz series 'Outlander.'Starz

Get excited, because Outlander's season 2 finale delivered, and then some. Not only did we finally find out what made Claire Fraser (Caitriona Balfe) leave Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan) and go back to the future, we flashed forward to the 1960s, where Claire's grown-up daughter, Brianna (Sophie Skelton), discovers the truth about her past, and Claire (ahem, make that Dr. Claire) makes a life-changing decision. Intrigued? Let's dive in.

Welcome to the Roaring '60s!

First of all, Claire's circa-'60s fashion = on point. That aside, let's chat about her daughter. This spunky historian is the spitting image of her dad, only she has an American accent due to growing up in the U.S. of A. So, why are these two in Scotland? Claire and Brianna attend the funeral of Reverend Wakefield (James Fleet), and good news: He has a superhot son named Roger (Richard Rankin) who invites them to sleep over. What could go wrong? Answer: everything!

While Claire spends the next day mooning over her past, Brianna and Roger explore Fort William and she asks her new BFF if he has any memories of an "incident" between Claire and her late husband, Frank Randall (Tobias Menzies). The two of them hard-core get their sleuth on, and eventually end up trolling through the reverend's old journals, where they discover a newspaper clipping about Claire's disappearance. Brianna puts two and two together and realizes that Claire was three months pregnant when she returned to Frank, meaning he's definitely not her real dad. Good, awkward times.

Related: PHOTOS: TV's 10 Most Shocking Deaths of the 2015-2016 Season

Claire Comes Clean, Sounds Totally Crazy

So, what's 1960s Claire up to while Brianna's getting her sleuth on? Oh, you know, meandering the ruins of Lallybroch, having visions of Jamie and visiting the local museum — where she finds her wedding gift from Hugh Monro, a.k.a. a dragonfly in amber. She even chills at Culloden and says a formal goodbye to her man by talking to a random gravestone! Basically, girlfriend is an emotional mess, which brings us to the first major reveal of the episode.

When Claire returns from her day of nostalgia, Brianna and Roger confront her about cheating on Frank, and it goes … not so great. Basically, Claire is all, "I time-traveled and your dad is a 18th-century Scottish rebel," and Brianna is like, "LOL, I hate you, and P.S. you're insane." Poor Claire tries to prove herself with an ancient deed to Lallybroch bearing her signature, but Brianna's not having it and totally hates her now. Ugh, moms.

Claire and Jamie Part Ways at the Battle of Culloden

Don't worry, we haven't forgotten about 18th-century Claire and Jamie. These two are straight panicking about the Battle of Culloden, so they do what anyone would: Plot the murder of Prince Charles. Sadly, this idea is a spectacular failure because Dougal (Graham McTavish) walks in on them plotting, calls Claire a "lying slut" and tries to kill them. Only Claire and Jamie kill him instead. #Casual. To make matters worse, a superhorrified Rupert (Grant O'Rourke) walks in on them and announces that he's going to wait a couple hours and then tell on them.

Related: PHOTOS: Hot Brits

Claire and Jamie use their remaining moments of freedom to will Lallybroch to Jamie's nephew / say bye to Fergus (Romann Berrux), and then head to Craigh na Dun for some low-key time travel. Sure, Claire doesn't want to leave, but spoiler alert: Jamie's been keeping track of her period and knows she's pregnant. Going back to the future means going back to safety, so it looks like she has no choice. (Oh, and if you're wondering why Jamie can't go too, he explains that his place is at Culloden, and also he can't hear "the buzzing." Because apparently the rocks buzz? Who knows.)

The good news is that these two have sex one last time (cut to the rocks being all "our eyes!") and pronounce their undying love for each other before Claire peaces out. Plus, Jamie gives Claire a ring for their baby and she gives him their dragonfly in amber, which is just the sweetest ever.

Related: PHOTOS: Sexiest TV Criminals

Claire Heads Back to the Past … Again!

Remember Claire's 18th-century BFF, Geillis (Lotte Verbeek)? Well, she's alive and well in 1960s Scotland, and happens to be an independence activist who's obsessed with Bonnie Prince Charlie (sigh, if only she knew). Brianna and Roger run into Geillis during one of her rants and seem pretty impressed, but more importantly, Claire recognizes her face on a pamphlet and gets her sleuth on. Being the nosy pot-stirrer that she is, Claire heads to Geillis' home and discovers that a) she has left her husband, and b) she's been working out time-travel plans on the DL. And get this: Girl thinks she needs a human sacrifice to pass through the rocks.

Claire's determined to warn Geillis not to draw attention to herself in the 18th century, so she persuades a very reluctant Brianna and a superpumped Roger to accompany her to Craigh na Dun. (BTW, Claire tells Roger he's the descendent of Geillis and Dougal). So, what happens when the three musketeers arrive at the rocks? They witness Geillis pass through while her husband's body burns on the ground. Dang!

Obviously, Brianna realizes her mom is too legit to quit, but guys, the best part is the giant bombshell Roger drops: It turns out he did some digging and found out that Jamie made it out of Culloden alive, and yep — you better believe Claire plans to go back.

Tell Us: Will Claire go back in time and find Jamie?

Starz has picked up Outlander for two more seasons, but has yet to announce an air date for season 3.

In this article

Got a Tip form close button
Got a tip for US?
We're All Ears for Celebrity Buzz!