Just a few weeks shy of the one-year anniversary of Outlander’s Season 7 finale, the Starz drama is not too far from returning for the eighth and final season in the 2026 TV schedule. While filming finished back in September 2024 with celebrations from the cast, not a whole lot of footage has actually been revealed. Now, just days after the release of the last set of opening credits (with Annie Lennox performing the famous “Skye Boat Song” opening), a new teaser trailer debuted to tease war on the way and what I hope is a big answer to an OG question. Take a look!
The new trailer definitely packs in a lot more footage than the Season 8 teaser that was released over the summer with its heavy emphasis on flashes back to the early seasons. I for one am thrilled to get a look at the long-awaited returns of Fergus and Marsali, but also concerned at all of the blood, fire, and that troublingly child-sized coffin Jamie is seen standing over. (Also, credit to Lord John for aging better than any other character in the series, because David Berry looks about as young as ever in the trailer!)
I feel like for any other season, the emphasis on Jamie’s possible death (as seemingly set in stone by Frank’s book) would be more nerve-wracking for me. Knowing that this is the very last season, however, it gives me hope that whatever Outlander has in store for his fate in the 18th century, the final credits won’t roll without at least some resolution to the mystery from the pilot: why did Claire see a ghostly figure of her future husband before she even knew that time travel was possible?
If it’s been a long time since you watched the original pilot from 2014 or streamed it with a Netflix subscription, here’s a refresher: when Claire was visiting Scotland in the 20th century with Frank, she looked out the window while brushing her hair and saw a ghostly young man in a kilt, just watching her from where she stood illuminated by electric light.
Outlander has yet to resolve Claire’s vision of the ghostly man, although source material author Diana Gabaldon has confirmed that it was “a ghost” of Jamie. His dreams of the future gave him some glimpses of Claire in her original time, but was that version of him who was seemingly present in the 1940s actually a spirit watching her from below?
I have no idea, and there’s not even any indication that Season 8 will spend much time on time travel now that Bree and Roger are back in the 18th century with Claire and Jamie. But Claire and Jamie evidently fearing more for his life than ever combined with the fact that Outlander is running out of episodes in which he needs to be alive, and I’m torn between dreading a possible tragedy and holding out hope for answers to that ghostly OG mystery from the pilot.
Luckily, there is an end date for fans’ wait for Season 8, and showrunner Matthew B. Roberts promised “a pretty big wave of information” right off the bat. The eighth and final season will premiere on Friday, March 6 on Starz, with episodes continuing to release on Starz as well as streaming via all STARZ platforms on Fridays. The first seven seasons are available on the STARZ app and on-demand platforms, as well as Netflix.
