Outlander's Jamie Fraser's death in the books explained

WARNING: This article contains book spoilers from Written in My Own Heart's Blood by Diana Gabaldon and potential show spoilers   

Outlander season seven, part two has left viewers in a tumult and wondering whether the show’s hero Jamie Fraser (played by Sam Heughan) died after his wife Claire Fraser (Caitríona Balfe) received a letter suggesting he was killed in a devastating shipwreck. 

Jamie has had many near-misses before, including his final duel with Captain ‘Black Jack’ Randall (Tobias Menzies) at the Battle of Culloden and more recently after he was bitten by a rattlesnake at Fraser’s Ridge. 

Both times he was on the verge of death and almost seemed to experience an out-of-body experience and yet came back to Claire.

This time, however, it looks like Jamie may have finally succumbed to his fate with audiences desperately seeking answers. 

The simple answer is: in the Outlander novels by Diana Gabaldon, Jamie and Claire are both alive and well in the past with Frank Randall (also Menzies) causing confusion by planting a fake gravestone in St Kilda’s churchyard. 

Season seven, part two of Outlander is based on eighth novel Written in My Own Heart's Blood and much like the show, Claire is informed of Jamie dying at sea.

Both she and Lord John Grey (David Berry) are left devastated, prompting them to lean on each other for comfort and get married so Claire will receive his protection.

Lord John and Claire are not long married before Jamie turns up very much alive and incandescent with rage at his best friend. 

The two men ending up in a fight over the wedding and Claire and Lord John sleeping together.

Although this is the plot of Written in My Own Heart's Blood, the Starz series has been known to deviate from Gabaldon’s source material previously, fans will have to tune in to see the direction showrunner Matt B. Roberts has decided to take with the television adaptation.

Ultimately, Jamie is dead in Outlander in the future timeline but in the past timeline he is thriving with his true love Claire. 

Given Outlander season eight has wrapped up filming with lead stars and producers Heughan and Balfe posting images from the set on their social media feeds, it’s safe to say Jamie is very likely to be alive and didn’t perish at sea.

Audiences can expect to be taken on a rollercoaster with many huge revelations coming out - if the novels are anything to go by,

Outlander author Gabaldon is working on the 10th instalment of the book series, which is slated to be the last.

Fans will finally also get an answer to the ghost Claire saw back in the very first episode of Outlander and the meaning behind Jamie travelling to the future. 

This mystery has been perplexing Outlander fans given Jamie can’t travel to the future and will always be stuck in the past.

Outlander season 7, part 2 airs on Fridays on MGM+ via Prime Video in the UK and on Starz in the US