Outlander’s Newest Prophecy Is A Frustrating Reminder Of What The Show Has Forgotten

Outlander season 8 has introduced another intriguing prophecy, but its impact is somewhat lost due to the show’s bad habit of forgetting about similar storylines. The big moment arrived in episode 2, when new Fraser’s Ridge resident Captain Charles Cunningham revealed that he knew the approximate date of his own death. It’s a complicated revelation, since Jamie hasn’t quite figured out whether Cunningham can be trusted. The fact that this man believes he cannot die, at least yet, makes him significantly more dangerous, one way or another.

This episode of Outlander season 8, fittingly titled “Prophecies,” sees Cunningham put his life at significant risk by confronting the bear that killed Amy McCallum all on his own. When questioned, the man explains that he knew there was no risk in dying, so he had no fear in hunting the beast without backup. Later, at the Lodge meeting Jamie organized, we got the full answer. According to Cunningham, his son’s corpse spoke to him, revealing that they would meet one another again in seven years and no sooner.

It’s certainly an intriguing start to this character’s story, and it will be interesting to see how it plays out as Outlander season 8 continues. However, it’s a bit difficult to trust that this latest prophecy will lead anywhere at all, since Outlander has a frustrating tendency to leave these sorts of stories unresolved.

Outlander Has A Bad Habit Of Leaving Its Prophecies Hanging

Cunningham’s season 8 prophecy is far from the first of its kind in Outlander. This is a show that revolves largely around twists of fate, especially in how they relate to shifts caused by Claire’s time-travel. The most prominent in the Outlander TV show is the 200-year-old baby prophecy from season 3. Gellis Duncan had demanded that the seer Margaret Campbell predict when a Scottish king would reclaim the British throne, and the woman stated that such a leader would only emerge after the death of a baby who was already 200 years old at birth.

Geillis concludes that the 200-year-old baby is Brianna, conceived in the 18th century but born in the 20th. Claire cut Geillis’ throat before she could head forward in time to murder Brianna, and that’s really the last we ever heard of it. There’s been no hint that the Outlander writers even remember that this prophecy ever happened.

Another Outlander prophecy that went ignored related to Claire and her healing powers. In Outlander season 4, Claire met a Native American woman named Adawehi, who foretold that Claire would learn to harness a magical ability to heal by the time all her hair turned white. In the Outlander books, this is something that Claire thought about frequently. In the show, however, several seasons have gone by without any reference to the prophecy that Claire would come to master magical powers.

Now that Outlander is in its final season, it seems unlikely that all these prophecies or general threads of foreshadowing will be answered. If either Brianna’s or Claire’s prophecies are brought back into the mix, Outlander will really have to do some work to remind viewers about Campbell or Adawehi, since both seers are sure to have been forgotten by a large portion. It casts some doubt on whether Cunningham’s prophecy will be resolved in the coming episodes as well. Then, if it is, it would only add to the frustration that previous prophecies went ignored.

Captain Cunningham’s Story Could Help Pay Off Other Outlander Prophecies

There’s a chance that Outlander season 8 will use Captain Cunningham’s prophecy to pay off those other unresolved plotlines. The first task here will be for Outlander to find a way to organically put these prophecies back in front of audiences. Claire will have to recall them, perhaps sharing with Brianna that a prophecy once foretold her death would produce a Scottish heir, or telling Jamie what Adawehi said about her hair as they contemplate Faith’s survival. It could be that discussing Cunningham’s prophecy will inspire Claire to have both these conversations.

Once the idea of these prophecies is back on the table, Outlander will have to start making some connections. Adawehi’s prophecy seems the most likely to actually pay off in season 8, since Claire’s healing ability may have everything to do with Faith’s survival. Brianna’s 200-year-old baby prophecy is another thing entirely. It’s difficult to say how that could come back into play, since the whole idea of the Jacobite movement was left behind so long ago. It really could just be that Outlander will pretend that plotline never happened, in which case, the show’s latest prophecy will fall a bit flatter.