What Really Happened To Faith Fraser? Outlander Season 8 Answers Explained

Warning! Spoilers for Outlander season 8 ahead!

Outlander season 8 officially begins the journey toward answers about Faith Fraser. For five seasons, we had no reason to believe that the version of the story Outlander initially showed us wasn’t true. We all watched Claire hold the deceased infant in season 2, following her tragic miscarriage in France. We then saw Jamie and Claire visit little Faith’s grave, saying their last goodbyes to the daughter they couldn’t raise. Then, Outlander season 7 came with the bombshell that the baby had somehow survived to adulthood.

In the finale of Outlander season 7, Claire learned that Fanny Pocock’s mother had been named Faith. This naturally reminded her of the infant she lost so long ago, but it was considered nothing more than a coincidence. However, when Claire overheard Fanny singing the 20th-century children’s song “I Do Like to Be Beside the Seaside,” which Claire sang to her stillborn child, she began to connect the dots. The final piece of the puzzle was Master Raymond’s mysterious visit and Claire’s vision of blue wings.

This big twist ending of Outlander season 7 is original to the show, so even fans of author Diana Gabaldon’s books had no idea how this would all shake out. We could all only wait for Outlander season 8 to provide answers. Now that this final installment of the romantasy series has arrived, the truth has begun to (very slowly) trickle out. There’s still a lot left to learn, but here is what we know so far.

Faith Grew Up And Married A Ship Captain Before Being Murdered By Pirates

Outlander season 8, episode 1, “Soul of a Rebel,” wasted no time getting to business in the way of the big Faith mystery. The very first scene sees Jamie and Claire preparing to meet with a man we quickly learn is a pirate and smuggler. Through their conversation, it’s revealed that the Frasers had found this man through Mrs. Abbott, the madame at the brothel where Jane and Fanny Pocock had grown up. At some point between Outlander seasons 7 and 8, they must have met with the woman to discover how she had come to have these girls in her employ.

Mrs. Abbott told Jamie and Claire that Jane and Fanny had been trafficked by a man to settle his debts at the brothel, and this clandestine meeting in Outlander season 8 was their attempt to trick the man into revealing where he had found the young girls and what had become of their parents. Jamie pretended that he was interested in getting into the same disgusting line of work as the smuggler, and the man spilled everything.

The pirate reveals that he had attempted to commandeer a ship from a Captain Pocock, who had brought his wife and two daughters aboard. He admitted to cutting Pocock’s throat before raping Jane. The girl’s mother, whom we know to be Faith, made a desperate attempt to save her children and was thrown overboard. All of this happened when Fanny was only about five, so approximately five to eight years before the events of Outlander season 8. This only adds to the tragedy that Jamie and Claire only found out Faith had survived infancy after her death as an adult.

Jamie & Claire Have No Doubt That Fanny Is Their Biological Granddaughter

Though Jamie and Claire learned that Faith Pocock died around the early 1770s when thrown overboard from her husband’s ship, they didn’t technically find any definitive confirmation that she was their daughter. Still, it seems that proof isn’t what they are after. Claire is wholly convinced of the meaning of her vision of Master Raymond and the “I Do Like to Be Beside the Seaside” song. If Jamie ever questioned her, we don’t see any sign of it in Outlander season 8. This also means that they believe wholeheartedly that Fanny is their biological granddaughter.

The Frasers decide not to tell Fanny this. They know that they have no way to really explain or prove their relationship, since they don’t even fully understand it themselves. It’s more important to Jamie and Claire that Fanny feel loved and protected, which means developing trust. For now, at least, Fanny will go on believing that her new adoptive parents have no connection to her deceased mother.

How Faith Might Have Survived After Being Stillborn In Outlander Season 2

While Outlander season 8, episode 1 gave us a lot to think about, the mystery surrounding Faith’s magical survival is far from solved. Jamie and Claire spent some time in “Soul of a Rebel” discussing how Faith had grown up despite her stillbirth in 1744, but they came up with no answers. Either Mother Hildegarde had lied about Faith’s death entirely, or Master Raymond had miraculously revived the infant.

Master Raymond proved in Outlander season 2 that he can magically heal people. It’s a quality he possessed in connection with his own blue aura, and one that the mysterious man explains he shares with Claire. It’s difficult to imagine how Raymond might have had the time to resurrect Faith before or after he saved Claire, especially since he was on the run from King Louis XV’s witch hunt. However, something must have happened during that time.

Master Raymund resurrecting Faith wouldn’t explain why the child was kept from Jamie and Claire, or how the infant could have grown up to know Claire’s 20th-century lullaby. There are a lot of pieces left to put together here. It’s perfectly possible that Outlander won’t ever dive into the nitty-gritty. The Frasers may never really know what happened, and then neither would we. Still, so long as there are episodes of Outlander season 8 left, there’s a chance.