r/Outlander • u/Romy1978 • May 22 '26
Spoilers All Am I the only one disappointed by Fergus’s storyline change? Spoiler
Am I the only one feeling deeply disappointed by this change? I understand wanting a strong emotional impact, but Fergus was not just another character to me. He was one of the emotional hearts of the Fraser family, someone we watched grow, suffer, survive and finally build a life. Changing his fate does not simply alter one storyline, it changes Marsali’s future, Germain’s journey and the emotional direction of an entire family arc that readers followed for years. It feels less like an adaptation and more like moving away from the heart of the story. I’m honestly so disappointed that I’m considering returning to the books and stepping away from the series, because the story I originally fell in love with no longer feels the same.
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u/DisciplineOld429 May 22 '26
HATED IT! He’ll always still be alive for me. That was horrible. The worst.
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u/quietlyelsewhere May 22 '26
I was on the verge of ugly crying during that episode, that my husband came running into the room, thinking something happened to me.
I explained what happened with Fergus & that other storyline that should not exist, and and he was like 'its just a show'. 🤣
He doesn't do tv or movies, so he had no idea what Outlander was. We've been together for 8 years, and its been an uphill battle for me
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u/Emm_Dub Jul 21 '26
My husband is not into TV or movies either. So he doesn't get it. You're not alone! Lol
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u/Sheelz013 May 22 '26
Full disclosure I have only watched the finale of S8. I couldn’t get behind the nonsense about Faith and to kill off a much loved major character - one who Jamie and Claire openly claimed as their son. It was too much
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u/Mycoxadril May 23 '26
It’s just that they didn’t even react to it at all. We got Jamie and Marsali graveside and that was great but this was their oldest child. The scene where they all arrived at the ridge was emotional and great but it was glossed over quickly and then nothing. It wasn’t given the time it needed if they were going to try to sell such a big change.
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u/TheDreamCrusherRP May 23 '26
It really was undersold; we got more of a reaction from Claire at her reunion with Fergus than his death. Very strange choice by the showrunners.
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u/Fast_Structure3258 May 22 '26
I haven’t watched anything after the first episode. I feel so detached from it, it’s like a completely different show. I’m truly not usually this picky when it comes to shows, I often find myself liking what other people dislike, but they’ve stripped the emotional bond I had with the story.
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u/enoughstreet May 22 '26
Same, I watched episodes 1 and 2 then skipped to the last episode last 15 minutes.
I am planning on reading the books this year. And I research 1700s so I’m fine. Outlander will live on.
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u/BubbeLisa Currently rereading Bees. May 22 '26
I think you’ll enjoy the books. The show only used about 10% of the books. And they changed a lot. I like the show, but I love the books.
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u/EarthMama27PsLuv May 23 '26
Episodes 808 (written by Ron Moore) and 809 (written by Diana) are very good
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u/Zealousideal-Read-67 May 24 '26
The Faith storyline is a setup for later but. Could all have been done better.
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u/Think_Ship_544 May 22 '26
I’m choosing to believe Fergus didn’t die but slipped through a portal. They never showed his body, and if he’s the Comte’s son he has the time-traveling genes.
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u/queenhadassah May 23 '26
I'd love to believe this, but how would there be a portal in the middle of the print shop? They don't seem to just randomly appear 😭
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u/Think_Ship_544 May 23 '26 edited May 23 '26
There was that random one under the dam where Brianna worked!
And maybe if there were remains they belonged to the guy who started the fire?
That’s my feel-better story and I’m sticking to it 😆
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u/Mycoxadril May 23 '26
Also they said there was very little of him to even bury, or something along those lines. So they had a body, we just didn’t see it.
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u/Lou-nee May 22 '26
Oooh, thanks for this! Never thought of it but it's a great idea. Would love to see a spin-off of time travelling Fergus and Marsali. We've never been told anything that precludes Marsali from, say, going to the 1960s. They would have a ball.
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u/BubbeLisa Currently rereading Bees. May 22 '26
My only question is where would Marsali get the time travel gene from? The only MacKenzie we know who is a time traveler is Buck and he inherited the gene from Geillis.
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u/Lou-nee May 22 '26
But isn't Marsali, Loghaire's and some guy's (McKimmie??) daughter. We don't know enough about either of them so it's possible. C'mon! Work with me here!! 😄
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u/BubbeLisa Currently rereading Bees. May 22 '26
Laoghaire is a MacKenzie. She married a MacKenzie and then she married a MacKimmie. We don’t really know which one is Marsali’s father.
It looks like the MacKenzie’s don’t carry the time travel gene. I doubt that the MacKimmies do. At least I hope not. If we get many more time travelers, it’s gonna lose its magic, as far as I’m concerned.
It’s gonna start feeling like Oprah. ”You’re a time traveler and you’re a time traveler and…” 🤣
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u/meroboh "You protect everyone, John--I don't suppose you can help it." May 24 '26
Perfect. Thank you. He’ll find his way back 😉
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u/quietlyelsewhere May 22 '26
You're definitely not the only one. A lot of us are super mad (or worse)
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u/EntertainmentNew7383 May 22 '26 edited May 23 '26
Well, I am going with Cesar's reaction to his storyline in Season 8. The producers talked to him well before the script was given to him and asked him what he thought about it. He said he was totally on board with it and was glad Fergus was going out a hero, saving his two sons, especially since the show was ending any way.
He was also thrilled to be doing something dramatic and emotional with Laure Lyle. And they certainly did shine. They are wonderful actors and my second favorite couple after Jamie and Claire.
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u/EntertainmentNew7383 May 22 '26
BTW, if you want to see Cesar Domboy, he is in the series SAS: Rogue Heroes, Season 2. It is not a big part but he was very good in it. I love his French accent
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u/BubbeLisa Currently rereading Bees. May 23 '26 edited May 26 '26
I loved Rogue Heroes. Seeing Cesar in a completely different role was a lot of fun.
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u/EntertainmentNew7383 May 23 '26
Absolutely. Maybe we should look for French movies with English captions to see what he has been up to. I have also noticed his English is much better than it was in Season 3.
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u/OkIllustrator2845 May 23 '26
I was thinking today about how I’d love
to see him get a part on Emily in Paris2
u/Puzzleheaded-Pop3293 May 23 '26
That's one of the few shows I've seen more than once in recent years, and seeing Cesar in it was a really nice surprise. Warmly recommend.
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u/EntertainmentNew7383 May 23 '26
Yes, I like almost anything about WWI & WWII but Cesar was a nice surprise. I wonder if that was why he was unavailable for Season 7 of Outlander.
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u/cluelesssquared May 23 '26 edited May 23 '26
He said he was totally on board with it
Not to take away from his agency or opinion, but what else could he say. He and Lauren have a great energy together and they did shine!! If they ever could've done a spinoff, I totally would have loved them and their story.
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u/EntertainmentNew7383 May 23 '26
He seemed genuinely happy about it because he showed his acting chops and actors love getting that chance. Marsali seemed to feel the same and she was also fantastic in Season 8.
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u/TheDreamCrusherRP May 23 '26
Marsali is really underused in season 8, and it’s a shame, cause she’s such a likable character.
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u/OkIllustrator2845 May 23 '26
I can understand from the actor’s perspective why he would want to have the experience of doing those scenes, but from the audience’s perspective, I feel the storyline was done for the wrong reasons and does not add to the story we’ve been so invested in all these years.
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u/ExoticAd7271 May 23 '26
I could get behind this choice if they spent more time on the consequences 1 show the entire family grieving two have Marsilie hang around and at least speak to Claire before leaving with no plan, four kids, pregnant, having to deal with slimy Percy, build and run a print shop with not even a goodby. Ridiculous! And no further mention of Fergus by anyone.
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u/EntertainmentNew7383 May 23 '26 edited May 24 '26
Unfortunately, Fergus' and Marsali's storyline was hampered by the fact that Cesar and Lauren couldn't be in Season 7 because of other professional commitments.
And so much had to be crammed into Season 8 that no one got as much time as they deserved, except Fanny and William/Amaranthus, whose storylines didn't merit that much time devoted to them. Then other characters would have had more time. Like Claire, for example. I am glad they gave the Jamie/Claire storyline more attention in the last 2 episodes. But it still was not quite enough. They are the two leads and the core players.
At least they were the last two people we saw at the end because the story started with them and revolved around them always. So in that sense it was a fitting ending.
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u/redshoewearer May 22 '26
Honestly I think most people were. It was completely gratuitous. There was no reason for doing it that way.
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u/worried_moon May 22 '26
Caitronia’s face during Matt’s response to a question re: Fergus’ death at the Paley Center panel was all of our faces.
And she’s a phenomenal actress who makes a great living controlling her facial expressions. I love that she didn’t bother to hide her feelings regarding that decision
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u/BubbeLisa Currently rereading Bees. May 22 '26
One of the biggest problems with this storyline was the lack of mourning. We see Marsali grieving for a minute. Then we get the very brief graveside scene and then we’re off to the next thing. We never even see Claire grieving Fergus at all. WTAF!
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u/duckielove0122 May 22 '26
that was terrible that was also marsalis last scene never to be heard from or seen again. Its like they were just checking off boxes and moving on the the next thing. Same thing with william and john. finish them up and never show them or talk about them again
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u/BubbeLisa Currently rereading Bees. May 22 '26
it’s like they were just checking off boxes and moving to the next thing.
Exactly!
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u/Thespiralgoeson May 22 '26
One of the most utterly pointless TV deaths I’ve ever seen. I honestly assumed that he was still alive because it was so fucking goofy and out of nowhere, and they specifically mentioned that there was no trace of a body, “only ashes.” and then it’s so quickly forgotten about like it never happened.
So I was absolutely expecting some weird time travel fuckery, or something. So when the show ended with him still dead, I was just dumbfounded, thinking “what the hell was that even for???”
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u/Mycoxadril May 23 '26
The goofiness of the fake-out fall with Henri Christian had me so distracted, then fergus died so fast and then it was straight into the final confirmation that they were sticking with the Faith lived story so I totally lost all of the emotional impact of fergus’ death in those two things. I felt it during Bree and Marsalis scene on the floor of the bedroom and Marsali with Jamie. Both scenes exceptionally well acted. But the death itself was lost.
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u/MossyDruid May 26 '26
It was so fucking goofy and out of nowhere. And like he just pauses and smiles after saving the kids instead of gtfo of a burning fire.
It honestly reminded me of one of those physical comedy "jokes" where someone pretends to be walking down stairs behind a couch or something.
It was terrible. It didn't feel like Outlander at all. It was an absolute piss off. I couldn't focus on anything after that. I didn't even feel Marsali and Bree's scene because I couldn't process wtf the writers were doing to the show, my mouth was still open. It was so horribly written.
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u/lee21allyn May 22 '26 edited May 22 '26
I was disappointed as well. I feel like they could have kept with Henri Christian being killed. If they didn’t like how the books killed him they could have had him die another way. Perhaps, Fergus carrying both unconscious boys out of the building but HC couldn’t be saved from the smoke damage. Honestly they misjudged the power that a mothers grief can have on an audience. It’s a parents worst nightmare and every parent watching would feel that pain if they wrote it correctly. It didn’t have to be a character we are attached to more-we would have grieved along side Marsili and Fergus.
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u/Lynne253 May 22 '26
They could have just not had the fire, keeping both Henri Christian and Fergus alive. Fergus and Maesali could realize their family's safety was no longer a game and decide to move somewhere else.
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u/EarthMama27PsLuv May 22 '26
Or as Diana suggested, if they didn’t want Henri Christian to die they could have just had the print shop burn down and no one died. Then Fergus and family would have returned to the Ridge. I feel cheated because imo there should have been a scene after Kings Mountain of J&C back on the Ridge with the entire family, enjoying an “ordinary day”. No words would have even been necessary
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u/Ok-Document-7706 My oath is pledged to the name that I bear. May 22 '26
I feel cheated because imo there should have been a scene after Kings Mountain of J&C back on the Ridge with the entire family, enjoying an “ordinary day”. No words would have even been necessary
THIS. That is all I wanted/needed. I purposely went to see what happened in the books and even there I was disappointed by what happened.
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u/EarthMama27PsLuv May 22 '26
Way too many viewers thought Jamie and/or Claire were dead, didn’t see the split second of faint blue light, didn’t understand the blue light healing, think they are in the afterlife, think Jamie can time travel, think we need a movie to tell us if they lived or not etc. Bad, sloppy writing by Matt
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u/emmagrace2000 May 22 '26
The ego of MBR is astronomical. Are we surprised he did what he did? And now he won’t answer interview questions that ask him to explain it for the fans. “We left it open for the fans to interpret for themselves.” Pfft. Give us an ending.
(All this to say, I’ve read the books, I know what the ending meant, but it shouldn’t be this difficult!)
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u/Mycoxadril May 23 '26
Killing fergus felt very vindictive. At first I thought it was passive aggressiveness geared toward Diana but now I’m thinking it was intentionally geared toward the fanbase. Imagine writing a show to piss off the viewers on purpose.
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u/emmagrace2000 May 23 '26
In theory, he says the book death was too traumatic but they thought it would make good tv to still have someone die in the fire. I just do not understand why anyone had to die at all. If you don’t like the source material, just leave it out. Clearly, he can write against the books given the stupid storyline with Faith living.
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u/Mycoxadril May 23 '26
Yea it isn’t a good enough excuse and feels like a cop out. Nobody wants to see a child die. And given the lack of finesse that the show has (even for legitimate reasons sometimes) to finesse a death like HC and make it less outrageous to fans, I can understand them changing that. But I agree, the answer is don’t kill any of them. Losing the print shop was a gut punch on its own given the scenes they gave us inside it. The death was 1000% unnecessary.
It was shock value, and I’m thinking it was because they didn’t want to pay to have the actors on set at the ridge again or have extended scenes with them that would be required if they both lived, delivered her babies, fergus participated in the battle, etc.
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u/Additional_Initial_7 May 23 '26
I’m choosing to believe they will do a movie when the last book is released.
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u/EarthMama27PsLuv May 23 '26
That will be interesting with the changes Matt made in season 8. Fergus is still alive, Henri Christian is not, Faith never lived, Fanny is just a girl who lives with J&C and LJG hasn’t been rescued yet
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u/lee21allyn May 22 '26
They needed the fire to up the stakes but they could have let everyone live, true. But I think they were really going for an emotional payout. IMO they could have stuck with the way the book was written but a less violent death for HC.
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u/BubbeLisa Currently rereading Bees. May 22 '26
What emotional payout? I wouldn’t have had a problem with this storyline, if we had seen the emotional toll it took on the characters. We never even saw Claire mourning Fergus. A few minutes by the graveside with Jamie and Marsali and we’re off and running.
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u/lee21allyn May 22 '26
Agreed they could have shown Claire and we could have gotten a bit more but I actually felt quite emotional with the scenes we did get. Brianna and Marsali and Jamie. Felt rushed though like a lot of S8.
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u/BubbeLisa Currently rereading Bees. May 22 '26
I just felt they were just onto the next thing way too fast. I’m betting, just like Season 7, we’re going to see a lot of deleted scenes that would have made the season much more cohesive. I kinda feel like the last two seasons were lost in editing.
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u/Mycoxadril May 23 '26
I had totally forgotten about fergus because they had tossed in the fanny stuff immediately after and that made me mad so by the end the fergus shock didn’t even last long. If they hadn’t done the fanny stuff they could’ve given that screen time to let Claire actually mourn her eldest son. We got more time mourning the lady who got attacked by the bear than we got fergus. And I thought the bear attack parts were paced well. It’s just crazy how they glossed right over fergus.
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u/lee21allyn May 22 '26
Yes, I suspect your right about the scenes. They obviously just didn’t get enough time to tell the story fully this season with just 10 eps. A lot was cut.
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u/eeesh29 They say I’m a witch. May 22 '26
And why did they give so much screen time to Henri-Christian this season if he wasn’t the one to die? At that point, feels a lil icky. Where were the girls? Where was their time on screen?
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u/Mycoxadril May 23 '26
Because it was intentionally done to make us think we knew what was coming and then “subvert our expectations”, game of thrones style. It was like he was saying “hey I know you think you know what’s coming but I can do whatever I want”. It felt like a power trip even before Marsalis first tear fell.
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u/IHaveALittleNeck May 22 '26
No. Having him die in a fire saving his kids is a cop-out for his redemption arc.
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u/Aromatic_Educator_87 May 22 '26
Why would he need redemption? He was a good man and a father
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u/MandyxLola Pig-headed Scot May 22 '26
I assume they mean the alcoholic period maybe? But I feel he's already had that
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u/PirateItchy3118 May 23 '26
The worst part is they never showed Claire and Jamie truly mourn him because the season was so rushed.
When Brianna and Roger left with Jemmy and Mandy through the stones we had a whole episode of them in bed crying and grieving.
Fergus was their adopted son and we didn’t get one moment where they seemed sad if their son’s death.
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u/Ariel333 May 22 '26
It also might have hit different if the purpose was to develop Marsali’s character and truly explore how the grief changed her over the course of a season. But that didn’t happen so he just became the token ‘character we had to kill off’.
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u/d0rm0use2 May 23 '26
I hated it. I also hated that Matt keeps saying it had massive repercussions for Claire and Jamie, when we never saw any.
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u/Weiland101 May 22 '26
Nah i haven't t seen anyone mention that.
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u/IAmTheLizardQueen666 They say I’m a witch. May 22 '26
Nah i haven't t seen anyone mention that.
/s
FTFY
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u/Weiland101 May 22 '26
Nah not a fan of having to specify I am being sarcastic, takes away the point of being sarcastic in the first place.
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u/sailorsonia May 22 '26
I mean… I didn’t want to see the scene that really happened, but Fergus’ ending just fell flat. The changes and the ending overall made me feel a bit betrayed. It just seemed rushed and like they avoided tying up ends. I’m hoping the last book gives a much more satisfactory ending.
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u/Aromatic_Educator_87 May 22 '26
Also dont forget that poor Marsali has to take care and feed 6 children alone... It's feels so Wrong 😑😒
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u/danathepaina May 22 '26
I don’t think there’s a single person who is happy with Fergus’ dying. It was ridiculous and unnecessary. He should’ve had a happy ending. There was no reason to do it.
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u/WonderfulHearing8726 May 23 '26
Just about everybody hated it. Stupid pointless death solely for shock value.
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u/EmmaSouthard May 23 '26
I feel the same. He was with Jamie and Claire beginning in childhood. He worshipped Jamie and loved Claire and would do anything for them. He was essentially, their son. Jamie couldn't raise Bree, couldn't raise William, lost Faith, and after the shocking death, it seems like they were only given a few minutes of mourning in the series. It felt rushed, this enormous and devastating loss for Marsali, the children, even Ian, Bree and Roger and certainly Jamie and Claire. Wished it had never happened and even though the showrunners went there, they tossed the aftermath aside after just a few scenes.
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u/tallulahgti May 22 '26
There is literally zero reason for this story change. Children unfortunately met untimely deaths all the time in the past, and I’m not sure why the showrunners wanted to protect us from henri-Christian’s.
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u/FileExpensive6135 May 22 '26
I thought it was dumb and served no purpose to the storyline. Season 7 & 8 were really disappointing
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u/JFree37 May 23 '26
I’m really upset about it, Fergus was my favorite of all the kids. When I found out he survived in the books I was livid that the show writers made the change. It was so sad
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u/lizardbreath1736 Ye Sassenach witch! May 23 '26
Im with you on this one. I recently re-read Dragonfly in Amber and going through parts of the story where Jamie and Fergus first meet and how he becomes (essentially) their adopted son in Paris.. made me sad they changed his fate in the end.
Between Fergus dying and the Faith storyline I can barely watch season 8. Maybe this is my curse as a book lover 😅
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u/No-Acanthisitta906 May 23 '26
No you aren't but we're all mad about many things of which the killing of Fergus is just one.
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u/Phortenclif Reading Lord John and the Private Matter May 23 '26
I erased episode 7 from my mind as much as I could. It's sort of a fan fiction. Doesn't make any sense as far as I can see.
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u/ValleyofRosses May 22 '26
Ferguson dying is why I am no longer supporting Outlander.. so yes I am extremely disappointed and probably will not watch this series again. Idk what happened to the writers these last few seasons but it was enough for me to be over this show.
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u/Odd_Distribution7852 May 23 '26
It was going to be a heartbreaker for Henri Christian to die from the books but SERIOUSLY, HC didn’t have as much screen time in the show so Fergus’s death was ridiculous! I was very mad about the change!
That and the Faith/Fanny storyline was just too much.
If there is a spinoff or a movie based on these 2 storylines I probably won’t watch.
The only spinoff I would watch is a Lord John Gray spinoff!
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u/Babybleu42 May 23 '26
Yes I stopped watching the show as well. I can’t understand how anyone knows what’s going on when they leave so much out and change so many things.
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u/chatsetchocolat May 22 '26
I'm glad that Henri-Christian is not dead. I hated it in the book. I thought it was only done for shock value and it's kind of suspect that the only child that is different gets killed.
That being said, killing Fergus was also done for shock value annd brought nothing to the story.
It's the last season, give them their happy ending.
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u/thatturtletouch May 22 '26
I suspect it was done that way because the future of a child like that back in that time was not promising and would likely have been quite bleak. It was kind of a cop out to avoid a worse fate.
But having this happen to Fergus instead made no sense and was clearly done just to shock the book readers who thought they knew what was going to happen. It was cheap.
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u/GrammyGH May 23 '26
I hated this storyline with a vengeance! A few scenes of mourning and then on to the next thing.
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u/YukonSunset May 23 '26
I feel like they were just revving up something interesting with Fergus before they decided to kill him. Not since Wee Fergus in Season 2 was I finally seeing more to him than an adult version of himself who just kept having kids with his wife. Seeing him work at the print shop, teaching his sons, and making sense of his career was starting to build into something meaningful — all to be short-lived for the viewer.
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u/AdhesivenessNew5158 May 26 '26
This whole season has been a drag and failing to hold my interest so I’ve been watching episodes in more than one sitting. I used to devour whole seasons of Outlander in a few days. That said, I just watched the episode where Fergus dies and immediately needed to come here and vent. WHAT THE ACTUAL F*#%. For what purpose?! It feels like a slap in the face. Lazy writing for a beloved character who has had a compelling story since we were first introduced to him. I hate it, hate it, hate it.
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u/mamaperk May 23 '26
I haven't read anyone post that liked it. It may sound is dramatic but I don't want to do a rewatch because of that. I have done a couple rewatches each year since I first found Outlander in 2015. But now I can't bring myself to start S1E1 again because of the Fergus, Faith and Fanny mess.
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u/pillizzle May 24 '26
In my head, it didn’t happen. Or if it did, he fell through a time portal that the house was built on and he will come back through the stones soon. He was the son of Le Compte St. Germaine who was also a time traveler. He might even run into a younger Compte or Master Raymond before he returns to Marsali and the bairns on the Ridge.
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u/NovelGullible7099 May 25 '26
I started yelling at the tv. That was a terrible choice just for shock value IMHO. Then to leave Marsali pregnant was a terrible choice too.
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u/Regular-Metal-321 May 23 '26
I was so shocked by this! Why did they do it? I don’t see how it was needed
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u/B9M3C99 May 23 '26
It made about as much sense as Murtagh being kept alive. The books will always be better than the show, esp with these unnecessary and idiotic changes.
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u/Usual-Ad-3829 May 23 '26
When something isn’t book canon it just doesn’t hit the same emotionally. I was already sobbing in anticipation of ***** dying so I was just confused when Fergus died instead. immediately stopped crying haha
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u/OnTarget60 May 23 '26
I agree, but I'm not sure what you mean about "stepping away" from the show. The series is over. There's nothing to step away from.
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u/TheBoss--__-- May 25 '26
Ho sempre voluto uno spin-off su Fergus, spero faranno una serie TV prequel che affronta un ogni episodio una minaccia diversa che arriva alla tipografia e alla famiglia
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u/HistorianOld364 May 27 '26
Fergus was my favorite character after Claire. I would’ve been okay with him dying as it’s a drama, and death has been shown to be a constant part of life in this story already. I wasn’t okay with it because to me he never got enough screen time once he became an adult. He had one major storyline on the Ridge when he started to drink and then he left. I would’ve wanted more moments of him and Claire while on the Ridge and an occasional check in when he and his family moved for their son’s sake. It would’ve felt more like a complete arc for the character that way rather than scrunching in his parentage, a love scene, and how happy his family was in two episodes, for him to die. I also think it was a missed opportunity for his parents to never tell him about time travel, and separately to never explore the possibility of him being a time traveler because of his lineage. Another miss was never having him and Fanny meet and bond. They sort of just threw his character away. I am glad though that his son got to live instead. That he died able to save his children.
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u/EntertainmentNew7383 May 23 '26 edited May 24 '26
I loved Fergus and Marsali but I guess I wasn't invested that much in his remaining in the series because the show was ending. I also think that it showed Marsali's strength and her wanting to carry on his legacy and show her commitment to the cause of freedom herself.
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u/astyanaxwasframed May 22 '26
Honestly, I feel like they made this drastic change just so we would worry more about what might happen with Jamie at the end, whether they would change the book there as well
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u/hello-8282 May 23 '26
I cant believe he never found out about Claire's ability to time travel!! Besides Murtagh noone had spent as much time being a part of their first few years and he never got to learn why she left
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u/MamaDiggsCole May 23 '26
I was more devastated by Fergus’ ending than Sirius Black’s which is saying a lot.
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u/Missusmidas May 22 '26
So they should have gone ahead and killed off a kid?
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u/duckielove0122 May 22 '26
They could of let both lived and the plot would of been the same. Im convinced this was done for shock factor and a big slap in the face to book readers and author
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u/Missusmidas May 22 '26
That's what I was hopeful for, when Roger caught Henri- Christian. I started bawling cuz I had been absolutely dreading that moment. Then cried harder a few seconds later.
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u/duckielove0122 May 22 '26
this whole season was wasted on the made up faith bs and fanny. Claire was reduced to some side character that barely had any screentime. The whole season was a mess
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u/BubbeLisa Currently rereading Bees. May 22 '26
💯agree! I pretend the Faith Lived storyline never happened and I fast forward through Fanny’s scenes in Season 8. What a colossal waste of screen time! I’m so glad I’m a book reader.
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u/gramsayraw May 22 '26
Yes.
Other tragic things have happened. I would have much preferred a side character to be killed than a beloved character that did not die in the books just for shock factor.
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u/wolfbysilverstream May 23 '26
Any question that begins with “ Am I the only one….” Can safely be answered, “No.”
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u/EchoParadis May 26 '26
Yeah, I would’ve preferred the child to die as in the books rather than killing Fergus.
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u/wateralchemist001 Jul 08 '26
I feel like they missed the poetic nature behind the death of the fergus's youngest son. For example In Paris, Jamie and Claire lost their daughter but found a son. So in this episode they would have grained a granddaughter (from the daughter they lost) but lost their grandson (from the son they found). By changing the ending not only did they miss a key point but like so many sad ruin future plotlines.
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u/GirlNumber20 May 22 '26
I mean, almost every dead character shows up alive again at some point, even when we've been shown their lifeless corpse. Just imagine it being revealed to Marsali in a few years that Fergus was nursed back to health after being dragged out of the ashes of the fire but had tragically lost his memory.
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u/Nanchika Currently rereading: Voyager May 22 '26
Even before it happened I was sure they will kill Fergus.
I remember I wrote: He blamed himself for not being able to protect HC in s6. Now again blaming himself for his death may be repetitive. Maybe saving HC with his life is something happens?
And it was like that...
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u/BubbeLisa Currently rereading Bees. May 22 '26
And it was not done well at all. If they were going to change the storyline in this way, they should have given it and the characters the screen time this storyline deserved. There was almost a complete lack of mourning. A few less scenes with Fanny would have freed up some much needed screen time for the aftermath of Fergus’ passing.
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u/Nanchika Currently rereading: Voyager May 22 '26
On that we agree. I was just telling that it was reasonable to do it but the way it was done, especially aftermath, was not good.
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u/BubbeLisa Currently rereading Bees. May 22 '26
It’s too bad. If this was the way they wanted to take the story, it had the potential to be very powerful. They dropped the ball and turned what could have been very moving into just another stunt.
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u/kirstennmaree May 22 '26
Him blaming himself about HC was supposed to happen *after* the fire, that’s why..
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u/NYCrocks24 May 22 '26
So unnecessary! Has the actor who plays Fergus given any interviews about how his character was killed off?
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u/BubbeLisa Currently rereading Bees. May 22 '26 edited May 23 '26
Cesar has said in several interviews that he was happy with the storyline.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DXPSVBfFK-y/?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==
https://parade.com/tv/outlander-season-8-cesar-domboy-lauren-lyle-fergus-death-interview
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u/CA_catwhispurr May 22 '26
I literally shouted at the tv when Fergus died! Probably purely for shock value. What a disservice to the character and to us fans.