Outlander Season 8 Will End The Series, But A Prequel Spin-Off Is In The Works

Brace yourselves, "Outlander" fans: the long-running Starz historical drama is approaching its final chapters. The network shared a press release today announcing that the eighth season of the sexy, soapy hit series will be its last, but as is often the case these days, that doesn't exactly mean the story is over. The series based on Diana Gabaldon's "Outlander" novels may be coming to a close, but a prequel series is on the horizon after receiving an official pickup from Starz.

The angstily-named "Outlander: Blood of My Blood" is another love story, but this one is set before the era of Highlander Jamie (Sam Heughan) and time-traveller Claire (Caitroina Balfe). Instead, the series will follow Jamie's parents, Brian Fraser and Ellen MacKenzie. Though casting for the new series hasn't been revealed, it's worth noting that Andrew Whipp played the character of Brian for 14 episodes of "Outlander."

The new show, which is expected to be 10 episodes, comes from Matthew B. Roberts, Ronald D. Moore and Maril Davis, all of whom work on the flagship series as executive producers. Roberts, who will serve as showrunner and writer on the prequel, assured fans in a statement that "there will be several names and faces that 'Outlander' fans will know and recognize" in the new series, which "will explore what lengths a person will go to find love in a time when love is considered a luxury, and when marriages are made strategically."

I'd expect nothing less than a marriage of convenience plot from the series that's already given fans such rich interpretations of classic romance tropes. Across its six seasons and counting, "Outlander" has been TV-lovers' go-to source for steamy, star-crossed love, along with some surprisingly in-depth historical fiction. The latest season saw the Frasers enduring political unrest at their home in Fraser's Ridge, North Carolina, where they settled in the late 1700s.

Although the news of "Outlander" coming to an end will surely be disappointing to fans of the show, the good news is that it still has two more seasons before it bows out. The sixth season just aired last May, and the seventh is due sometime this summer. As for why the show is finally coming to a close? It sounds like it may simply have caught up to the still-ongoing book series on which it's based. "Jamie and Claire's TV story may be coming to an end with season eight," Roberts says, "but Diana is continuing on with their literary journey in her wonderful book series and is working diligently on book ten."

According to Starz Original Programming President Kathryn Busby, the two concluding seasons will total 23 more episodes of "Outlander," with Entertainment Weekly previously reporting that season 7 alone will be 16 episodes. The next chapter of the saga will reportedly adapt "An Echo in the Bone," the action-packed seventh book in Gabaldon's series that centers around the American Revolution. A first look teaser featured an offscreen figure ominously tearing down a posted flyer of The Declaration of Independence, as well as a brief, ominous shot of Claire with a noose around her neck at the gallows. "Outlander" is set to return to Starz in the summer of 2023.