Outlander's Final Season Is Heading Straight Into A Game Of Thrones Situation [ATX]

Fans of "Outlander" know the end is coming for both the show and the series of novels that inspired it — but Starz may be running into a "Game of Thrones" situation, here as the final season of the popular series will be concluding without Diana Gabaldon's final book to guide the way. Fortunately, it does sound like there is confidence on both sides that disaster will be averted.

During a panel about series endings at the ATX Television Festival in Austin, Texas, "Outlander" executive producer Maril Davis spoke about season 8 bringing the show to a close – and how the show's ending will differ from Gabaldon's as-of-yet untitled tenth and final book. Here's what Davis had to say about it:

"We won't do what she's done, just because I think we feel that would be slightly disrespectful. Obviously, she has the last book coming out, and we want her to have that ending for herself. So we will not step on her ending. Myself and one of the actors are the only two people who have read [the book's ending]. I have not shared that with anyone else, so our showrunner couldn't come up with something that he thinks is similar to that. Then, maybe we have a conversation with [Diana] about it. I think we kind of tried to stay away from that just to give her a respectful ending."

So it sounds very much like the differing ending is a conscious, by-design choice. With "Game of Thrones," the final season concluded years before George R.R. Martin finished "The Winds of Winter," which still has yet to be published. Diverting from what Martin was able to tell David Benioff and D.B. Weiss was somewhat disastrous, given the reaction from fans to the final episodes. 

Now, just because "Outlander" season 8 is heading into a seemingly similar situation as "Game of Thrones" season 8, doesn't mean that they are destined to suffer the same fate. This is something that Gabaldon has thought about for some time. (Though, admittedly, things have changed a bit with Starz deciding to conclude the series with the forthcoming eighth season.) Speaking with The Guardian in 2021, Gabaldon compared her situation to "Game of Thrones" and sounded very confident disaster can and will be avoided.

"He [Martin] then met with the showrunners, and he told them what he was planning to do in that book so that they could then write accordingly. Only they didn't write accordingly, they took his stuff, and distorted it, and wrote their own ending, which wasn't at all what he had in mind but used all the elements that he told them. They'll never catch me. I will certainly finish the 10th book before they finish the show."

Gabaldon's confidence ultimately proved to be a bit bullish, as her tenth book will not be on shelves before the show wraps up. That said, she has clearly been in communication with Davis and the rest of the folks behind the show. The changes being made are in order to preserve the ending of the books, while clearly taking into account what Gabaldon has in mind. We'll see if they can pull it off. But first, we've got "Outlander" season 7 to get through, so let's not get too ahead of ourselves.

"Outlander" season 7 premieres June 16, 2023, on Starz.