The opening scene of Starz’s Outlander season seven episode three shows a delivery man dropping off a chest with the name Jeremiah Alexander Ian Fraser MacKenzie emblazoned on the lid. We’re left hanging for just a moment as “The Skye Boat Song” plays, and then it’s revealed that the chest has been kept in a bank vault for 200 years.
It’s presented to Roger (Richard Rankin) and Brianna (Sophie Skelton) who, by the way, look terrific in ‘80s attire and new hairstyles. After revealing that Mandy’s doing great, Fiona Graham Buchan (Iona Claire) – who’s happy to have them back – gives them time alone to open the chest. Inside are a musket ball and scores of letters written to Brianna from Jamie and Claire.
The first letter she opens is dated April 1776, and Jamie assures her they’re alive. Jamie and Claire escaped the big house before it exploded. Everyone came together to try and put out the flames, but it was a losing battle. In the end, all Jamie and Claire could do was stand back and watch the fire consume their house and all their belongings.
Jamie (Sam Heughan) notes their obituary was wrong and Claire (Caitriona Balfe) says, “Bloody newspapers. Never get anything right.”
Roger gives Bree a quick kiss and then points out that she’s responsible for burning the house down since she made the matches. Sure, Wendigo lit the match – but she made the matches that ignited the ether. Bree’s not sure why he’s so happy about this, and Roger tells her to check out the date. She caused a different fire from the one in the obituary, and it’s a fire her parents survived.
The house was already destroyed by the date in the paper’s obituary.
Bree joins Roger in celebrating the fire. They changed history and saved Claire and Jamie!
After the embers have cooled, Claire, Jamie, and Ian (John Bell) go through the ruins and salvage anything they can. Jamie’s trunk full of kilts is intact, as is a journal with scientific notes.
Ian finds the small portrait of William Ransom and returns it to Jamie, initially describing William as Lord John’s son. When Jamie says he just saw him in a soldier’s uniform, Ian acknowledges that he figured out William is actually Jamie’s son. Ian saw how Jamie looked at William when he visited the Ridge years ago, and that, plus William’s stubborn personality, led him to the realization that Jamie’s the boy’s father.
Jamie says William can’t know the truth, and Ian swears never to speak about it to anyone.
Lizzie (Caitlin O’Ryan) and Josiah (Paul Gorman) bring Claire food and clothing as she’s washing items in the barn and offer to help in any way that they can. Josiah suggests he and Keziah can bring everything that’s been retrieved from the fire up to Bree and Roger’s old cabin.
Adso’s still missing, but they’re hopeful he’ll turn up soon.
Jamie confronts Arch Bug (Hugh Ross) about the gold he had hidden, and Arch confirms it was meant for Charles Stuart. Mr. Bug swears he’s not a thief and explains that he, Jocasta’s husband, Hector Cameron, and Dougal MacKenzie each took a third of the gold that washed up on shore from France. Arch was a taxman to Malcolm Grant and his share went to him.
Jamie realizes the lost Jacobite gold is here in America. Arch confirms it came too late to help the cause, and Hector fled with Jocasta and their share. (That’s how they could afford to build River Run.) Grant used his share for the good of the clan. Arch has no idea what Dougal did.
Arch figured out that Hector Cameron was buried with the gold he had left, and every time he visited River Run, he would take some of Hector’s gold. “I took back what the coward stole from Scotland!” growls Arch.
Jamie and Arch argue over oaths and loyalty, and Arch warns him that the rest of the gold is hidden somewhere Jamie will never find. Jamie hands him back the gold and orders Arch and his wife, Murdina, to leave immediately. Jamie frees him from his oath and warns him never to return.
Murdina (Sarah Collier) assures her husband that after decades of scrubbing the Frasers’ floors – and keeping their secrets – they’ve earned their freedom.
Ian was listening to Jamie and Arch’s argument, and later he and Jamie wait in the dark as Arch digs up the gold. (He buried it under the big house.) When Arch strikes something solid, Jamie makes his presence known and demands that Arch stop what he’s doing. In response, Arch shoots at Jamie, but the shot only grazes him. Ian quickly responds, shooting Arch with an arrow.
However, it turns out it’s not Arch; it’s Murdina Bug who lies dead in the ashes. Ian feels incredibly guilty for killing Mrs. Bug. He truly believed it was Mr. Bug digging up the gold.
The following day Ian is wracked with guilt and remorse. Mrs. Bug was always kind to him, and she kept their secrets. Claire reminds him he was protecting Jamie. Ian wishes there was something he could do to make it right. Claire holds his hand and tells him he just needs to keep breathing for now.
Claire must follow her own advice as she prepares Mrs. Bug’s body for burial. Arch has disappeared.
The community joins Jamie and Claire as they take Mrs. Bug’s coffin to the graveyard. Lizzie calls Mrs. Bug the cemetery’s guardian, and Jamie explains the last person to be buried there holds that title.
Mr. Bug appears out of nowhere and joins the procession, requesting that Claire sing as they bury his wife. Claire obliges and sings “Ave Maria” as Mrs. Bug is laid to rest.
Mr. Bug kneels by her coffin and gently covers his wife’s body one final time as he cries. Jamie recites the sonnet “Death Be Not Proud” by poet John Donne.
Mr. Bug remains by the grave after the service, and Ian shoulders the blame for her death. He offers Mr. Bug his own life in exchange for Murdina’s, but Arch turns him down. Instead, Arch asks Ian to kill his dog. Ian immediately refuses, and Arch warns that when Ian has something worth taking, he’ll see him again. That’s a promise.
Arch leaves and Claire’s voice-over informs us that in the days that follow, they begin looking toward the future. Jamie points out the perfect location for a new house and confesses he’s thought about it for a year – just to be prepared.
Claire asks if he wants to be returned to Scotland to be buried. Jamie replies, “If you have to dispose of my carcass, leave it out for the crows.”
Jamie reveals he’ll never ask where to bury her because he refuses to think of her dead.
Before they can start building, Jamie would like to return to Lallybroch. He made a promise to his sister, Jenny, to bring Ian home, and he intends to keep that promise. Now with the war at hand, they need to leave once their affairs are in order.
Jamie also confesses that now’s the perfect time to return home because he promised himself he would never face William in war.
Jamie prays before he crawls into bed next to his pretending-to-be-asleep wife. He ends his prayer asking God to let him be enough.
Morning arrives, and Jamie and Claire snuggle in bed as he reveals he had another dream of her in her time. This time he saw Bree, Roger, and the kids walking up to a house and knocking on the door. A small brown-haired woman greeted them with laughter. Mandy was a little older and well.
Claire asks if they called the woman by name, and Jamie realizes Roger called her Fiona. The family’s doing well, and Jamie struggles to describe seeing Jem answering a phone, something Jamie’s completely unfamiliar with but does a decent job explaining. Claire quickly realizes what he’s saying as Jamie adds that Jem said, “I want to speak to grandda.”
Claire wishes she could call them, but the knowledge that they’re back safely will have to do for now.
Later, Jamie melts down some of the gold into the size of musket balls and then covers them in black ash. (So that’s why there was a musket ball in the chest with the letters!) As they’re working, Jamie asks if Ian knows what he’s going to say to his mother when he gets back to Lallybroch. Ian’s not sure and a bit worried because Bree told him of a book that said once you’ve left home, you can’t go back again.
After finishing melting some of the gold, Jamie guides Claire to a secret cave he and Jemmy found. Inside is the skeleton of a Spaniard, and Jamie and Jemmy made a pledge to keep the cave’s location a secret between granddad and grandson. (Jem wasn’t scared of the skeleton.)
There’s a smaller cave behind the skeleton, and Claire declares it’s the perfect place to hide treasure.
Claire pens a letter to Bree, explaining they’re heading to Lallybroch to take Ian home. Claire has been busy teaching Lizzie how to treat illnesses, and Lizzie and the twins have promised to watch over Fraser’s Ridge while she’s gone.
Jamie adds to the letter, suggesting that she pray for their safety as they return to Scotland – even though the outcome will have been long since decided when she reads this letter. He also drops cryptic hints about the location of a treasure.
Roger and Bree read this letter and figure out that Jamie located the missing Jacobite gold. Jamie indicated that Jem knows the location of the treasure. “If you should at some time have need of this property, tell him the Spaniard guards it,” wrote Jamie.
Jem’s never mentioned a Spaniard, and Roger and Bree debate whether they should ask him. They decide against it…for now.
Bree and Roger also decide to put off reading all the letters and instead will ration them to keep Jamie and Claire alive for as long as possible.
They plan on returning to Boston, but first, Bree wants to take Roger to Lallybroch for one final visit.
Lallybroch is still standing, but it’s in a state of disrepair and boarded up. It’s obvious no one lives there, but just seeing it makes Bree believe that Claire and Jamie could come riding up at any moment. Bree misses her parents, and Roger admits he does, too.
As they’re about to leave, a car pulls up and a realtor gets out. She thinks they’re there to tour the property, which is for sale! Shocked by the news, Roger and Bree exchange smiles. (The agent is from Dick Cameron and Co. realtors.)
Jamie and Claire say their emotional goodbyes to Lizzie and the twins, and Lizzie can’t control herself and cries. There have been too many goodbyes, and Jamie promises they will return. They don’t know when, but they’ll be back.
Claire, Jamie, and Ian have set off on their journey when Claire spots a familiar furry face. She picks up the adorable missing Adso and holds him close. He’s in great shape, and she gives him a kiss before sending him off, telling him to go home.
She’s crying when she returns to her horse, and Jamie comforts her. Claire sees a property marker and has a flashback to the day Jamie hammered it into the ground and declared it to be the entry to Fraser’s Ridge. Again, Claire’s wracked with emotion and makes Jamie promise they will return someday. Jamie swears they will.
They kiss and Claire says, “Jamie, you will always be enough.”
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