In Outlander Season 8 Episode 3, titled Abies Fraseri, Claire Fraser performs a miracle that can not be explained by regular medical science. Claire manages to revive a stillborn baby simply with her hands and some unusual power. This is one of the best examples of how Claire is more than a futuristic 1940s surgeon.
This has been coming for years on the show, and for some fans who have read the novels by Diana Gabaldon. The show has largely avoided showing what Claire’s capabilities are. But with only a handful of episodes to air, it is finally doing just that.
What happens in Outlander Season 8 Episode 3?
In Outlander Season 8 Episode 3, a pregnant woman named Susannah goes to Fraser’s Ridge to receive help with the delivery. She is pregnant with twins and goes into labor. Claire delivers her first baby, a boy, without serious complications.
However, the second baby girl is born, and she is not breathing. She is still. Claire is trying to give her CPR, but is unsuccessful. And then it got weird. Claire starts getting flashes of her past: Master Raymond in Paris, wings, and then the sensation of a blue light moving through her body. And then the baby begins breathing.
Claire simply can’t explain this. When Jamie asks her what it was, she just responds that she felt a new feeling that she had felt once before.
The prophecy that has been waiting since Outlander Season 4
Back in Outlander Season 4, Native American healer Adawehi (or Nayawenne) said something to Claire. She predicted that the day Claire’s hair turned white, she would have full power. It didn’t seem as important back then. But Claire’s hair has turned almost completely white in Season 8.
When Claire revives the baby, she asks Jamie what color her hair is. She is beginning to realize the prophecy is actually starting to come true.
Claire’s skill is not random in Outlander. It is, in fact, linked to Master Raymond, a mysterious character from earlier in the series.
In Outlander Season 2, Claire was close to death after losing her baby. Master Raymond secretly cured her with strange energy in his hand. Even at that time, she appeared to see blue wings. Raymond told her that blue was the color of healing.
He also mentioned that Claire has the same blue aura as him. This implies she has the same power even if she has never used it before. In Outlander Season 8 Episode 3, when Claire revives the dead baby, she feels that blue light once more. This shows that she is not just a trained doctor. She has a natural healing power passed down through her bloodline.
The story hints that he is very old, a time traveler probably from about 500 BC. Maybe he is the ancestor of all time travelers in this series. His power and his descendants have passed it on, and Claire seems to have one strong version of it.
What the cast and makers have to say
Caitriona Balfe, the actress playing Claire, told TV Line that even the writers of the show couldn’t agree on what was really taking place in this scene. She is convinced that Claire has a power linked to life. It is activated in the most urgent moments, when she has no choice. Claire cannot activate it whenever she feels like it.
Exec producer Matthew B. Roberts has another opinion. He sees Claire more as a conduit to a greater power, rather than someone who controls it. This image fits with her shaken state after using the power.
According to author Diana Gabaldon herself, the story of this twin birth has its roots in book nine. They made a few minor alterations to the plot, but otherwise abide by the most basic premise: the dying baby that Claire revives.
What does this mean for the rest of the Outlander Season 8?
This is only the start. It opens the door to something bigger in the final season of Outlander.
One big question is about Faith, the baby Claire and Jamie lost the year before. It is hinted that Master Raymond might have used the same magic to save her. There have been discreet signs that Faith could be alive. If it does, then her powers will definitely be an important part of that story.
Claire is now beginning to accept what she is capable of. It is difficult for her because she is a scientist, and whether you like it or not, you have to believe in logic. However, she has no choice.
Her white hair, the blue glow, and the baby she saved, there’s a common thread.
Something powerful, something extraordinary is happening to Claire Fraser, and the Outlander Season 8 is finally revealing it.
Edited by Sahiba Tahleel