Outlander Season 7 Episode 16 Review: A Hundred Thousand Angels

Outlander’s Season 7 Episode 16, “A Hundred Thousand Angels,” is a love letter to the season — a swooning and subtle goodbye that occupies our time with graceful chemistry-driven drama.

It’s beautiful and elegant in the way Outlander so effortlessly is in its quieter moments.

Given the explosive, bloody warfare that plagued the penultimate, the most shocking element of this finale is how quiet it chooses to tread. By softening its edges and leaning into the embrace of these characters for a reprieve, Season 7 goes out with a stern whisper.

That does not mean quiet cannot be shocking because the most jaw-dropping twists are delivered with terrifying stealth.

It is disappointing to see Jane reduced to a helpless damsel in her final moments and take her own life when it felt like she had so much story left to tell.

However, the reveal that William is too late to save her after such a triumphant team-up between him and Jamie is heart plummeting.

The scene harrowingly builds us up with such a friendly cease-fire for the father-son duo as they bond over their chivalrous loves, complete with a shout-out to Brianna from a proud Jamie. To swipe that all away within seconds is brutal — but brilliant.

Then there is the loss of Rollo, who is as much a character as Jamie and Claire at this point in the series.

Carve our hearts out and feed them to the wolves, why don’t you, Outlander?

A constant companion and comforting presence; we will miss this good boy terribly. John Bell channels all our heartbreak into his emotional goodbye to his furry companion with a wail that can be heard across the highlands.

Plus, it is painfully ironic that when Ian and Rachel open themselves to welcoming a new baby into their lives, Rollo relinquishes his guard and passes on.

Both these instances of loss are done rather spectacularly within the quiet soundscapes of this episode.

Additionally, it helps that the loss is balanced by a healthy dose of triumphant family time.

There’s no more excellent high than when Roger locks eyes with Jemmy through the fog, followed by that big, messy group hug between Roger’s family and Buck.

The slow burn of their storyline has been incredibly satisfying to watch unfold as Roger and Brianna find a way to save their families and each other.

It’s an extra reward to see Brianna meet her grandfather and have this cheeky heart-to-heart where he suspects the fairies are at work to bring a spitting image of his wife and son to his doorstep.

These exact tongue-in-cheek implications of destiny and powers from beyond drive this Outlander season finale to victory as it fully embraces the magic surrounding Claire and her time-traveling family.

The choice to weave together Claire and Jamie’s warming embrace with William’s dispair to save Jane is a bold move that pays its weight in performances.

It is lovely to see Jamie and Claire spend much of this episode embracing one another and healing together in their bubble of unurgency.

The chemistry Caitriona Balfe and Sam Heughan manage to conjure in these moments of pure tenderness is extraordinary to watch.

William and Jamie’s exhausted embrace is an excellent follow-up as they finally accept a truce so they can hear each other out. They may end things on a strained note, but there are plenty of intriguing avenues to take this father-son relationship next.

This leads us to the big finale reveal, which is rather shocking. It changes the trajectory of Claire and Jamie’s history together and makes us question how much sorcery is hiding in the shadows of this time-traveling tale.

The knowledge that Faith, Jamie, and Claire’s stillborn child may have lived to have her own children is a mind-bending plot point.

Outlander could have to do a lot of heavy lifting to explain how these events, which happened ages ago in Paris, somehow reunited the Frasers at the perfect moment with their granddaughter in Philadelphia.

For now, however, we can bask in the unions of this twist and relish the fact that this reveal was beautifully set up throughout the season with little threads dropped here and there. 

As far as twists go, this one was worth waiting over a year to see play out.

And it feels right to end with the Faith twist in a season that embraced the resurrection of so many familiar faces from Jamie and Claire’s past.

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What did you think of the Season 7 finale of Outlander? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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All episodes of Outlander Season 7 are available to stream on Starz.

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