Outlander's Claire rocked by emotional cliffhanger in season 7 part 2 finale

The seventh season of Outlander has officially come to a close and with it, has only gone and brought up some ghosts from Claire's (Caitriona Balfe) past.

The episode, entitled A Hundred Thousand Angels, saw Claire come close to death as Denzell (Joey Phillips) undertook some risky surgery to save her life. Thankfully, all was well for Claire, who made a somewhat speedy recovery.

But in the throes of her recovery, Claire was visited by a familiar face as Master Raymond (Dominique Pinon) paid her a visit while she convalesced in bed.

Not being able to discern a dream from reality in her state, Claire saw a hooded figure approach her bedside and was surprised to see Master Raymond.

He said that it wasn't time for her to leave this world. "I came to ask forgiveness," he whispered as Claire asked him what he was doing there – but for what exactly?

"Some day you will know," he replies. Just as she's trying to figure out what he means by that, we get a brief flashback of a blue heron flying over Claire.

If you cast your mind back to season 2, you'll remember that both Master Raymond and the blue heron appeared in one of the show's most poignant episodes, Faith.

In the episode in question, Claire grieved the death of her stillborn child. Waking up from a deep slumber amidst her ailing health, Claire was told that Mother Hildegarde had baptised the baby and named her Faith so that she could be buried on church grounds.

In similar scenes to season 7 part 2, Claire is recovering but in season 2, Master Raymond, an apothecary, sneaks into Claire's room to heal her. At the time, Claire could also only see blue wings of a heron bird, with Master Raymond explaining that signals healing.

In season 2, after weeks of recovery, Claire has to help the King in the trials of Master Raymond and the Comte St Germain, who are both accused of sorcery. Using the opportunity to save Master Raymond (after he saved her own life) and get rid of St Germain, the King ordered Master Raymond to never set foot in France again.

So, what does Master Raymond's appearance in the season 7 finale mean?

When Claire wakes up, she tells Jamie about her visit from Master Raymond and explains that he was also with her when she almost died after losing Faith. "Maybe that's why you dreamt of him," Jamie offers.

The interaction certainly gets Claire thinking as she asks Jamie if she'll see Faith when she does die one day. The prospect is one that both makes her smile and teary as Jamie agrees that one day, they will be reunited with their daughter.

But Claire was set to get another flashback to the past (and season 2) later on in the episode. After the death of Jane (Silvia Presente), her younger sister Fanny (Florrie May Wilkinson) is left by herself. So, Jamie and Claire decide to take her in and return to Fraser's Ridge with her in tow.

Both grieving, Claire and Fanny bond over memories of the past with Fanny speaking of her mother and dragonflies. Not having many belongings, Fanny shows Claire a locket she has with a picture of her mother inside of it. When she looks at it, Claire immediately looks a little confused and when she turns the locket over, she sees that it's inscribed with the name Faith.

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The following day as they all get ready to leave, Claire is surprised to hear Fanny singing I Do Like to be Beside the Seaside as she sits alone inside the church. We get a flashback to season 2 as Claire holds her stillborn child, singing the same song.

Approaching Fanny slowly with tears in her eyes, Claire asks her how she could possibly know that song. "My mother taught it to me," she tells Claire.

Jamie comes in to tell them both that they're all packed and ready to go but we then see a montage of scenes: Master Raymond telling Claire that they will see each other again, the wings of the blue heron, Claire holding Faith in her arms and Fanny's gold locket with Faith on the back of it.

Jamie presses Claire, asking her what's the matter and tearfully, she walks up to him while still glancing back towards Fanny.

"I think Faith lived. I think our daughter lived," she says.

Seeing as the song itself was recorded in 1909 and Claire and Jamie are in 1776, it is certainly strange that Fanny would know the song. So, could Claire and Jamie's daughter have lived after all? Could Fanny and Jane's mother actually have been Faith?

The final season won't necessarily resemble the end of the books so the team behind the TV series could most certainly be throwing some emotional spanners into the works.

It's not entirely out of the realms of possibility that this theory of Claire's could have some substantial legs – we'll just have to wait till season 8 to find out!

Outlander is streaming on MGM+ in the UK on Starz in the US. You can buy Diana Gabaldon's books on Amazon.

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