'Outlander' To Conclude With Eighth And Final Season, Prequel Series Greenlit

The original "Outlander" television series is reaching its conclusion. The long-running hit Starz series will end after its upcoming eighth and final season, per The Hollywood Reporter.

However, while the show is ending, Starz has also reportedly greenlit a new prequel series on the Fraser family, titled "Outlander: Blood of My Blood."

The time-traveling historical romance drama is based on the novel series created by Diana Gabaldon. With eight seasons, the television adaptation will serve as the longest-running original series in Starz's history.

Season 7 of the show has still yet to debut, it will run 16 episodes. THR reports that Season 8 will have 10 episodes.

Meanwhile, the prequel spinoff, "Blood of My Blood," will follow the love story of Jamie Fraser's parents, Brian Fraser and Ellen MacKenzie. Main series showrunner Matthew B. Roberts will reportedly continue on as the showrunner for the spinoff. Author Gabaldon is serving as a consulting producer for the prequel. Ronald D. Moore of "Star Trek" and "Battlestar Galactica" fame developed the adaptation for television.

According to an announcement on Starz's Instagram page, the series will return on the premium cabler later this summer. An official debut date for the 16-episode seventh season has not yet been announced.

The final season will at last bring Claire (Caitriona Balfe) and Jamie Fraser's (Sam Heughan) to a "proper conclusion."

According to Roberts, the prequel spinoff is a love story following the lengths someone will go to in order to experience love at a time when love itself is a luxury, and marriages are arranged for strategic, political, or financial gain. The subtitle is a reference to the marriage vow Jamie Fraser made to Claire.

Additionally, the spinoff will feature names and faces familiar to the fans of the series. Also, while the show is ending, Gabaldon is continuing the novel series. The ninth book in the series, "Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone" was released in 2021, with the tenth installment currently in the works. 

The upcoming final season, "Outlander," is based on the novel, "Written in My Own Heart's Blood," which was book eight in the series. At the time the series first debuted, it was the last installment in the "Outlander" saga. The tenth book is expected to be the last in the book series.

 The show stars Balfe and Heughan, with Season 7 adding Sophie Skelton, Richard Rankin, John Bell, David Berry, Caitlin O'Ryan, Paul Gorman, Charles Vandervaart, Izzy Meikle-Small, and Joey Phillips. It's executive produced by Roberts and creator Moore, Maril Davis, Toni Graphia, Luke Schelhaas, Andy Harries, Jim Kohlberg, Balfe, and Heughan. Moore's Tall Ship Productions banner, Left Bank Pictures, and Story Mining & Supply Company co-produce the show in association with Sony Pictures Television.

With Season 7 of "Outlander" debuting later this year, Season 8 is still likely a ways off. But with a tenth novel in the works, it seems like there is always a possibility that could open the door the show could continue in some way with some sort of climactic movie or miniseries. However, that remains to be seen. For now, fans will have to be content with knowing they are getting 26 more episodes, plus a prequel about Jamie's parents.