Outlander Season 4: Could Stephen Bonnet really have survived?

Outlander Season 4’s penultimate episode saw Stephen Bonnet in jail. Was there any way he could have survived the blast?

One thing I’m going to say before I start is that this has no connection to the book storyline. It’s all about Outlander the TV series. With changes to some storylines, it’s not clear just how much could change in the future.

In the penultimate episode of Outlander Season 4, we saw Fergus and the Regulators get Murtagh out of jail. It wasn’t without it’s difficulties, but they managed it. All the while, Stephen Bonnet was in jail and chained up to allow Brianna the chance to face him.

That’s all great, but the end of the episode was explosive. Literally.

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The jail blew up thanks to the Regulators and their love for gunpowder. Everyone inside should have died, which should have included Stephen Bonnet. However, before the explosion as Lord John Grey was trying to decide whether to allow Murtagh to go free or not, we watched as Bonnet grabbed the keys to his chains.

I think had the episode ended with just him looking at the nearby dropped keys, his fate would have been more questionable. There would have been a chance he wouldn’t have got out in time. However, he’d managed to grab the keys. Even with the bunch, it wouldn’t have taken him too long to get out.

Bonnet is a smart man. He would have seen the key that was used to secure him in the chains. It wouldn’t have taken a genius to figure out which key was needed to undo those chains. With all the attention on Murtagh and getting out of the jail in time, nobody would have been looking at Bonnet. He could have easily snuck out somewhere.

Photo credit: Outlander/Starz Image acquired via Starz /

Book fans know how important Bonnet is in the future. There are high chances that the Outlander writers wouldn’t have changed that element of the story. Just the manner of his escape has changed.

I don’t think there’s any doubt that Bonnet escaped. He’s a cockroach and it will take a lot to get rid of him. This is a guy who makes it clear he makes his own luck and this was one of those cases.

Plus, we never saw a body. Unless something has been confirmed in another way — such as Ellaria’s death in Game of Thrones definitely happening in that jail cell off screen — then without a body, someone will have survived. Bonnet is out there alive somewhere.

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Do you think Bonnet would have been able to get out of the jail cell? Did he go up in the explosion? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Outlander Seasons 1-4 are available on STARZ. Follow Claire and Jamie on Facebook for the latest updates straight to your feed.

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