Understanding why Claire thinks she'll never see Bree again in Outlander Season 7

In Outlander Season 7, Episode 2, Claire and Jamie have to say goodbye to Bree, Roger, Jemmy, and Mandy. This is not the first time it’s happened, but it’s clear that this is a big change. Non-book fans have questions about why it was so permanent.

Can’t Claire and Bree just travel through the stones when they want? Couldn’t Jemmy pop back to see everyone? Claire makes it clear that it’s so final. She thinks that she will never see her daughter or her grandchildren again. Is that really the case?

Time travel is a dangerous thing in Outlander

The books make the problems of time travel far more clear than the series. That’s due to the time we get to spend inside the minds of the time travelers. We hear more about how dangerous time travel is, but the show has already done its job in making the dangers clear.

We know that Otter Tooth and Wendigo both travelled through from the 1960s together. However, they ended up in different time periods alone.

In Outlander Season 5, we see Roger tie rope around himself, Bree, and Jemmy. He says that this should keep them all together as they go through the stones, although we see that the rope is broken on the ground by them when they come out of the stones. They don’t have that rope when they travel the next time, suggesting that Roger realizes that isn’t going to keep them together all that well.

It’s clear that time travel is dangerous and unpredictable. The first time the trio tried to travel, they all ended up back in the same spot. They traveled to where their hearts were. When they traveled again, they had to get to their own time to save Mandy’s life.

Nobody would just travel back and forth in Outlander

Even in the series, it’s clear that it takes some planning to travel. Claire planned with her Bat Dress in the third season. Bree didn’t plan as well, but she did a little bit of planning. So did Roger. It’s not just something they could do whenever they want knowing the dangers of time travel. Those who have traveled accidentally before haven’t always made it through.

Claire and the others wouldn’t just go back and forth for the fun of it. They only do it when they think it’s the right time, or when they have to.

It was a goodbye for Claire. She really thinks that she won’t see Bree, Roger, Jemmy, or Mandy again.