When is the one-week break during Outlander Season 7B likely to happen?

Starz viewers are used to the network taking a week off during runs of shows. This has become standard, and the only seasons of Outlander that didn’t have a week off were Seasons 1 and 4. So, we’re expecting a break during Outlander Season 7B.

Why was Season 1 excused from a week off? This could have been due to the programming decisions at the time. Starz was relatively young when Outlander started up 10 years ago, and there have been a lot of changes to premium cable networks over the years. Plus, Starz likely didn’t want to risk anything on the first season of such a huge show.

Why Season 4, though? This is harder to pin down except that there was a change in leadership behind Starz around this time so it could have been linked to that.

Breaks throughout Outlander have been mixed

There hasn’t been a consistent decision on when the breaks in the season would happen.

The week breaks started with the second season, with a week off just before the Season 2 finale. During the third season, the week off happened at the halfway point, just as Claire went back through the stones to find Jamie in Edinburgh.

The fifth season’s break came around the halfway point as well. It was just after Episode 7, when Roger is hanged and there are questions about whether he’ll survive and what it would mean for him afterward.

The sixth season did things completely differently, opting for the break to happen before the last two episodes. This was just after Malva’s death, so there were a lot of questions about who did it and what it would mean for Claire as she was the one to find Malva and attempt to save the baby.

Then the first half of Season 7 saw a break in the season. This happened the week before the 7A finale.

When could the Outlander Season 7B break happen?

Starz doesn’t opt for a set time to bring a break in terms of episode number. Instead, it looks to be based on major moments in the season.

We can see that the break before the Season 2 finale was huge, as it was that huge buildup we’d spent two seasons working toward. Roger’s hanging and just after Malva’s death were pivotal moments for characters, so putting a break after these moments made sense as fans were sure to tune in two weeks later.

It’s hard to say when the Outlander Season 7B break could happen. The week of Friday, Dec. 27 would make sense due to Christmas, but Season 4 didn’t opt for a break when an episode aired over Christmas. Episodes aired on Dec. 23 and Dec. 30 of that year, so Starz doesn’t worry too much about the live ratings since people can watch on the streamer.

So, it makes sense that it will happen around a big moment. Outlander Season 7B is set to follow storylines from An Echo in the Bone and Written in My Own Heart’s Blood, and there are a lot of major moments for various characters during these two books.

I'm going to jump in to the book spoilers now!

SPOILERS!

If I had to take a guess, I’d say it will be a big moment surrounding Claire finding out that Jamie’s boat sank at sea. She and Lord John Grey are left believing that Jamie has died at sea, leading to them marrying. Do you really think that’s how Jamie dies, though? It would make sense to end an episode with Claire and Lord John Grey finding this out and a week break until we learn what actually happened to Jamie.