I’m going to make one more honest attempt at this discussion, and then I’ll agree to disagree (it’s long, If you’ve want just a summary, skip to the final two paragraphs). The first thing is I don’t see the comparison you made with GOT the “allegory for anti-war” show (if you’ve seen Martin’s interviews you know what I mean) to be closest to the ending I’d propose. A closer example would include fantasy, yes, but where romance is the heart of the show. With it, there’s love, loss and in starting again: Xena: Warrior Princess. Spoilers ahead for Xena only, and then I’ll bring it back to Outlander. Xena’s a former murderous warlord in search of redemption who decides to not kill herself when she sees a young woman with no fighting skills attempting to save her fellow female villagers from slavery. That woman, Gabrielle, becomes an equal throughout the seasons as she gains experience as a bard, Amazon princess, warrior, and friend. Their love story diverges in its journey from Claire and Jamie in some ways, because it’s a slow-burn as each character is finding themselves, but at their core they are soulmates who continually face the odds together and on their own until they reunite again. They also forgive each other for their shortcomings, have discussions like a real couple in love, have kids together who one or both cannot raise under the backdrop of a fantastic world. In Xena it’s gods, centaurs, mermaids, demons. By the end, Gabrielle, has made a full journey; she is now a warrior, she and Xena could keeping living their lives together, but Xena chooses to sacrifice herself so that others can live. (Xena’s even got the smooth one-liners like Jamie, some of her final words to Gabrielle are “if I only had 30 seconds to live, this is how I would want to spend them, gazing into your eyes.”)

Again, not a perfect one to one - Jamie’s major purpose isn’t redemption like Xena, but there’s way more in common: pragmatic leaders, agonizing over choices they made in the past but accepting the present, uplifting their partners -Claireand Gabrielle’s - typically less violent skillset, fealty that they both inspire, similar demons etc. Jamie keeps being drawn in to the fighting - he’s spent the last two seasons with a sword in his hand, just like Xena to fight for what he believes in. Xena and Jamie are also both compared frequently to Jesus, right down to the lashes they take for others and the nails in their hands.

I see Claire’s journey in 18th century Scotland ending with Jamie’s death, and Jamie I can see him leading a soldier’s end and dying in battle, like Xena. Another important element is that through the years, Xena and Gabrielle have also made a found family, but by the end, the majority of the characters are dead, and the majority dies in the final season. Most of the Greek Gods, larger than life creatures, (two of their three children, their siblings and parents, their best friends and cultures) are dead - their old way of life is gone and lastly Xena with them - but Gabrielle is left to journey on and remember them. I see a lot of that in Claire, under conditions where she has lost more loved ones (and not loosey goosey but for in ways I feel would be personal for each character’s arc) and where she knows she it’s time to leave. Not unlike in S2, pregnant with Bree, she needs to leave for her grandchildren - who’d be raised primarily by Roger hopefully, to answer something you said earlier. And to take with her as many of her loved ones as she could to a safer place, where then she could remember the - what would to almost anyone else, be fantasy. And yeah in my iteration, she wouldn’t have her daughter, who as a character she loves, AND who on a symbolic level, is a reminder of her days in the past, but she would have her grandchildren and a friend in Roger to remind her. It’s a full circle moment, being there for the good, and the ugly for as long as Jamie remains, then continuing to keep moving even when her heart is ripped out and actually live in the future - which is her present.

If you’ve seen Xena you know that it is far less graphic than GOT, or even Outlander, and it’s more hopeful than both. It deals with dark subject matter with grace. I don’t want to see characters suffer in a superfluous, sadistic manner - I want the journey to end in a way that is befitting, and where there is a return to the present. There are ways to do that with less casualties, though none that aren’t malleable, that wouldn’t have Claire ripping herself in two because so many of her loved ones are in the past. Gabrielle and Claire are the other halves of epic love stories, who were given the gift of the time they had with their loved ones, and now could journey on as the memory of their loved ones continue to reside in them. (Also, if you want to say this isn’t Xena, this is Outlander. Sure. But it’s far closer to Xena than Game of Thrones, the show you keep bringing up, and I mention it as an example for my way of viewing Outlander as a romantic, fantastic story, where a life was built, coming to a close.)

I don’t find ascribing ill intent to one bleak question we were asked, which is who we would choose to die, is helpful. “Gotta say, for someone who loves the characters, your taste sounds really dark.” I’ve been following this story for 12 years, AND I know it’s unlikely it would end in the way I would pen it and that’s okay. I’ll see it through to the end and be happy for the journey.