Claire Beauchamp Randall Fraser on Outlander has survived World War II, time travel, a witch trial, a shipwreck, and that's all just off the top of my head. But now, Claire's nine lives may have run out if a comment from the author of the Outlander books is to be believed. In a conversation with Outlander executive producer Maril Davis for The Outlander Collector's Summer Series, Diana Gabaldon wouldn't confirm that Claire survives in her forthcoming ninth book, Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone, shocking many fans who have long thought if someone were to die, it wasn't going to be "Sassenach."

Let's start with why we're all worried about Claire in the first place — Gabaldon's comments. In the below video for the Outlander Summer Series, the author confirmed that there will be "tragedy" in her ninth book, but that Jamie will survive. When Davis pointed out, "But you didn't say Claire survives?" Gabaldon replied cryptically. "No, I didn't," she said. "We'll have to see."

There is a 99.99% chance that Gabaldon is just teasing us since it seems unbelievable that Claire would die before the tenth book. But as the creator of the Outlander world, we can't ignore her words. And if Claire can die in the books, she can certainly die on the show.

"As for Claire not surviving [in general], I see that as a distinct possibility," Jackie Merrell, who runs the fan account Outlander Angels, tells me following Gabaldon's comment. "[But] I don’t think that Diana would kill off Claire in the second to the last book of the series; it doesn’t make sense when the series centers on the couple."

Given that we still have more book and more show to consume, a lot can happen. But diving into the theory that Claire may not make it past the ninth book, and thus, having a shorter lifespan on the show needs to be investigated. Here is any and all evidence out there that may hint to Claire's fate on Outlander.

1. The Season 3 Finale

Remember when Claire proclaimed, "I was dead," at the beginning of the Season 3 finale, "Eye of the Storm"? At the time, executive producer Matthew B. Roberts claimed that the show did this to mirror the first words about Jamie in the Voyager novel. (Claire's lines are also pulled directly from her words in the final chapter of Voyager.) But could that have been a warning, or perhaps her telling viewers exactly what was going to happen? Could Claire's words come true before the series ends?

2. The Change In Narration

The show used to rely more heavily on Claire's narration and the Outlander novel was written from Claire's first-person point of view. But as the books have gone on, Gabaldon has increased the number of character perspectives. And as Roberts told Parade.com, the show has made a point of moving away from voice-overs. While that isn't necessarily a clue that Claire will die, it does prove that her voice isn't the only one important to the series anymore. That means the story could continue without Claire's voice being present.

3. Jamie's Ghost (Of Course)

By now we've all read the theories about Jamie's ghost. While the presence of Jamie's ghost could be a clue that Jamie dies before Claire, it is possible to interpret it the other way around. What if Claire died before Jamie so when he dies, his unfinished business is seeing his wife in the flesh one last time?

Twitter user @peakaboo_jen, who runs a fan Instagram account dedicated to Sam Heughan's Jamie, pointed out that Jamie proclaimed to Claire he would suffer 200 years in purgatory without her if necessary in the Season 2 finale, "Dragonfly in Amber" (another moment directly pulled from the books). Maybe that will come true following Claire's possible death where Jamie himself dies, but his ghostly self can't rest until he sees Claire alive again.

Merrell has the same line of thinking. "It’s just a feeling I have that when Jamie does die, he’ll have been missing Claire and his soul will go in search of hers."

4. The House Fire

Brianna traveled through the stones to find her mom in the past due to a newspaper clipping that stated Jamie and Claire die in a house fire at Fraser's Ridge. Anyone familiar with the sixth book, A Breath of Snow and Ashes, knows how that plays out in the novel and it's not really a spoiler to say that Jamie and Claire go on to have many more brushes with death in future books. But what if the show decides to majorly diverge from the books and have this fire turn fatal for the Frasers? History already thinks Claire is dead; the show could make that become a reality.

5. The Show's Future

One reason Claire's death in the fire could even be a possibility is because of Outlander's renewal status. Starz has only renewed Outlander up until Season 6 and TV Series Finale documented how Season 5's viewership numbers were lower than Season 4's. Fan site Outlander Cast previously wondered if the show hitting Netflix could be an indicator that Starz has plans to cancel Outlander, like the network's other historical drama Spartacus and Black Sails.

If the show's writers know Outlander Season 6 is the show's last, then they may want to wrap up the story with the death of one of the leads and Claire could be on the chopping block. But that's a major if, since killing off a major character might not bode well for a potential seventh season pick-up.

Despite all of these theories surrounding, well, death, there is one happy ending — the books! Gabaldon has said in the past that the Outlander books will have a "happy ending," though she says she expects it will also "leave the readers in floods of tears...". (OK, so we can't have it all.) When a fan asked about Claire's potential death, Gabaldon reminded them of the fact that a happy ending doesn't necessarily mean Claire, or Jamie for that matter, make it out alive.

One way Claire's death could be considered "happy" is if she dies in the arms of her love when she's in her old age. A clue that Claire survives until she's an older woman came in Season 4. As Merrell points out, Adawehi has a dream that Claire will come into her full power as a healer when her "hair is white like snow." (In Drums of Autumn, this dream comes from the character Nayawenne.) "That hasn’t happened yet, so I'm thinking Claire is safe for a few moments," Merrell says.

As for who actually knows how the Outlander book series will end, Gabaldon told me previously, "Only I know that." Which could mean, Starz's Outlander might make its own deadly decision about the fate of Claire Fraser.