Spoiler alert: This post contains plot details from the season three “Outlander” episode titled “Of Lost Things.”

It’s hard to imagine Starz’s LGF.A, +0.19% “Outlander” ending an episode on even more of a downer than Frank Randall’s death, but tonight’s installment, “Of Lost Things,” managed to do just that.

Four episodes into the third season, it felt like we just might be getting closer to the Claire and Jamie reunion that’s been teased since last year’s finale. For one thing, Claire’s story line is no longer taking place in flashback: “Of Lost Things” saw the Boston surgeon, along with daughter Brianna and new historian pal Roger Wakefield, still in 1968 Scotland and painstakingly researching Jamie’s post-1746 whereabouts.

But “Outlander” had a bit more conflict to throw our way before Claire can contemplate another trip to Craigh na Dun, which is why I’m arguing that the conclusion of tonight’s episode was far sadder than the show’s farewell to Frank. As sobering as Professor Randall’s death was, that development at least allowed last week’s episode to end on a note of hope: With Frank out of the picture, the door was finally open for Claire and Jamie to find their way back to each other (what’s 200 years between lovers?).

Hannah James as Lady Geneva Dunsany. Starz

However, with Claire, Bree and Roger having hit a wall in their research – they can’t find any documentation of Jamie’s existence after he was moved from Ardsmuir Prison in 1755 – it appears Dr. Randall’s time-travel plans have been indefinitely postponed. The episode concluded with a dejected Claire and Bree on a plane back to Boston, their carefully coiffed heads hung in defeat.

Though that’s still not even the most depressing moment from the “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall”-soundtracked montage that closed out “Of Lost Things.” No, that prize goes to Jamie riding away from the Helwater estate while his son, Willie, screams for him to come back, in a scene that echoes the final shot from the 1953 Western “Shane.”

That’s right, big doings for Jamie this episode: He became a daddy! But don’t start pouring any celebratory whiskeys just yet, because since Willie was illegitimate, Jamie had to conceal his paternity in the six years he spent with the boy.

Suffice to say, whether it’s Claire in 1968 or Jamie in 1764, both Frasers are feeling pretty despondent about their prospects. But “Of Lost Things” drove home a truth that should still give viewers a strong sense of optimism going forward: By becoming parents, Claire, and especially now Jamie, have the fortitude that they will need to not just reunite, but rebuild their relationship.

Sam Heughan as Jamie Fraser. Starz

Claire’s newfound inner strength was already established by the end of the season three premiere, following Brianna’s birth. Having Bree made it far easier for Claire to move on with her life – though maybe not with Frank – because she had a reason to get out of bed in the mornings. But for Jamie, things have been far more wretched: He spent six years living in a cave, then another three in Ardsmuir Prison, only to be forced into service at an English estate by his new friend and savior, Major John William Grey. Jamie also reminded viewers through a poignant line of dialogue in tonight’s episode that he has suffered the loss of two children: the stillborn Faith and, for all intents and purposes, Brianna.

Over the past four episodes, Jamie has continued to draw breath, but those eyes that once twinkled with all the possibilities of life have remained dark since he sent Claire back through the stones. A caring, albeit sexually charged (on one side) friendship with Lord Grey cannot make up for the fact that the Scotsman is still quite alone in the world, living out the years 1756 through 1764 as a glorified stable boy for the aristocratic Dunsany family.

That all changes after the conniving daughter of the estate, Lady Geneva Dunsany, blackmails Jamie into deflowering her before her wedding to an elderly earl. Their tryst results in a son, who is then brought up at Helwater under the care of his grandparents and the watchful eye of his biological dad, erm, groom.

And because this is “Outlander,” none of this took place without just a wee nip of drama: After Geneva dies in childbirth, her geezer of a husband, furious that his wife bore him a bastard, tries to murder the baby. Jamie then single-handedly saves his child by shooting the wrathful nobleman dead.

Sam Heughan as Jamie Fraser. Starz

Disturbing as this incident was to watch – who wants to see a newborn baby with a knife held to its neck? – it wound up serving a greater purpose: It revived Jamie’s heroic side, something that has laid dormant since Culloden (though it was briefly resurrected in the second episode when Jamie performed emergency triage on Fergus’ amputated hand). Because, honestly, who else was going to rescue Willie and take out his assailant? The hand-wringing Lord and Lady Dunsany? Not likely. Once a warrior, always a warrior.

Drama aside, the birth of Willie – a positive omen for Jamie, because that’s also the name of his deceased older brother – is the best thing to happen to the Highlander in more than a decade. His life finally has purpose again, so much so that when Lady Dunsany offers him the chance of a full pardon and a return to Lallybroch, Jamie refuses, preferring to stay by Willie’s side (at a distance) for as long as possible. It’s a satisfying set of scenes, because as lonely as Claire has been back in the 20th century, at least she – and by extension, Frank – has felt the indelible joy of being a parent. This is something Jamie was robbed of the second he insisted Claire return to the 1940s. True, Jamie still doesn’t get the full parental experience, what with having to hide the truth from pretty much everyone, including the boy himself, but after spending so many years alone and in drudgery, he deserves this little taste of paternal bliss.

But it’s a short-lived bliss, because this is still 1760s England and Jamie is still a lowly Scottish servant (Laird Broch Tuarach? Might as well be Lord of the Moon to these Jacobite haters) and, to quote Willie, a “stinkin’ Papist.” By the time Willie is six years old, too many people are noticing his stark resemblance to the groomsman he calls “Mac” (at Helwater, Jamie is known as “Alex MacKenzie”), which motivates Jamie to reluctantly take his leave of the estate.

The Highlander may not have been allowed to directly raise his son, but Jamie still found ways to create everlasting bonds with Willie, such as the touching scene where he stages a secret baptism ceremony. After Willie expresses his desire to be a “stinkin’ Papist” like his best pal “Mac,” Jamie gives the boy his own name, rechristening him “William James.” As if that weren’t enough to turn on the waterworks, Jamie also bestows Willie with his own hand-carved wooden snake – just like the one Jamie’s brother Willie once made for him – complete with the boy’s name etched on the side.

Between the elegiac “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall” cover and Jamie’s anguished expression as he resists the urge to look back at Willie, there was more than enough to smash our collective hearts into a million pieces in that final scene. But, while Jamie’s future remains unknown, we’re given enough reason to believe that this will not be the end of the Scotsman’s relationship with his son. Willie has been left in the hands of one of the few people Jamie still trusts in this world: John Grey, who has agreed to marry Geneva’s sister, Lady Isobel Dunsany, despite his admitted lack of interest in women.

Speaking of which, the relationship between Jamie and Lord Grey remains a complicated one. Although Jamie personally asked Grey to be Willie’s father, he did so by offering his body as payment for Grey’s sacrifice, as he no longer has anything to his name – no money, no land and no title. Grey refuses out of respect for his friend, but the fact that Jamie felt the need to present himself as a sexual object just goes to show that there are still deep, lingering scars from Black Jack Randall’s torment.

Jamie may not be able to live by Willie’s side anymore, but what’s important about this episode is that his future is brighter now than it has been in 18 years. Fatherhood has still given him the fresh start he so desperately needed in order to move forward. Now, not only is he no longer a prisoner, but he’s no longer a broken shell of his former self.

Don’t give up on him yet, Claire.