At the end of Outlander Season 4, Roger initially stayed behind to think about his options. It was the best thing he could do for him and Brianna.
Claire and Jamie managed to get Roger back from the Mohawks, but he wouldn’t return to Brianna with them. Outlander Season 4 saw him remain behind, pondering his two choices. Would he stay with Bree and the baby or would he return to his own time and leave it all behind?
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While many think he should have just done the honorable thing and return to Brianna, Roger remaining behind was the best thing he could have done. Not only was it a good thing for him, but it was a good thing for Brianna.
To mark Day 5 of MacBree-mas, it’s time to defend his actions. Not that I believe he needs much defending, but it makes for a good post to write.
He needed to process everything that had happened
Roger had been through a lot. We spent a lot of Outlander Season 4 muttering “poor, Roger.” That’s the case in the novel, “Drums of Autumn,” too. From the minute he went through the stones to the minute he was finally reunited with Bree at the end of the finale, Roger had been through things that nobody could imagine now.
He witnessed children being thrown from a ship due to smallpox and a mother dive out to her drowning child. Then his own life was on the line when he tried to protect and hide a mother and baby. He found Bree only to argue with her again and be pulled away once more by Bonnet.
When he finally had a chance to get back to Brianna, he was beaten and sold to the Mohawks by Jamie. At that point, Roger had no idea what had happened. In fact, he thought Jamie was acting on Brianna’s wishes once he realized everything.
Roger became a broken man at one point, willing to give up on everything to look out for himself. When push came to shove, he couldn’t do that. It’s not in his personality, and it was a sign of the decision he would eventually make for Brianna and Jem.
However, Roger needed to know within himself that he could deal with it. He needed to process everything that had happened, and that required time on his own when he was safe.
Roger needed to be happy with Jamie always being around
If you knew your father-in-law had been the one to beat you to a pulp and sell you to the Mohawks, would you really have been happy to be around him again? Even after learning of the things Brianna went through and the reason for the attack, it would still be there in your mind. There would be the fear, the unknowing, and the questions.
When Roger returned to Brianna, there was the chance that he would always be around Jamie. After all, he didn’t have anything to offer Brianna, except the hope of heading back to their own time if that’s where she wanted to go. After spending so long with her parents and now with a child, there was a chance that she wouldn’t be able to go through the stones.
So, Roger needed to know that he’d be able to deal with Jamie being in his life. We spent a lot of time understanding Brianna’s need to deal with the events that happened to her and face her attacker. While not the same circumstances, Roger still had an attacker that he needed to face; one he would need to be around a lot!
He needed to take the time that he’d be able to deal with this. PTSD is a real thing. We all know that, and this would be something Roger could suffer after his ordeal. So, taking the time before returning to Brianna was a smart move.
He needed to know he could be the right man for Brianna
While many think Roger should have gone back to Brianna right away, that could have been the biggest mistake for all. Had Roger realized that he couldn’t deal with everything that had happened to him and left, it would have left Brianna all the more heartbroken. At least, that’s a possibility.
And I don’t just mean the knowledge of Jem possibly not being his son. Had it just been anyone who raped Brianna, I think Roger would have been happy to claim the child. As soon as he learned that it was Bonnet, his whole demeanor changed. Roger had seen first hand what Bonnet was capable of doing.
Then there was everything that Roger had been through due to Jamie’s mistake. Yes, that mistake was through mistaken identity but Jamie reacted before he checked with Roger who he was. One clarification could have changed everything. And Roger needed to deal with the knowledge that it was his father-in-law who had beaten and sold him.
Could Roger live with all that? Could he be around the Frasers with everything that happened?
He needed to be all in. Just being a tiny bit out would have led to him and Brianna splitting and would have been much harder for everyone. Taking a few minutes, hours, or even days to think things over made sure Roger was in the right mindset and wouldn’t cause more pain. It was a mature decision to make.
What did you think of Roger’s decision to stay behind after Claire and Jamie found him? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
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