Outlander Season 5, Episode 8 sees Brianna help Roger recover after the events of Alamance, and [Spoiler] returns. Here’s a recap of the events.
We may have had to wait a week, but Outlander Season 5, Episode 8 was most definitely worth it. It didn’t take long to find out what happened to Roger, and a special someone returned to Fraser’s Ridge. Here’s a look back at the episode for a recap of the events.
Of course, there are spoilers for Outlander Season 5, Episode 8 in this recap. If you haven’t watched the episode yet, head to the STARZ App to do so right now!
The episode began with a flashback to Roger teaching a class in Oxford. It was all about famous last words, where Roger shared what his last words would be. He wasn’t bothered about his name living on, as long as his family remembered him. Brianna heard those words before the two headed off to a silent movie.
This mention of the silent movie was important for the rest of the episode. The title card was in the setting of a silent movie title card. We then got the old method of filming, with the words that the people say popping up on the screen.
It all picks up with Roger hanging from the tree and Jamie realizing that he’s still breathing. Claire does a tracheotomy to open his airway and save Roger’s life.
The silent movie method of filming continues throughout the episode as Roger gets flashbacks of the events. This is how we find out how Roger was mistaken for a Regulator and the involvement Tryon had in his hanging.
Before we can find out how Roger is doing, we’re taken to Murtagh’s funeral with a beautiful Scottish folk song sung by Maria Doyle Kennedy. Jocasta and Jamie share a moment of grief. Jocasta and Murtagh may not have been married, but it doesn’t matter. Just like Murtagh wasn’t Jamie’s father, it all still hurts the same.
Three months later
We quickly pick up three months later to find out that Roger has survived and there’s minimal scarring, but he’s not speaking just yet. It’s clear that he isn’t ready to speak even if there’s no medical reason for him not to. Brianna fears that it’s shell shock, remembering how her roommate Gail’s boyfriend was after the Vietnam War.
Governor Tryon has granted Roger 5,000 acres of land. It’s a generous amount, but it’s clear that Tryon is trying to buy forgiveness. Bree doesn’t want the land. She wants her husband back.
Sadly, he’s struggling mentally. Roger is trying to throw himself into adding the loft to the cabin, but it’s clear that he is struggling with the trauma. Flashbacks of the events tell us that he’s scared and he can’t get those feelings of fear out of his mind.
Bree, Claire, and Jamie try to continue life as normal, but it’s not easy. Finally, Brianna delivers a little tough love. She reminds Roger that she has been through trauma too and she’s on the other side of it. She still wants to crawl in a hole and die sometimes, but she doesn’t because she has a husband and child who need her. Now Roger has a wife and child who needs him.
And the child may be the way out of it all. When Jemmy is about to put his hand on a burning pot, Roger shouts “don’t” and stops him. Bree is happy that Roger has spoken but Roger won’t speak again. He’s just not ready.
A returning family member
Out in the wilderness while playing a game of hide and seek with Claire and Jemmy, Jamie notices that there’s a sound from the bushes. He knows that it’s a hog, so sends Claire and Jemmy to the cabin. Just as he is about to fight against the hog, an arrow shoots the hog down.
Jamie and Claire look up the hill to see a Native American tribe member standing at the top of the hill. At least, it looks like one of their Cherokee neighbors. When Rollo comes bounding over the hill, it’s soon clear that it’s Young Ian.
He’s back, but he’s certainly not the same. As he sees the house and family members ask for his story, it’s evidently clear that he’s hiding some sort of pain and grief.
Jamie has an idea that Young Ian can help roger with surveying the new land. Young Ian doesn’t immediately say he’ll do it, but he does head out with Roger to help.
It’s a chance for Young Ian and Roger to bond. They’re the two that haven’t got to know each other yet, but it’s clear that everyone has caught Young Ian up to speed about Alamance.
One day, Roger is looking over a cliff. Young Ian watches, knowing what Roger is thinking. But does he really? While looking over the edge, Roger remembers that in the darkness of what he thought would be death, he saw Brianna’s face. Suddenly, he remembers that Brianna has been the light in the darkness and he needs to get back to her.
He throws a paper airplane that Brianna made over the cliff and decides it’s time to be a new man. However, there’s one thing he needs to do first. Young Ian was the one to steal the water hemlock root (something Claire feared Roger had stolen) and was going to kill himself. He had a wife and lost her. She’s not dead but lost to him.
While he doesn’t say anything more, it’s clear that he is grieving the loss of more than just his wife. Marsali’s discussion with him about babies brought up a raw note of anger in him. He’s lost a child (or children) but he’s not ready to tell that tale.
Roger is there to stop Young Ian from killing himself and admits that he had buried his voice. But now he needs to change.
Roger apologizes to Brianna
When Roger returns, the first thing he says to his wife is “Brianna.” It’s just what Bree needs to hear.
This is a chance for Roger to apologize for burying his voice, but he also admits that he can’t be the man that he once was. Everything that happened to him has changed him.
However, while he’s going to be a new man, he’s still going to be there for Brianna and Jemmy. They need him more than ever, and he needs them.
He also notes that the way he reacted earlier in Outlander Season 5, Episode 8 when Marsali drew the Hanged Man tarot card was a reaction of fear. He believed that’s all he would be, but now he knows it’s time to move forward.
Roger also uses this chance to say that his last words didn’t matter. All that mattered was that Bree’s face was the last one he saw before he thought he was going to die. He chooses to be with her now.
We end the episode on a happier note for Bree and Roger. It’s the start of something new. Meanwhile, there’s more to come for Young Ian, as he deals with his own pain and loss.
What did you think of bringing Young Ian back into the story earlier than in the novels? What were your favorite moments? Share in the comments below.
Outlander airs Sundays at 8/7c on STARZ.