There are a few loose ends in the Outlander books, but is Buck one of them? What happens to him, and does he try to head to 1980 like he says he will in Outlander season 7, episode 15?
In the TV series, Buck said that he would head to 1980 to tell Brianna where Roger is. This would allow Roger to remain in the past—partly in case Jemmy is there, and partly to avoid too many issues time traveling. Buck would be able to pass the message on.
Why would he not go to his own time? Well, Buck points out that Morag deserved better than him. With him gone, she’s likely been able to marry the man she should have been with all along. He needs to go to Brianna because at the end of the day Roger and Jemmy are his sons. They are his descendants.
What happens to Buck MacKenzie in the Outlander books?
I don’t remember Buck offering to go to 1980 in the books. By the end of Written in My Own Heart’s Blood he is still somewhere in Scotland, as far as I can remember. And he’s not mentioned in Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone, except maybe quickly in passing.
If he did go through the stones, there would have been something bigger made of it. Instead, it looks like this is yet another loose end that Diana Gabaldon has left us with in the books.
Roger does have a sort of daydream where he imagines Buck with Geillis in bed, and then a blue light in Geillis’s stomach and Buck disappearing. This is all part of Roger’s imagination, though.
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Buck has heart issues in Outlander
We have to remember a few points about Buck in the TV series. We know that he’s struggling with his heart, which didn’t actually get treated in the TV series. It was just a convenient plot point to get Buck and Roger to Geillis Duncan.
We also know that Buck is set to die in 1778. At least, that’s what is written, and it suggests that either he goes back there and dies or he doesn’t get back at all and is assumed to be dead.
This could mean that he ends up in 1980. With Brianna not there anymore, he would end up a little lost for things to do. He would need to quickly work out the time period. At least he’ll have Lallybroch to live in! That’s if he gets through the stones. There is the chance that his heart gives out and he dies.
If she stays in the past, he technically only has four or five years until something has to happen to him. That’s when he’ll be born, and the same person can’t be in two time periods at once.
The Outlander season 7 finale airs on Friday, Jan. 17 on STARZ.
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