Buck has never known his biological parents in Outlander. He made it clear that he knew he was raised by another family, and he never heard them mention his real parents. In Outlander season 7, episode 15, he finally learned who they were.
Buck had actually met his parents before he told Roger that he knew he was adopted. After suffering with chest pains from coming through the stones, Roger got him to Cranesmuir, which is where they met Geillis Duncan. Dougal MacKenzie then showed up at the house, giving Buck a chance to meet both of his parents without realizing it.
The timelines can get a little confusing when time travel is involved. Let’s take a look at how Dougal and Geillis end up being Buck’s parents.
Roger and Buck end up in 1739 in Outlander season 7
Instead of 1778, Buck and Roger end up in 1739. It’s explained that Roger thought of his own dad just as they stepped through the stones, which took them to Jerry MacKenzie. What Roger wasn’t expecting was to run into Jamie’s father at Lallybroch and then Geillis Duncan in Cranesmuir.
As Buck learns the truth about his parents, he points out that maybe he and Roger were the reason Geillis and Dougal met. Dougal had heard that the fiscal had taken a new wife, but he had never met Geillis up to this point. Geillis knew of Dougal MacKenzie as the clan’s War Chieftan, but she hadn’t hada chance to meet him yet. Well, that all changed in this moment, and there was immediate chemistry.
From this initially meeting, it’s clear that Dougal and Geillis start up their illicit affair. This is also fueled by both of them wanting to see a Jacobite king on the throne.
How did Buck end up with another family in Outlander?
At some point, Geillis ends up pregnant by Dougal. However, she was accused of witchcraft while pregnant. It was arguably this that gave Dougal time to get Geillis free from execution. After all, during the witch trials, pregnant women would be given the chance to give birth before execution, believing that the child would be innocent.
The exact time that Buck was born is debated. Dougal tells Claire in Outlander season 2 that the child was already born around December 1743. However, on Reverend Wakefield’s family tree, we learn that Buck was born in 1744. It’s possible that Reverend Wakefield’s family tree had some dates wrong considering he didn’t know the truth about Buck being adopted.
Geillis couldn’t take the child with her, and Dougal wouldn’t have even allowed that. Instead, he passed the child to parents who had recently lost an infant—William and Sarah MacKenzie.
We met them in Outlander season 1 as the couple who had placed their infant in the tree believing that the baby was one of the fairies. Claire came across the sick child in the tree and tried to save him. Jamie quickly put the baby back in the tree realizing what the parents likely believed. While at the witch trial, the parents came forward to say that Claire had prevented the fairies from giving them their child back.
Buck was raised by the couple, and he eventually became a lawyer and married Morag Gunn. If it wasn’t for time travel, he would have never learned his true parentage.
Outlander returns with the season 7 finale on Friday, Jan. 17 on STARZ.
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