There were two deaths in the Outlander books that we expected to see happen in the finale. While the series is certainly known for heartbreak, one of the deaths was far more heartbreaking than it needed to be.
Caution: This post contains SPOILERS from the Outlander season 7 finale.
We’re not talking about Jane. I actually think that death was handled well. It was the second death of the episode, and one that I was preparing for after a comment Young Ian made before his wedding to Rachel.
It’s all about Rollo. The half-wolf, half-dog died of old age during the episode, and while I appreciate that wasn’t changed from the books, the visual choices made this death so much harder than it needed to be. Look, the death of an animal is always going to hit harder than a human.
Why keep the eyes open in the Outlander season 7 finale?
The creative choice to keep Rollo’s eyes open was wrong, in my opinion. Rollo was supposed to have died in his sleep. I don’t remember reading that his eyes were wide open in the book. I always pictured his eyes closed, and it just looked like he was still sleeping. While it was a sad death in the books, it was also one that felt right. Rollo was getting old, and he was showing signs. The fact that he got to die in his sleep with his chosen human close to him knowing that chosen human had found someone to look after him filled me with happiness.
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Having Rollo’s eyes wide open in the series made it feel like he didn’t get the peaceful death that I always thought. It now feels like he was hoping that Young Ian would notice something was wrong and would get up to be with him in his final moments.
Then to focus on Rollo three times in that way just made it harder. There was no need to have that shot of Rollo so many times.
Now I’m left wondering if Rollo was scared as he died? Or did he just want to make sure he could see him human one last time? And now I’m back to balling my eyes out because that was the most heartbreaking death of the whole of Outlander. Animals are always going to affect me more than humans.
Outlander is available to stream on STARZ.
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