Sumith Prasad
Young Ian is an integral part of James “Jamie” Fraser and Claire Fraser’s lives in Starz’s historical series ‘Outlander.’ Ian safeguards his uncle and aunty, irrespective of the predicaments or challenges they face. He helps them immensely when Richard Brown sets out to separate them, as he is always available for them within a hand’s reach. If Ian is the couple’s constant companion, Rollo is his constant companion. The half-wolf dog is always seen with Ian. In the seventh season, Ian gets scared about the life of his dog, making the viewers concerned about the animal’s fate! SPOILERS AHEAD.
Rollo Dies in the Season 7 Finale
In the seventh season finale, Young Ian and Rachel Hunter share an intimate, joyous moment as she reveals that she is pregnant with their child. Her conception convinces them to leave for Fraser’s Ridge, which is an ideal place to raise a family. The next morning, Ian wakes up with immense happiness and calls for Rollo to share the same. However, he does not wake up, alarming his master. Soon, Ian learns that Rollo has left this world upon dying peacefully in his sleep. The demise understandably breaks the Scotsman and immerses him in unbearable sadness. Still, he tries to find comfort in the fact that Rollo waits to bid adieu to him until Rachel becomes pregnant with his child.
Ian believes that Rollo only passes after ensuring that he has a wife and baby to share his life with, guaranteeing that he won’t be alone even after the latter’s passing. The adorable canine’s death was predicted in Diana Gabaldon’s ‘Outlander’ novels, which serve as the source texts of the show. In the book series, Rollo dies in ‘Written in My Own Heart’s Blood,’ the eighth ‘Outlander’ novel.
“This morning, though, he sat up, rubbed a hand through his hair, and stiffened. She opened her eyes all the way, instantly alarmed by something in his posture. ‘Ian?’ she whispered, but he didn’t attend. ‘A Dhia,’ he said, very softly. ‘Ah, no, a charaid…’ She knew at once. Should have known from the instant she woke. Because Rollo woke when Ian did, stretching and yawning with a groaning creak of jaw muscles and a lazy thump of tail against the wall, before coming to poke a cold nose into his master’s hand. This morning there was only stillness, and the curled form of what used to be Rollo,” the novel reads.
“‘Mo chiù,’ Ian said, running his hand lightly over the soft, thick fur. ‘Mo chuilean.’ There was a catch in his voice when he said, ‘Beannachd leat, a charaid.’ Goodbye, old friend,” the novel further reads. Ian seeks comfort in the belief that Rollo stayed away from death until he got together with Rachel so that he doesn’t end up alone. When Rachel gets ready to accompany Ian to bury Rollo, he tells her that she doesn’t have to walk all the way. “I married him, as well as thee,” Rachel reminds Ian, as per Gabaldon’s book. Together, they lay Rollo to rest.
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