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. Well, let us share everything we know about the same! SPOILERS AHEAD.
Rollo Lives in Show, Dies in Novel
In the seventh season, Jamie finds out that Mr. Arch Bug has a share of the lost Jacobite gold in his possession. His attempts to lay his hands on the same leads Young Ian to accidentally kill Arch’s wife Mrs. Bug. Ian gets immersed in guilt for killing a woman who has taken care of him, which makes him accept death if that’s what Arch wants. After the funeral of Mrs. Bug, Ian offers his life to Arch in return for the latter’s wife’s life, only for the old man to ask for the life of Rollo instead. Although Arch doesn’t kill the dog, his demand must have made the viewers scared about the fate of the beloved dog. Well, even though Rollo hasn’t died in ‘Outlander’ yet, we can expect a tragedy before the series’ conclusion.
In Diana Gabaldon’s ‘Outlander’ novels, which serve as the source texts of the show, Rollo unfortunately dies. If it is any consolation, the dear member of the Fraser family doesn’t get killed. He dies peacefully in his sleep, near his master Ian. By that time, Ian is married to Rachel Hunter, whom he meets in the fourth episode of the seventh season. 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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