Outlander Recap: “Famous Last Words”

Sunday night’s episode of Outlander continued where the last new episode – which aired two weeks ago – left off with a short detour to Oxford University in 1969.

The cold opening of the 8th episode of season 5 found Roger teaching a history class at the prestigious college where he was berating his students for their less than stellar reports on famous last words by well-known historical figures. Even more Brianna arrived to watch him in action as his students asked him what his last words would be. He shared, “Let history forget my name so long as my words and my deeds are remembered by those that I love.”

As his students left the classroom, Roger and Brianna talked about the silent movie marathon they were going to see. Roger wasn’t sure if Brianna really wanted to attend with him, but she said he suffered through an entire lecture on suspension bridges so fair is fair; but she wanted to know “would those really be your last words?”

Prophetic indeed if you think about all the flashbacks Roger experienced once it was revealed that he actually survived the brutal hanging conducted upon him and two other men at the end of the Battle of Alamance.

As shown in silent movie fashion throughout the episode, viewers saw Roger’s ancestor Buck MacKenzie turn him over to Governor Tryon’s men along with about a dozen other men believed to be part of the Regulators. Three men were ‘chosen’ to be examples to the others; they were to be hung until dead. His horrific experience was played out over and over again in his mind, showing more and more of what happened until his thoughts turned back into color memories leading up to his seeing his wife’s face.

That final image of Brianna seemed to turn the tide for Roger, who – over the past three months – had healed physically but not mentally, refusing to speak even to his beloved wife. The only time he spoke was to yell “Stop!” at Jemmy when the little boy almost touched a hot teapot on the stove in their cabin.

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The episode also featured an unexpected return. Claire and Jamie were playing hide and go seek with little Jemmy when a wild boar charged at Jamie only to be taken down at the last moment by an arrow. As Jamie turned, a figure – appearing to be an Indian – stood in the woods. Quickly enough, as Rollo ran down the hillside, it was revealed that the figure was Ian. Obviously Claire and Jamie were elated to see their nephew, but Ian was clearly a much-changed young man. He was, of course, welcomed back into the fold, but he was less than forthcoming about his life with the Mohawks despite the urgings of both Fergus and Marsali for details.

It was decided that Ian would accompany Roger in surveying the 5,000 acres of back country wilderness given to he and Brianna by Governor Tryon as ‘compensation’ for his “regrettable error” in hanging Roger along with the Regulators. Brianna clearly wasn’t interested in the land; she wanted her husband back. But, surveying the land gave both Ian and Roger time to deal with their own traumas. Roger seemed to come to terms (at least a little) with what happened to him; while Ian – whose backstory was still murky at best – was going to use the water hemlock, a deadly poision if not handled properly, to take his life. Roger stopped him just in the nick of time only to learn that he had a love, who was lost to him but was not dead. Hopefully at some soon point it will be revealed why Ian left the Mohawk and what happened to the woman he loves.

As a sidenote: It was great to see Lord John paying a visit to the Fraser family – he brought a trunk full of books and gifts – and he gave Brianna an astrolabe, which came in handy for Roger and Ian.

The juxtaposition of the episode was Roger first asking his students at Oxford about where they thought the saying “bury the hatchet” came from while at the end of the episode we saw Ian burying his hatchet in the ground before he nearly took his life. When stopped by Roger, Ian yelled at him saying that Roger buried his weapon – his voice – and the needed to use it again; just as Ian needed to unbury his hatchet and use it again until he knew what to do with his life without the woman he loves.

The closing scene found Roger coming home to Brianna and finally talking with her. They both admitted that they were scared; Roger told her that he is no longer the man he used to be and he harkened back to their conversation at Oxford about his last words. Roger said he “thought he knew what they would be but what mattered was the last face” that he saw. That face was Brianna. His final statement to his wife before they shared a touching moment and a lasting kiss was, “I’ll always sing for you. No matter what, no matter where. Whether you’re there to hear or even if my voice isn’t able. I will always sing for you.” The final credits even had Roger and Brianna singing “My Darling Clementine” – Jemmy’s favorite tune – together.

What are your thoughts on the episode? Please share your thoughts in our comments section below.

[Photo Credit: Starz]

The next new episode of Outlander will air on Sunday, April 19 at 8/7c on Starz.