Warning! SPOILERS about Outlander season 7, episode 2 and the Outlander books ahead.
Outlander season 7, episode 2 brought Roger, Brianna, and their family back to the 20th century, but it seems their troubles are far from over.
The ending of the episode hinted at a challenging path ahead as Wendigo Donner invaded Fraser’s Ridge and Jamie and Claire’s house possibly went up in flames. This indicates that the television adaptation of Outlander has reached the events of the sixth book, A Breath of Snow and Ashes, and will continue with the seventh book, An Echo in the Bone. In the upcoming season, Roger, Brianna, and their family will face difficult times.
Despite being separated by two centuries, the seventh book of Outlander ensured a connection between Brianna and her parents through letters. Once Roger and Brianna arrived in Scotland and met Fiona Graham, they were given these letters, which provided insights into Jamie and Claire’s life in North Carolina.
However, the mention of hidden gold and Jemmy, their eldest child, knowing its location eventually puts the family in danger during the events of An Echo in the Bone. As Outlander season 7 follows the story of the seventh book, Roger, Brianna, and their children will soon find themselves facing peril due to their time-traveling abilities.
In An Echo in the Bone, Brianna ends up working for the Hydro Electric Board as a plant inspector in the 1900s, where she meets Rob Cameron. The discovery of Roger’s draft of A Practical Guide for Time-Travelers by Rob, along with the mention of hidden gold in Jamie and Claire’s letter to Brianna, leads Cameron to devise a plan. He forces Brianna to reveal the truth about the gold’s location, threatening not to return Jemmy to them. Cameron kidnaps Jemmy, making Roger and Brianna believe that he has taken the child back through the time-traveling stones. This incident may result in further time travel in Outlander season 7 and pose a serious threat to Jemmy’s safety.
Amid Jemmy’s disappearance and Buck MacKenzie’s arrival from the past, Roger decides to travel to the past with his ancestor to search for Jemmy, who was taken by Cameron in An Echo in the Bone. Cameron’s knowledge of time travel and the Jacobite gold exemplifies how time travel has influenced Roger and Brianna’s lives in their home timeline. Jamie’s mention of the gold would not have occurred if Brianna had not traveled back in time to save him and Claire, and Roger would never have written the book without following Brianna to the 1700s.
The return of Buck MacKenzie, albeit unwittingly, to the future in An Echo in the Bone brings back memories of Roger’s darkest moments in Outlander season 5. Buck accused Roger of adultery, leading to his near execution by hanging at the hands of the red coats. Their reunion in the present is bound to be complicated, as the trauma of almost being hanged has left a lasting scar on Roger. Considering that he was unable to speak for months after the ordeal, assisting the ancestor who attempted to kill him will undoubtedly take a toll on Roger. This sets the stage for an intriguing storyline in Outlander season 7, adding depth to Roger’s character in the series.