Warning! Spoilers for Outlander season 7, episode 13, and the Outlander books forward!
Time journey is all the time sophisticated, however Outlander season 7, episode 13 made issues much more complicated. The fantasy collection has seen characters make a number of makes an attempt to return in time and alter occasions of the previous, nevertheless it by no means fairly works out that manner. Outlander makes use of a time journey mannequin that’s extra paradoxical, so something {that a} time traveler does previously solely ensures occasions of the long run fairly than change them. Regardless of this, Roger gave his greatest effort to save lots of his father in Outlander season 7, however the imaginative and prescient he receives in episode 13 makes the entire thing a bit extra complicated.
Roger’s father, Jerry MacKenzie, disappeared and was presumed lifeless when his aircraft crashed throughout World Warfare II. Nevertheless, Roger’s adventures in 1739 in Outlander season 7 reveal that there’s extra to the story. Roger and Buck found Jerry’s canine tags within the 18th century and rapidly deduced that, fairly than dying within the warfare, Jerry MacKenzie had by accident traveled again in time. Roger efficiently discovered his father in 1739 and helped him get again by the stones to his personal time. That is when Roger noticed a imaginative and prescient of his five-year-old self snuggled up shut with Jerry.
Roger’s Vison With His Father Is Deceptive In Outlander Season 7
Outlander Makes It Look As If Roger Created A New Reminiscence
Roger talked about in Outlander season 7, episode 13, that he thought he may be flooded with reminiscences of rising up together with his father as soon as Jerry was despatched again to his personal time. He nonetheless appears to hope that altering issues previously will in some way change historical past. As a substitute, Roger solely acquired his fairly complicated imaginative and prescient. Jerry disappeared when his son was solely a child, so the imaginative and prescient of a five-year-old Roger snuggled as much as his father in Outlander implies that these characters had efficiently modified the previous. How else would Roger solely possess this reminiscence the second Jerry went by the stones?
In reality, Roger modified nothing by saving his father in 1739 and sending him again by the stones. Within the Outlander books, Roger by no means discovers what occurred to Jerry after he says his last “I really like you” to his father as the person disappeared. Since he wasn’t raised by the person, Roger assumed that Jerry did not make it by the stones. Nevertheless, writer Diana Gabaldon’s novella A Leaf on the Wind of All Hallows reveals that Jerry traveled to level a couple of years after he initially disappeared and located his spouse and son simply in time to save lots of Roger in the course of the Blitz earlier than dying himself.
Nobody really modified the previous, however the imaginative and prescient Roger acquired in Outlander season 7 implies in any other case, particularly for the reason that TV present has left Jerry’s true destiny ambiguous.
Jerry saved Roger when the latter was solely 5, however nobody ever knew this since Jerry wasn’t sporting his canine tags—he was buried as a John Doe. This solely occurred as a result of Roger went again in time, however it was already part of his historical past. Nobody really modified the previous, however the imaginative and prescient Roger acquired in Outlander season 7 implies in any other case, particularly for the reason that TV present has left Jerry’s true destiny ambiguous.
Outlander Makes use of A Paradoxical Time-Journey Mannequin
The Previous Cannot Truly Be Modified In Outlander
There are a few completely different time-travel fashions that motion pictures and TV reveals sometimes use. One is a “changeable timeline” mannequin, which permits characters to journey again in time and alter occasions of their very own future (suppose Marty McFly nearly erasing his personal existence in Again to the Future). However, the paradoxical time-travel mannequin makes it inconceivable to alter something. Something somebody does previously will solely guarantee the long run. For instance, Brianna went again in time in Outlander to save lots of her dad and mom from the home hearth however ended up being the one who prompted the inferno.
Outlander constantly makes use of a paradoxical time-travel mannequin, and Roger’s journey to save lots of his father within the 18th century in order that his father might save his life within the twentieth is one other instance of this. Nevertheless, the characters of Outlander proceed to make efforts to alter historical past regardless of the constant proof that this is not attainable. Roger receiving a imaginative and prescient of himself with Jerry solely contributes to this confusion. It makes it appear as if Roger efficiently modified the previous and in some way acquired a imaginative and prescient of an alternate actuality of types. Outlander should present a definitive clarification of Jerry’s destiny to clear issues up.
Outlander Should Reveal What Actually Occurred To Jerry MacKenzie
The Outlander TV Present Should Do What The Central E-book Collection Did not
Diana Gabaldon’s spinoff novella A Leaf on the Wind of All Hallows reveals the total image of Jerry’s story and makes it clear what Roger’s efforts in 1739 actually achieved. Nevertheless, it appears as if the Outlander TV present will solely give audiences a glimpse of Roger and Jerry’s second collectively within the London underground. Quite than clarifying the intelligent paradox that Roger’s time-traveling achieved, this imaginative and prescient solely makes it seem as whether it is really attainable to alter the previous. This makes Outlander‘s huge twists and turns far much less fascinating and makes the intricacies of time journey all of the murkier.
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Hopefully, Outlander will reveal that Roger’s imaginative and prescient wasn’t a imaginative and prescient in any respect however a reminiscence he solely recalled due to his reunion with Jerry MacKenzie. This could imply that, within the TV present’s model of occasions, Roger should be taught the reality about Jerry—one thing that hasn’t occurred within the books. There are advantages to tales like Jerry’s being left ambiguous, however within the case of Outlander, extra definitive solutions are a should to make sure that audiences understanding of how time journey works on this fictional universe stays correct.
New episodes of Outlander season 7 launch on Starz Fridays at 8:00 PM EST.