Outlander’s 5 Most Tragic Deaths, Ranked

“Outlander” may have shouted its final “Tulach ard!,” but that doesn’t mean we’re done obsessing over all things related to Starz’s time-travel drama. To wit: The series finale has us thinking about how various characters’ exited the series permanently over the years, from the accidental (sorry, Mrs. Bug!) to the truly sad (Old Ian, we’re still not OK).

To that end, we’ve looked back over the show’s eight seasons and selected the five deaths we found most tragic. Before you get to the ranking below, though, a few notes: First, if you haven’t yet watched to the end of Season 8, consider this a giant Spoiler Alert!, and maybe come back when you’re up to date? Second, we chose the moments that affected us the most; your Sassenach mileage may vary. Third — and most importantly — two entries on our list pertain to characters who were dead once but didn’t stay that way. But given that we were led to believe they’d shuffled off this mortal coil, and therefore were gutted by the losses, we’ve decided that they count for our purposes here.

Scroll down to see whose demises hit us hardest, then make sure to leave your condolences/log your picks in the comments!

Half-wolf, half-dog, all heart: For years, Rollo — the animal Young Ian won while gambling in Season 4 — was his constant companion and best friend. The canine defended his owner from threats both human and animal for years, proving himself a constant and loyal sidekick (and makeshift blanket whenever they had to sleep rough). Rollo’s fierce look belied his sweet nature, and his boundless energy seemed like it would never flag. That’s why it was so hard for Ian (and us!) to believe it when Rollo died in his sleep in the Season 7 finale. “He waited, I think, until he kent you were here for me,” a sobbing Ian told his new wife, Rachel. What a sad passing! What a good boy!

Unlike most of the deaths we’re listing here, the passing of Jamie’s surrogate son in Season 8 came as a giant shock to readers of the Diana Gabaldon novels on which the series is based. In the books, Fergus and Marsali’s son, Henri-Christian, falls to his death when their home and printshop is set on fire. In Starz’s adaptation, Roger caught the boy, saving him… but the roof of the burning building collapsed under Fergus’ feet, and the blaze killed him as his wife, Marsali, watched and screamed. In case the death of Fergus, a French orphan who grew into a self-assured Revolutionary War patriot, didn’t hit you hard enough, consider this: He was the only one of Jamie’s offspring that Fraser had the privilege of raising from childhood. Sob!

And now we’ve reached the first entry in our list for someone who was definitely dead at one point in the story but who doesn’t stay that way. For the entirety of the series’ final season, Fraser patriarch Jamie and his family feared that he’d die at the Revolutionary War’s Battle of Kings Mountain. And even though he and his men came out on top, and it seemed like he’d escaped his fate, a bullet from a Redcoat’s hidden weapon eventually took Jamie down. Claire ran to her husband, who was bleeding out, and wailed for him not to leave her. “Forgive me, Sassenach,” he whispered… and he was gone. Now, the final moment of the entire series did seem to negate Big Red’s passing (as well as Claire’s). But until that blink-and-you-miss-it gasp, it seemed like both Frasers were gone for good, and we fashed. We fashed a lot.

Remember what we said above about Fergus’ death being a shock because it hasn’t yet happened in the books? The passing of Jamie’s godfather in Season 5 is the opposite situation. In Diana Gabaldon’s third “Outlander” novel, “Voyager,” Murtagh is killed at the Battle of Culloden — but that’s not how things played out in the Starz series. So while we were happy to have him for longer on the show, there always was a feeling that the beloved character was living on borrowed time. And that time came to an end in Season 5 during the Battle of Alamance. After Murtagh saved Jamie’s life, one of Jamie’s own (very green) soldiers recognized the silver-haired man as an enemy combatant and shot him in the belly, killing him. “I’d never betray your mother, no matter who asked,” Murtagh vowed as a horrified Jamie chastised him for continuing to keep his promise of protection, right to the very end. And then, once the old man was gone, our hearts broke again as Jamie seemed to go through all the stages of grief at once, winding up gasp-crying by the fire as he tried to hide his face from the other men at camp.

Now it’s your turn. What “Outlander” death ruined you? Let us know in the comments!