Outlander Season 6 spoilers: Who is Malva Christie?

Malva Christie will definitely be a part of Fraser’s Ridge in Outlander Season 6

Outlander fans have been wondering for a while now if the show would include the Malva Christie storyline, and now it seems that it will.  Sam Heughan announced that she’d be playing a special part in the show in a video released on Christmas Day.

There’s no way of knowing just how much of her story will be included in Season 6, but we can take a look at her character arc in A Breath of Snow and Ashes to see what could happen.

There will be spoilers from the book in this post.

Malva Christie becomes Claire Fraser’s apprentice and the daughter of her heart

Malva is the daughter (really niece) of Tom Christie and the sister of Allan.  She is pretty, bright, and very curious, especially about Claire’s medical knowledge.  She soon becomes Claire’s helper in the book, and the two become very close.  We don’t yet know how this will affect Marsali, who is currently Claire’s apprentice and surrogate daughter.

Claire takes on a mother-like role for Malva, whose mother was executed when she was very young.  At one point Claire enlightens her on the joys of sex, and I hate to say she tried it out, but she was very popular with the young men of Fraser’s Ridge.

An epidemic comes to the Ridge, and both Tom Christie and Claire fall ill.  Malva helps nurse Claire back to health, but Claire is suspicious because her and Tom’s illness is different from the rest of those who got sick.  We later learn from Tom that Malva poisoned them both.

The plot thickens when Malva Christie becomes pregnant and names the supposed father

About six months later, Tom and Allan Christie bring Malva to the Big House.  They’ve found out she’s pregnant, and she says she’ll only name the father in Jamie’s presence.  She claims that Jamie fathered her child while Claire was ill!  He’s innocent, of course, but this throws things into turmoil.

Claire later learns from Young Ian that the child might be his or Bobby Higgins’s.  Before she can learn the truth, though, Malva shows up murdered in Claire’s garden.  Claire tries to save her child via caesarian, but he is too premature to live.

Claire is accused of Malva’s murder, but Tom Christie saves her by confessing to the crime himself, even though he didn’t kill her.  Tom is in love with Claire and will do anything to help her.

When she gets back to the Ridge, Claire meets up with Allan Christie.  She finds out that he fathered Malva’s child and pushed her to name Jamie as the father; he also murdered her when she wanted to come clean to Claire.  Young Ian is there to hear him confess and kills him.

No matter how much or how little of this story they include, Malva Christie’s presence will ensure a dramatic Season 6.  I look forward to seeing how things develop.

Watch Outlander Seasons 1-5 on the STARZ app.