Young Ian shared something about his life with the Mohawk in Outlander Season 6, Episode 2. What happened to the child he shared with his wife?
During Outlander Season 5, we learned Young Ian had a wife while he lived with the Mohawk. This wife isn’t dead but is dead to him. It was clear that something big happened, but Young Ian didn’t go into more detail.
When talking to Marsali during that season, he did comment about the children she had. There was a comment about how she was able to have children, and it seemed like maybe Ian and his wife weren’t compatible when it came to having children.
That was until Outlander Season 6, Episode 2. After giving Henri-Christian a beautiful Mohawk blessing, he talked about grief and shared with Marsali that he and his wife had a child. What happened to this child?
What happened to Young Ian’s child in Outlander?
Young Ian doesn’t go into all the details. Jamie only overhears that Ian and his wife had a child, and it’s clear that something happened. It’s clear that child isn’t around now. If the child was, there is no way that Young Ian would just leave his family behind.
We can look at A Breath of Snow and Ashes for details of what happened. Without the book, I think it’s pretty clear what happened. The baby didn’t survive, and Young Ian is grieving that loss as well as the wife he has had to leave behind.
Spoilers for the Outlander books from this point
In A Breath of Snow and Ashes, we get a flashback of Young Ian with his wife. She went into labor early and it was clear right away that the baby wouldn’t end up surviving.
We eventually learn that Ian had two unborn children who Emily (his wife) miscarried and then a daughter Yeksa’a Iseabaìl, who dies as a baby. Claire hears about it and considers whether there was a problem with mixed blood. We know now that there are issues for those with rhesus negative blood.
It’s going to be interesting to see how much of this storyline is used in Outlander Season 6. I hope that all of it is as we get more development for Young Ian.