When Young Ian (John Bell) returned to Fraser’s Ridge in Season 5 of Outlander, he was obviously in the middle of an emotional upheaval.
Since then, he has spoken little as to the reason why but viewers have found out that not only was he married while he lived with the Mohawk Indians but that he fathered a child.
Now that the Christies have arrived, it looks like there might be romance on the cards between him and Malva (Jessica Reynolds) in order to ease Young Ian’s troubled past.
Young Ian and Malva look set for romance in Outlander
Tom Christie (Mark Lewis Jones) arrived on the Ridge with his two adult children, Allan (Alexander Vlahos) and Malva.
The family had moved to North Carolina and was looking for a place to stay after learning that Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan) was offering free land to anyone who spent time with him at Ardsmuir Prison in Scotland.
Tom is a pious man and his son appears to follow closely in his footsteps. Malva, on the other hand, seems to be quite the free spirit.
Already, she has been taken under Claire’s (Caitriona Balfe) wing and is learning the healing arts.
In addition to this, she has come under the attention of Young Ian, and Episode 3 of Outlander saw the couple taking a walk together and hitting things off quite impressively.
So, could romance bloom between the pair in Season 6?
Let’s look to the Outlander book series in order to find out more.
Here’s what happens in the Outlander books
SPOILER ALERT: The remainder of this article discusses Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander book series. Please proceed with caution if you wish to avoid potential spoilers.
Malva’s storyline is quite dramatic in the book series and what happens regarding her can be read about in this previous Monsters and Critics article.
For those that want the spoilers right now and directly in relation to Young Ian, the crux of it is that Malva becomes pregnant and claims that Jamie is the father.
Young Ian then says that either he or Bobby Higgins (a man who settled on the Ridge) could be the father.
The implication here is that Ian and Malva had intimate relations. And, because of this, it certainly looks like something will start between the pair in Season 6 of Outlander.
Unfortunately, before anything can be truly settled, Malva is found dead and with her throat slit. Claire tries to save Malva’s unborn baby, but it dies because it is premature.
And because of this, it is highly unlikely that a real romance will bloom between the pair — or at least not one that lasts very long — unless Starz changes the storyline dramatically.
Although, Fansided predicts that before all of this goes down, Malva will help Young Ian move past this trauma regarding his wife and child.
As to who the real father is? The correct answer would be Malva’s brother, Allan, who later confesses this to Claire. Learning of this, Young Ian then shoots Allan and kills him.
Plenty more happens in the Outlander books series in relation to this tragic storyline, but let’s keep some things a surprise, shall we?
Season 6 of Outlander currently airs every Sunday night on Starz.