Outlander delivered a huge twist in the sixth episode of the fast-paced Season 6 with the horrifying reveal of the death of Malva Christie and Claire quite literally with blood on her hands after discovering the body and attempting a last-ditch procedure. The episode ended before giving a glimpse at the aftermath, but considering the animosity of the fisherfolk even before Malva leveled her accusations at Jamie, it seemed safe to say right off the bat that her death didn’t look good for the Frasers. Although the show is taking a break between episodes, the promo for what comes next combined with a description gives away that there will be some tension on the Ridge.
The next episode of Outlander in the 2022 TV schedule airs on April 24, and is called “Sticks and Stones.” The title doesn’t bode especially well for the Frasers, and the description doesn’t indicate that the Malva issue will have blown over by the end of the break. The episode description from Starz reveals:
Claire struggles with her demons as a nefarious rumor begins to spread on the Ridge. Tensions rise as the residents fear there is a dangerous person in their midst.
Considering that Malva was murdered shortly after accusing Jamie of fathering her unborn child, there certainly is at least one dangerous person in the mix at Fraser’s Ridge, and more than one person with a possible motive to kill her. Tensions rising isn’t a good thing, considering how high they already were after Malva made her claim about Jamie. Claire's attempt to save the unborn baby wasn’t in time, and that might not work in her favor depending on who finds her first at the scene of the crime, covered in blood.
As for Claire’s demons… well, the murder might not have happened if she wasn’t in an ether fugue at the time. That doesn’t make it Claire’s fault, but it also doesn’t mean that she won’t blame herself for at least not being able to identify the killer. I just hope she doesn’t think that she killed Malva herself! After her brutal assault at the end of Season 5, Claire has enough demons without blaming herself for Malva.
That’s not to say that other people won’t blame her, as the promo for “Sticks and Stones” suggests that things are going to get ugly, no matter who the real killer is. Take a look:
The good news is that Claire clearly has Jamie on her side, but it is hard to blame the Christie men for having their suspicions about Claire being found with a knife over Malva, who had clearly been killed with something sharp. On top of evidently dealing with suspicions, the Fraser's have to figure out who the real killer is. Whether or not the Beardsleys are responsible remains to be seen, but the promo suggests that one or both will at least be suspects.
See the aftermath of Malva’s murder when the next episode of Outlander airs on Sunday, April 24 at 9 p.m. ET on Starz. Thanks to the shortened Season 6, only one episode will be left after “Sticks and Stones” before the next Droughtlander. Luckily, Season 7 is already on the way, and with the highest episode count of any since Season 1, so there will still be a lot for fans to look forward to. As for whether the Frasers themselves will have much to look forward to with war and possibly that fire coming … only time will tell.
