'Outlander' Season 6, Episode 2 Recap: Absent Fathers and Born Again Leaders

Outlander Season 6, Episode 2 was one of those episodes in the long-running series where you really have to sit back and take in what is really happening.

From the birth of Marsali's (played by Lauren Lyle) son to the uncomfortable tension between Malva Christie (Jessica Reynolds) and her older cousin Allan (Alexander Vlahos), there is so much to unpack from not only what people said, but also what they did or didn't do.

Elsewhere, Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan) finally stepped back into the role of Fraser Ridge's leader, making his first big decision as an Indian agent—but if Outlander Season 6, Episode 2 taught audiences anything, it is that the men at Fraser's Ridge are extremely complex characters, apart from Roger (Richard Rankin) who seems to be living his best life in the 19th century, at least for now.

Newsweek has the full recap of what happened in Outlander Season 6, Episode 2 below.

Marsali Gives Birth

Perhaps the biggest event of Outlander Season 6, Episode 2 is Marsali finally went into labor. Sadly, as Claire (Caitriona Balfe) had suspected, Marsali's labor was not an easy ride and at one point, Claire raised her concerns with Jamie that Marsali might die.

Claire's concerns prompted Jamie to demand that her absent husband Fergus (César Domboy) make it to her bedside, immediately. Whether he likes it or not, Jamie is starting to become more of a leader and it is great to see him back in semi-control.

After a good talking too by Roger Mackenzie, a tipsy Fergus arrives at Claire and Jamie's home to take care of his wife, and what better way to comfort her? By sex of course. Classic Outlander.

As Jamie, Claire, Malva, Roger, and Bri (Sophie Skelton) sip tea in the next room to the sounds of Marsali and Fergus's rendezvous, Malva, who has offered to help with Marsali's childbirth, innocently asks Claire if Marsali and Fergus are having sex.

"At first I thought she was in pain...but some women like it? Malva asks to which Claire smiled and replied: "They do".

"Sinners, you mean?" Malva quipped, leading Claire to explain women enjoy sex for pleasure.

Fans of the Outlander books will know this conversation about sex foreshadows a lot of what is going to happen later in the series. For spoiler purposes, that can be saved for a later date, but if you are new to the Outlander world, remember this conversation.

Later that evening, Marsali enters labor and gives birth to a son. As Fergus cradles his newborn child, a look of terror and sadness flashes across his face and he hands his newborn son back to Claire, running out of the room in sheer panic. However, before he made his abrupt exit, he whispered the word "nain" meaning "dwarf".

Comforting Marsali, Claire insisted their baby was healthy but as to whether Marsali and Fergus's relationship will be on healthy terms, is not looking promising. Not only has he been largely absent from Marsali's life in recent months, he is on track to be at absent father.

At the beginning of the episode, Marsali shared with Claire he had been feeling guilty for not protecting her and Claire in Season 5 from Lionel Brown and his men (Ned Dennehy). As a result, he had turned to drink, and sometimes, things had turned violent between them.

There is also the risk Marsali and Fergus may find themselves accused of witchcraft as a result of their son's dwarfism. He was also delivered by Claire, who is already at the center of witchcraft rumors.

Here's hoping Fergus returns to Marsali and his son as soon as possible, before things get any worse.

Jamie Steps Up

At the end of Outlander Season 6, Episode 1, Jamie reluctantly accepted the role of Indian Agent for the British Crown, meaning he has been tasked with liaising with the Cherokee on behalf of the British government.

Thanks to Claire's knowledge of the future, Jamie knows the British will lose the American revolution but unfortunately, nobody from the future knows what side of the war the Cherokee will fight on.

The Cherokee have requested weapons from the British crown, but Jamie is reluctant to pass on their request because whilst Jamie has sided with the Crown for the moment, he knows he will have to switch sides to the rebels but if the Cherokee have guns, they may remain loyal to the Crown throughout the war.

On the other hand, Jamie risks the Cherokee joining the rebels from the outset if he does not grant their request. If the Cherokee's fought against the Crown, that would too would pose a serious risk to Fraser's Ridge.

At first, Jamie declined to pass on their request, much to Ian Murray's (John Bell) frustration. However, Jamie stepped up and changed his mind, after hearing Ian's heartbreaking confession.

After meeting Marsali's newborn son, Ian, holding back tears told her: "I had a child. Believe me, cousin, your husband grieves but he will come back."

Jamie realized Ian wanted Jamie to grant the Cherokee's request for arms as having weaponry would protect them when the war broke out.

He told Claire: "Ian, he had a child with his Mohawk wife. He told Marsali, didn't say more about it. He fights for them because they are his family. His allegiance is to them and my allegiance is to him."

In the end, he relented and wrote a letter to the governor, asking the British to provide the Cherokee arms.

This is the Jamie Fraser, the born-again leader Outlander fans know and love, and it's good to see him back.

Something Ain't Right With the Christies

At the moment, not too much is known about the Christie family, but as Episode 2 of Outlander Season 6 progressed, its overbearing and ominous presence became increasingly felt.

Tom Christie, an absent father who is still as much as a Protestant fanatic as he was at his time at Ardsmuir with Jamie, made clear his thoughts on Claire, and women in general for that matter.

He believes Claire should not be working as a nurse and his niece, Malva should certainly not be encouraged by her. He even turned out medical advice from Claire, only to return to ask for help when his hand injury prevented him from beating Malva after she failed to make him enough milk.

Jamie, our fearless leader, had to intervene with Tom's church when he recruited Roger as a preacher and fueled rumors Claire was a witch. Jamie ordered Tom to make his church a "meeting place" for protestants, Catholics, men, and women and threatened Tom to never speak of Claire and witchcraft in the same sentence ever again.

Elsewhere, audiences got a small insight into the uncomfortable relationship between Malva and her older cousin Allan. When Claire stopped by to ask Malva if she wanted to help with Marsali's childbirth, Allan barked back "Malva has duties to attend to at home".

Outlander fans of the books will know, this is just the beginning of Allan's possessive control over Malva, and for those new to the show, just know there is so much worse to come.

Outlander Season 6 continues Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on Starz and Starzplay.