Sumith Prasad
The first episode of Starz’s historical series ‘Outlander’ season 7, titled ‘A Life Well Lost,’ follows the aftermath of Claire Fraser’s arrest as she gets charged with the murder of Malva Christie. Claire’s husband James “Jamie” MacKenzie Fraser arrives in Wilmington to rescue his wife from the gallows but Governor Martin demands Jamie’s loyalty in the impending Revolutionary War in return for his wife’s freedom. Claire treats Martin’s wife, who is expecting a child. The engrossing episode ends with a startling decision Tom Christie makes to help Claire and Jamie’s attempts to exact his vengeance on the person who sets out to hurt his beloved. If you are up for a detailed take on the same, let us share our thoughts! SPOILERS AHEAD.
Outlander Season 7 Episode 1 Recap
‘A Life Well Lost’ begins with Claire ending up in a jail in Wilmington. She befriends her fellow prisoner Sadie Ferguson, who pretends to help her in return for money. When Lieutenant Tate arrives in the jail looking for a healer, Sadie lets Claire join the officer, who takes her to the ship of Governor Martin. The governor’s wife is expecting and she needs the care of a healer in the absence of the ship surgeon. Meanwhile, Jamie and Young Ian arrive in Wilmington looking for Claire. Martin and his wife are worried about a murderer taking care of the latter but they are desperate for help. Claire promises to not hurt the pregnant woman.
Claire succeeds in revealing her location to Tom Christie through a list of materials she needs to treat Martin’s wife. She also asks him to inform Jamie of what really happened to her. Tom passes the message to Jamie, who ends up on Martin’s ship for rescuing his wife. He tells the governor that Claire is innocent and he is ready to do anything in return for her freedom. After the Rebels’ capture of Fort Johnston, Martin needs more allies, which leads him to ask Jamie to join the side of the King to fight the Rebels. The governor promises Jamie that he will release Claire once he joins the force with a group of men to fight in the impending war.
Jamie asks Claire to remain on the ship until he fulfills what Martin wants him to do in return for his wife’s freedom. Brianna Fraser and Roger MacKenzie end up in Edenton with Jemmy for Roger to become a minister. He meets Wendigo Donner, who is captured by the army, at the place and the latter seeks the help of Roger to travel back to the future. When Roger sets out to help him, Brianna expresses her resentment concerning the same since Donner chose to not help her family. To calm his wife, Roger decides to help Donner only through prayer.
Outlander Season 7 Episode 1 Ending: Why Does Tom Christie Confess to Killing Malva? Did He Really Kill Her?
While Jamie contemplates joining the forces of the British King against the Rebels, Tom Christie meets Jamie and lets him know that he is going to confess to killing Malva. He writes a confession and hands over the same to a newspaper in Wilmington so that Claire will be freed when it gets published. Tom confesses to murdering Malva because he loves Claire. After handing over the confession, he goes to Martin’s ship and meets Claire, only to express his love for her. He adds that Malva tried to kill both of them because she was desiring Jamie and his wealth. Tom further reveals that the late girl is really the daughter of his brother and wife.
Tom knows that his confession will be believed since Malva, a witch who tried to win the heart of Jamie by trying to kill the former and Claire, had to be stopped from endangering more lives. However, as per Diana Gabaldon’s ‘Outlander’ novel series, the source texts of the show, he didn’t kill the girl. Malva was killed by Tom’s son and her half-brother Allan, who also made her pregnant. Allan had been molesting Malva for a while and he killed her when the latter set out to reveal the truth to Claire and expose him. Malva must have felt guilty for wrongly accusing Jamie of making her pregnant and Allan must have wanted to protect himself by killing his half-sister.
Tom confesses to killing Malva because he loves her. He is grateful to the Fraser matriarch, who welcomed him and his group to Fraser’s Ridge when they needed a refuge. Tom may have been loving Claire ever since becoming a beneficiary of her compassion and kindness and he must have wanted to ensure that his family shouldn’t ultimately send her to the gallows. Tom knows that Claire has suffered enough due to his “daughter” and he wants to put an end to the same, even if it means going to the gallows himself in her place.
Tom’s confession paves the way for Claire’s release from captivity. She reunited with her beloved Jamie but she doesn’t want to be the reason why Tom has decided to accept the punishment for murder. But as far as Tom is concerned, he accepts the same because it helps him repay Claire’s compassion.
Does Jamie Kill Richard Brown?
After Claire’s release, Jamie pays a visit to Richard Brown, the man who arrested his beloved wife and sent her to jail expecting her death, to kill him. Jamie asks Richard to pray to the Lord if he wants before he kills him. Jamie may kill Richard for the suffering he has caused the Fraser family. Seeing Claire in pain is the last thing Jamie can tolerate in this world. Since Richard makes Claire suffer in jail, Jamie is filled with enough fury to kill Richard. Considering that Claire is the one who is hurt, Jamie may just kill Richard and move on from the predicament. Having said that, the chances of Jamie deciding against killing Richard are high.
Jamie may find death a lesser punishment for Richard. After the death of his brother Lionel Brown, Richard doesn’t try to kill Jamie to exact his vengeance but chooses to hurt Claire because he knows that the Scotsman cares about his wife more than he cares about himself. Richard wants to send Claire to the gallows to inflict more pain on Jamie. In the same way, Jamie may choose to spare Richard’s life to see him suffer than die. Jamie has already sent Young Ian and his allies to eliminate Richard’s men so that the latter will be forced to live a life of immense suffering, without any allies to support him. Jamie may want to see Richard suffer slowly rather than kill him and end his misery.
Read More: Is Roger Jemmy’s Father in Outlander?
