*Major spoilers for season 7 episode 2 below, you have been warned*
A huge mystery has finally been resolved in the opening minutes of season 7’s second episode.
The lead up to the climax of saw the tragic death of Malva Christie (Jessica Reynolds), Claire’s () eager young apprentice, who was found with her throat slit in the vegetable patch at Fraser’s Ridge.
It came after her father Tom (Mark Lewis Jones) and half-brother Allan (Alexander Vlahos) accused Jamie () of sleeping with and impregnating her.
As it was Claire who found her – and subsequently used her modern medical training to perform an emergency caesarean in a bid to save the unborn child – it is her the suspicion fell on for the deaths.
Last week’s episode saw Claire miraculously escape the hangman’s noose for her alleged murderous crimes thanks to a last-minute intervention by a repentant Tom, but audiences were still kept in the dark as to the identity of both Malva’s killer and the father of her child.
Shocking scenes at the revealed that person to be one and the same – .
Found weeping over her grave by Claire, mourning the loss of her beauty, the sexual nature of their relationship suddenly became evident as the time-traveller made the logical leap to figure out that it was a jealous Allan who Ki**ed her.
Flashback scenes offered a glimpse at the incestuous side of their connection, as Allan admitted he was furious Malva slept with other men – including Young Ian (John Bell) – to help mask the true identity of the father of her child.
With Malva refusing to go through with the ploy to falsely foist parenthood on Jamie and hurt Claire in the process, in Allan’s hope she would receive money and be sent away so he could follow, he is shown killing her after she tells him she does not love him in a final confrontation.
After Claire wrestles the gun from Allan’s hand to stop him shooting himself following his confession, Young Ian kills him with an arrow to the back.
Reflecting on Allan and Malva’s relationship, actor Alexander Vlahos revealed he was appraised of everything about the part in his first discussion with Outlander’s producers.
‘I was told in my first chat with [executive producers] Matt [Roberts] and Maril [Davis], they basically gave me a full rundown of the character and literally the whole thing and I was immediately like, “Oh, okay…”,’ he explained of his trepidation, speaking exclusively to Metro.co.uk.
However, the 34-year-old praised the show for its delicate handling of the incestuous storyline for Allan and Malva, as seen in source material, author Diana Gabaldon’s sixth Outlander book, A Breath of Snow and Ashes.
‘They said that they were going to treat the incestuous aspect of their relationship with poise and grace – and I don’t know how much you can do with poise and grace when it comes to incest – but they really have.
‘Me and Jessica talked at length with every director about how much is visible to the public eye and in terms of the other characters, and were there any scenes where there was a call for that aspect?’
He also said he felt the team had ‘deftly managed the sort of elephant in the room’ with the scenario.
Alexander, however, did admit it was ‘tricky’ for him to find a similarity or shared characteristic with Allan, which is normally how he connects with a part he’s playing.
‘I always try and find some redeeming quality in the character. Otherwise, what’s the point of playing them?’
‘You need to find – what’s my way in? What have Alex and Allan got [that’s] similar? And this was the first part where I really, really struggled with trying to find something,’ he confessed.
‘I think, predominantly, Allan loves his family more than he ever knows. And I think that love that he has, as someone who is not particularly super-intelligent, shows itself in this way and that’s the only way that I could handle – that’s the only way I could navigate – the decision making for Allan.’
The Versailles and Sanditon star was also pleased that the show ‘[didn’t] shy away’ from the tricky aspect here, and remained true to the books.
Discussing his character’s fate, Alexander added: ‘Allan gets his due justice but not until he ruins everyone’s lives! He’s going down in a blaze of glory, taking everyone down with him.’
He was also delighted with the complicated, multi-layered nature of Allan in the script.
Alexander enthused: ‘What a joy to have these wonderful words written for someone who is as complex as Allan because he could easily fall into a ‘hahahahaha, it was me all along’, twisted moustache sort of villain, but it never does.’
Outlander season 7 has already returned to its time-travelling roots following the birth of .
As Claire diagnoses her with a heart condition that requires modern treatment to save her life, the couple packs up and takes her and brother Jemmy back to the twentieth century.
Outlander season seven continues with episode 3 available on Friday June 30 on Lionsgate Plus.
