Maude Reynolds was Malcolm Reynolds' mother and a known outlaw in the eyes of the Alliance.
Biography[]
Maude Reynolds raised cattle on the moon Shadow when Mal was a boy. Things changed when she was forced to accept a buyout after a Terraforming mishap, and she became a thorn in the side of the Alliance afterward. Her husband was killed by the Alliance, and their ranch burned, and she vowed to hunt them down.
In The Unification War, she attempts to stir up the Rebellion again, but it fails. Mal gets the Alliance to stand down, but Maude is deemed an outlaw after the skirmish, and Mal is ordered to bring her to justice (The Outlaw Ma Reynolds). Mal doesn't like her plan to rob a group of sodbusters, but she feels they were given the money that was supposed to belong to her family. Mal refuses to go along with the plan, and ultimately, Maude escapes.
Later, she boards Serenity and aids the crew when Mal decides he's had enough of Blue Sun Corporation's patrol bots and their heavy-handed method of dealing justice. She still doesn't trust the crew, insisting that everyone she trusted ended up turning on her and that they'll do the same to Mal. She does join in when they raid a Blue Sun building to shut down the robots, but is injured. She runs away, and later calls Mal, saying she wanted to hear his voice. It's unclear whether she died after they talked, or simply fell asleep, as she's depicted laying in a bedroll. Mal says he loves her after the call ends.
Personality and traits[]
Maude is a lot like her son in many ways. She's tough, determined, and mostly looks out only for herself. She wants what she believes was taken from her, and will do whatever she has to in order to get it. She's dismissive when Mal tells her he has friends, saying that they'll use him and abandon him, even though Mal knows different.
Relationships[]
Malcom Reynolds[]
Maude wants Mal to join her, but they're often at odds, and things between them remain rather strained after her appearance in the comics. Mal still seems to love her, but he can't agree with many of her methods and actions. He does say that he loves her, though.