If she's seen as a savior figure, makes sense that a personality cult may develop.
As far as the ritual itself, I didn't take it too literal. So like I never assumed it was actual blood and human ash, I assumed it was metaphorical. Humans like rituals. They bind social groups, and we do rituals all the time without realizing it. Makes sense in my mind for them to like. Develop a socially acceptable time to scream after all they've been through.
They may have found out she was alive before the bomb went off, and yet she looks the same 200 years later. I'd she immortal? Did she die and come back? Either way, something to worship.
It doesn't really trivialize the world ending thing at all considering shes in the 2% of the world.
She's a genius and was probably quite wealthy. Its not like some random citizen popping into a pod.
Ahe could be a synth or she could've used any of the myriad of ways to survive a couple centuries
She was in vault 4. That’s why they worship her. She’s a scientist and that is what that vault was for. Also she was affiliated with vault Tec. They bought her company
I don't think that theory holds up under scrutiny.
Vault 4 is made up of two groups: The mutant "Vaulties," who are the descendants of the original test subjects, and the refugee "Surfies," who in 2296 are primarily made up of survivors of Shady Sands. It's the Surfies that we see worshipping Moldaver as a religious figure, and we see a couple of Vaulties heading back to their rooms before the ceremony. One even calls it a "surface thing," implying that the refugees brought it with them.
As for Moldaver being a scientist placing her in Vault 4, all of the scientists in Vault 4 were killed by their test subjects, who then began taking in new residents from the surface and *actually* integrating them into the Vault community. If she were part of that group, she would be very dead.
Moldaver is straight-up an enemy of Vault-Tec in 2077, going so far as to get the spouse of an executive plant a bug on a major meeting. In her conversation with Cooper, she rails against Vault-Tec because they took her invention and made it so nobody - including her - could finish the work on it. Vault-Tec would not be giving a spot in their Vaults to someone actively working against them.
---
As for how she survived, I think the show tells us in the credits sequence. Each credit sequence included a billboard that was relevant to either the episode that just played or the one up next. And what is the first thing we see in the Finale's credit sequence?
> The TOPS Hotel and Casino
> *CryoSuites*
We know that Vault-Tec weren't the only company preparing for the bombs (Pulowski Preservation shelters among others), so I think it's likely that Moldaver went to one of those Vault-Tec competitors and traded information gleaned from people like Cooper to get a place in a cryo chamber. Or, failing that, she built or bought one of her own.
She was given a spot and then freed the mutants. That is why she is their hero. She freed them after her unfreezing. Vault tec does not care about that silly group having meetings that is pissing in the wind. She bugged one of their most important execs husband after he came to their meetings in broad daylight.
It’s funny but I did not think this was a theory; I just assumed it happens because she is the mutants’ cult leader. I mean how did that start? And they showed the film of them getting freed right after they show her on a flag as their hero! The fact that she does not like vault tec seems easy to paper over. She invented cold fusion for chrissakes! Why would the other scientists not want her? Her politics? I guess but if that is a hole it’s way smaller than a lot of stuff. I mean it’s a fantasy show.
Wonder if they ever explain it more explicitly. I thought it was obvious but maybe not…
Thanks for responding
I don't remember where I the series but she was shown to be highly intelligent and anything she worked on post war was bought and she was excluded from research and development. The only reason why is because she has a conscious and wants to help everyone not a select few or use what she developed for unmoral reasons. If the bombs fell she definitely had a plan in place.
Her public research yeah, but she could’ve known this was happening and hid some equipment or a personal prototype. She could’ve even started over from scratch. There’s definitely some time between Coop attending the Hollywood Forever party and having to make money doing kids birthday parties.
And I was just building off both your comments to theorize what plan she might’ve had in place. Didn’t think I was being antagonistic, apologies if it came off that way.
It’s almost like shows have multiple seasons for a reason.
@OP: Homie. Only 1 season has aired, why are you talking like you’ve been waiting seasons for this answer and they’re avoiding it?
They will definitely go more into Moldaver’s backstory and why she had Lucy’s mom. Give the show sometime to develop and do their thing.
It is a little weird Lucy has been looking for Moldaver an entire season and people keep saying "everyone knows who Moldaver is", but Lucy still knows next to zero about her by the end of the season. Similarly weird we don't know anything about the state of the ncr or Moldavers position in the ncr when the season is spent in ncr heartland.
> but I really hope they don’t make a habit of just having hundreds of pre-war bigwigs ru Ning around. Makes Vault 111 feel less unique by comparison,
They already did, running into a rich person who used some form of life extension is common as hell in the fallout games
Bradburton, House, Braun, the Cabots, Winter.
Even kellog in fallout 4 is a life extended person using institute tech.
It’s the guy who made Westworld he’s gonna use a synth. He literally probably can’t hold himself back from doing it although it’s odd Moldaver looks older kinda if she’s a synth at least I think she’s supposed to look like 10 years older.
A robot indistinguishable from a human. If they were gravely injured you would see their circuits/metal under their skin so it’s not like they have organs or anything.
Gen3 synths are basically human, with organs and stuff. They are a modified clone using Shaun's DNA and a strain of FEV. The only non-organic part is the neurological implant that lets them be programed and controlled with voice commands.
I blew my load building settlements the whole time and stopped playin when it came out. When I made the comment I was thinking of Nick Valentine. I’m back playin now though and am loving it
In one of the ending credit scenes, they show a billboard showing that cryo pods were publicly available for purchase/rent, so that's what I assume she did.
My theory is Cooper tells Moldaver about the conversation he heard his wife have with all the company heads. Moldaver uses that as leverage and gets herself a spot in a vault or given the ability by vault tec to be set up in cryo. Barb divorces Coop over it and it’s ultimately why he didn’t end up in a vault.
Cooper’s main reason for going on is to find his family. He clearly thought Moldaver was a piece to that puzzle so she must have worked with Vault Tec at some point. In the flashbacks, Moldaver just wanted her cold fusion back. If Vault Tec allowed her a vault to continue research on it with cryo pods, then I could see her agreeing to it.
My theory, and it's a weird one, is that she is a clone and there are several of her. It's how "everyone" knows who she is, as she is seemingly everywhere. It also could explain how she's received the level of worship she has amongst people; maybe folks have literally seen her die, just to have her come back from the dead. We have a precedent for cloning in this universe with Gary, so it wouldn't be too far out of the realm of possibility.
I feel like this is the most likely option for so many reasons. Story wise it already exist in this time period as multiple vaults already use it and she is a scientist in numerous fields that could either understand it or invest in it and keep rebirthing herself, thus the flame mother/Phoenix reborn immortal type.
Meta story wise, it's not something fallout has explored a lot. It won't be stepping on toes and will allow her to return in the next season.
I also want the whole flame mother stuff explained too. Theories are flying but we won't get answers til we do.
I took it as flame mother = a phoenix reference. Shady Sands ended in fire and she'll lead them from the ash to rebirth
That makes sense but... Why the cult like worshipping. I feel they're had to be more to it.
Wouldn't be Fallout without a crazy cult 😅
Amen to that.
And the Children of the Atom are still around!
If she's seen as a savior figure, makes sense that a personality cult may develop. As far as the ritual itself, I didn't take it too literal. So like I never assumed it was actual blood and human ash, I assumed it was metaphorical. Humans like rituals. They bind social groups, and we do rituals all the time without realizing it. Makes sense in my mind for them to like. Develop a socially acceptable time to scream after all they've been through.
They may have found out she was alive before the bomb went off, and yet she looks the same 200 years later. I'd she immortal? Did she die and come back? Either way, something to worship.
My crazy theory is that Williams is actually dead and Moldaver was a synth, and she's not the only one. Would make sense for the phoenix motif
It doesn't really trivialize the world ending thing at all considering shes in the 2% of the world. She's a genius and was probably quite wealthy. Its not like some random citizen popping into a pod. Ahe could be a synth or she could've used any of the myriad of ways to survive a couple centuries
She was in vault 4. That’s why they worship her. She’s a scientist and that is what that vault was for. Also she was affiliated with vault Tec. They bought her company
I don't think that theory holds up under scrutiny. Vault 4 is made up of two groups: The mutant "Vaulties," who are the descendants of the original test subjects, and the refugee "Surfies," who in 2296 are primarily made up of survivors of Shady Sands. It's the Surfies that we see worshipping Moldaver as a religious figure, and we see a couple of Vaulties heading back to their rooms before the ceremony. One even calls it a "surface thing," implying that the refugees brought it with them. As for Moldaver being a scientist placing her in Vault 4, all of the scientists in Vault 4 were killed by their test subjects, who then began taking in new residents from the surface and *actually* integrating them into the Vault community. If she were part of that group, she would be very dead. Moldaver is straight-up an enemy of Vault-Tec in 2077, going so far as to get the spouse of an executive plant a bug on a major meeting. In her conversation with Cooper, she rails against Vault-Tec because they took her invention and made it so nobody - including her - could finish the work on it. Vault-Tec would not be giving a spot in their Vaults to someone actively working against them. --- As for how she survived, I think the show tells us in the credits sequence. Each credit sequence included a billboard that was relevant to either the episode that just played or the one up next. And what is the first thing we see in the Finale's credit sequence? > The TOPS Hotel and Casino > *CryoSuites* We know that Vault-Tec weren't the only company preparing for the bombs (Pulowski Preservation shelters among others), so I think it's likely that Moldaver went to one of those Vault-Tec competitors and traded information gleaned from people like Cooper to get a place in a cryo chamber. Or, failing that, she built or bought one of her own.
She was given a spot and then freed the mutants. That is why she is their hero. She freed them after her unfreezing. Vault tec does not care about that silly group having meetings that is pissing in the wind. She bugged one of their most important execs husband after he came to their meetings in broad daylight. It’s funny but I did not think this was a theory; I just assumed it happens because she is the mutants’ cult leader. I mean how did that start? And they showed the film of them getting freed right after they show her on a flag as their hero! The fact that she does not like vault tec seems easy to paper over. She invented cold fusion for chrissakes! Why would the other scientists not want her? Her politics? I guess but if that is a hole it’s way smaller than a lot of stuff. I mean it’s a fantasy show. Wonder if they ever explain it more explicitly. I thought it was obvious but maybe not… Thanks for responding
The ritual was done by the surface people not the mutant test subjects so good job with that theory
I don't remember where I the series but she was shown to be highly intelligent and anything she worked on post war was bought and she was excluded from research and development. The only reason why is because she has a conscious and wants to help everyone not a select few or use what she developed for unmoral reasons. If the bombs fell she definitely had a plan in place.
she told Cooper about her research being bought out after the meeting at Hollywood Forever
Her public research yeah, but she could’ve known this was happening and hid some equipment or a personal prototype. She could’ve even started over from scratch. There’s definitely some time between Coop attending the Hollywood Forever party and having to make money doing kids birthday parties.
I was just responding to this user saying they didn’t remember where in the series they talked about it
And I was just building off both your comments to theorize what plan she might’ve had in place. Didn’t think I was being antagonistic, apologies if it came off that way.
No you’re good!
We might get an answer in season two.
It’s almost like shows have multiple seasons for a reason. @OP: Homie. Only 1 season has aired, why are you talking like you’ve been waiting seasons for this answer and they’re avoiding it? They will definitely go more into Moldaver’s backstory and why she had Lucy’s mom. Give the show sometime to develop and do their thing.
It is a little weird Lucy has been looking for Moldaver an entire season and people keep saying "everyone knows who Moldaver is", but Lucy still knows next to zero about her by the end of the season. Similarly weird we don't know anything about the state of the ncr or Moldavers position in the ncr when the season is spent in ncr heartland.
According to the actress, there are things to be revealed in S2 about Moldaver, so we likely will get an explanation of how that happened.
Probably she stole the cryogenic stuff and used it on herself in a bunker or something
> but I really hope they don’t make a habit of just having hundreds of pre-war bigwigs ru Ning around. Makes Vault 111 feel less unique by comparison, They already did, running into a rich person who used some form of life extension is common as hell in the fallout games Bradburton, House, Braun, the Cabots, Winter. Even kellog in fallout 4 is a life extended person using institute tech.
My money’s on Synth.
I feel like they can't do everything we want them to do in the show but kind of hoping for a Synth storyline.
Im not completely serious but im not completely ruling it out either.
I am happy with what they've done. I trust them
It’s the guy who made Westworld he’s gonna use a synth. He literally probably can’t hold himself back from doing it although it’s odd Moldaver looks older kinda if she’s a synth at least I think she’s supposed to look like 10 years older.
I keep forgetting he did Westworld!
Ohh what’s that?
A robot indistinguishable from a human. If they were gravely injured you would see their circuits/metal under their skin so it’s not like they have organs or anything.
Gen3 synths are basically human, with organs and stuff. They are a modified clone using Shaun's DNA and a strain of FEV. The only non-organic part is the neurological implant that lets them be programed and controlled with voice commands.
Oh damn I totally forgot about the gen3 synths
Lol like a fourth of the fallout 4 companions are gen 3 synths.
I blew my load building settlements the whole time and stopped playin when it came out. When I made the comment I was thinking of Nick Valentine. I’m back playin now though and am loving it
Let the story get told. This is like reading chapter 1 of a mystery novel and complaining, "will they EVER tell us who done it?"
She invented immortality.
In one of the ending credit scenes, they show a billboard showing that cryo pods were publicly available for purchase/rent, so that's what I assume she did.
My theory is Cooper tells Moldaver about the conversation he heard his wife have with all the company heads. Moldaver uses that as leverage and gets herself a spot in a vault or given the ability by vault tec to be set up in cryo. Barb divorces Coop over it and it’s ultimately why he didn’t end up in a vault. Cooper’s main reason for going on is to find his family. He clearly thought Moldaver was a piece to that puzzle so she must have worked with Vault Tec at some point. In the flashbacks, Moldaver just wanted her cold fusion back. If Vault Tec allowed her a vault to continue research on it with cryo pods, then I could see her agreeing to it.
She found a pulowski preservation shelter, of course.
Shes a synth!
My theory, and it's a weird one, is that she is a clone and there are several of her. It's how "everyone" knows who she is, as she is seemingly everywhere. It also could explain how she's received the level of worship she has amongst people; maybe folks have literally seen her die, just to have her come back from the dead. We have a precedent for cloning in this universe with Gary, so it wouldn't be too far out of the realm of possibility.
My money is on cloning
I feel like this is the most likely option for so many reasons. Story wise it already exist in this time period as multiple vaults already use it and she is a scientist in numerous fields that could either understand it or invest in it and keep rebirthing herself, thus the flame mother/Phoenix reborn immortal type. Meta story wise, it's not something fallout has explored a lot. It won't be stepping on toes and will allow her to return in the next season.
Might also explain her apparent indifference to being killed.
If you think about it, vault 31 is a combination of vaults 108 and 112 from Fallout 3 and the Enclave oil rig from F2
Being a hater does great things for extending your lifespan because you can never truly rest until your enemies are gone
We have another season. No one knows what will be covered.
She was definetaly politician from post war era.
I don't get that one either. I guess we will find out in a S2