The Fallout game series earned praise for its moral complexity. The first two games demanded difficult decisions from players. Later entries were less impressive, often boiling down to obvious choices and massive body counts. Amazon Prime Video’s Fallout show pushes the moral envelope with a cast of fascinating characters across the heroic and villainous spectrum. The series introduces Lee Moldaver as the final boss, but fans’ opinions may change as they learn more about her.
Sarita Choudhury portrays Lee Moldaver in the Fallout series. She’s a celebrated performer known for films like Fresh Kill and Evil Eye. Marvel fans may remember Choudhury as Kith Lyonne in Jessica Jones. Her most recent film role came in 2021, when she played Dev Patel’s Mother in David Lowery’s excellent The Green Knight. She will soon star in and produce a family drama called The Colony for HBO. Her performance in Fallout was limited, but she livened up every scene she appeared in.
Who was Miss Williams in Fallout?
The Fallout series introduces Lee Moldaver as she appears in 2297 before depicting her in 2076 through flashbacks. Nothing is known about her young life. Characters refer to her in flashbacks as Miss Williams. Williams was a scientist who worked tirelessly to create cold fusion. She came tantalizingly close several times, but each accomplishment fell apart as a company bought out her research efforts. Vault-Tec purchased every group she worked for, visibly targeting her in their quest to seize her accomplishment. She began to suspect Vault-Tec intended to prevent her from developing cold fusion, a massive leap forward that would hurt their profits. This radicalized her against the sinister corporation, leading her to become a thought leader for communists in Los Angeles.
Miss Williams led a meeting of like-minded individuals at the Hollywood Forever funeral home in LA. Her speeches against the corporate control of America drew dozens of followers, many of whom celebrated her brilliance. One frequent visitor was actor and veteran Charlie Whiteknife. Whiteknife later brought along his friend and fellow movie star, Cooper Howard. Howard’s wife, Barb, was among Miss Willams’ mortal enemies as a Vault-Tec employee. Williams asked Howard to place a listening device on Barb’s property, allowing them to eavesdrop on Vault-Tec meetings. Howard developed similar suspicions about his wife’s place of work, leading him to go along with the plan. Williams and Howard learned the truth about Vault-Tec’s nightmarish plans. This moving speech demonstrated her skills as an orator:
We were told the atom bomb meant the end of war. That didn’t work out, did it? We were told America’s always getting better, it’s always moving toward a better future. But the future is getting closer, and we can see it. Their “better future” is a cliff’s edge. And it’s coming up fast, isn’t it? These soldiers that we’re fighting abroad, their families, we have more in common with them than we do with the people here in power, the real enemy.
Who was Lee Moldaver after the war?
No one knows how Lee Moldaver survived the war. She isn’t a ghoul, suggesting that she somehow evaded the radiation of the great war. However, her insider Vault-Tec knowledge and immense wealth may have allowed her to cryogenically freeze herself or hide out in a bunker. Regardless, she branded herself Lee Moldaver and became a citizen of the New California Republic. While there, she befriended former Vault dweller Rose MacLean, who’d recently escaped her underground bunker. Rose intended to bring her family to the NCR after discovering life on the surface, but her husband, Hank, disagreed. Hank was a Vault-Tec exec charged with ensuring the company’s monopoly over the wasteland. When he couldn’t convince Rose to return to the Vault, he detonated a nuke in the city, killing countless innocents for corporate dominance.
Moldaver survived and rose as the new leader of the NCR. She discovered Siggi Wilzig, a scientist who finally cracked cold fusion. Moldaver and her followers invaded an empty Vault, impersonated its dead residents, and attacked the neighboring bunker to kidnap Hank. This sent Lucy MacLean on a journey with Siggi’s severed head to rescue her dad. Lucy learns the truth as she reaches Moldaver, stunning her. Unfortunately, the Brotherhood of Steel and an irradiated post-human Cooper Howard converged, looking for Siggi’s head. In the conflict, Moldaver suffered a lethal wound. Her final action was activating the cold fusion generator to provide infinite free power to the NCR.
Moldaver is dead, as far as Fallout fans know. She could certainly return in some form, especially given the mysteries surrounding her survival during the war. While Moldaver is unquestionably introduced as the antagonist, her last-minute reveal turns the show on its head. It’s an excellent twist that reframes the series’ narrative and leaves fans excited for its next steps. Lee Moldaver gave everything for the dream she carried, but at least there’s still one light in the wasteland.
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