Prime Video’s Fallout adaptation has been a hit, to say the least. The showrunners have managed to craft a brand new story set in the Wasteland that captures the essence of what makes Fallout Fallout. That being said, there are still a few story beats that left us a little confused after the season 1 finale.
How Did Moldaver Survive for 200 Years?
Moldaver‘s going to be at the center of a lot of our lingering questions about Fallout season 1, but here’s the first big one. How on earth did she manage to survive for over 200 years? She’s a pre-war character who introduces herself to Cooper Howard, AKA the Ghoul, as Ms. Williams, a researcher. Okay. And then what? How has she managed to survive this entire time, and still be a badass leader two centuries after the bombs dropped?
There are plenty of plausible explanations of course. After all, the world of Fallout is no stranger to the idea of prolonged lifespans. She may have put herself into cryo sleep at intervals, though that doesn’t seem likely considering she’s revered as the leader of Shady Sands. We also know that there are serums within the Fallout universe that can prevent aging. She could be a synthetic. Or she could also be a ghoul who just happens to have a much better skincare routine than Cooper.
This also raises the question, did Moldaver really die at the end of Season 1? Her arc seems to have closed nicely in the finale, but I’m pretty sure we’re gonna learn a lot more about her in a second season.
How Did Moldaver Infiltrate Vault 32?
The next big question: how did Moldaver manage to infiltrate Vault 32? And while we’re on the topic, what the hell happened with Vault 32 anyway?
In the first episode, Moldaver manages to bring a whole crew of raiders into the Vault, which is how she successfully infiltrates 33 and launch the attack on them. It’s also later revealed that the Dwellers of 32 were all dead long before Moldaver ever got there. So what exactly happened? Did the Dwellers figure out the truth behind the experiments of the three Vaults and revolt? Was there some sort of secret experiment happening here where the Overseer wanted to sabotage the crops and see how the Dwellers would fight to survive?
There are still a lot of questions surrounding 32, and it remains a mystery as to why 31 and 33 didn’t clean it up sooner.
Why Didn’t Hank Recognize Moldaver?
And then, there’s also the question of how and why did Hank not recognize Moldaver in the first episode. With Ms Williams being such an important figure in the show, having developed cold fusion and all, you’d think that a loyal Vault-Tec employee like Hank would at least know her face, but that doesn’t seem to be the case at all.
It’s also very perplexing that Hank, as the Overseer of Vault 33, seems to have no idea whatsoever that the 32 Dwellers are all dead. It just doesn’t make sense that neither Brain Bud nor Hank wouldn’t have a clue what’s happened in 32 and realize that it’s been occupied by raiders. The good news is that Hank is still alive as of the end of Season 1, so we could actually get some proper answers on that front.
What Happened to Cooper?
Fallout Season 1 opens with a rather harrowing sequence featuring Cooper doing a cowboy bit at a party right before the bombs drop. And yet, in all the subsequent flashbacks, we see Cooper (largely) happily married and enjoying a rather extravagant lifestyle as an actor and paid advertiser for Vault-Tec. I guess my question is, how did he get to that point where he had to start being a cheap entertainer to make ends meet? He’s certainly not doing it out of passion.
We can make a few educated guesses here. The revelation in the finale led to him eventually leaving his wife and cutting ties with Vault-Tec. But because Hollywood wants nothing to do with him associating himself with Vault-Tec, he’s unable to push forward with his acting career. His money dwindles, and he’s eventually forced to do these bits just to scrape by.
I suspect we’re not quite done with Cooper’s flashback sequences just yet, and there’s definitely a lot more to his pre-war story after seeing a more sinister side to his wife.
Is Norm Just Asleep Now?
Finally, poor Norm. He’s been cooped up in Vault 33 this entire time, trying to solve the mystery of the Vaults with little to no help from Chet. When he finally gets into Vault 31, he learns the truth, only to be trapped in the chamber by Brain Bud and forced to go to sleep in Hank’s cryo sleep chamber.
What’s next for Norm? Surely he’s not just gonna be left to go to sleep till Reclamation Day. So who’s going to wake him up? I think there are two possibilities. Overseer Betty could figure out that someone hacked into her terminal and head to 31 to investigate, or we could very well see Maximus arrive at the Vaults to look for Lucy, only to find her brother instead.
Either way, Norm is at an interesting crossroads at this point in the story, and I’m eager to see how he eventually makes his way into the surface world.
Fallout is streaming now on Prime Video.
