Understanding Moldaver: Villain or Savior?

we all know lucy just forgot to read all the terminal entries and pick up any of the holotapes. probably a computer somewhere in that observatory with moldaver's entire life story on it.

My wild theory is that Williams betrayed Cooper Howard in the past in order to get a place in a vault cryopod and keep working on her cold fusion project. It'd explain why Cooper thought she would have information about Barbara (remember he went to the Griffith Observatory to find her, Hank being there was a bonus), why she knew that Hank would have the code to the cold fusion generator and why Hank is so certain that she's no saint, he knows that she betrayed her cause in order to benefit herself.

I think we need to consider that most of Cooper’s flashbacks are likely set earlier in the pre-war years, only the opening sequence is definitely 10.23.2077

I think the Tops cryo-suites sign was meant to show that cryo freezing was a known and relatively popular technology, and not a secret Vault-Tec invention. Even its use in Vault 4 implies it's just available medical/scientific tech, not just for keeping people alive during the apocalypse. Meaning Moldaver didn't need connections to get one, she was rich enough to possibly even have one at home in a personal shelter.

She has enclave ties, possibly working on cold fusion with them in exchange for the immortality serum similar to ghoulification....the serum thaddeus ended up taking perhaps?

What if she alligned herself with Mr. House? Edit: Mr. House and Miss Williams both have a dislike for Vault-Tech. House didn't even contact the NCR until they claimed the dam and entered the strip.

I don’t think the NCR is dead, i think they are just going through a Minuteman Arc. Indecision, massive losses, being stretched too thin, and ineffective leadership caused the first iteration to die, but it will definitely rise again. With Cold Fusion lighting and warming Los Angeles and possibly beyond, the NCR Remnants can use this old world power…to begin again. Meta Talk: Honestly i think the TV Show Season 1 was meant to be the actual ending of the NCR, but they are pulling back on that because that implication wasn’t received well. And it’s a good thing that they are listening to people’s criticisms and opinions. I honestly think Fallout Season 2’s NCR presence will be a late edition because people wanted them to stick around, so they may stand out compared to everything else. And before you say it, no it wasn’t Todd Howard who wanted Shady Sands to be blown up. He didn’t even write the show, he just advised for lore additions and changes suggested by the actual writers and Showrunners. It was THEIR idea to blow up Shady Sands, and apparently Todd was actually apprehensive to approve it at first. Ironically it was an original Pre-Bethesda Fallout Writer, Chris Avellone, who wanted this too, as he ironically holds opinions everyone accuses Bethesda of having: Chris wanted Shady Sands nuked in an effort to weaken them and create new chaos because if large swaths of land became solidified Civilizations, it wouldn’t really be a Fallout Story anymore, would it? Despite getting what he wanted, Chris Avellone hates the Show due to petty reasons lol

I don't think she kept Rose alive for that specific reason at all.. It is a very interesting point of view (edit: the love part of it that is), but I do believe that she did it solely so that when she finally got her hands on Hank she could show him what he had done to his wife. Make him feel it make him face her. And that's seemingly what went down she is kind of sat down so that Hank is constantly having to look at her. Moldaver has some traits that are admirable and really surprised me and many other viewers, but she is still an evil character even when it comes to the NCR. As we know all the people in this area used to be NCR citizens, she is now feared and hated by the local population that used to be a part of the NCR, they call her a mad woman in the hills who has been responsible for countless bouts of death over the years. Her mission is more personal it's something that she's being trying to achieve for over 200 years. She basically sacrifices that NCR contingent to try and achieve her goals. I have to explain that to some hardcore NCR fans. Yes she used to and technically still does represent the NCR. But her actions depict that of someone on a selfish mission not someone fighting for a cause.

A better question is how did Moldaver survive the destruction of Shady Sands? If she was in a relationship with Rose (and the Moldaver actress confirmed this in an interview), wouldn't they have been at least near each other? Even for a feral, Rose is in really bad shape, indicating it wasn't just too much ambient radiation that turned her.

Moldaver is going to become Fallout fanbase slang for a McGuffin.

I assumed she was frozen once they did the reveal she was pre war

If it turns out Moldaver is a synth, then I'm going to call BS on that. Now I'm not saying the show is bad, because it is fun to watch, in spite of some things - but her being a synth would be out of the question for me. For starters, how would she be a synth? Did she have connections to the CIT before the war, and did she give them a scan of her brain like Nick Valentine? Or how about why the Institute would choose to make a synth of her years later? Or better yet, how in the Hell would a synth Moldaver be able to make it from the Commonwealth, all the way to Califonia?

Moldaver is the mysterious stranger

I feel she'd be more of an antagonist because despite her "good deeds" shown so far, the means for her to achieve them put her in a thin middle line, and not helping the fact her followers follow her in a rather cultic way As how she survived the war, she could've used some of the experiments from Vault Tec (Cloning, cryo, life extension, etc.), after all, she did had some deep insiders within the company and had the monetary resources at that time to fund it

I think you are partially right about why Moldaver kept Rose around. I agree that it was partially love that kept her around, but at the end, Moldaver tells Rose's body "We did it" so I think it was also because they both wanted and worked towards getting unlimited power to the wasteland and she wanted them both to "live" to see it.

My apologies to anyone who has already purposed this - If Moldaver was “on ice” in New Vegas with a 200 year wake-up then she would have woke up in 2277, the controversial date on the Vault 4 schoolroom blackboard.

I think Moldaver/Wiliams had the money, knowledge and ability to create her own vault like structure/cryo facility. With her connections she was able to get a heads up as to when to enter cryo stasis. My theory is that she then leapfrogged through time, awakening ever few decades to monitor the surface activity. I believe she would guide the surface dwellers for a while then reenter cryo until her plans could be fulfilled. She also had to have developed connections within the Enclave in order to persuade Wilzig to get the coldfusion chip and defect.

A complicated perceived antagonist. perfect for the universe of fallout. She fights against her perceived enemies. Vault dwellers. Vault tech.

I think it is much more likely that Moldaver is a synth, like the Sole Survivor. No matter what, she's going to pop up again in Season 2 in Cooper's flashbacks and may very well reappear in the present. Westworld loved bringing people back from the dead and synths are bound to show up sooner or later. Also we don't know for sure that Cooper was ghoulified in the opening sequence, only that he ultimately becomes one. The man is still looking for his family and there's every reason to think his daughter made it into cryo with his wife. There's absolutely more to come for him after the Vault-Tec meeting and in the immediate aftermath of the bombs falling.

Moldaver could be a synth.