Fallout: How did Moldaver live so long?

Moldaver remains one of the Fallout TV series’ most mysterious characters, and one big question has yet to be answered: how did she live for so long?

Lee Moldaver (Sarita Choudhury) enters Fallout as the gracious Overseer of Vault 32, offering up a breeder for Lucy (Ella Purnell) in return for food after the death of their crops. Soon, the nefarious truth emerges: she’s the figurehead of a pack of violent raiders from the surface, and she kidnaps Lucy’s father Hank (Kyle MacLachlan).

However, she’s not the clear-cut antagonist you may have presumed: seen as the “Flame Mother” by those in Vault 4 and others in the real world, she’s the leader of the New Californian Republic and a proponent of cold fusion, a source of limitless clean energy that would resurrect the world from its nuclear death.

And if that wasn’t enough, she’s been around just as long as the Ghoul. In a flashback, we see Cooper Howard meeting her before the war when she was a scientist with the Communist Party. So, how is she still alive? (Spoilers ahead!)

How did Moldaver survive?

Prime Video

Fallout hasn’t explicitly answered how Moldaver has survived for more than 200 years, but it’s assumed she got a spot in one of Vault-Tec’s cryogenic pods.

Towards the end of Season 1, it’s revealed that not only is Hank’s real name is Henry, but was also alive before the Great War. He was one of “Bud’s Buds”, a group of Vault-Tec employees chosen to be cryogenically frozen and awoken to ensure the continuation of the corporation’s goals and influence for decades, if not centuries to come.

Before the bombs dropped, Moldaver had been working toward cold fusion — but her work was acquired by Vault-Tec, and because a clean, revolutionary energy source would negate any need for the corporation’s existence, she lost her research.

If she cooperated with Vault-Tec, perhaps she was offered a spot in a vault or even a cryogenic pod; after all, it’d ultimately be more valuable than hush money.

This theory was echoed by fans on the franchise’s subreddit. “Maybe selling her companies to Vault-Tec gave her a spot in a cryo tube because her fusion research might be important post-apocalypse,” one wrote.

“I think Howard somehow got her a spot in cryo. I also think they implied his family is in cryo as well when he asked Hank where his family was,” another commented. “I have an idea actually. The end credits for the the season finale have a sign for the Tops saying ‘Enjoy our Cryo Suites’ so possibly a non-vault means of preservation, courtesy of Robert House,” a third speculated.

It’s just one of several burning questions the second season of Fallout will need to answer. In the meantime, you can find out everything we know about Season 2. We also worked out the main characters’ SPECIAL scores and perks, and if you want a full rundown of the show’s soundtrack, we’ve got you covered.