Quote Originally Posted by Tyndmyr View Post
Given the portrayal, withdrawal happens in a matter of days, and as he is The Ghoul, who clearly has existed in roughly the same state for those entire 200 years, the drug'd basically need to be there when the bombs drop.

That could be a thing, I guess. Just...it implies a lot more intentionality to the setting than is normally the case. Ghouls are generally portrayed as a not particularly desired consequence of radiation, not as part of some grand plan.
Yeah. If we assume that ghoulism has existed the whole time, and that The Ghoul is the first, and that this drug is needed to avoid going feral, then we kinda have to assume that he's been on this drug the whole time. Which somewhat begs the question as to where it's all coming from?

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I'm assuming this is part of his backstory that we wont learn until season 2. If I were to speculate, I'd assume that after the first round of bombs fall, folks start scrambling for the shelters. He must somehow find a way to protect his daughter *and* probably knows something about the Vaults and their long term plans (else why ask about his family, if it's been 200 years and they should be long dead no matter what happened to them?). He, on the other hand, somehow gets stuck "outside", but also has contact/access to folks who have some other resources (early Enclave maybe?). Maybe in the process he gets irradiated, and is told that the only way to surrive is to take this drug, which will make him "immune to radiation", but it has the side effect of turning him into The Ghoul.

Regardless of specifics, he's somehow the test subject for the drug, and that's why he's The Ghoul. Everything else is what he's done since then, presumably trying to find whomever took his daughter (presumably his wife), and where they were taken. There's also large gaps (specifically involving the Enclave). Vault-Tec certainly assumed that everyone outside the Vaults would die, and they'd stay inside until the radiation subsided, and then return to repoulate the Earth or something, but clearly theirs was not the "only plan". It's quite clear that at least one other group also had plans, and were prepared for the bombs dropping, but didn't restrict themselve to just "stay locked in a Vault". And at least one of these groups must have had their "make people immune to harm, aging, and radiation" serum pretty much ready to go right when the bombs first dropped (and perhap were on board with that plan specifically thinking "we'll make billions selling our serum to the survivors").

There are other gaps as well (how does Moldaver fit in?). Again though, I'm hopeful that at least some/most of this stuff will be cleared up in the next season.



Quote Originally Posted by ecarden View Post
Except the point is that there is water available. It's irradiated, but its present. He can drink it without harm (ghoul), she can't. He is in no danger of dehydration.
Yeah. But that still makes the move silly/dumb. We have to assume that he's only keeping her alive because he needs her, right (else why keep her, if she's just going to slow him down)? So.... he needs her, but he's also in a hurry (trying to catch up to the head, right?). So it is absolutely in his best interest to keep her healthy and able to travel as fast as possible. So instead of him drinking the irradiated water and letting her drink the non-irradiated stuff, ensuring that both of them are maximally able to do exactly that which he wants/needs, he instead effectively sabotages himself with his silly bit with the water.

I get it. It makes for great TV drama, and showcases his "I'm a mean ol cowpoke" persona, I guess. But it's incredibly dumb and not something I'd expect a 200+ year old person with massive experience operating in the wastelands to actually do.