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Elder Owyn Lyons (2202–2278) is a central character in Fallout 3, and the leader of the East Coast Brotherhood of Steel in 2277. He was voiced by William Bassett.
Biography[]
Beginnings[]
Lyons was born in 2202, and was originally a Brotherhood of Steel paladin stationed at the Lost Hills bunker in South California. In 2251, his daughter Sarah was born. Sarah's mother died some time afterwards.
In 2254, the Brotherhood's ruling council decided to send a contingent of soldiers to the East Coast, with three important objectives. First, to scour the ruins of Washington, D.C., once the nation's capital, and recover any and all advanced technology.
Second, to investigate the reports of super mutant activity in the area. Third, to re-establish contact with the Midwestern chapter of the Brotherhood of Steel and return them under Lost Hills command - since the Brotherhood of Steel's main airship had crashed near Chicago during a large storm and all communication was lost with the Lost Hills bunker.
Thus, a small but hardened contingent of Brotherhood of Steel soldiers, led by Paladin Lyons - and accompanied by three-year-old Sarah, friend and technological adviser Scribe Rothchild, Star Paladin Cross, Paladin Henry Casdin, Initiate Ishmael Ashur, Paladin Tristan, Knight Colvin, and Paladin Gunny - set out from Lost Hills and began the long trek east to what was once Washington D.C.
Going East[]
Contact with the Midwestern Brotherhood turned out to be unsuccessful. On their way during their journey to the Capital Wasteland, the Brotherhood's expeditionary force came across the ruins of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In a single night, the Brotherhood swept through the city from their staging area at Mount Wash, eliminating any resident who put up a fight.
The intent of the Scourge remains unclear, but several unmutated children were taken from The Pitt by the Brotherhood and placed into initiate training, and many in the Brotherhood note that it was a marked change in the way the Brotherhood operates. Additionally, it is known that something was recovered from The Pitt during the Scourge, although to date it would seem that only Elder Lyons knows what it was.
Lyons' group finally arrived in the Capital Wasteland in 2255, establishing a base of operations within the Pentagon in the first few months. Though the Pentagon was largely destroyed, its sub-levels remained intact and its stockpiles contained undisturbed pre-War technology and weaponry to sustain their operations. The crown jewel was Liberty Prime, a technological marvel that, if restored, could help the Brotherhood of Steel rebuild its strength and reputation that had been declining steadily for years.
The discovery of Liberty Prime earned Paladin Lyons a battlefield promotion to elder, and a new directive from his superiors in Southern California: to establish a new, permanent Brotherhood base in the Capital Wasteland, and continue the search for any other advanced technology hidden in the former capital city's ruins.
Shortly after their arrival, Lyons' scouts have identified a new threat in the area: a peculiar breed of super mutants, infesting the deserted ruins of downtown D.C. Concerned by their presence and convinced that they are the primary threat to the wasteland, Lyons initiated a protracted campaign of aggression to exterminate them.
At the same time, Lyons brokered an alliance with James and Catherine, a pair of scientists attempting to build a mass-scale purifier, and with their site's location being in close proximity to the Citadel, James and Catherine would provide supplies while the Brotherhood provided protection. The intended goal was to supply the wasteland with a virtually inexhaustible source of fresh, purified water, reducing their dependence on local purification methods. But Project Purity failed to take off, despite the Brotherhood's involvement.
Frustrated, Lyons withdrew his forces, leaving the project to fend for itself. It died shortly after, together with Catherine, James' wife. Fighting the super mutants, simply keeping them at bay, may have been enough for the area's wastelanders, but for the Brotherhood, too many questions remained; foremost among them, the means by which these new mutants were being created, where they were being created and why they were using the people of the Capital Wasteland.
Finding these answers would, ultimately, become Owyn Lyons' obsession. The newly-appointed elder decided that the super mutants were a threat not just to the Brotherhood and their scouts in D.C., but all the people in the wasteland. Thus, he began to direct resources towards fighting the mutants, gradually reducing the importance of fulfilling the primary mission objective, that is, recovering technology.
A New Mission[]
The years passed, but not in a way anyone had foreseen. Indeed, the Brotherhood of Steel's importance to the people of the Capital Wasteland was not something that Lyons ever expected. Nor was it something his superiors back in California cared at all about. Their newest elder had a clearly defined mission: to acquire advanced technologies in and around the ruins of Washington D.C.
Finding the source of the super mutant threat and destroying it was important too, of course, but Lyons' prime objective was, first and foremost, the acquisition of technology. The super mutants were his second priority. Thus was the subject of every communication from the Brotherhood of Steel leadership in California.
However, Elder Owyn Lyons had another priority, one he considered more important than his original directive or any orders received since, which was the protection of the innocent people of the Capital Wasteland. And so, Lyons sent word to his superiors that he would continue his search for technology when he was damned good and ready, and would not sacrifice the people who had come to rely on the bravery and strength of the Brotherhood of Steel.
With the conflict straining his resources, Lyons attempted to persuade the West Coast, for several years, to send reinforcements and supplies, claiming to be following the mission objectives, but in secret, he continued to order his subordinates to save people by killing super mutants. However, no lie can be sustained indefinitely. Things came to a head when Lyons outright refused to follow a direct order from the elders.
In response, the West Coast swiftly cut him loose, shutting off communications and denying any and all reinforcements. By 2277 there was no communication between the East Coast chapter and Brotherhood HQ for years. The Californian corridors of Lost Hills erupted in rumor and speculation. Some claimed Owyn Lyons had "gone native," putting the needs of the people of D.C. above those of the Brotherhood itself; others saw him as a Brotherhood elder finally exhibiting the selfless behavior that should serve as a model for the entire order.
Caught in the middle, the ruling elders made a decision: they would still recognize Elder Lyons as a leader of the Brotherhood of Steel and the Citadel as their D.C. headquarters, but all support from the West Coast was thereby cut off. If Lyons wanted to pursue his own agenda on the East Coast, he would have to do it alone.
Outcasts[]
Most of Elder Lyons' soldiers supported his dedication to the people of the Capital Wasteland and were proud of their leader's commitment to honor and heroism. The conflict with the super mutants dragged on for years, straining resources and manpower to the breaking point. Without the Brotherhood's support, the situation became progressively worse.
However, Lyons' men continued to stick with him and follow his orders, primarily out of the doctrine of loyalty the Brotherhood taught them from birth. However, there were soldiers under his command dissatisfied with Lyons' focus on protecting the wastes by killing super mutants, seeing it as an ineffectual waste of men and resources that would ultimately destroy the Brotherhood. The situation gradually worsened, finally tipping when Elder Lyons ignored their repeated requests to recover tech from Fort Independence, a pre-War scientific military base.
Rallying behind Paladin Henry Casdin, the dissenters abandoned Lyons' command and left the Citadel, taking a large part of its weapons, power armor and equipment stockpiles with them. The loss of men and materiel had a significant negative impact on the combat performance of the chapter, greatly reducing its ability to project power throughout the Capital Wasteland.
This was, without question, Owyn Lyons' darkest hour. He had become a man of compassion and understanding, and couldn't help but sympathize with those who had left; he had abandoned the Brotherhood’s primary mission. He recognized that and took full responsibility for it. Some of the knights and paladins who left had been his brothers for years. Together, they had shared victory and loss, pain and elation. But to those soldiers loyal to Elder Lyons, this dereliction of duty and theft of technology was an act of cowardice and treason. The dissenters would call themselves the "Outcasts," traitors to the Brotherhood of Steel; it was a name they would ultimately wear like a badge of honor, proud of the distance it put between themselves and Lyons' "soldier sycophants." One of these people who left was none other than Henry Casdin, who became the founder of the Outcasts.
The East Coast Brotherhood began 2277 as a diminished, weakened force, suffering from a shortage of qualified combat personnel and severely depleted stocks of weapons and equipment. As a result, the Brotherhood had a limited presence outside the Citadel, with only a handful of reinforced outposts scattered across the Washington metropolitan area, making Elder Lyons incredibly tired by his inability to act.
Enclave War[]
A year passed since many of his soldiers left to form the Brotherhood Outcasts, but Lyons was still dedicated to the cause of helping the people of the Capital Wasteland. He continued to send his troops into the D.C. ruins to help any who needed it, including the protection of Three Dog, a disk jockey who tries to get the message of the "good fight" to the people of the wasteland.
All continued normally, until the Enclave attacked and occupied the Jefferson Memorial, where Project Purity called home. James, the leader of the project, sacrificed his life in an attempt to thwart Augustus Autumn's attempt to take over the project. While he failed to stop the Enclave, he managed to save the lives of the scientist Madison Li and his child, the Lone Wanderer. The two eventually made it to the Citadel, where Lyons allowed them safe haven.
After hearing of the resurgence of the Enclave, he immediately declared war on the Enclave and began a campaign to stop them. The Lone Wanderer required a Garden of Eden Creation Kit to get Project Purity functional and Lyons pointed them in the direction of Reginald Rothchild, after speaking to Rothchild, the Lone Wanderer headed to Vault 87 for the G.E.C.K.
Shortly before the Lone Wanderer's return, Owyn Lyons was debating with his daughter whether or not to launch an assault on the Jefferson Memorial and reclaim it from the Enclave. The Lone Wanderer returned to tell Lyons some ill news: that the Enclave had stolen the G.E.C.K. and would shortly activate the purifier. With this piece of information and his daughter's eagerness to attack, he ordered Lyons' Pride to assault the project and occupy it.
After the battle was won, the Brotherhood occupied the Jefferson Memorial and began to distribute clean, fresh water to the people of the Capital Wasteland.
Lyons once again enlisted the help of the Lone Wanderer to help defeat the Enclave, sending them to assist with the assault of the Satellite Relay Station and also tasked the Lone Wanderer with finding a Tesla coil in the ruins of Old Olney. After the Wanderer had completed these tasks they were sent to Adams Air Force Base to destroy the Enclave's last known major base of operations.
Legacy[]
Owyn Lyons would eventually pass away around 2278, leaving behind leadership to his daughter Elder Sarah Lyons, which was short lived as she perished shortly thereafter in battle. The East Coast Brotherhood subsequently floundered, led by successive ineffectual leaders until Elder Arthur Maxson.
After Lyons' death, Elder Arthur Maxson would eventually succeed at Lyons' goal of exterminating the super mutants from the Capital Wasteland and would eventually recombine the Brotherhood with the Outcasts into a once again unified East Coast chapter. With the newly formed Brotherhood of Steel though, Lyons' previous accomplishments as the last long-standing elder would be diminished in the wake of Elder Arthur Maxson's achievements. Despite being the elder that was responsible for leading and navigating the original Brotherhood contingent through The Pitt, discovering the Citadel (and in turn Liberty Prime), leading during the Battle of Project Purity and then defeating the Enclave at Adams Air Force Base, little over a decade later, Elder Lyons would primarily be remembered as the "foolish" elder that lead the Brotherhood astray from their true path of preserving technology. It's even espoused by some officers of the reunified Brotherhood that Maxson is the sole reason for the Brotherhood's newfound momentum as a military force, and if not for him the Brotherhood on the east coast would still be a small group of stragglers in the Citadel.
News of the civil war between the Brotherhood of Steel and Outcasts had also reached other Brotherhood chapters, such as the Mojave Chapter.
His daughter, Sarah Lyons, is a member of the Brotherhood with the unique rank of sentinel. Reginald Rothchild is an old friend of Elder Lyons.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- His views are known as the Lyons Doctrine.
- Other scribes can often be found sleeping in Elder Lyons' bed.
- In Fallout 4, Brotherhood soldiers mention that they were tired of Owyn Lyons and his "foolish ways."
- Three of Lyons' personal logs can be found in the Citadel laboratory and Lyons' quarters in the B-ring.
- He, along with Amata Almodovar and Sarah Lyons, is one of three characters in the game to have "Very Good" Karma.
- He is ready to give up his command of the Capital Wasteland Brotherhood of Steel to his daughter, Sarah, as read in his second personal log.
- Elder Lyons appears floating face up in the Sacred Bog during the hallucination that occurs while intoxicated by Punga seeds in Point Lookout, even if he hasn't been met in the base game yet.
- When asking him if he knows anything else about the super mutants after telling him they are coming from Vault 87, he will say "You seemed to have learned more in the past two weeks than I have in 20 years!" regardless of how long the player character has been out of Vault 101 and how long ago they told him about Vault 87. This is because when the Lone Wanderer breaks out of captivity from the Enclave, they have been held for two weeks, according to Three Dog's radio broadcast.
Licensing[]
This article contains content derived from the "Owyn Lyons" article on Nukapedia, licensed under CC-BY-SA.
