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The Heroine's Journey: Lucy MacLean

“The feminine journey is a journey in which the hero gathers the courage to face death and endure the transformation toward being reborn as a complete being in charge of her own life.” — 45 Master Characters

In her book 45 Master Characters, Victoria Schmidt outlines the steps and phases in the Feminine Journey as seen in many traditional stories such as myths and fairy tales. Unlike The Hero’s Journey, which focuses on the external, The Heroine’s Journey is about inner exploration. In the following analysis, I will examine Lucy MacLean’s journey so far in Fallout (2024). I believe it will be interesting to identify at what stage she is by the end of S1 which will give us an idea of what likely awaits her in S2. Note: This analysis is written for fun. It is my own reading of the character and her journey. You’re welcome to have your own. Spoilers ahead!

Schmidt’s Heroine’s Journey has nine stages:

ACT 1 Containment: 1. The Illusion of the Perfect World

2. The Betrayal or Realisation 3. The Awakening or Preparing for the Journey

ACT 2 Transformation:

4. The Descent – Passing the Gates of Judgement

5. The Eye of the Storm

6. Death – All Is Lost

ACT 3 Emergence:

7. Support

8. Rebirth – The Moment of Truth

9. Full Circle – The Return to the Perfect World

ACT 1

The Illusion of Perfect World

In the first episode, we meet Lucy content in Vault 33. We are shown a whole montage of her perfect life in her perfect shelter. It’s designed to protect her. Outside is dangerous but in her bubble, she is safe and sound. But is this good enough? Despite her obvious naivety, we get a sense she is after something else. In her first scene, she applies for marriage, which is telling of her being on the threshold of adolescence and adulthood. Now, if marriage is really what she is after, or if it is something she relies on to fit in the community she lives in, is up for debate. The thing is, the heroine knows deep down that her little world is not perfect. And she subconsciously seeks freedom so she can exercise her growth. Perhaps the prospect of marriage is the closest to freedom she has known in the vault. Or perhaps it is the thrill of meeting someone from outside her containment. In any case, she wants change; her shelter has turned into a cage.

2. The Betrayal or Realization

Here comes the moment when Lucy’s perfect world is shattered. On her wedding night, right after the consummation of marriage (the symbolic passing to adulthood), she is betrayed by her husband. This is the so-called “inciting incident”. He turns out to be a raider from the surface. Now, not only is she betrayed by him personally, but she is betrayed by her idea of the outside world. He is her first conscious contact with the world outside the vault. And it is a far cry from what she has believed in. Not only that but the danger has breached the walls of her shelter; she can’t ignore it. It turns out that her perfect world and the system she has lived in are broken. Her attempt at freedom ends with her husband’s hands around her neck. The history and ethics lessons have done little to prepare her for this. So a part of her begins to wonder what actually lies out there. To top it off, her father, who is an Overseer and the biggest authority by her glass bubble’s standards, is drugged and taken hostage before her own eyes. She encounters the villain for the first time in the face of Moldaver. With her convictions shattered and her dad gone, she must make a choice. 3. The Awakening, or Preparing for the Journey

Lucy’s world is in ruins, metaphorically and literally. The others’ refusal to send a search party only reinforces the idea that her world has let her down. This is her awakening. She decides to take the active road and do something about it herself, hoping to rebuild what was lost. From the story’s perspective, she has to find her dad. But as screenwriter Robertson-Dworet puts it: “As much as she leaves to find her father in the pilot, she also wants to fuckin' know what's out that door.” Moldaver also remarks in the final episode that Lucy’s curiosity greatly motivates her to leave the vault. Given the raiders’ attack and with no established authority to prohibit her from doing so, she ventures to do just that. With the help of Norm and Chet, she gathers tools and prepares for the journey. What she isn’t aware of but will soon find out is that no material tools will help her with what’s waiting outside. She has yet to learn to trust herself and her qualities which will ultimately help her. It’s time for the trial by fire.

ACT 2

4. The Descent – Passing the Gates of Judgement

The descent may not be a literal one. In Lucy’s case, it’s ascent. She looks behind her as the door is closed and locked. There is no way back, only ahead. Often, the descent is about passing the gates of the Underworld. One of the first shots outside the vault shows us bones and a skull on the ground. The Wasteland is very much portrayed as the Underworld with its own set of rules.

From here on, the real journey begins. The heroine faces the consequences of her life-changing decision in the form of tests that will determine her worth. She might be advised to return to her perfect world, as Dr. Siggi Wilzig does after she lights the bonfire. After she refuses, he tells her that she will have to adapt and become a "different animal altogether," summarising the point of this stage of transformation in her journey. 

She will then try to use the tools she has at her disposal—literal and metaphorical—but they won’t work. With each encounter, she will lose weapons or belongings until she is left with nothing of the things she thought would help her. Think of the filtered water Lucy loses or how her dart doesn’t work against the Ghoul. She begins to look progressively worse as her jumpsuit gets dirtier and bloodier. She even loses her trigger finger. 

The heroine may also face societal prejudice. Lucy is stunned by people’s opinions about Vault dwellers and Vault ideals in general. She is being proven again and again that her sensibilities, HR manuals, and ethics don’t work in the Wastes. 

The heroine has to rely on her courage and instincts. She must let go of all control and surrender herself to the descent. After being stripped of everything, she must face her demons. Lucy strives to always do the right thing, but she needs to embrace the fact the fact that the right thing doesn’t always come in a neat little package. The world is more than right and wrong.

I believe the scene that best illustrates the first time Lucy actively trusts her instincts and by doing so, survives on her own, is Super Duper Mart. She uses threats, uses a makeshift weapon, holds a hostage (it’s a robot but still, it’s a big step for her), and most significantly, for the first time, murders another to ensure her own survival. Even though Martha had no humanity left, her murder is important in Lucy’s journey because her death becomes synonymous with doing the right thing, not for a cause or the greater good, but for Lucy herself. 

She emerges victorious with her bloodied face and tank top, and this is the most disheveled state in which we have seen her. By helping out the Ghoul, she is the victor not only in terms of survival but also in terms of morality. She shows him that she is morally superior to him. She’s successfully beaten her demons this time without losing sight of her golden rule.  Still, it has taken a lot out of her to survive. The heroine feels weary, reminiscing about easier times. She seeks to find the familiar comfort she once had and may consequently settle for something she doesn’t really want. 

5. The Eye of the Storm

After this mini-climax, the heroine evaluates and comes to terms with what just happened. She concludes that she handled things well. Having survived the danger, she gains a false sense of security. In Lucy’s journey, this stage coincides with her meeting Max and their experience in Vault 4. 

Finally, Lucy finds a person she can trust. The world feels a tad bit better with someone by her side. At the same time, she dreams of going back to her own perfect little world. It’s so lucky that they end up in another vault!

While Max discovers the joys of living a simple life, it’s interesting to observe Lucy’s behavior. Although she feels safe for a moment, she starts noticing the people and things around her. She’s become more perceptive than before. Try as she might, she can’t go back to her old ways due to her experience on the surface. She wants to feel safe, she wants to sleep with Max; she wants life to be simple again. But she can’t help but look twice over her shoulder. She feels uneasy and grows suspicious of everything around her. It’s the newly found survivor in her screaming at her to get out. 

Eventually, Lucy learns that she has made the wrong assumptions about Vault 4 because of her ignorance and her raw instincts. They leave the vault unscathed, with Lucy fantasizing about a future with her and Max living together back in her perfect world. Soon they find the head but are forced to separate. Lucy gets the head, the kiss, and the promise that Max will find her in Vault 33. It looks like the journey is nearing its end. But it’s only the beginning. 

6. Death – All Is Lost

The heroine believes that her journey will soon be over, but it is time for her to face her biggest fear yet. Lucy delivers the head and finds her dad, thinking they can safely go back to how things were. Then, all of a sudden, her world is spun on its axis once more. 

She learns about her mother’s fate and about what her father did to Shady Sands. And perhaps most jarring to her is that her father really believes that he’s done the right thing by dropping a bomb over a thriving city. Lucy’s role model turns out to be a fraud. The ideals she has lived and fought for, too. And it’s Moldaver, the villain, who seems to be on the right side of the story, despite her murdering her fellow people. It looks like the world isn’t simply divided into right and wrong after all. This is the ultimate betrayal that leaves the heroine’s thoughts in inner turmoil. She feels humiliated and confused. All this time, she’s lived in a perfectly constructed lie. The events build up to her mercy killing her own mother, which is exactly what the Ghoul did to Roger in front of her. Purnell says: "She's learned from him. She has turned into him." She faces the death of her old self.

Schmidt notes that few female protagonists make it past the stage of their “death”. Some of them die in the literal sense, some go back to their old lives defeated, and others fall into a spiral of depression. I believe this is Lucy’s final stage in S1. What will become of her in S2? Let’s speculate!

ACT 3 Emergence:

7. Support

The heroine’s journey is about building bridges between the individual and the group. Her inner awakening leads to her being more open to the help of others and helping them in turn. She isn’t afraid of betrayal anymore because, at the end of the day, she has herself.

In Lucy’s final scenes in S1, we actually see the beginning of this stage with the Ghoul offering her to travel with him and find out more about the past. She leaves Max behind and goes with the Ghoul. According to Schmidt, it’s during this stage that the protagonist will accept herself as she is and go on to share her knowledge with others. She will define her own world without an external authority. Her journey of self-discovery will guide the others around her to make amends with their own problems. 

We have already seen the Ghoul’s influence on Lucy. In S2, I believe we’ll see how Lucy affects the Ghoul for the better by balancing his sharp edges. But before that, she will need his help to get herself up on her feet so that she can be reborn and come full circle in a new perfect world. Thanks for reading and I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Some analysis about Steve.

English is not my native language and I cannot guarantee that I am professional

Attachment Theory

Developed by John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth, attachment theory posits that early relationships with caregivers shape an individual's emotional bonds and sense of security (Bowlby, 1969). Caregivers, typically the mother or primary caretaker, provide psychological safety, enabling infants or children to confidently explore the world and return for comfort and support when needed. During this period, the mother serves as the child's primary "secure base," a primal instinct that persists into later life, extending to friends and loved ones in adulthood.

In Captain America, Steve Rogers' pre-serum life is depicted as frail, socially marginalized, and frequently bullied. His childhood friend, Bucky Barnes, emerges as Steve’s primary attachment figure, offering protection and affirmation. Scenes of Bucky shielding Steve from bullies and encouraging his resilience establish Bucky as a "secure base," a reliable source of safety that fosters exploration and resilience (Ainsworth, 1989). These early interactions cultivate a relatively secure attachment in Steve, characterized by trust and emotional reliance on Bucky. Notably, the model suggests early experiences shape enduring expectations of caregiver reliability.

Steve’s attachment deepens through shared trauma during World War II. In *Captain America: The First Avenger*, Bucky’s capture by Hydra and Steve’s rescue mission at Azzano solidify their mutual dependence. Bucky’s fall from the train, presumed fatal, triggers Steve’s grief response, aligning with Bowlby’s concept of "separation distress," where the loss of an attachment figure disrupts emotional equilibrium.

Steve’s initial reaction to Bucky’s fall—staring in disbelief at the spot where he vanished, later drinking alone in a bombed-out bar—signals acute separation distress, a hallmark of attachment loss (Bowlby, 1969). Bowlby’s theory outlines grief stages following attachment loss in childhood: protest, despair, and detachment. Steve’s protest phase manifests in his refusal to fully accept Bucky’s death, telling Peggy Carter, “I should’ve grabbed him” (Johnston & Markus, 2011), reflecting guilt and a desire to undo the loss. The despair phase is evident in his withdrawal and self-sacrificial act of crashing the Valkyrie into the Arctic, suggesting Bucky’s absence diminished Steve’s sense of purpose. Unlike typical detachment, Steve’s grief is interrupted by 70 years of cryogenic preservation, leaving him in an unresolved state of loss, later manifesting as chronic grief.

Steve’s subsequent self-sacrifice—crashing the Valkyrie—reflects an internalization of Bucky’s absence, as Steve’s identity is deeply tied to their shared past. In *Captain America: The Winter Soldier*, discovering Bucky alive but brainwashed reignites this attachment. Steve’s refusal to fight Bucky on the helicarrier, stating, “I’m with you to the end of the line,” reveals an enduring attachment bond, driven in part by a desire to restore the security Bucky once provided.

Erik Erikson’s theory of "identity formation" further explains Steve’s attachment. Erikson posits that identity develops through relationships and social experiences, particularly during crises. Steve’s pre-serum identity as a “little guy from Brooklyn” is inseparable from Bucky’s support. In Erikson’s eight-stage theory, the fifth stage (adolescence, ages 12–18) is critical, with the core conflict being *Identity vs. Role Confusion*. In *Civil War*, Steve’s defense of Bucky against Tony Stark and global authorities reflects an identity crisis: abandoning Bucky would betray the self that Bucky helped shape. Thus, Steve’s attachment is not only emotional but existential, anchoring his sense of continuity in a disorienting post-war world.

Existentialism

From an existentialist perspective, Steve’s attachment to Bucky aligns with Jean-Paul Sartre’s concept of authenticity, which involves embracing the freedom and responsibility to define oneself (Sartre, 1943). Steve views Bucky as a touchstone for his authentic self—the Brooklyn kid fighting for justice, not America’s icon. In *The Winter Soldier*, despite Bucky’s transformation into the Winter Soldier, Steve recognizes him, reflecting a refusal to accept the “nothingness” of Bucky’s lost identity. Sartre’s notion of “existence precedes essence” asserts that humans first exist and then define their essence through choices and actions. Steve believes Bucky’s essence—his goodness—persists beneath Hydra’s conditioning, driving his actions. This is evident when Steve drops his shield, choosing vulnerability over combat to reach Bucky’s buried self.

Steve’s persistence also resonates with Martin Heidegger’s “being-toward-death,” which suggests confronting mortality sharpens one’s purpose (Heidegger, 1927). Bucky’s death and Steve’s near-death experiences (the Valkyrie crash, the helicarrier battle) bind them in a shared existential outlook. For Steve, Bucky represents a living link to a past intertwined with death and meaning. In *Civil War*, Steve’s fracturing of the Avengers to protect Bucky underscores this existential commitment, viewing Bucky not as a threat but as a symbol of life and values worth preserving.

Phenomenology

Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenology, emphasizing intersubjectivity and embodied perception, illuminates how Steve’s perception of Bucky shapes their bond (Merleau-Ponty, 1945). Steve’s view of Bucky is rooted in their shared lifeworld—a pre-war Brooklyn defined by loyalty and mutual care. In *The Winter Soldier*, Steve gazes at the masked Winter Soldier and pleads, “You know me,” an act of phenomenological recognition. Merleau-Ponty posits that the self is constituted through the presence of others: “I am not in front of my body, I am in it, or rather I am it.” The self emerges through interactions with others’ gazes, words, and actions. Steve’s embodied memories of Bucky—their shared past—override the Winter Soldier’s programming, evident in Bucky’s hesitation to kill him.

In Civil War, Steve and Bucky’s reunion in Bucharest further embodies this intersubjective dynamic. Despite global accusations, Steve refuses to see Bucky as a weapon, reflecting a phenomenological affirmation of Bucky’s living humanity. Their physical cooperation against authorities embodies a pre-reflective trust, what Merleau-Ponty describes as the fundamental “coexistence” of human connection. Thus, Steve’s attachment is not abstract but visceral, grounded in the bodily and emotional reality of their shared past.

“Phenomenological identity” refers to an understanding of identity from a phenomenological perspective, distinct from traditional psychological or sociological categorizations (e.g., gender or cultural identity). It focuses on how one experiences and confirms “I am me” through lived interactions with the world and others. For example, identifying as “a little guy from Brooklyn” is not a mere label but emerges through how Steve treats others, how they respond, and how he feels “this is me” in those interactions. For Merleau-Ponty, the body is the medium of world interaction, and relationships are rooted in shared bodily practices. For Steve and Bucky, their pre-war Brooklyn life and wartime camaraderie—marked by physical gestures like Bucky’s arm around Steve’s shoulder, fighting side by side, and trusting glances—are disrupted by Bucky’s fall, leaving Steve with an inner void.

In The First Avenger, Steve clutches a glass of liquor in a bar, unable to get drunk due to his super-soldier metabolism, embodying this loss. His enhanced body, unable to save Bucky, amplifies the pain of separation (Merleau-Ponty, 1945). This phenomenological trauma persists into *The Winter Soldier*. Steve’s body—running, punching bags until they burst—externalizes his inner pain, a futile attempt to reclaim the intersubjective rhythm shared with Bucky. Merleau-Ponty’s concept of “intercorporeality”—the co-constitution of selves through bodily presence—explains the significance of Steve’s reunion with Bucky. Seeing Bucky alive, even as the Winter Soldier, reawakens Steve’s embodied memories, expressed in his desperate plea, “You know me” (Wadlow & Markus, 2014). Thus, separation distress is not abstract but a disruption of Steve’s bodily being-in-the-world, a longing for the tactile and perceptual presence Bucky once provided.

Day 1: Mermay. He saved her from a bunch of humans who hunted her for mermaid meat.

And it has begun! The second MyLaurie Week. HAVE FUN!

Idk maybe hes gonna go die orsmth

the ghoul

➤ "I have been away far too long." ➤ "Loki will go. Atreus... Atreus remains."