Beth Wilder

Beth Wilder
Biographical information
Alias	Toto, Home Guard 5
Age	25 (2016; before time travel) 36 (2010; after time travel)
Born	1991
Status	Deceased
Death	July 4, 2010
Cause of Death	Shot in the head by Paul Serene
Occupation(s)	Monarch Security (formerly)
Affiliation(s)	Monarch Solutions (formerly)
Resides	Riverport, Massachusetts
Physical description
Gender	Female
Nationality	American
Hair color	Red
Eye color	Blue
Game information
First Appearance	Act 1, Part 2: Campus Escape
Last Appearance	Act 4, Part 4: Will's Workshop 2010
Actor	Erin Richards (formerly) Courtney Hope
Face Model	Erin Richards (formerly) Courtney Hope
Mocap Actor	Erin Richards (formerly) Courtney Hope

Beth Wilder was a member of Monarch Solutions's security detail. As a child she was approached by a version of her future self from the year 2016 who warned her of the events that would take place at Riverport University. She spent the better part of her life preparing to infiltrate and stop Monarch Solutions. When time was fractured and began breaking down, she encountered Jack Joyce and convinced him to work with her in opposition of Paul Serene's Lifeboat Protocol in the hopes of using William Joyce's Countermeasure to repair the fracture before the End of Time occurred.

Biography

Early Life

Beth Wilder was born in 1991 in Riverport, Massachusetts. She presumably lived a relatively comfortable life until 1999. When she was eight years old, she met a woman who approached her in the backyard of her home. Unaware it was older version of herself from the year 2016, Beth listened to the woman explain everything that would happen in the future down to the smallest detail. Beth read the notebook given to her by her older self and witnessed events come to pass exactly as she described them.

When she tried to explain what she knew, no one she knew believed her. Eventually, her persistence led her family to believe that she'd become unstable and troubled. They attempted to change her despite her clarity of mind. Afterward, Beth learned to keep her revelations to herself and kept a low profile. On October 3rd, 2000 she shoved a boy who'd been bullying her down the stairs. He feigned a concussion and she was blamed for her actions and transferred to another school. Over the next two years, Beth would attempt to prove the notebook her future self gave her was wrong and would fail repeatedly just as the notebook said she would. On August 5th of 2001, she boarded a night bus home and met a young Jack Joyce sporting a black eye.

The turning point of her life was September 11th, 2001. Beth attempted to warn proper authorities of the September 11 attacks and failed. 9/11 came to pass like future Beth had foretold and she was left shaken by the massive loss of life and destruction. Beth spent a great deal of time blaming herself and the notebook for being unable to stop the event from coming to pass. However, the event also strengthened her resolve and she eventually accepted her destiny.

Following the advice left behind in the notebook, Beth trained herself for the day she would face Monarch Solutions. She trained herself to become emotionally distant, she kept those she knew in the dark about her activities, and learned how to blend in, changing her physical appearance frequently. Eventually, she began to track Jack Joyce on the stipulation that he was the only person she could trust, but kept her distance, knowing Monarch was also watching him. When the time was right she created a cover and infiltrated Monarch, becoming one of their security detail.

Characteristics

Personality

Much of Beth's life was greatly affected by her future self's decision to approach her eight year old self in 1999, after she was sent off course and into the year 2021 by Sofia Amaral. Her future self convinced her that she was special and that she had a destiny greater than herself to fulfill. Armed with a notebook containing the names, dates and descriptions of events that would come to pass, Beth's purpose became that of her future self's. However, her roadmap was not perfect and contained blind spots.

Beth's determination remained steadfast in spite of her seemingly impossible task. Knowing that the Fracture was coming, she trained to stop Monarch, infiltrating them from within, and believed she would be instrumental in preventing the End of Time. She knew that she would meet Jack Joyce and later travel in time to meet her eight year old self, repeating the cycle of events that led her to Monarch.

However, she experienced a major change in character when she was sent to the year 2021, and witnessed the End of Time. Forced to fight Shifters and Paul Serene in an effort to stay alive, Beth's focused determination was shaken. She became convinced that her mission and purpose was destined for failure from the onset. When reunited with Jack eleven years later, his optimism and insistence that change is possible (despite her knowledge otherwise) frustrated her. While she had not given up, Beth remained plagued with doubt. That same doubt gave Paul the opening he needed to steal the Countermeasure and kill her in the past.

Behind the Scenes

During early production of Quantum Break, Beth Wilder was originally a character who knew Jack Joyce and Paul Serene prior to the breakdown of time. This aspect of her backstory would later appear in the Zero State continuity.

Beth was initially announced as a playable character alongside Jack and Paul. In this version of the story, she also would have been present when the time travel experiment failed, and as a result, she also would have developed the ability to manipulate time. Additionally, all three characters could originally make decisions during Junction Points, which would affect events in the television series. However, by November 2015, Beth was redesigned as a non-playable character that would accompany Jack throughout the game, and neither she nor Jack could make decisions during Junction Points.

Beth was mentioned, but unseen, in early development and trailers. Her role was initally occupied by another character named Kate (Jeannie Bolet), and Kate appeared alongside Jack Joyce (as portrayed by Sean Durrie) in the E3 2013 Trailer. Beth was first heard speaking in the 2014 Gamescom presentation.

Beth's model and actress Courtney Hope was not announced until August 2015, in an official trailer detailing the complete cast of the game.

In Other Media

Quantum Break: Zero State

Early life

Beth Wilder was born Starr Donovan on October 30, 1987, to unnamed parents. She was presumably born in Phoenix, Arizona. Her father worked in construction and was often absent from the home. The Donovan family later relocated to Riverport for Starr's father's job, but work quickly dried up and he was forced to take a job on an oil rig in the Gulf, leaving Starr at home with her mother. Prior to October 1999, eleven-year-old Starr walked home from school alone, and encountered her older self upon entering her house. She was later reported missing by her mother, and was believed to be the victim of an abduction. Starr was left in the care of friends, with her older self checking in every few years. At some point prior to 2010, she discovered that she was physically unable to die due to the laws of causality ensuring she would survive to meet her younger self, beginning the loop again.

As Zed

In 2010, Starr (now using the name Zed) returned to Riverport and took up residence in an abandoned house. To conceal her identity, she dyed her hair black, got a tattoo, and adopted a New Jersey accent. During this time, she met and befriended Jack Joyce and Paul Serene. Jack later developed romantic feelings for her. She was known for telling outlandish and contradictory stories about her past; these included being in witness protection, having a wealthy astronaut father, being on the run from criminals, and having amnesia, among others. Sometime prior to July 2010, Zed contacted her older self, asking for help.

On July 3, 2010, Jack and Paul were abducted by Orrie Aberfoyle, a man to whom Will owed money. The following day, Zed set up a meeting with Aberfoyle on Bannerman's Overlook and, using planted explosives put in place by her older self, destroyed several properties belonging to him. Aberfoyle was accidentally shot and killed by one of his own subordinates. Zed took three of Aberfoyle's silver bullets, giving one each to Jack and Paul and tossing her own into the water. Afterwards, she and Jack walked to her house. When he returned later that afternoon, she had vanished, and all of her belongings were set ablaze in the backyard. Jack spent the following four years searching for her. She spent time in a compound in Arizona with ex-special forces members, in order to learn the necessary combat skills and discipline. Unknown to Jack at the time, she saw him when he briefly picked up her trail in Arizona, but chose not to reveal herself to him.

All contact with her older self ceased after July 4, 2010. According to Nick Marsters, the police assumed the events at Bannerman's Overlook were due to internal conflicts within Aberfoyle's organization.

As Beth

By 2016, Zed adopted the name Beth Wilder and was working within Monarch Security. She participated in tryouts for the Chronon-1 program, but failed to complete them and remained at a mid-level position. This earned her the nickname "Washout Wilder" from Randall Gibson.

Alan Wake II

Beth is alluded to in the Night Springs DLC episode "Time Breaker". When the Actor enters another reality, he finds a whiteboard with notes from his counterpart in that world. The board mentions a "red-headed woman" his counterpart was looking for; some of the names listed for her are "Lisa", "Elisa," "Liz," and "Elisabet". All of these names, like Beth, are shortened forms of Elizabeth. The Actor also meets a red-haired woman named Jesbet, who (like Beth) works for an organization involving time travel.

Additionally, Jack's final words to Beth, "I'll come back for you," are referenced or directly spoken multiple times throughout the episode.

Gallery

An image gallery is available for Beth Wilder

Inconsistencies

The account of Beth's personal history as presented in Zero State contains a number of errors.

• In Chapter 11, Beth tells Jack that she has been "preparing for [the Fracture] since [she] was eight years old", implying that this was the age she was when she met her future self in 1999. Beth, as Zed, is also repeatedly stated to be 22 years old during the events at Bannerman's Overlook, which took place on July 4, 2010. However, it is impossible for both of these statements to be true.
  • To be 8 years old in 1999, she would be born in 1990 or 1991, making her 20 in 2010.
  • To be 22 years old in 2010, she would be born in 1987 or early 1988, making her 11 or 12 in 1999.
  • She gives her own birthday as October 30 in Chapter 18, and also states that her younger self was 11 when she met her in 1999. This statement is assumed to be the correct one, with her earlier statement being an author oversight.
• Strangely, Chapter 18 also erroneously states that Starr met Beth on August 17, 2000, despite the same chapter later stating that this event occurred in 1999. Based on this and the above statements, 1999 is assumed to be the correct date.
• Jack and Beth are repeatedly stated to be the same age, prior to any time traveling. They are both 22 years old in 2010, and 28 six years later in 2016 during the main story. However, Jack's given birthdate (May 27, 1990) makes this impossible. This is also assumed to be an author oversight.

Trivia

• Due to the game's lighting, Beth's hair can appear brown in some scenes.
• Beth has a helix piercing in one ear.
• Like Amy Ferrero, Beth Wilder only appears in the first episode of the Quantum Break television series.
• In Act 2, Part 1, Liam and Beth's conversation from "Monarch Solutions" can be heard just as the stutter ends when Jack exits the warehouse.
• Beth Wilder and Paul Serene's surnames are a likely reference to the poem recited by Thomas Zane in the first episode of Alan Wake, which includes the line "where the waves are both wilder, and more serene" in reference to an ocean.
• Courtney Hope also portrays Jesse Faden in Control, another Remedy Entertainment game.
  • Jesse's name is also shown on the whiteboard in "Time Breaker".
• In the Zero State novel, the alias Beth uses to communicate with Will is "September" instead of "Toto". This is a reference to a character in Team Outland, a fictional show Beth was fond of.