The Overseer sets the rule that no one ever enters and no one ever leaves Vault 101, yet he lets James in? Why?

There was a time when the Vault doors were open and they did interact with the Wasteland, but somewhere after that the Overseer decided that the Wasteland was too dangerous and shut the vault off from the outside world, then made everyone pretend like the vault was sealed since before the war.

My guess is that James entered right before the door was sealed for good and all though the Overseer was untrusting of him, they needed a trained doctor and James proved that he could help the vault by offering his first aid talents, so the Overseer decided to let him stay.

God knows, one minute he lets James in but when you talk to the Overseer later in game he talks about how Vault 101 is the last bastion of pure humanity :shrug:

I smell a plothole.

The Overseer didn't make the rule to keep 101 sealed, that was the directive issued by Vault Tec.

If you listen closely at the very beginning, you will hear the Overseer telling James they were desperate for a doctor in the Vault. My thinking is that the Overseer would have let James come in under the condition of being the doctor, as long as he didn't try to have any more offspring within the Vault. James, being heartbroken over his dead wife, probably had no problem complying to that condition.

Ms. weapon's theory seems the most sound.

But it still seems like a big plot hole. Even if they were desperate for a doctor how did they find James or how did he know to go to 101 and ask. This game is great for gameplay, ambiance and and exploring but it's not exactly the best in terms of plot sturdiness, I think.

In the Overseer's office terminal you find the files of the what exploration parties found. One is about Megaton. Moriarity knew James before he went into the vault. My guess is James and baby were at Megaton and met one of the search parties. One of the files states that two of the search party remained out. ( I've looked for them, but haven't found them.) James most likely met one or both of them and learned of the vault, they told of the need for a doctor and got him in.

Mostly this -- but they called the Vault Ambassadors back into the Vault after they let James in, and re-sealed it. That's why Amata was so pissed off in Trouble on the Homefront, that she/they all were raised to think the Vault had never been opened, which wasn't true.

The above are true. The vault has been unsealed before. Presumably it was unsealed when James was in town but was about to go into lockdown.

Each overseer gets to choose whether to keep the vault open or shut, regardless of what their original orders were, no one can stop them from deciding.

The previous overseer had the vault open for a long time http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Unnamed_Overseer

The Vault suit Moria gives you was likely from one of the previous vault "ambassadors" as "weapon with a skirt" calls them - possibly Anne Palmer

So saith I, SentientSurfer.

"Weapon with a skirt", Mr. Surfer? Now I've gone and imagined a laser pistol wearing a tutu.

Way to cheapen my argument :sadvaultboy:

But which is more important on a girl - the skirt or the weapon?

:happy:

Aha, well now, that is something you would have to tell me. Perhaps it depends on the weapon(s)...?

Heh, depends whether she's at the Citadel or Dukov's Place :rolleyes:

Excerpt from the Wiki:
In late 2258 or early 2259, Overseer Almodovar accepts James and his child into the vault, and James is assigned to be the new vault physician.
In 2260, Overseer Almodovar is widowed and left a single father when his wife dies from an unknown disease .

Based on this information, I would guess that the Overseer broke his own rule as he wanted a doctor to cure his wife's unknown disease. Unfortunately she died 1-2 years later.