Esther Carpenter

Esther Louise Carpenter was an engagement identity assumed by Echo. Though she was unaware of it, she was sent to infiltrate the compound of the Children of the Temple in Pleasant, Arizona. For this engagement, Echo was made temporarily blind due to cameras in her eyes, used by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, & Firearms, after illegal weapons suspected to be hidden on the compound.

Fictional History

Blind since age nine (the cause of which her doctors were never able to determine), Esther was compelled to leave her home in Raymond, New Hampshire and hitchhiked to compound after having a vision of the leader, Jonas Sparrow. In the vision, Jonas touched her hands to his face, so that she could recognize him at her arrival. After hitching a ride from Boyd Langton, Esther presented her I.D. and was welcomed into the compound. Suspicious of this apparent miracle, Jonas and Brother Seth, a fellow follower, took Esther in for questioning. When they determined that she was indeed blind, she was accepted into the compound.

After she questioned Jonas, he struck her, knocking the cameras out. After the cameras were removed from her eyes, Esther could see again, and determined that it must be a miracle. When visuals were lost, the Bureau surrounded the compound. Upon noticing this, Jonas told Brother Seth to set fire to the building that the congregation would be held. While reading about Nebuchadnezzar attempt to to burn the Jewish youth alive, Jonas unveiled his plan, trying to force a miracle. He demanded the Children pray for their safety and, while doing so, Esther struck him in the head, allowing the Children to escape the burning building. Esther, however, passed out from smoke inhalation, and upon waking saw Laurence Dominic, who butted her with a rifle, leaving her for dead. She was later rescued by Boyd, who had been working for the Bureau during her engagement, and sent to be debriefed. This whole event was covered by news teams, one broadcast was seen by Paul Ballard.

Trivia

• Esther's name is very Biblical. As noted by Jonas, the Biblical Esther was secretly a Jew. After she became a queen of the Persia Empire; however, she learned of a genocidal plot by the king's chief advisor and revealed her true identity to the king. Her last name, Carpenter, is probably a reference to Jesus, who was a carpenter before he began his ministry.