Lydia Rodarte-Quayle

"Mature Content Warning!"
‎ This article contains some content that involves a mature subject or situation which may not be suitable for younger viewers. If you are 18 years or older or are comfortable with graphic material, you are free to view this page, and if you are underage, click off this page and view another one.

Hate Sink

Full Name

Lydia Rodarte-Quayle

Alias

Lydia

Ms Rodarte-Quayle (by Hank)

Origin

Breaking Bad

Allies

Jack Welker

Todd Alquist
Kenny
Gus Fring
Chris Mara
Peter Schuler
Formerly:
Mike Ehrmantraut
Walter White
Jesse Pinkman

Powers/Skills

Negotiation

Manipulation
Access to Madrigal resources and transportations
Wealth

Goals

Keep Gus' methamphetamine operation running. (failed)

Cooperate with Walter White and Jack Welker's gang to make more money. (abandoned)
Have Gus's associates killed so that they won't snitch on her. (succeeded)
Kill Walter White, Jesse Pinkman and Mike Ehrmantraut. (succeeded with Mike, failed with Walt and Jesse).

What Makes Them Despicable

Betraying Ron Forenall to the authorities.

Sending Chris Mara to kill Mike's associates.
Having a very cowardly, self righteous, and hypocritical personality.
Giving the names of Mike's associates to Walt so he could have them killed.

"Love to hate" factors

Admittedly, Laura Fraser's acting is amazing.

She does legitimately care about her daughter.

Type of Hate Sink

Paranoid Businesswoman

“	Lydia: They got Ron. Ron's done. Mike: Okay. Lydia: No, no, not okay, Mike. Not okay. The- the look he just gave me was the very antithesis of okay! Okay? Mike: Breathe, Lydia. No one's talking to the police. Lydia: I just had like fourteen DEA agents burst into my office screaming and yelling at me, and they were swarming all over the warehouse, okay? The warehouse!	„
	~ Lydia revealing her paranoia to Mike

Lydia Rodarte-Quayle is a recurring character in the Breaking Bad franchise. She serves as a major character turned antagonist in Season 5 of Breaking Bad, a mentioned character in El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie and a recurring character in Better Call Saul.

She is an executive of Madrigal Electromotive GmbH's Houston office who got into Albuquerque's criminal underworld by aiding Chilean-American businessman Gus Fring build his criminal empire using her connections and resources at Madrigal. Over time, Lydia became obsessively paranoid, fearing for her own safety as her life of crime consumed her. Following Gus's death in 2009, Lydia joined Walter White and his partner Jesse Pinkman, as well as Gus's former right-hand man Mike Ehrmantraut, in building a new criminal enterprise, a decision which would cost her life in the aftermath of its destruction.

She was portrayed by Laura Fraser.

What Makes Her A Hate Sink?[]

Even before the events of Breaking Bad, Lydia was already a devious criminal, acting as a consigliere to Gus Fring as he built his meth empire, using her connections at Madrigal to cover up Gus's criminal activities and helping his right-hand man Mike Ehrmantraut launder his money.
Following Gus's death and the collapse of his syndicate, Lydia hired Chris Mara to kill Mike Ehrmantraut as well as eleven of Gus's associates to prevent the DEA from linking her to Gus's criminal enterprise, resulting in the death of Duane Chow and Chris himself.
In order to prevent herself from being killed off, she made herself useful to Albuquerque's new kingpin Walter White by organizing a train heist for methylamine and distributing Walt's product to Europe through her resources at Madrigal, essentially helping Walt build his new empire as she once did with Gus.
Betrayed Ron Forenall by ratting him out to the DEA when confronted by the authorities to divert suspicion from herself.
Following Mike's death, Lydia gave the names of Gus's remaining ten associates to Walt, making her indirectly responsible for their deaths at the hands of Jack Welker's prison connections.
Hired Jack and his gang of white supremacists to massacre Declan and his crew so she could take over Walt's empire following his retirement.
Following the collapse of Walt's empire, she suggested killing Skyler White due to having met her, thus making Skyler a loose end that needed tying up, only changing her mind when Todd brought up his cooking skills had improved.
Despite Jesse saving her from getting killed by Walt and Mike, she showed no gratefulness towards him and let him be tortured at the hands of the Neo-Nazis due to him cooking blue meth for them.
Upon Walt's return to Albuquerque, she conspired with Todd to kill Walt.
Lydia was, by and large, a coward, ready to sacrifice even her closest associates if it meant protecting herself from her fate. As a result, her death is extremely satisfying as she is killed by the one thing she believed would never hurt her, presumably suffering until her last breath for all the times she tried to cheat death.
While there can be tragedy derived from her death, it's only when viewed through the lens' of her daughter who likely had to see her mother's dead body once the poison fully killed her. The collateral tragedy of her demise does not extend to Lydia herself.