Lawrence Williams was the acting Third Echelon Director of Operations and primary antagonist in Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Essentials. He also appeared as Assistant Director of the National Security Agency (NSA) in Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent (Version 2) and was briefly mentioned by Hisham Hamza in Version 1 and heard in that version's "best ending."
Biography[]
2008: JBA Crisis[]
Version 1[]
Lawrence Williams is first mentioned by Hisham Hamza as "Agent Williams" and his voice is listed in the credits. Williams is heard speaking during the "best ending" credits (the voice ordering police officers to stop Fisher before he reaches the river) and in the helicopter at the end of the final mission (after Sam defuses the final Red Mercury device), threatening to blow up the boat if Sam doesn't surrender.
Version 2[]
There is a mole inside the NSA who is cooperating with John Brown's Army and they disclose through an anonymous email to the JBA (only available in the PlayStation 2 version) that, "you [the JBA] have been infiltrated in more ways than one...met any weapons dealers named Wilkes lately? What if I told you that this man died many years ago?" Dialogue between Irving Lambert and Fisher during the Ellsworth Penitentiary (Version 2) level indicated that Williams is the only other person who knows of Fisher's mission to infiltrate the JBA, and that he also knew of Lambert's cover as a weapons dealer named "Wilkes". Therefore it is likely that Williams was the mole helping the JBA.
In December 2008, just after the JBA Crisis, Fisher contacted Williams by telephone and told him, "Stop looking, you won't find me." Williams asked him to explain the events of the JBA Crisis and Fisher described the choices that he and Lambert had made, and the reasons why he had went off the radar. After Sam is done recalling the events of the last mission in New York City, which involved him being ordered to kill Enrica Villablanca and refusing to do so, then killing the Splinter Cell who did, Williams vowed that he would hunt Fisher down and capture him. Not long after, Williams was promoted to Director of Third Echelon.
2009: Essentials[]
On January 3, 2009, Sam Fisher was captured while visiting his daughter's gravesite in Elysian Fields Cemetery on the anniversary of her death and brought back to Third Echelon Headquarters at Fort Meade. Williams wanted Sam framed for murder (presumably for the death of Lambert). He did this by altering Sam's records of past missions, in order to make Sam look like a cold blooded killer. When Anna Grímsdóttir discovers his file tampering, she let her "boss" know about her discovering the modifications. He later threatened her to give the disk containing the evidence to him, as he has ways of dealing with people who try to cross him. He then put the disk in a hidden safe in his office. After breaking out of the interrogation room, Sam called William Redding to get him some equipment, in order to retrieve the evidence and clear his name. Sam was able to sneak into his office to get the disk and then warned Williams not to try to follow him again. He told Williams that he would find out why he is trying to frame him, and at that time he would return for him[1]. Not long after Anna Grímsdóttir became director of the Third Echelon for a time[2].
Life after Third Echelon[]
Williams was part of a revolving door of Directors in the wake of Lambert's death. That ended with the appointment of Tom Reed. Reed had obtained evidence of Williams' petty and personal corruption — largely driven by envy of the Lambert/Fisher duo — and used it to sideline him. Rather than risk exposure, Williams took a "promotion" to head a signals interception project based out of Bozeman, MT.[3]
Profile[]
A relative newcomer to the NSA, Williams was the first occupant of Assistant Director, a newly-created executive position overseeing Third Echelon activities. He is an ambitious and skilled political player, exactly the kind of person Sam Fisher can't get along with. Williams entered the intelligence field by way of the State Department. Since that time he has risen steadily through the ranks by virtue of ruthless politicking, despite the fact that he has no actual field experience.
Personality-wise, Williams is the guy that goes by the book. He thinks that NOC and double agent practices are too dangerous for the NSA and the U.S. government. Williams thinks more politically than logically. He knows that Fisher is capable of doing his job, but does not trust him under the circumstances. When Williams finds out about the JBA mission, he is quick to pull the plug and end it. Sam is forced to make careful decisions to keep the trust of Williams, while also making sure that the JBA trust him. Williams was named acting Director of Operations in the wake of Colonel Lambert's sudden departure, and since then he had made a number of sweeping changes to the agency and its operations.
Trivia[]
- Williams does not wear glasses in Essentials and his hair is also longer in the game.
- Lawrence Williams does not actually appear during the gameplay of any Splinter Cell game, only appear in static images during the cutscenes in Splinter Cell: Double Agent (Version 2) and Splinter Cell: Essentials.
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