Fallout Season 2 Finale Recap: A “Rockies” Road Ahead

This article recaps many of the notable reveals from Fallout season 2 and discusses their impacts for the upcoming season 3. Spoilers below.

With season 3 of Prime Video’s Fallout series confirmed well before the release of season 2, it comes as no surprise that the sophomore finale “The Strip” teases more plot threads than it resolves. This undeniably left some fans frustrated at the lack of resolution, given that television seasons these days can take years to release.

But episode 2×08 also gives itself the opportunity to let some of these deep, Wasteland-shaking mysteries breathe while also adding new details to the world and hinting at what’s next. Plus, it included plenty of nods to New Vegas and other video game installments for longtime Fallout fans.

While we wait eagerly for any news about season 3’s production, let’s answer all of the biggest questions burning like radiation in the back of our minds from season 2:

• What did the true Caesar’s note say?
• Did the show canonize any of the Fallout: New Vegas game endings?
• The Ghoul doesn’t find his family yet, but he knows where to look.
• Season 3 will be partly set in Colorado.
• Hank McLean was an Enclave Asset in the Vaults.
• The Enclave ranks above Vault-Tec — and is likely behind the bombs.
• There is a post-credit scene to Fallout season 2’s finale involving the Brotherhood of Steel.

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What did the true Caesar’s note say?

The reveal: The dead, true Caesar’s note said, “I am Caesar. I am the legion. It ends with me.”

After waves of Legion infighting in hopes of uncovering their fallen leader’s true heir, Macaulay Culkin’s Lacerta Legate (a high-ranking title in the Legion) recovers the corpse and discovers that the note was actually just a tyrannical declaration of absolute sovereignty. The past Caesar named no heirs.

With one centurion witnessing his realization, the Lacerta Legate stabs the other soldier before eating the note to cover all evidence. Then he claims the laurels for himself, proclaiming himself the new Caesar (pronounced Kai-sar) and leading his Legion towards New Vegas to claim the Strip as their own territory.

We don’t see the Legion again until they march on the Strip in the episode’s very final moments, while Lucy blames herself for not allowing her father to microchip and brainwash the Roman-cosplaying brutes.

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Did the show canonize any of the Fallout: New Vegas game endings?

The reveal: The show did not officially canonize any Fallout: New Vegas endings, which range from siding with Caesar’s Legion or the NCR to win the Battle of Hoover Dam to helping Mr. House maintain dominion over the Strip. The show avoided following any specific plot line to preserve player agency.

Despite the television series not canonizing any specific ending of the FNV video game, many fans had hoped to see the impacts of their favorite Wasteland faction and the Courier’s actions. Introducing both the idea of a new Caesar and Mr. House’s body double helped the series writers deftly avoid locking themselves into any one “correct” path — which could have also resulted in making players’ choices trivial or “non-canon.”

Still, many fans looked for signs throughout season 2 that gave evidence. Securitrons reminiscent of Yes Man caused viewers to wonder if the bot had completed its final update. Mr. House even makes reference to “wandering travelers” with something to prove, stating he’s been shot, poisoned, and beaten with crowbars. Whether the Courier (FNV‘s main player character) exists in this world is purposefully vague, with the series taking place nearly 20 years after the events of the game.

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The Ghoul doesn’t find his family yet, but he knows where to look.

The reveal: Mr. House opens Barbara Howard’s cryopod in the corporate Vault in Vegas, but she’s not actually inside. Instead, the Ghoul finds a postcard referencing Colorado, a reference to a Pre-War conversation with his wife. Janey’s pod was not shown open. It is unknown how long ago Barbara’s pod was emptied.

“You bet on a hope and you lost,” is what Mr. House tells the Ghoul within the subterranean Vault beneath New Vegas. All along, Cooper Howard, AKA the Ghoul, has been looking for a sign that his wife and daughter might still be alive. And while Barbara Howard’s cryostasis pod is revealed to be empty, it doesn’t mean she’s dead.

Pre-War, the couple had discussed Bakersfield as a place to get away from the metropolitan bustle of Los Angeles. Cooper Howard, however, suggests Colorado as an even further, more remote place to be a family. While Bakersfield was mentioned in season 1, this episode is the first time Colorado is mentioned — and a postcard pointing towards the Rockies signed the handwritten phrase, “Colorado was a good idea,” gives the Ghoul all the confirmation he needs to head east to find his wife and child.

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Season 3 will be partly set in Colorado.

The reveal: Pre-War, Cooper and Barbara Howard mentioned Colorado as a possible escape to get away from the coming war. The Ghoul’s last appearance in the episode shows him crossing the Wasteland towards the Rockies.

While Lucy and Maximus will remain in New Vegas for the incoming conflict between Caesar’s Legion and the New California Republic, the Ghoul has headed out in the direction where he hopes to finally find his family.

We also see a shot of an Enclave building nestled between snowy outcroppings. Whether this secret headquarters is also located in Colorado, specifically in the Rocky Mountains, will likely be revealed in season 3.

Is Colorado in any of the Fallout games?

Colorado isn’t the prime setting for any of the current Fallout games, though it does feature directly in the obscure Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel as the location of Vault 0.

It has also been mentioned in Fallout: New Vegas and Fallout 76, and was originally intended to be the setting for the scrapped version of Fallout 3 codenamed Van Buren.

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Hank MacLean was an Enclave Asset in the Vaults.

The reveal: Hank MacLean has been working for the Enclave throughout his time at Vault-Tec and as Overseer of 33. His work on the mind-control and miniaturization process has been under Enclave direction for unknown experimentation. He also married Stephanie Harper in the Pre-War times, and has a secret Pip-Boy for communicating directly with the Enclave.

According to Hank before he erases his own memories, the surface is the real experiment, not the Vaults. In flashbacks, we see the digitally de-aged patriarch responsible for carrying the cold fusion diode in a briefcase he’s handcuffed to. And this revelation gives further context to his villainy, Turns out, Shady Sands wasn’t even the worst of it.

Hank’s Lockbox had a Secret Enclave Pip-Boy in it.

Mr. MacLean’s association with Enclave is is further confirmed when Vault 32 Overseer Stephanie Harper finally opens the keepsake box that Hank kept in Vault 33. Inside, she reveals a sleek black Pip-Boy with Enclave branding on it. Steph speaks into it, uncertain of who awaits on the other end, and initiates the launch of the mysterious “Phase 2” for the Vault 31-32-33 triad experiment.

What that will mean for our beloved dwellers including Overseer Betty, cousin Chet, and inbred Reg? Hopefully we won’t have to wait too long to find out.

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The Enclave ranks above Vault-Tec — and is likely behind the bombs.

The reveal: The Enclave is the prime investor in Vault-Tec, establishing a secret corporate vault in New Vegas that was even beyond Mr. House’s purview. Additionally, the United States President is likely affiliated with the Enclave. Cooper Howard delivers him the cold fusion diode, thereby securing their ability to launch the world-ending bombs.

As Mr. House aids the Ghoul in navigating Vault-Tec’s underground offices, he admits a surprising fact — there is an entity above Vault-Tec that was able to keep information from him, even in his very own domain of New Vegas. This entity is identified as the Enclave, which were introduced in season 1 as Siggi Wilzig escaped with the cold fusion diode and Dogmeat. They were also mentioned by the super mutant who helped revive the Ghoul after he was impaled.

It turns out that the Enclave has many secret plants throughout the Pre-War country and the Wasteland, including Hank MacLean and the last President of the United States (played by Clancy Brown). When Cooper Howard hands over the diode to the President, he unwittingly plays right into the Enclave’s designs — a decision that continues to have ramifications over 200 years later.

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There is a post-credit scene to Fallout season 2’s finale involving the Brotherhood of Steel.

The reveal: Fallout season 2 has a post-credits scene. In this scene, Quintus of the Brotherhood has requested Dane to bring him a set of blueprints, revealing the design for Liberty Prime Alpha.

If you missed the ending credits of “The Strip,” you should definitely go back for it. It’s a short scene that mostly means something to longtime Fallout franchise veterans, but it also completes a very busy series of “final episode check-ins” with all of the factions and leading faces of the season.

After the West Coast contingent of the Brotherhood began to tear itself apart following the Commonwealth Paladin’s murder by Maximus, many of the knights and squires are left in a bloody state. Elder Quintus even rebukes his former goals of unifying the organization and decides to become a destroyer. The blueprints he unfurls reveal plans for Liberty Prime Alpha, a massive combat robot.

In the games, Liberty Prime dispenses American justice just as equally as it dispenses jingoistic, anti-communist slogans.

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Stray Observations:

• Culkin’s joke about building a palace for Caesar in the New Vegas strip was pretty damn funny.
• The Vault-Tec corporate offices had some excellent graffiti in them, including “Fight apathy … or don’t.”
• Everything about Maximus in the NCR Power Armor was epic — hopefully the suit gets repaired for season 3.
• Speaking of, the NCR ranger shot from the opening of FNV gave me chills!
• I’ve never seen the dramatic principle of Chekov’s gun (the notion of setup and payoff) put a bullet in someone’s ass before, but that was a good full-circle moment of character development for the Ghoul and Lucy as well.
• I still wonder if there will be more mystery to Thaddeus’ transformation. Traditional ghoulification still seems unlikely after his arm fell off.
• Where the heck is Zach Cherry’s sweet and innocent Woody? Is he really dead, or is he going to get Phase 2’d with the rest of the Vault Dwellers under Steph’s one-eyed oversight?
• Ending the episode with “This Is Worth Fighting For” by the Ink Spots was a lovely sendoff for the second season.

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