The Brotherhood of Steel presents itself as the last line between humanity and extinction. They’re the knights in power armor.
Are they actually protecting the wasteland, or are they repeating the same mistakes that ended the world the first time?
The Start of the Brotherhood
The Brotherhood of Steel was founded by Roger Maxson, a U.S. Army captain stationed at Mariposa Military Base in 2077. Just before the Great War, Maxson discovered that West-Tek scientists were experimenting with the Forced Evolutionary Virus (FEV) on unwilling human subjects.
This discovery shattered what little faith he had left in the pre-war government. After executing the scientists involved, Maxson formally seceded from the United States over an open radio broadcast. No one responded. Days later, the bombs fell.
Maxson and his unit survived by sealing themselves inside Mariposa. When fears of radiation forced them out, they began what became known as the Exodus. It was a brutal trek through the wasteland to the Lost Hills bunker. Raiders, starvation, and radiation claimed lives along the way.
The Brotherhood is built on fear and guilt, not hope.
How Fear Turned Into Doctrine
Over the next several years at Lost Hills, Maxson transformed his surviving soldiers into something new. The Brotherhood became a rigid order with ranks, rituals, and a belief system centered on one idea.
Technology destroyed the world. Therefore, technology must be controlled.
The Codex was treated like a scripture. Soon, the Brotherhood morphed into a techno-religious order. They hoard pre-war tech. Advanced technology was no longer seen as a tool to rebuild society. It was a temptation that lesser people couldn’t be trusted with.
East Coast vs West Coast
Over time, the Brotherhood started to fracture.
The West Coast Brotherhood stayed true to Maxson’s original isolationist vision. Outsiders were threats. Recruitment was limited to descendants of the original members, and technology belonged to the Brotherhood alone.
The East Coast Brotherhood, under Elder Lyons, broke from that tradition for a brief period. They fought Super Mutants and protected settlements. They used their technology to help people survive.
Unfortunately, Lyons’ approach weakened their military position and caused internal conflict. The Outcasts split off. Later leadership partially went back to their isolationist ways. Compassion was seen as a liability.
How Brotherhood is Portrayed in the TV Show
The Fallout TV series doesn’t romanticize the Brotherhood. It has no problem showing the rot underneath all that power armor.
Set in 2296 near Los Angeles, the Brotherhood operates as a dominant military force hunting advanced pre-war technology like cold fusion. Led by Elder Cleric Quintus and the Knights of San Fernando, they operate from a fortified airfield stocked with vertibirds and T-60 power armor.
Squires like Maximus or Thaddaus experience relentless bullying on a regular basis. Even Maximus (who means well) will default to manipulative or violent behavior to achieve his goals. Prime examples of this is impersonating Knight Titus or attacking Vault 4 when he thought they were going to execute Lucy.
Teasers for season 2 hint that the Brotherhood is heading towards a civil war with Maximus caught in the middle.
Who Decides Who Controls the Tech?
The Brotherhood’s obsession with control mirrors the same institutions that created FEV and the Great War. They see humanity as something that can’t be trusted. Their hierarchy rewards obedience over morality. That turns them into conquerors.
Hoarding knowledge doesn’t prevent societal collapse. Nor does it make the Brotherhood seem virtuous. It makes them dangerous.
The Brotherhood of Steel is not humanity’s safeguard. They’re a monument to trauma and authoritarian thinking. They serve as a reminder that the world never escaped the mindset that destroyed it in the first place.
