Season 2 of Fallout is almost over and episode 7, “The Handoff” had some big revelations.
At the end of the episode, the Ghoul makes his way to the Lucky 38 penthouse. He puts the cold fusion diode into a device and waits as a monitor powers up. Once it reaches full power, the digital avatar of Robert House pops up on the screen.
“Well, hello old chum!” House says to the Ghoul.
Some fans believe this is the writers’ way of hinting the “House Always Wins” ending from Fallout: New Vegas is canon. But that’s the trick, it only feels that way.
The Showrunners Are Sticking with Their “Fog of War” Approach
Co-showrunner Geneva Robertson-Dworet made it clear in an interview with Entertainment Weekly that the show isn’t interested in canonizing any of the endings for New Vegas. She also mentioned that the digital avatar we saw is only “another version” of House.
“As someone who is interested in robotics and artificial non-biological versions of selves, it made a lot of sense to us that this would’ve been something that he would’ve developed and sort of be the ultimate version of him. I’ve always seen it as something that allows for many players’ experiences to have happened, but still Robert House had this other version of himself, that he was always ready to create and what he needed was the diode.”
How Could House Survive into the Present?
It’s possible that House created an artificial personality of himself during the events of New Vegas.
The tech genius always strives to be several steps ahead of everyone else. While the NCR, Caesar’s Legion, the Courier and House’s Securitrons fought over the fate of the city, he was making calculations on what would be the best outcome for him. Then when everything was said and done, he uploaded his consciousness into his computers.
This scenario was alluded to in the end credits for episode 5. We get a glimpse of House’s life support chamber with his withered hand sticking out.
There’s also what looks to be a bullet hole on the glass. House might have predicted that someone (probably the Courier) would try to assassinate him and planned accordingly.
Can the TV Series Keep New Vegas’ Ending Vague?
Robertson-Dworet wouldn’t confirm if this is truly House’s final form. But the more the creators flesh out the show’s universe (which is canon to the games), it’s going to be harder to keep the true fates of the games a secret.
Fallout is built on player agency. Your choices, your version of the Wasteland. Canonizing a single New Vegas ending would alienate most players. It would also undermine one of the franchise’s strengths, that the world is shaped by the decisions you made.
The showrunners know this so they’re threading the needle. The show takes place in 2296, fifteen years after Fallout: New Vegas. That gives the writers a lot of wiggle room. At the same time, they can’t show us how the Mojave has evolved without contradicting at least one of the endings. The show wants to coexist with the various stories the players created. It’s a lofty goal for a linear story. Because every story has one true ending. We’ll see if the showrunners can continue to keep Fallout’s real endings under lock and key.
