The second half of Fallout’s second season doesn’t just raise the stakes. It challenges what we thought we knew about the show’s mythology and its characters.
Episodes 5 through 8 pushes everyone to their breaking points while setting up conflicts for season 3.
The Enclave is the Big Bad in Fallout
If you thought Vault-Tec was the villain, you weren’t looking deep enough. They were only part of the problem as season 2 confirms that the Enclave are the true villains of the Fallout franchise. Vault-Tec seems to be taking orders from the Enclave instead of acting independently.
The shadowy government organization is behind nearly every catastrophe that took place before, during and after the Great War. It’s implied they were the one that dropped the bombs…or at least were willing to plunge the world into a nuclear war. Barb Howard is revealed to be actually disgusted with Vault-Tec’s/the Enclave’s plans. However, she’s forced to suggest Vault-Tec drop the bombs during that infamous board meeting back in season 1 after her family is threatened. It’s a tragic inversion of what the show led us to believe about her character.
Then there’s Hank MacLean. The show confirms he’s been working for the Enclave the entire time, not Vault-Tec or Robert House.
Hank explains to his daughter Lucy that Robert House wanted to turn humans into robots with his mind-control chips. But Hank modified the design to add some “personality.” The Enclave chose Congresswoman Diane Welch as their template specifically because of her kind, non-confrontational nature. He’s also has perfected a miniature Black Box device that’s almost impossible to detect.
Hank ultimately decides to wipe his own memory to spare Lucy from having to do it. Before he does, he reveals his R&D teams have been implanting chips in surface dwellers. Some Wastelanders are already carrying out Enclave orders without knowing it.
The Ghoul/Cooper Howard’s 200-Year Search for His Family
The closer the Ghoul feels he’s getting to his family, the more desperate he gets. This becomes clear when he betrays Lucy by agreeing to turn her over to her father Hank without any proof that his family is actually in danger. It’s a decision driven by the hope that he’s finally close to finding his wife Barb and daughter Janey.
Flashbacks spread throughout the season fill in the gaps of how Cooper Howard went from being an A-list actor to performing at children’s birthday parties. Lee Moldaver initially tasks him with assassinating Robert House, who’s expecting the cold fusion diode from Vault-Tec. Cooper refuses. Instead, after Barb gives him the diode and he speaks with Congresswoman Welch, he takes it to the President hoping to end the Resource Wars.
That was a big mistake on his end. You see, the President is actually the leader of the Enclave. He frames Cooper as a communist and has him arrested. Before they take him, Cooper tells Barb to feign ignorance so she can protect Janey, and secure a Vault for them both. His relationship with Barb was still amicable and any bad blood was an act for the public.
In the present, the Ghoul gives the diode to Robert House in exchange for directions to Vault-Tec’s management vault. He finally reaches Barb and Janey’s pods only to find they’re both empty. But there is a postcard from Barbara that reads: “Colorado was a good idea.”
Feeling hopeful for the first time that his family is still alive, the Ghoul leaves New Vegas for Colorado with Dogmeat in tow.
Lucy MacLean’s Graying Morality
Lucy’s transformation from naive vault dweller to someone capable of casual violence has been building all season. Her idealism is tested as the Wasteland puts her in situations where she has to go against her ideals.
She hits a turning point after she becomes addicted to the Buffout the NCR gave her to recover from being crucified by the Legion. She slaughters Kings members without hesitation and shoots a thief posing as a store clerk. That second incident is accidental and in self-defense, but it shakes her. She’s becoming someone she doesn’t recognize.
When she’s reunited with her father she starts to wonder if maybe Hank has a point. Maybe the chips could be used on violent wastelanders. It’s only when Hank declares that everyone on the surface is inherently evil that Lucy finally draws the line.
Lucy reaches Hank’s control room and discovers the system is powered by the severed head of Congresswoman Welch. Welch begs Lucy to kill her, and Lucy does. It’s a mercy killing, but it upsets her since Welch was an innocent victim.
Hank tries to chip Lucy after that, to make her his “little girl” again. Thankfully, the Ghoul intervenes, killing a brainwashed Legionary and shooting Hank in the ass before leaving his fate to Lucy. Hank chooses to wipe his own mind rather than face what he’s done.
Lucy is devastated when Hank chooses to wipe his mind. She’s also disturbed by the impending Legion invasion because she believes she could have prevented it.
On the bright side, she’s reunited with Maximus who she hasn’t seen since season 1. The two hold hands as they watch the sun set inside the Lucky 38 penthouse.
Caesar’s Legion Gets Its New Caesar
The Legion’s civil war concludes in episode 8 when Lacerta Legate finally gets his hands on Edward Sallow’s corpse. Caesar’s final note reads: “I am Caesar. I am Legion. It ends with me.”
Lacerta kills the witness, eats the note, and declares himself the new Caesar. He unites the warring factions under a plan to attack New Vegas and build a palace.
Quintus Declares War on The Brotherhood of Steel
In the post-credits scene, Dane returns from a mission to give Elder Cleric Quintus blueprints for Liberty Prime Alpha. The West Coast Brotherhood is still fighting its civil war, and Quintus has given up on unity.
“Out of the virtue of my heart, I tried to unify the Brotherhood,” he tells Dane. “And look what it got me. No matter…no matter. Quintus the Unifier is dead. Quintus the Destroyer is born.”
Norm Uncovers the FEV While Stephanie Makes Her Move
Norm’s investigation leads him and the Vault 31 junior executives to a Vault-Tec office in the Mojave. He confides in Claudia that he’s not actually an employee, which Ronnie overhears. On Barb Howard’s computer, Norm finds an entry on the Forced Evolutionary Virus before Ronnie cuts the power.
In Episode 8, the junior executives try to kill Norm but accidentally unleash Radroaches that kill them instead. Norm rescues an injured Claudia and takes her back to Vault 33.
Meanwhile, we learn more about Stephanie Harper’s backstory. She’s Canadian, born before the U.S. annexed Canada. Her mother died from shrapnel from an explosion while they were escaping an internment camp. Before dying, her mother told Stephanie to do anything to survive: steal, kill, whatever it takes. “Don’t think of them as human beings,” she said. “Think of them as Americans.”
Stephanie blackmails Betty for Hank’s Keepsake’s box, murders Woody to cover her tracks, and arranges a marriage to Chet without his knowledge. When Chet finds Woody’s glasses in the garbage disposal, he finally stands up for himself. During the wedding, instead of saying “I do,” he outs Stephanie as Canadian and a murderer in front of everyone.
Trapped inside her office, Stephanie opens Hank’s keepsake box and pulls out a black Pip-Boy. It’s revealed she’s Hank’s legal wife. They married in Vegas before the war after meeting once.
She contacts the Enclave to initiate “phase two.” We still don’t know what that is, but it connects to the FEV virus and the Enclave research facility where Wilzig escaped in Season 1.
“The Strip” reveals that Steph Harper is Hank’s legal wife, having married him in Vegas before the war after meeting him once. She contacts the Enclave to tell them to initiate phase two of their plan (we still don’t know what that is).
All these storylines connect to the FEV virus setup for Season 3 and the Enclave research facility (where Wilzig escaped in Season 1). It’s shown that the Enclave is monitoring and listening in on nearly every communication done through Pip-Boys or radio. They know everything.
A Satisfying Way to End Season 2
Season 2 of Fallout is officially over now. The whole thing was a slow burn where some storylines (the flashbacks of Cooper’s past, Vault 31-33 shenanigans) got more focus over Hank’s experiments or the fate of certain factions. The season finale “The Strip” was a satisfying payoff. It answered some of the questions posed earlier in the season but left enough things unresolved for season 3.
The Enclave’s surveillance network means no one is safe. The Ghoul’s journey to Colorado could reunite him with his family or destroy what’s left of his humanity. The Legion and Quintus are heading to New Vegas with war on their minds. Then there’s the FEV virus, which the show has been teasing since Season 1. That’s a lot of ground to cover so hopefully we won’t have to wait too long for the next season.
