Fallout Season 2 Episode 5 contained a number of revelations for the ongoing storyline of Amazon’s adaptation of the post-apocalyptic video games — some of which have ramifications for what we understand of the overarching Fallout lore. And, as you’d expect, fans have a number of theories about what it all means.
Warning! Spoilers for Fallout Season 2 follow:
Episode 5, called The Wrangler, features a flashback to pre-war Las Vegas, where Cooper Howard meets the real Mr. House. This scene has got the Fallout community talking for a number of reasons, chief among them the suggestion that there is a secret player at the table, a variable pulling the strings that Mr. House can’t quite figure out, much to his annoyance.
The Fallout TV show has highlighted the influence and power of pre-war corporations in determining the fate of the world, and a meetup between them in Vegas provides the backdrop to Episode 5’s flashback scenes. Mr. House is aware of his role via his company, RobCo, of course. He knows about Vault-Tec, West-Tek, and Big MT. That’s four megacorps meeting secretly to plot the end of the world. But Mr. House believes there is an unknown organization at play, one that is also behind the Deathclaw seen in the flashback to the Battle of Anchorage. Mr. House believes this mystery player will trigger the nuclear war he himself is preparing for.
Fallout’s nuclear apocalypse was thought to have been triggered by China dropping the bombs first. Tim Cain, co-creator of Fallout, has said this was the developers’ original intention. The Fallout TV show, however, had heavily suggested that Vault-Tec, the evil corporate manufacturer of Fallout’s famous vaults, triggered the nuclear war by dropping bombs of its own — essentially for profit. But Mr. House casts doubt on this possibility. He knows Cooper Howard will end up having something to do with the end of the world, but exactly how… well, he’s clueless.
“The bombs will not be dropped by me or any of the idiots in that meeting,” Mr. House insists, referencing the representatives of the big four megacorps. “I believe there is another player at the table. The same unknown entity responsible for your demon in the snow.”
So who, or what, is this “unknown entity?” The theory picking up the most traction right now is that it is The Enclave. For the uninitiated, The Enclave is the secretive faction from the video games that was formed by pre-war members of the U.S. elite. It claims to be the true successor of the United States government across the wasteland, displaying the same fascist tendencies pretty much all the factions in Fallout do.
The Enclave actually appeared in the Fallout TV show at the beginning of Season 1, when Doctor Siggi Wilzig defects from the organization and sets the plot in motion. And in Fallout lore, The Enclave are thought to have played a part in the creation of some of the Deathclaws, which Mr. House ties to this “unknown entity.” It’s not confirmed, but fans believe The Enclave fits the bill.
Either that, or there’s a brand new faction that’s never been seen in the video games, one that was secretly in charge of world events but known by no-one. The introduction of a brand new faction seems a bit much for the Fallout TV show, and would call into question pretty much everything fans have come to understand about the history of the world.
If it is The Enclave, then which characters are involved with them? Some believe Hank to be secretly working for The Enclave, rather than Vault-Tec, and his work in the Vegas vault for management to be about continuing the group’s secretive work. Indeed, some believe Hank’s message to an unknown recipient earlier in the season was directed at someone at The Enclave, not Mr. House.
How does the revelation that FEV is part of the tri-vault experiment factor into all this? It’s unclear. In Fallout lore, The Enclave is not revealed to be behind the supermutant-creating virus, but perhaps the show will confirm that they were.
“I could buy the Enclave being the overall antagonist of this show,” said one fan, “the ones who ended it all and are attempting to control the wasteland for their idealized America.”
With just three episodes of Season 2 left, we’ll hopefully get some answers soon. Season 3 is already confirmed, so perhaps we’ll see The Enclave play a prominent role there. And what does this all mean for Fallout 5, which Bethesda development chief Todd Howard has confirmed will take into account the canon events of the Fallout TV series?
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
