Instead of offering clarity, Fallout season 2 closes with major shockers that change everything viewers thought they knew about the post-apocalyptic drama television series. The season finale left fans reeling and unsettled, doubling down on chaos and shocking reveals that leave many unanswered questions lingering. The biggest twist is perhaps the one that shook the presumed balance between the wasteland and the vaults.
Adapted from the titular iconic role-playing video game, Fallout chronicles the state of America two centuries following a nuclear apocalypse dubbed the Great War of 2077. The second season explores New Vegas, taking unexpected turns that reveal unexpected character arcs. From unearthed buried secrets to fractured alliances, these twists and unanswered questions from Fallout season 2 set the stage for a chaotic season 3 with more looming threats for both vault dwellers and wastelanders.
1. Steph’s Relationship With Lucy Shifts From Bestie to Stepmother
Perhaps the biggest shock of the season is when Stephanie Harper (Annabel O’Hagen) is revealed as Hank MacLean’s (Kyle MacLachlan) legally married wife. There are many jaw-dropping moments in the explosive season, but this takes the cake. The reveal feels a bit off at first, what with the gaping age gap between them. However, their backstories reveal they were put into cryosleep at the same time in their 20s, but Hank woke up many years before Steph, making him biologically older. Unbeknownst to him, Cooper Howard (Walton Goggins) actually set Steph and Hank up before their wedding in Las Vegas.
Before the big reveal, Rose MacLean (Elle Vertes) was Hank’s recognized wife and they shared two children, Lucy (Ella Purnell) and Norm (Moisés Arias). Steph, on the other hand, was Lucy’s close friend during their stay in Vault 33. Meanwhile, Steph never met Rose as the latter was turned into a feral ghoul during the nuclear destruction of Shady Sands caused by Hank. In the Fallout season 2 finale, Chet (Dave Register) revealed to other Vault residents that Steph is actually a Canadian and is over 200 years old, indicating that they are clueless about her marriage to Hank.
2. The Wasteland is the Experiment, Not the Vaults?
In one of the explosive moments of the Fallout season 2 finale, Hank tells Lucy that the surface (Wasteland) is the experiment, not the vaults, as everyone was led to believe. “You think this is the real world? The surface is the experiment, not the Vaults,” Hank tells a bewildered Lucy. According to him, the plan was organized and managed by a secret organization, and everyone has been “following orders laid out centuries ago” without knowing it. This twist significantly changes the video game’s lore, and fans of the franchise can’t wait to see the big effects it has on Fallout Season 3.
3. The Enclave is the Real Villain
At the end of Fallout season 2, the Enclave is revealed as the power controlling everything, including Vault-Tec. Turns out Vault-Tec was just a front while the Enclave served as the true force plotting the apocalypse the whole time. This secret faction is also responsible for creating the Forced Evolutionary Virus, super mutants, and deathclaws. With Steph and Hank’s link out of the bag, they are likely to reunite in season 3 as they both work for the Enclave. The big question is who is running Enclave?
4. What in the Name of Fallout is Phase Two?
After Chet’s big reveal about her backstory, Steph flees to the overseer’s office, still wearing her wedding dress. She pulls out a special Pip-Boy with the Enclave logo on it from Hank’s old keepsake box and uses the device to send a message: “If you can hear this, initiate phase two,” all while vault dwellers bang on the door demanding answers. Meanwhile, her request to activate the next phase is logged on a computer in a new location presumed to be the Enclave’s fortress hidden within snow-covered mountains. This mysterious facility and the unclear phase two are likely to form a major arc in the Fallout Season 3 plot.
5. There’s a Brewing Standoff For Who Controls New Vegas
Fallout season 2 ends with chaos brewing in the wasteland among major factions, and the Vault dwellers are not left out of the drama. In the post-credits scene, the Brotherhood of Steel is at war, and Elder Cleric Quintus (Michael Cristofer) is ready to bury “Quintus the unifier” and resurrect “Quintus the Destroyer.” The cleric also revealed the deployment of Liberty Prime, the most powerful combat robot in the video game, hinting at things getting ugly for their opponents. Somewhere in the wasteland, the NCR army appears larger and stronger, and Caesar’s Legion, along with their new Kaisar (Caesar), is ready to take control of New Vegas.
6. What’s the Deal with Ron Perlman’s Supermutant?
The wasteland has many secrets left to uncover, and the supermutant’s ominous appearance is enough proof. Left for dead and impaled on a pole after a faceoff with Lucy, Ghoul is saved by a creature (a supermutant with a green face) in a hood. The supermutant identifies as the Ghoul’s kin because surface dwellers call them “abominations.” However, the Ghoul rejects his offer of alliance against the powers that be. Played by Ron Perlman, the creature is expected to play bigger roles in future seasons of Fallout.
7. What’s Next For The Ghoul?
After two seasons of searching for his family, the Ghoul enters his wife and daughter’s Vault, but the chambers with their names are empty. In his wife’s chamber, Ghoul finds a postcard with a picture of Colorado on it and “Colorado was a good idea” written on it. Despite his devastation upon finding the chambers empty, the postcard gave him hope that his family might still be alive. “For the first time in 200 long-ass years, I know my family is alive,” he says. All things being equal, Ghoul is off to Colorado to find his family, and his Fallout season 3 arc will focus on his adventures on the way to the Centennial State. His past as Cooper Howard will also get more spotlight in the wake of the looming war in the Wasteland and Vaults.
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