Summary

  • The Amazon Prime show based on the Fallout franchise is set in post-apocalyptic Los Angeles and is confirmed to be canon to the game's world.
  • The show's emphasis on Fallout 4 aesthetics and the Brotherhood of Steel raises concerns about continuity with Fallout 2 and New Vegas.
  • There are ways the show could address these issues, but it would be frustrating if it resets major parts of Fallout's universe without proper justification.

The next Fallout game is still a long way off, though fans and non-fans alike can explore the franchise’s next chapter when the Amazon Prime show releases in April. The eight-episode Amazon Prime series stars Ella Purnell as the Vault Dweller Lucy as she explores post-apocalyptic Los Angeles. Bethesda’s Todd Howard is credited as an executive producer, and he’s confirmed that the show is canon to the game’s world.

However, this may create some problems as far as official continuity is concerned. While set on the other side of the country from Fallout 4, its California setting raises questions about how it will interact with the canon of Fallout 2 and especially New Vegas. Hopefully, the showrunners will consider the established Fallout universe, but there are already a few red flags.

Fallout Show Featured Image-1
Fallout TV: 8 Easter Eggs From the Trailer

Amazon Prime's Fallout series received its first trailer, and many exciting easter eggs can be found for hardcore fans.

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The Potential Canon Conflict in Amazon’s Fallout

Amazon’s Fallout show takes place in 2296, nine years after Fallout 4 and 15 years after Fallout: New Vegas. Based on the trailer, it borrows many of Fallout 4’s aesthetics. This includes the design of the show’s Power Armor, the style of Brotherhood of Steel uniforms and flags, the style of vault suits, and the large Brotherhood airship. Actor Walton Goggins’ character is also clearly based on the Fallout 4 version of Ghouls. One of the settlements Lucy visits in the trailer also appears to be inspired by Fallout 3’s town of Megaton.

It’s unsurprising that the show would go with the Fallout 4 version of ghouls, power armor, and things like that, since that’s the current Bethesda canon as of the show’s production. Likewise, Megaton was one of the more memorable locations from Fallout 3. However, this emphasis on Fallout’s East Coast imagery stands out, given the lack of apparent West Coast influences.

Los Angeles, called The Boneyard in the Fallout universe, was a significant location in the first Fallout game. It became one of the states of the New California Republic in 2189, and it is where the NCR Dollars in Fallout: New Vegas were printed. The Boneyard is a core part of the Republic’s territory, making the NCR’s absence from the trailer more suspicious. The Republic will play some role, as evidenced by an NCR flag in leaked images from the show, but its lack of visible press in LA is suspicious. While minor factions like the Followers of the Apocalypse can be brushed under the rug, removing Boneyard from the NCR would have colossal lore implications.

Fallout’s Brotherhood of Steel

The same could be said of how the show depicts Fallout’s Brotherhood of Steel. The Brotherhood in Fallout 4 is a rising power on the East Coast, able to operate a fleet of Vertibirds and build a massive airship like the Prydwen. One terminal in Fallout 4 even refers to the BoS as a “country,” with another describing Elder Maxson’s influence spreading across the Eastern Seaboard. Thus, the Eastern Brotherhood of Steel arguably has more in common with the NCR than its West Coast and Mojave chapters.

Some fans have compared Maxson’s Brotherhood to the Teutonic Order and Knights Hospitaller, orders of Crusader knights who operated as independent states from the 14th to 18th centuries.

Meanwhile, the Brotherhood of Steel in California is smaller and much more isolationist. It also suffered a crippling military defeat at the hands of the NCR, and even if they made peace, it’s odd to see the Brotherhood having such a massive operation in the core of NCR territory.

How Fallout Might Solve its Canon Problem

Granted, there are ways that the show could address these issues without disregarding continuity. Fifteen years is a long time, and it’s not as if the NCR in Fallout: New Vegas doesn’t have problems. In addition to corruption and nepotism, some NCR characters also indicate that the Republic’s population is growing faster than its resources can support. New Vegas’ Lonesome Road DLC also allowed the player to support Ulysses’ plan to nuke the Legion and NCR.

The show could use these factors to justify returning California to the state it was in Fallout 2. Of course, it would be frustrating to see Amazon hit the reset button on such a big part of Fallout’s universe, especially if Bethesda really intends to treat it as effectively Fallout 5.

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Fallout 4 Tag Page Cover Art
9 /10

Fallout 4
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RPG
Action
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Systems
PC-1 PlayStation-1 Xbox-1
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Top Critic Avg: 87 /100 Critics Rec: 89%
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Released
November 10, 2015
ESRB
M FOR MATURE: BLOOD AND GORE, INTENSE VIOLENCE, STRONG LANGUAGE, USE OF DRUGS
Developer(s)
Bethesda
Publisher(s)
Bethesda
Engine
Creation
Cross-Platform Play
no
Cross Save
no
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WHERE TO PLAY

SUBSCRIPTION
DIGITAL
PHYSICAL
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Franchise
Fallout
Genre(s)
RPG, Action
How Long To Beat
27 Hours
File Size Xbox Series
51 GB (December 2023)
PS Plus Availability
Extra & Premium