Summary
Epic is not a word I often use when describing most forms of media, but this episode fully deserves it.
The Fallout finale is a stellar piece of television that all but gut-punches the viewer. We find out how the war started in the first place and Lucy learns the devastating truth about her father. And then there’s that excellent fight scene. Let’s break down the truth about the end of the world, the end of Shady Sands, and the ending of Fallout Season 1, and see where Lucy, Maximus, The Ghoul, and Wilzig’s dog are when the final credits roll on Episode 8.
When Maximus arrives back at the Brotherhood’s base, it doesn’t take long for them to figure out that the head he brought isn’t the right one. As Maximus begs for his life, Dane also pleads with Elder Cleric Quintus to show mercy. The Elder concedes. He then privately promises Maximus to make him a part of a new Brotherhood should he successfully retrieve the artifact.
Head On the Table
Lucy and what’s left of Wilzig arrive at the Observatory. While she’s walking through the village, people seem to be recognizing her.
In the flashback, Cooper drives his wife to work hoping he can listen in on her from the parking lot. But his listening device doesn’t work from afar, leaving him with no choice but to follow her into the building.
When Lucy meets Moldaver, she politely rejects her dinner invitation and places Wilzig’s head on the table. As a side note, Moldaver’s dinner companion is a worse-for-wear-looking walking-dead ghoul. Lucy asks for her father’s release, but Moldaver first wants to tell the young woman the truth about Hank.
Fallout | Image via Prime Video
The Truth In Vault 31
Back in Vault 31, Norm comes and meets its only resident – a preserved brain inside a jar on wheels. The brain is upset about Norm tricking him but has no power to stop the young man from going deeper inside. Norm is horrified to find a room full of VaultTec executives in cryo chambers. According to the brain, these executives are the people who are supposed to rebuild the world.
The Brain refuses to allow Norm to leave so he offers him the choice of going to sleep in one of the cryo pods.
Pre-war Cooper is just as horrified to listen in on Bud (when his brain was still inside his head) and Barb as they pitch their insane idea to destroy the world and recreate it to their competitors. VaultTec is willing to offer their competitors several vaults so each has the freedom to build their ideal version of society.
Fallout | Image via Prime Video
As the reps from each corporation are coming up with increasingly evil and bizarre experiments to conduct in their vaults, one asks how could VaultTec “guarantee” results. That’s when Barb coldly replies, “By dropping the bomb ourselves.” Barb justifies destroying the world with the promise that it will make “war obsolete.” She’s not wrong, there can be no war without anyone to fight it.
Cooper is beyond shaken about the fact that his wife is a monster. We also learn that Betty (the current Vault 33 Overseer) was Barb’s secretary, while Hank was a new employee and a huge fan of Cooper’s movies.
Lucy’s Daddy Issues
Meanwhile, the misguided Maximus confesses to Dane that he’s leading the Brotherhood to Moldaver because he wants to save Lucy.
For Lucy, the devastating revelations about her dad run deeper than him being a VaultTec executive. It seems Lucy’s mom, Rose, figured out civilization was rebuilding itself on the surface and she wanted to be a part of it. Rose took her children and moved to Shady Sands with them. In retaliation, Hank had the new city nuked. As for Rose, well, she’s the zombie at the dinner table.
Moldaver wants Hank to give her the code to activate the cold fusion Wilzig’s been keeping inside his head. After hearing the truth about him, Lucy asks Hank to hand over the code, which he reluctantly does.
Moldaver doesn’t have time to fully activate the cold fusion before the Brotherhood attacks her village. The brutal fight scene intertwines with Hank trying his hardest to justify his objectively horrific decision to nuke a whole city because his wife left him.
A Fatal Weakness
Fallout | Image via Prime Video
As the brotherhood are entering the building, their ruthless carnage is interrupted by The Ghoul who reveals he used to wear one of those armors. He then kills a Knight with one perfectly aimed shot (those seemingly indestructible robotic armors have one fatal weakness) and throws the room into chaos.
Lucy’s still in shock as Hank keeps trying to justify himself. When Maximus bursts into the room, Hank talks him into freeing him from his cage.
While Lucy struggles to find the words to tell Maximus it was her father who bombed Shady Sands, Hank wastes no time putting on a stray Knight’s armor. He wants to forcefully take Lucy and badly injures Maximus when he gets in his way.
Angered, Lucy points a gun at Hank but can’t bring herself to pull the trigger. That’s when The Ghoul shows up and asks Hank what he’s been wanting to know for over 200 years: Where is his family? A spooked Hank leaves Lucy and flies off into the sunset.
The Ghoul then tells Lucy that when he shot at Hank’s armor, the bullet had a tracker. He expects Hank to fly straight to whoever calls the shots and invites Lucy to join him in finding the people responsible for destroying the world.
Lucy Starts A New Journey With The Ghoul
Lucy puts her undead mother out of her misery and promises an unconscious Maximus she’ll find him before setting off with The Ghoul. She starts her new journey with what’s now her catchphrase, “Okeydokey.”
When Maximus wakes up, he briefly meets Moldaver who activates the cold fusion and lights up the Wasteland’s skyline. Before she dies, she asks Maximus if he thinks he can stop the Brotherhood from doing the worst with unlimited power. When the rest of the Brotherhood burst into the room, Maximus gets the credit for Moldaver’s death and he’s instantly promoted to Knight.
Meanwhile, The Ghoul, Lucy, and the dog start making their way towards Hank.
Speaking of Hank, Fallout Season 1 ends with him arriving at a city in the desert, supposedly where the higher-ups are hiding.
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