Fallout is finally back with its second season on December 17, 2025, about a year and eight months after Season 1 premiered. The post-apocalyptic drama based on the role-playing video game franchise of the same name was a massive hit for Amazon Prime Video, showcasing the talents of its two leads, Ella Purnell and Walton Goggins, the latter of whom received an Emmy nomination for his role.
With so much time having passed, it’s important to remember all the key points about Season 1. Even those who have played the video game or are familiar with its story might find a refresher worthwhile.
Vault-Tec Wanted to Start a Nuclear War
A powersuit in Fallout S2Image via Lorenzo Sisti/Prime
Vault-Tec had what seemed to be a great idea to save civilization. But as revealed in a flashback, the Ghoul, then known as Cooper Howard, learns while eavesdropping on a meeting between his wife and a colleague that the plan had always been to secretly start a nuclear war. They wanted to eliminate all competitors and become the only vault company in existence.
It was all a profit and power play, and the news gets even worse when Lucy learns that her father, Hank, was alive and present at that time. After her mother took her and her brother and fled the Vault, Hank bombed Shady Sands, turning Rose into a feral ghoul in the process. It was one of the season’s biggest revelations.
The Ghoul’s Backstory With Vault-Tec
Walton Goggins as Cooper Howard (The Ghoul) in a car in Fallout Season 2Image via Prime Video
One of the most interesting aspects about Fallout, one of the best Prime Video original shows, is the backstory of The Ghoul. He was a famous actor, married to Vault-Tec executive Barb and raising their daughter, Janey, together. Despite their love for one another, they had very different political views. He was staunchly against the rules of Vault-Tec.
When he began appearing in ads for Vault-Tec, however, many viewed him as a sellout. When he discovered the truth about what Vault-Tec was doing and his wife’s involvement, his marriage and career were in trouble.
During the Great War, he didn’t die, but the radiation turned him into a Ghoul. Since he was military-trained, having previously served in the Sino-American War, and had experience as a cowboy from his lengthy acting career, he built a fruitful career for himself as a bounty hunter. After spending 200 years in the wasteland and in the body of a Ghoul, he became a shell of his former self. The only living beings he cares about are dogs and his family.
Norm Finds the Cryogenically Stored Junior Executives
Norm explores a new vault in Fallout S1Image via JoJo Whilden/Prime Video
While conducting his own investigations, Lucy’s brother Norm discovers, via the central computer in Vault 32, that all the overseers of Vaults 32 and 33 originally came from Vault 31. This includes his father. He breaks into Vault 31 and finds the cryogenically stored junior executives there. Hank, at one point, was one of them. It aligns with the Fallout games’ lore, including the disturbing experiments conducted on people.
Vaults 31, 32, and 33 were all part of a social experiment, meant to breed loyal Vault-Tec employees to take over once the rest of the population was decimated. Norm learns this truth at the same time Lucy learns it while seeing her feral mother and confronting her father for the first time.
Hank’s Actions Turned Rose Into a Feral Ghoul
Hank talks to the people in his vault in Fallout S1Image via JoJo Whilden/Prime Video
Lucy learns from Moldaver in the show’s final episode that’s arguably even better than the video game that Rose was born and raised in Vault 33. She tried to escape with her and Norm once she had suspicions that life was still viable above ground, and thatHank refused to entertain her questions.
But instead of letting them go, Hank found her at Shady Sands, where she was staying and had befriended Moldaver. When Rose refused to come back home, Hank took the kids and lied to them as they got older, saying she died during the plague of 2277.
Many years later, out of his lingering anger and to protect the resources of Vault-Tec, Hank orchestrated a nuclear bomb to go off in Shady Sands. Rose wasn’t killed, but the radiation was too much, and it eventually doomed her to an eternity as a feral ghoul. Moldaver found her and kept her alive at her headquarters all this time.
When Lucy sees her mother in this state, she’s distraught; even more so when she discovers that her father was responsible. In the end, Lucy mercy kills her mother to put her out of her misery.
Maximus Is Declared a Knight By the Brotherhood
Maximus looks to his right in the Fallout TV showImage via Prime
Maximus is present in the final scene when Lucy confronts her father about his wrongdoings. While Maximus had been disgraced, the Brotherhood turning on him for his misdeeds, he is finally forgiven by the leader, Quintus. He is impressed by his loyalty and wants him to help lead a new Brotherhood that’s more like it was before they lost their way. Maximus joins them in fighting against Moldaver, even though she’s actually trying to help.
Suffering from wounds from a gun battle, Moldaver perishes. When Dane finds Maximus with her dead body, she thinks he’s the one who killed her, and the word spreads like wildfire through the Brotherhood. He decides to roll with it, especially since they declare him Knight Maximus. He now has more power than he ever did before. But he doesn’t seem to want the power he once craved.
Lucy Disowns Her Father After Learning the Truth
Lucy smiling confidently in Fallout.Image via Prime Video
After learning the truth about her mother, the bombing of Shady Sands, Hank’s role in the plan to purposely start a nuclear war, and the fact that he lied to her all those years about who he really was, Lucy is more than angry with her father.
As he’s subdued, Lucy appeals to her father to give Moldaver the code to activate her cold fusion reactor, hoping to restore peace. He does, but he isn’t forgiven. When Maximus learns what Hank did, he attacks him, and when Hank fights back using the power armor he’s wearing, this is the last straw. Lucy declares that she no longer wants anything to do with her father, disowning him for good.
Lucy and The Ghoul Agree to Travel Together
The Ghoul sits in the Wasteland with his hat over his face in Fallout S1Image via JoJo Whilden/Prime Video
By the end of the season, the Ghoul arrives on the scene as Lucy is dealing with the revelation about her father and the existence of the cold fusion reactor. Upon seeing Hank and recognizing him from more than 200 years ago, the Ghoul believes that his family, including his wife, who worked for Vault-Tec (and played a role in the war), and his daughter, might still be alive.
This might actually work in the Ghoul’s favor. He tells Lucy that since Hank ran away, he could potentially be followed right to the leader of the Great War. Together with Dogmeat, he invites Lucy to join him in trying to find the leaders of Vault-Tec. “Come and meet your makers,” he tells her.
She has her motivations, he has his, and perhaps they can work together. She agrees, having nowhere else to go anyway. This storyline perfectly sets up the adventure and buddy road trip for Season 2.
Moldaver Dies a Sacrificial Death
It’s revealed in a flashback in the penultimate episode that Moldaver, who was going by the name Ms. Williams in 2077, was a scientist who developed a cold-fusion reactor capable of providing unlimited energy and thus preventing a pending war with China over oil resources. But the powers that be at Vault-Tec didn’t want to use it. They would rather engage in war, knowing they could profit from it.
In a flashback, she crosses paths with Cooper in the office and warns him not to trust his wife, encouraging him to record her conversations with the board to learn why.
When Lucy learns this, she begs her father to reveal the code for the cold fusion reactor so Moldaver can activate it. Moldaver eventually perishes from a gunshot wound to the gut she had earlier suffered, but she manages to activate the code right before she dies. Even after the finale, many fan theories about Moldaver still circulate.
Hank Runs Away to What Was Las Vegas
Hank in a powersuit in Fallout S2Image via Lorenzo Sisti/Prime
While Lucy is disgusted with her father, she does not kill him. He has an altercation with Maximus, and when he fights back, Lucy disowns him for good. She focuses on mercy killing her mother and pursuing a deal with the Ghoul to travel with him.
Meanwhile, Hank takes off to what is left of New Vegas, where, based on the teaser trailer, Robert Edwin House, CEO of RobCo Industries and ruler of the New Vegas Strip, resides. House is played by Justin Theroux.
Interestingly, Hank still had the power armor when he left. What his plans are in the desert as he traverses across New Vegas are unclear. But fans can expect Hank’s return in Season 2, the Ghoul on the hunt to find out where his family is, and Lucy to get answers from her dad.
Release Date
April 10, 2024
Showrunner
Lisa Joy, Jonathan Nolan
Ella Purnell
Lucy MacLean
