Highlights
- Amazon's Fallout has captured over 65 million viewers and earned a second season set in New Vegas.
- New Vegas, led by Mr. House, was saved from bombs and became a pivotal location in a major war.
- Season 2 may reveal ties to a Vault-Tech conspiracy, adding new factions and dangers to the wasteland.
Amazon’s Fallout has quickly become one of the most-watched shows on the network, taking in over 65 million viewers within the first 16 days of its release. Fans of the beloved video game franchise flocked to see The Wasteland come to life, while new viewers got lost in the action and dangerous journey of Lucy, Maximus, and The Ghoul. Among both camps, the Fallout series has proven to be a fan favorite and has done so well that Amazon has approved a second season. Showrunners confirmed that the setting of Season 2 will indeed be New Vegas.
New Vegas, the setting of Fallout: New Vegas and the former location of Las Vegas before the bombs fell, has become a beloved location in the games. Sin City takes on a whole new meaning in this series. The city is a focus of three major factions: The NCR, Caesar’s Legion, and Mr. House, the enigmatic leader of the city. The end of the TV show's first season left many viewers with questions, as the city was seen on the horizon before the end credits rolled. The question remains: what is the history and importance of New Vegas, and what role could it play in the future?
New Vegas: The Jewel of the Mojave
One of the things that makes New Vegas such a prominent setting in the Fallout universe is how it survived the war. The man who ran the city, Mr. House, was actually Robert House, the owner and CEO of Robco Industries. He predicted that the bombs would fall and destroy the world. And so, fifteen years earlier, he began upgrading the city’s defenses, including retrofitting his creations, the Securitrons. He also retrofitted his home base, the Lucky 38 casino, with radar jammers and missile arrays to help stop major attacks from affecting the city. His foresight saved the majority of the inner city from the atomic fire of the bombs, and only the outer parts of the city were affected.
House's most prominent development was the platinum chip, a data chip that would upgrade his robots to a much stronger unit and bring the entire city under his control. However, the bombs fell before the courier he hired could take the chip to him in New Vegas, and so the chip lay buried for years. Without the updated technology, Mr. House fell into a coma and was preserved for decades, awakening to find the city in the hands of raiders. It took the intervention of the NCR decades later to recreate the city he loved. The NCR took control of Hoover Dam, which remained intact. The city would become the focus of a major war between the NCR and the Legion, who fought for control of the Hoover Dam, the gateway to the Mojave Wasteland.
New Vegas in Fallout TV Series
The city’s history may hold the key to the second season of the Fallout television series. The season one finale showed Lucy’s father, Overseer Hank, having escaped the battle over the cold fusion technology that Moldaver had brought from the escaped Enclave scientist. It was revealed that Hank not only came from Vault-Tech before the bombs fell, but contributed to the explosion that destroyed Shady Sands, including Lucy’s mother, showing him to be one of the true villains of the show. With his daughter shunning him and The Ghoul seeking his end, Hank fled in a power armor suit. His final destination, as shown in the final moments of the season, was none other than New Vegas.
Another interesting connection comes from the other major revelation of the final episode. Viewers learned how Vault-Tech and other CEOs of major companies orchestrated the apocalypse for their own experiments and needs. One of the conspirators was The Ghoul’s wife, while other companies included RobCo Industries and the company’s leader, Mr. House. This revelation shows how Mr. House was able to predict the bombs falling and secure New Vegas, but it also may hint at so much more.
If Mr. House was, in fact, conspiring with Vault-Tech and the other companies, then Overseer Hank fleeing to New Vegas may mean that other members of the conspiracy also fled to New Vegas when the bombs fell. Backing up this theory, Fallout game leader Todd Howard has confirmed that the ending of Fallout: New Vegas is canon in the show’s history as well. The enigmatic Mr. House may, in fact, be gone, but his legacy and the housing of the other conspirators may be alive. Plus, with the NCR suffering a major loss at Shady Sands, their remnants may be actively holed up in New Vegas. This would give yet another faction the power to get involved in Lucy and The Ghoul’s adventure.
The Future of New Vegas
While details are scarce on what the second season of Fallout may hold, there's no doubt that New Vegas will play a major role in what is to come. So much remains a mystery, from the fate of The Ghoul’s family to which figures involved in the conspiracy still live. It's uncertain what role Robert House and New Vegas may play in the future of the wasteland. With Lucy pursuing her father and Hank seeking allies in New Vegas, the explosive second season is sure to bring in some new factions and threats. That could include the Nightkin, the Three Families of New Vegas, or Mr. House himself and his securitrons. No matter what, New Vegas and the Mojave Wasteland are sure to turn up the wildness and insanity of the wasteland to all new levels.
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