War never changes, but the minds of some fans might change after hearing this update! We are only a few weeks away from the premiere of Fallout season 2, and yet, we are still left with some questions about what to expect. The main concern many longtime fans have is the significance of returning to New Vegas, a popular setting from the games.
Fallout: New Vegas arguably has the best story in the series. To this day, fans of the game dissect the four unique endings to figure out which one is preferable. Seeing as the TV show is set a few years after the events of the game, many people weren't sure what the showrunners were going to do. However, according to a recent interview with the cast on The Spill (via Gizmodo), the show is going to avoid giving New Vegas a canon ending.
“A conversation [showrunner] Geneva Robertson-Dworet and I have been having, was actually about how history is written in the wasteland by whoever writes it,” Aaron Moten (Maximus) said. “Different perspectives will have a different perspective on who won and who lost. We see it really early on that [Lucy and Ghoul] find out who believes themselves to be winning, and the Ghoul offering a different perspective.”
What does "canon" mean?
For those who might not understand, the term "canon" refers to events in a fictional story that are confirmed to have happened. The term is usually thrown around when a movie or video game has multiple interpretations for its conclusion. For example, Grand Theft Auto V hasthree possible endings for its story mode, with one of them being confirmed as the canonical ending.
Fallout: New Vegas has four endings that the player can choose between, resulting in one of the main factions taking control of the Mojave. Since Todd Howard, the executive producer of Bethesda, is deeply involved with the show, many fans feared that their choices in the game would not matter in the grand scheme of the Fallout universe. This worry is likely why Aaron Moten made those comments during the interview.
Should Fallout establish a firm canon for New Vegas?
Personally, I am feeling mixed about the show not revealing what happened in the game. On one hand, it totally makes sense to focus on the show's storyline and not the game's. There is so much to uncover with Lucy, Maximus, and the Ghoul, so that should be what matters most. The showrunners also don't want to invalidate players' choices by picking one of the four possible endings.
However, it also sounds like none of the endings had a lasting impact in the Mojave, since Aaron talked about characters having "different perspectives" on what happened. In the end, the events that will occur on the show will be what eventually happens years after the Courier rose from the grave. But a part of me still wishes that they just picked an ending and stuck with it!
In the end, we will just have to see what this direction will look like for our characters in season two of the show!
Fallout season 2 premieres December 17 on Prime Video.