This article contains SPOILERS forFallout season 2 Episode 8, "The Strip."
Now that the final episode of Fallout season 2 is long behind us at this point, it's a good time to look back and wonder what will be in store for season 3. There are so many hints we have gotten from the show, like the blueprints we saw in the end credits scene or the Legion army approaching New Vegas.
However, one subplot that has been kept in the dark is the mysterious "Phase 2" that is largely connected to Vaults 32 and 33. There are mentions of it during the time we spend with Norm and the other vault dwellers, but the show keeps it hush-hush from the viewers. What is Vault-Tec planning? Can we possibly figure it out before the third season?
To answer that question, we have to look at what happens with Stephanie during the final episode of season 2. During the wedding ceremony, Chet reveals to the crowd that Stephanie is actually Canadian and that she killed Woody when he began asking questions. This leads to Stephanie locking herself in the office and unlocking the keepsake box, which contained a special Pip-boy that allows communication with the Enclave. This is when she tells them to initiate "Phase 2".
At this point, Stephanie has her back to the wall, and there's no telling what will become of her if she loses control of the Vaults. Her use of the keepsake box, along with her deteriorating mental state, points to Phase 2 being something that could help maintain her control over the other vault dwellers. Based on the information we are given by the show, we can even guess how something like that could be achieved.
One such possibility is the mind-control devices Hank works on throughout the season. It's clear that his fascination with the devices began even before the bombs dropped, so it wouldn't surprise me that the Vaults he was once in charge of had some kind of connection to them. Perhaps the residents have already been chipped and don't know it yet. After all, part of the plan with the device was to make it smaller so that it couldn't be seen!
The F.E.V. (Forced Evolutionary Virus) is another possible experiment that is connected to the Vaults. In the lore of the Fallout universe, the Enclave has been involved with the virus for quite some time, seeing it as another way for them to claim dominance over the wasteland. The virus is responsible for creating some of the monstrosities that are now commonplace on the surface, such as the horrifying Deathclaws and the brutish super mutants. Norm himself learns about the virus in season 2 Episode 5, when he and his group go into the Vault-Tec building. The plan might be to release a modified version of the virus into the vaults to mutate the inhabitants.
It could be that the mind-control devices and the F.E.V. are both part of Phase 2. Nothing is off the table when it comes to Vault-Tec and the Enclave, so it wouldn't surprise me if they were trying to create some kind of behaved mutant race of vault dwellers. In the end, we won't know for sure until the next season of Fallout shows us what's going to happen to the chirpy residents of Vaults 32 and 33!
Fallout seasons 1 and 2 are streaming now on Prime Video. Season 3 has been confirmed, but has no release date yet.