In episode 3 of Fallout Season 2, Lucy was captured by the Legion, and since she refused to share her body with any of the “warriors,” she was crucified and left to die of starvation and thirst. Cooper recovered from his wounds and caught up with Lucy, only to find out that she was being held captive in a camp that was at war with another faction of the Legion. Whilst looking for help, Cooper found whatever was left of the NCR and loaded up on some resources. Then he went to the site where Lucy was being held, rescued her, and incited the civil war between those two factions, thereby saving the NCR from becoming collateral damage in the Legion’s conflict. Elsewhere, the Brotherhood started coming apart at the seams because of Xander’s arrival. Maximus was of the opinion that they should just kill Xander and go ahead with their rebellion, but Quintus and the other Elders didn’t want an all-out war with the Commonwealth. Annoyed by their stance, Maximus went on a trip with Xander, where he revealed that the Commonwealth would leave the Brotherhood alone if Maximus just handed over the cold fusion relic to him. In addition to that, it seemed like Xander was inviting Maximus to join the Commonwealth too, instead of doing the bidding of these geriatric folk. Maximus was inclined to side with Xander, but during a detour at an abandoned soft drinks factory, when the Paladin decided to kill a bunch of child ghouls, Maximus put Xander’s super sledge through his skull. In doing so, he saved those children, as well as his friend Thaddeus, while risking the future of the Brotherhood. What happened next? Let’s find out.
Spoiler Alert
The Brotherhood’s Civil War Has Begun
Knight Gnatius has come looking for Maximus and Xander because they had taken off without alerting anyone. Maximus knows that Xander’s death will spark a civil war, and before that, the discovery of the normal and the ghoul kids will invite a massacre. So, to delay the civil war and avoid the massacre, Maximus tells Thaddeus to jump into Xander’s power armor and pretend to be Xander for a while. After hesitating for a bit, Thaddeus puts on the power armor and does a very bad job of acting like Xander, but as long as the visor is down, all’s good. When Maximus returns to base with Thaddeus and Gnatius, Dane corners Maximus and asks him what he is up to. Without beating around the bush, Maximus admits that he has killed Xander, and that he is about to kill Quintus. Before Dane can question this decision, Maximus tells them to take all the rookies and hide them somewhere safe, because things are going to get gnarly. Dane follows Maximus’ directive and takes the young cadets to a safe location, asking them to stay hidden until the shooting stops. In the cafeteria, Thaddeus is approached by the Elders of the Yosemite and Coronado chapters, because they think they are appeasing Xander in order to get in the good books of the Commonwealth and avoid getting clubbed with Quintus.
Speaking of Quintus, Maximus enters his chambers to talk to him in private. Almost immediately, Maximus makes it clear that he has killed Xander and that he’s there to kill Quintus. Quintus emotionally manipulates Maximus by talking about how he nurtured him and how the future of civilization depends on the Brotherhood’s survival, which is currently in jeopardy because of Maximus. Since Maximus is pointing a gun at him, Quintus even seems open-minded enough to listen to what transpired between him and Xander and why his “son” is so disturbed. However, as soon as Maximus reveals that he killed Xander to protect some ghoul kids, Quintus drops the mask and tries to kill Maximus. Maximus has no choice but to make a run for it, and he locks Quintus in his chambers. Chaos ensues in the cafeteria because the Elders have learned that the Cold Fusion relic has been stolen. By whom? Dane, and they hand it over to Maximus and tell him to take it as far away as possible from Area 51. Thaddeus joins Maximus, and they make a run for it through the desert, while all the chapters of the Brotherhood attack each other. It’s unclear who is going to survive this mess, or what Maximus is going to do with the Cold Fusion relic. Maybe he’ll go back to his hometown of Shady Sands and rebuild it so that the good people of this planet, ghoul or otherwise, can live in peace.
Steph Is From Canada
In Vault 33, Reg gets into a bit of a tiff with Betty because he needs water for his Product of Inbreeding community gatherings, and Betty wants to ration water so that they can stay alive. We get a brief glimpse at Norm and the Vault 31ers who have made it to the city and are scavenging for resources. Norm strikes up a conversation with Claudia about the latter’s life before she was cryo-frozen. But that’s interrupted by Ronnie, who wants to proceed with Phase 2 of the Reclamation program. Norm obviously doesn’t have any idea what that is, but since Ronnie used to be Bud’s personal assistant, he does know what Phase 2 is all about. Norm tries to one-up Ronnie by citing superiority, but he senses that Ronnie has some kind of an upper hand. To know if Ronnie is lying or telling the truth about this Phase 2 business, Norm has to let him lead the way. If he hits some dead end and it becomes apparent that Ronnie was bluffing all along to snatch the leadership position from Norm—he must have expected to be the leader in Bud’s absence since he was his PA—then Norm will need to set an example. In Vault 32, Woody accidentally walks into Davey’s quarters, because he still hasn’t gotten the hang of the geography of the structure. While trying to head to where he actually wanted to go, Woody ends up snooping on a conversation that Steph and Betty are having in the Inter-Vault space.
Betty is seen informing Steph about everything that’s happened in Vault 31, and she also brings up the water crisis in Vault 33. Steph is willing to help Betty out, but on one condition: Betty has to bring her Hank’s Keepsake Box from Vault 31. Steph doesn’t reveal why she wants it, but her Solvang jibe (Solvang is a city in California) and Chet finding some kind of a citizenship card in a hidden compartment of her drawer, which shows that she’s from Canada, indicate that she wants to keep some buried secrets from her past out of the hands of her neighbors. What’s the deal with Canada? Is Steph a survivor of the Sino-American War? Why does Hank seem to have Steph’s stuff? Is Hank the actual father of Steph’s baby? Maybe that’ll be the grand reveal at the end of this season? Anyway, after eavesdropping on Steph and Betty’s conversation, Woody decides to confront Steph in her quarters, because nobody is supposed to use the Inter-Vault except for the triennial trade. Steph gets pretty agitated and doesn’t answer any of the questions that Woody asks about her conversation with Betty. In fact, she gets so antagonistic that Woody has no option but to leave her room. Chet, who witnesses all of this, comes to the realization that there’s a sinister undercurrent to Steph’s determination to become the queen of the vault. Whether or not he’ll team up with Woody to take her down is something that remains to be seen.
Cooper Reunites With The Deathclaw
During a flashback sequence, we see Cooper and Charles fighting on the Alaskan Front against the Chinese. Cooper and Charles’ power armors have taken heavy damage, and they want to retreat, but their superiors want them to soldier on until they find Raider 3. When Charles asks Cooper what they should do, Cooper tells him to retreat and lies about following him back to the base, because he intends to follow the directive while keeping his compatriot safe. As soon as Charles exits the scene, Cooper is taken down by a trio of Chinese soldiers. While the leader is yapping about how they’ll soon be walking around in those power armors as well, a Deathclaw (which is made through some amazing blend of VFX and SFX) arrives out of nowhere and massacres those soldiers. It inspects Cooper’s suit but doesn’t do anything to it and just heads back into the forest. As per the games (which I haven’t played), Deathclaws are the result of experiments conducted by the US government to replace human soldiers. So, it’s possible that this Deathclaw can differentiate between “Reds” and American soldiers, which is why it doesn’t hurt Cooper.
In the present day, Cooper has taken the dehydrated and starved Lucy to the NCR’s camp, where she has been given medical treatment by Captain Rodriguez. Lucy thanks Rodriguez for all the help and expresses support for the NCR’s endeavor to regroup and push back against everything that’s evil about this world. Rodriguez asks Lucy if she wants to join the NCR, but since she needs to find Hank, she politely rejects the offer and chooses to hit the road again with Cooper. Before they leave, Rodriguez offers them some firearms for their protection, which is something that Lucy gladly accepts. After walking for a few kilometers, Lucy begins to experience withdrawal symptoms. But from what? Well, Cooper reveals that Lucy was put on a steady drip of Buffout–which is an in-universe steroid that improves an individual’s strength–for two whole days, and a major side effect of that medicine is addiction. So now, Lucy has two choices: going cold turkey or taking more drugs. Lucy goes for the latter because why the hell not. With that conundrum out of the way, Lucy, Cooper, and Dogmeat proceed towards Las Vegas (yes, they have finally reached it after walking for what seems like weeks), but as soon as they enter the city, Cooper says that he has a bad feeling about it. Hence, he wants to take an alternative route into the Vault-Tec facility instead of taking the more straightforward route. Lucy, high as a kite, isn’t scared off by the broken Securitrons and the ghouls dressed as Elvis. So, she rejects Cooper’s suggestion and heads straight for the Elvis ghouls. She tries to reason with the creatures, but when they lunge at her, she goes ballistic on them. Cooper and Dogmeat are mighty impressed by Lucy’s hidden gun-wielding skills, and on that happy note, they venture further into the city.
In the ending of Fallout Season 2, episode 4, Lucy, Cooper, and Dogmeat find themselves face-to-face with a Deathclaw. It’s unclear if it’s the same Deathclaw that Cooper encountered at the Alaskan Front, but yeah, this doesn’t seem to be a reunion that Cooper was looking forward to. So far, Lucy and Cooper have shot their way through any kind of problem or just run away from it, but the Deathclaw doesn’t seem like something you can kill with bullets or outrun. Therefore, it’ll be interesting to see if Lucy and Cooper will be able to tackle them on their own or if they’ll get some help from the runaways, Thaddeus and Maximus, or the show’s main villain, Hank. My money is actually on the Deathclaw recognizing Cooper and giving him and his friends a free pass. Yes, the games featured a community of Deathclaws that had developed some level of sentience. So, it’s entirely possible that this Deathclaw is a chill guy and just wants humans and ghouls to stay out of his home. What do you think? Let me know in the comments section below.
