Okay, moron! This article contains spoilers through “Fallout” season 2, episode 7.
The world of “Fallout” is vast. Across 10 games, the franchise has created a lived-in and fleshed-out universe where every detail paints the portrait of a unique retrofuturistic and post-apocalyptic world. Each game explores different areas, adding something new to the table while expanding either the post-apocalyptic landscape or the story of what happened before the bombs fell.
Likewise, the TV adaptation of “Fallout” expands the games in ways gamers haven’t seen before. The first season revealed the bombshell of who exactly ended the world with nuclear war. Season 2 continued this momentum in solve the mysteries of games left unansweredas if the Deathclaws had been deployed during the war. This is the biggest secret weapon the TV adaptation has. It uses flashbacks to explore the world before the bombs, transforming the tragedy of the apocalypse into a complex web of conspiracy, greed and rampant capitalism. At the same time, the more we see of the pre-war world, the more the show fleshes out its story.
In the penultimate episode of Season 2, “Fallout” explores another never-before-seen chapter in gaming history. It does this by giving a backstory to the unlikely character of matron Steph (Annabel O’Hagan), who it was revealed was born in Canada. It turns out that his journey to Vault-Tec was marked by tragedy, death, and war.
That’s correct. War. In case you missed it (the show doesn’t really explain it), there was a war with Canada in the world of “Fallout” that resulted in its annexation by the United States. This is an important story straight from the games.
Welcome to the 51st state of the Fallout universe
After a long war over resources, the United States began preparing for a possible invasion of Alaska by China and sent troops to protect the Alaskan oil pipeline. This included sending soldiers to Canada to secure the pipeline that runs through that country. This led to rising tensions between the two countries. Eventually, the Sino-American War broke out and the two sides began to confront each other by committing atrocities – such as send mutated monsters onto the battlefield.
According to the games, Canada’s growing opposition to an increased American presence ultimately led to the sabotage of the pipeline. The United States could not stand this, and in response decided to invade Canada to annex it as the 51st state.
We don’t see much of the invasion in the live-action film “Fallout,” but through the flashbacks of Overseer Steph (Annabel O’Hagan), we see how brutal the treatment of Canadians by American soldiers was. Resistance fighters, demonstrators and even refugees were shot on sight. The border became a war zone, and gleeful mocking of “Little America” was common, as shown in the final episode’s end credits sequence.
This is what makes “Fallout” such a unique franchise. On the surface, it’s a series of fun action role-playing games set in a nuclear wasteland. But that’s just the surface of a much deeper world, with nuanced and poignant commentary on politics, the dangers of capitalism, and greed. The television show, by showing us more and more of the pre-war world, serves to draw parallels with our reality and what the future might hold. At least we don’t have Deathclaws… Again.
