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Amazon’s Fallout Season 2 has come to an end, once more building to an excellent finale that revealed shocking details from The Ghoul’s past and the true “origin” of the apocalypse, and setting up an even more interesting story when Fallout Season 3 returns, which is already confirmed by Prime TV. While fans may have a long time to wait, there is enough in the finale to pick over for that time.
In the run-up to the finale, was lucky enough to speak to a whole host of on-screen and behind-the-scenes talent to go over the big questions. We sat down with co-showrunner Geneva Robertson-Dworet, Executive Producers Todd Howard and Jonathan Nolan, and stars Walton Goggins (The Ghoul), Aaron Moten (Maximus), Annabelle O’Hagan (Stephanie Harper), Kyle MacLachlan (Overseer Hank MacLean), and Frances Turner (Barb Howard). We broke down the major character moments, what fans can expect for Season 3, and unpicked some of the big spoilers in the finale. Warning: Inevitably, this article contains SPOILERS for Fallout Season 2’s finale. Read on at your peril.
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Fallout Season 2’s Finale Post-Credits Sets Up A Major Challenge For The Future
In the Fallout Season 2 finale post-credits scene, the Brotherhood of Steel reveals blueprints for Liberty Prime, setting up the appearance of the huge robot from Fallout 3 and 4. In the games, Liberty Prime is a walking war machine, capable of throwing nukes at enemies, and built by the US government in response to the Chinese army’s occupation of Alaska. It’s also a 20-foot-tall monstrosity, inspired by The Iron Giant, and will seriously amp up the fire-power and the threat level in Season 3. But for Executive Producer Jonathan Nolan, there’s a different concern: logistics.
When we asked him whether fans should be worried about who would have to square up with the robot, Nolan said, “I’m more worried about production trying to figure out how to build Liberty Prime.” A fair concern. Crucially, the robot’s appearance will give fans who barely got much playtime with the robot in the two main Fallout games he appeared more of a chance to enjoy his special brand of heavy-duty patriotism. And hopefully, they can get Vin Diesel to bring the Iron Giant element full circle.
Here’s the full set of our Fallout Season 2 finale interviews:
Walton Goggins Explains That Coop Shocker in Fallout Season 2’s Ending
In the finale’s flashback, Walton Goggins’ The Ghoul (AKA Cooper), makes a poor decision, choosing to help the President (played with obvious, devilish relish by Clancy Brown) by giving him the cold fusion rather than Mr House, believing he’s doing the right thing, and inadvertently ends up being partly responsible for the bombs dropping. legend Chris Killian asked Goggins whether the reveal and the weight on Coop’s shoulders changed the way he performed the character:
“Well, I don’t know that he knows that he’s a part of it. Right? I mean, it’s been insinuated that, you know, unwittingly, he is bringing about the ending of the world in real time. I don’t know that he’s aware of that. And when he is made aware of that, what was so rich for me to interpret was… a person who thought that they were responsible for pulling the levers in their life. What he realizes is that nothing happened whenever he was pulling those levers. Somebody else has been pulling them. The entire time. And this civilization or humanity as we understand it isn’t run by us. It’s run by a cabal, truly. And so it was really more of having that realization. And then what do you do with that when your world is changed in that way?
He doesn’t have a new worldview yet. He’s not actively trying to bring about the ending of the world. If he’s doing it, it’s because he’s doing it for all the right reasons. He’s trying to care for his family and help in whatever way he can. I mean, I think any of us could make those mistakes without knowing.”
And of course, Clancy Brown’s casting as the last President of the United States made that reveal feel almost inevitable, when you think about it. Goggins close relationship with Brown added a humorous note to the betrayal that entraps Coop: “I mean, Clancy is an old friend of mine, and it was like, ‘Goddamn, Clancy, come on, man, just do the right thing for once!’ If I hadn’t, I would have given it to Ron Perlman. But he would have lost it, having a whiskey in Paris.”
Goggins’ point on the shady cabal running the world offers a rather loaded reflection on the… complex picture of real-world politics. It’s not something that Executive Producer Jonathan Nolan was ignorant to, even if the adaptation came many years after the games:
“It’s not our fault, we’re just adapting the games! Yeah, it does hit a little close to home. These questions have kind of always been here. Some of this tension’s always been there. Whether it’s the end of the world or, you know, the… annexation of Canada – again from the games – which has, you know, as we got closer to releasing, we were like, “okay…”, but, you know, some of these arguments have been taking place in America for a very long time.
And the tensions have been there for a very long time. And these fights have to be fought over and over and over again. But I think that goes to some of the human nature questions of the show. You know, the show at its heart – and the games as well – have a Western feeling to them, right? Meaning that, you know, the law is gone and you’re on your own recognizance and you’ve got to make your own decisions and you’ve got to figure out your own moral compass. And I don’t know why humans are so drawn to those stories.. but we seem to be back in one of those elemental moments again where people are faced with some pretty stark choices, and you’ve got to pick a side.”
What did you think of the Fallout Season 2 finale? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the Forum!
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