Fallout TV show ending & Season 2 teasers explained

The Fallout TV show has been released to acclaim from both critics and fans alike, expanding the world of the iconic gaming franchise further than before and extending the timeline.

While it contains its own unique story and characters, there are many references to places, people, and events from across the Fallout canon, with some of them seemingly having big repercussions for the second season.

If you're looking for an explanation of what exactly happened at the end of the show, along with what the teasers may mean for Season 2, look no further.

Fallout TV show ending explained

At the end of the Fallout TV show, several storylines converge, resulting in quite a lot going on and many revelations about the situation of the protagonists.

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Firstly, Lucy makes it to the Griffith Observatory in LA and finally tracks down her father Hank, after he was taken prisoner by Moldaver at the start of the series. Here, we learn that Hank was actually from before the war, and was a Vault-Tec executive who was frozen in Vault 31 and thawed out later to become Overseer in Vault 33 and help along the process of making generations of Vault-Tec loyalists.

It's also revealed Moldover is a surviving member of the New California Republic, an organised government from after the bombs fell that originated in Shady Sands, which we found out was blown up in the show.

It's explained that Lucy's mother, Rose, eventually realised Hank and Vault-Tec's plan, causing her to leave the vault with Lucy and Norm when they were young and head to Shady Sands. Hank then left the vault to destroy Shady Sands and take his children back, dooming Rose to ghoulification in the process.

During all this, the Brotherhood of Steel (with Maxiumus, our second protagonist) is making its way to the Observatory to find a special cold fusion chip, which Lucy delivered to Moldover. Maximus is only along for the ride to find Lucy so they can head back to Vault 33 together, but he is knocked out by Hank after it's revealed he blew up Shady Sands, Maxiumus' original home.

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The Ghoul (our third protagonist) has also arrived at the Observatory and begins killing many Brotherhood of Steel soldiers. Like Lucy, he's also here to find Hank, but for very different reasons. In a flashback, it's revealed that before the bombs (when he was actor Cooper Howard) he spied on his wife, a Vault-Tec executive, and learned about their plan to experiment on vault dwellers and drop the nukes themselves.

After locating Hank, he asks where his family is, as he recognises him as a Vault-Tec employee from before the war, but Hank manages to escape in a suit of power armour. Lucy and The Ghoul then team up (with canine companion Dogmeat in tow), leaving the Observatory to find Hank together.

Maximus is still knocked out while all this occurs but wakes up alone just as a fatally injured Moldover returns to the room. She managed to activate the cold fusion chip, creating unlimited energy and lighting up the remains of L.A. like a Christmas Tree. 

As she dies, the rest of the Brotherhood make their way to the room, and Maxiumus' friend Dane holds up his hand and declares him a knight, believing him to have killed Moldover himself.

While all of this occurs at the Observatory, Norm has finally uncovered the secrets behind Vault 31, 32, and 33. After gaining access to Vault 31, he discovers it's not a normal-looking vault like the other two, but instead a huge chamber where the Vault-Tec executives have been frozen.

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Inside, he finds Brain-on-a-roomba Bud Askins, who created the program Bud's Buds to freeze Vault-Tec executives like Hank and Betty, so that future vault generations could be manipulated into becoming loyalists and populate the surface in Vault-Tec's image.

After this shocking revelation, Norm tries to leave but Bud locks the door, forcing Norm to either let himself die from a lack of food or water, or freeze himself for an unknown amount of time in his father's old cryo pod.

Fallout TV show Season 2 teasers explained

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At the end of the show, we see Hank arriving at the ruins of Las Vegas, which has been renamed New Vegas since the bombs fell. 

This is a primary location in the game Fallout: New Vegas, which centres around a conflict between the New California Republic and a faction of slavers styled after the Roman Empire called Caesar's Legion, as they fight over Hoover Dam and the power it can provide.

In the midst of this is the 200+ year-old Mr. House (the CEO of RobCo who we see in a flashback), who has been sustaining himself in a life-support chamber as the guardian of New Vegas since before the war. Through a laser protection system, he managed to spare Vegas the hell of nuclear armageddon, and since then he's established a monopoly over Vegas with his Securitron robot army.

The show is set roughly a decade after New Vegas, and while there are many endings to the game based on your decisions, we don't know which one will be considered canon until the show gives us a look at New Vegas. 

Clearly, we can see New Vegas has been the site of a battle, as there are destroyed Securitrons and Vertibirds gunships around the city, meaning after the battle of Hoover Dam, whoever won likely went on to try and take the city from Mr. House.

Check out our Fallout homepage for more guides and other content. We've also got an explainer of the vaults in the TV show.