Fallout season 2 concluded this week with a finale that left several questions unanswered, including the fate of Cooper Howard / The Ghoul’s family.
In the process, the post-apocalyptic drama dropped a major clue regarding the next season’s location.
The finale’s closing moments reveal that The Ghoul has found a postcard suggesting his family might be in Colorado, implying that the state will serve as the primary setting in the third season.
Highlights
- A major clue in the Season 2 finale may have revealed Fallout’s boldest location shift yet.
- Season 3 could venture into one of the franchise’s least-explored regions, and the games quietly laid the groundwork years ago.
- Colorado’s Fallout history is stranger, darker, and more influential than most fans realize.
Here is how location factors into the video game franchise and what role it could play in the adaptation’s next installment.
Which Fallout games are set in Colorado?
Image credits: Amazon Prime Video
The second season primarily took place in Las Vegas, taking inspiration from the 2010 game Fallout: New Vegas. The third season is likely to follow a similar trend, with the Colorado setting hinting at the game elements that could feature in the new episodes.
Colorado has only featured extensively in Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel, which was released in 2001. One of the more obscure games in the video game franchise, it follows the titular faction’s search for Vault 0, where they encounter a supercomputer known as the Calculator.
The location was also set to feature prominently in the canceled version of Fallout 3, which was codenamed Van Buren. In New Vegas, it is revealed that the state fell under the control of Hangdog, a tribe operating from the outskirts of Denver.
However, the Hangdog was eventually defeated by the Legion, with the latter faction then ruling Colorado. Given the New Vegas game’s influence on the TV adaptation, the Legion could play a large role in the third season.
Fallout showrunner teases season 3’s new setting
Image credits: Amazon Prime Video
In an interview with The Wrap, showrunner Geneva Robertson-Dworet seemingly confirmed the third season would be set in Colorado. However, she teased that the season 2 finale’s hint about The Ghoul’s family might not be as straightforward as it seems.
“I hope the audience is asking themselves, ‘Why Colorado? Was she here and then did she move? Why would she be moved?’ Those are things that I hope the audience is asking themselves that we’re excited to answer in the next season,” she said.
In a separate chat with ComicBook, Robertson-Dworet explained the decision to shift the focus to a new location, especially one that hasn’t extensively featured in the games.
She said, “As a show, we would love to also sometimes take our fans to places they know very well, but also to new places. That part of the joy is discovering what’s new in the Wasteland.”
Which factions will play a key role in season 3?
Image credits: 14 Degrees East
In the same conversation, the showrunner also hinted at the factions that could play a major role in the new season. Robertson-Dworet revealed that relocating will drastically change some familiar factions, which will be explored in season 3.
“Or maybe a faction that’s migrated. And how is that influenced its culture and its ideology, and what’s happened to it?” she teased.
Image credits: Amazon Prime Video
The two seasons have so far primarily focused on the Enclave, Brotherhood of Steel, and the Legion. The latter has direct ties to Colorado’s history in the games, suggesting it could play a major role in the upcoming season.
The New California Republic, introduced late in the second installment, and other factions such as the Railroad and the Institute, which are yet to appear in the series, could also be a key presence in the story.
Fallout is currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video.