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This article contains spoilers for Fallout season 2 episode 8.
One could plan quite the road trip through Fallout’s post-apocalyptic United States of America. Between the mainline games, their expansions, and the Prime Video TV series, the beloved franchise has introduced numerous Wasteland locations like the New California Republic, New Vegas, and more. Now it seems as though Fallout is ready to add some fresh pins to the irradiated map in season 3.
The Fallout season 2 finale finds the Ghoul and his unwelcome companion, a virtual Robert House, arriving at a secret New Vegas Vault in search of cryopods containing the Ghoul’s wife Barb and daughter Janet. When the cowboy formerly known as Cooper Howard unfreezes Barb and Janet’s chambers he discovers them to be empty, save for one postcard conspicuously marked Colorado. Barbara’s handwritten message on the back confirms that she and Janet have escaped to the Rocky Mountains and Cooper’s quest for them must start anew.
While the state of Colorado exists in the Fallout games’ pre-War canon (where it’s grouped alongside three other states as one of 13 “Commonwealth” regions that make up the U.S., which explains why all American flags have 13 stars rather than the traditional 50), little is known about it in the post-War Wasteland era. According to Bethesda Game Studios director and Fallout TV series producer Todd Howard, that relative blank slate is what made the location an appealing tease.
“We’ve always wanted to do that, where each season we want to go to new places. Just like the games, geography is such a part of the world of Fallout,” Howard tells Den of Geek. “Obviously, there’s going to be a journey to Colorado. But that journey might take us to some other places as well.”
In acknowledging the potential for season 3’s Colorado trip to include some detours, Howard is invoking the Wasteland’s Golden Rule: “thou shalt get sidetracked by bullshit every god damn time.” The roughly 750 miles that separate Las Vegas, Nevada from Denver, Colorado provide enough opportunities for bullshit that the Ghoul himself isn’t even sure if he’ll make it.
“You just don’t know. And I genuinely mean that,” Walton Goggins tells Den of Geek about Fallout season 3’s potential Colorado setting. “A lot of things can happen right after that camera cuts. But we’ll see. If he does go to Colorado, I’ll be jumping for joy. If he doesn’t go to Colorado, I’ll be jumping for joy. I can promise you this: the story will be thought through and what happens will happen the way it’s supposed to happen for us.”
Whether the Ghoul makes it through the Rockies or not, Howard teases that audiences will be exposed to new Wasteland communities, cultures, and experiences all the same.
“I think it’s good to go new places, even where the games haven’t been. Develop that and [explore]: ‘Who are the people there? What are some new factions? What are they doing to survive?’ It’s the same approach we have with the games.”
Colorado was originally intended to be a major setting of Black Isle Studios’ never-completed version of Fallout 3 in 2003. Under Bethesda’s stewardship of the franchise, beginning with 2008’s Fallout 3, details about Wasteland Colorado have been sparse. According to dialogue in Fallout: New Vegas, however, Denver became home to large packs of wild dogs sometime after the bombs dropped. If that means the Ghoul’s Belgian Malinois buddy meets some new puppers in season 3 then the new setting will be just fine with us.
All eight episodes of Fallout season 2 are available to stream on Prime Video now.
The post Fallout: Todd Howard Teases New Factions and Locations for Season 3 appeared first on Den of Geek.
