Fallout Season 2 Ep 3 Review
The motto for the Fallout franchise is that “War. War never changes.” Even after the apocalypse, people still find reasons to fight that may seem important at the time, but later seem trivial and stupid. And all the soldiers actually fighting a war can do is hope that they’re fighting on whatever side history will deem right, or at least the winners. As our trek through the Mojave continues, the Ghoul and Maximus find themselves both starting a civil war between different factions, and worse, they don’t know if things will turn out for the better. Well, at least the one with the Legion will be for the best
LOL, the Legion is Re-Enacting the Roman Civil War
At the end of the last episode, we saw how Lucy found herself captured by Caesar’s Legion, AKA the people who emulate the worst aspects of the Roman Empire and disrespect women. However, it seems that they’re a shadow of what gamers saw in the New Vegas days. Caesar has died and the Legion has literally split their camp in two on who should succeed him. Lucy is unfortunate enough to get caught in the middle, and when they find they can’t take her first night (she’s not a virgin), they just crucify her. To highlight how bad it is, the slave girl she saved is killed as soon as they get back.
Meanwhile, the Ghoul recovers enough to get back on his feet, with him and Dogmeat aiming to rescue Lucy. They try to enlist the aid of what’s left of the NCR in the Mojave, but find that route would have them bogged down in side quests helping them out. Rather than do that, the Ghoul opts for the more chaotic route. He gives the Legion the NCR’s location, but then provokes them into fighting each other while he, Dogmeat, and Lucy leave.
The Ghoul is surprisingly conflicted by his decision to trick the Legion into fighting itself. On the one hand, the Legion is bad news for the Wasteland, and it’s probably best that the legacy of Caesar sink into the mud. On the other hand, as his flashbacks remind us, he’s a war veteran himself. He knows how much suffering war brings, especially when both sides think they’re in the right. Then again, he might be overthinking things this time around. I haven’t gotten around to playing New Vegas yet, but when I do, I doubt I’m gonna back the Legion. Besides, I’m more interested in Kevin McAllister having joined the Legion. That, and Victor the Securitron, who players famously know as the sheriff of Goodsprings.
Maximus Just Accidentally a War
Meanwhile, Maximus’ story arc for the season is starting to heat up as he’s caught in the middle of that potential civil war between the Brotherhood of Steel. The Commonwealth chapter is demanding the Cold Fusion generator for themselves, with their emissary, Paladin Xander, saying they need it or they lose the Commonwealth. Which, if I’m right about the show, is meant to set us up for the show eventually making its way to the Commonwealth a few seasons down the line. At the moment, though, we’ve got the issue of the fighting over the generator. And Maximus, unfortunately, may have just kick-started the civil war when he ends up killing Xander.
I have to admit, I was surprised when the show chose to kill off Xander in one episode, especially after it did a good job of establishing his personality. He’s very much a soldier like what Maximus wants to be, and the two do end up bonding while out on patrol. Unfortunately, they then run into a group of kids (including Ghoul kids) under the care of Max’s old buddy, the now ghoulified Thaddeus. And the codex of the Brotherhood is racist against Ghouls. So to save Thaddeus and the Ghoul kids, Maximus kills him.
This was not a good idea. Morally, Maximus did the right thing by protecting those kids who didn’t deserve to die. Politically, though, this means there might be no stopping the civil war. A civil war that may end up being a major storyline for the majority of the series, if it follows the path that I think it will. That is to say, most of the seasons could have us revisit the locations of each of the games.
This is why I’ve never gotten behind the Brotherhood
These last two episodes have reminded me why I could never get behind the Brotherhood of Steel whenever I play Fallout 4. On the one hand, they bring order and stability to the Wasteland, and they keep dangerous tech out of the hands of people who would abuse it. On the other hand, though, they can be self-righteous by hoarding tech for themselves and are racist to any non-human sentients, even when they don’t seek to harm anyone. So are they really the best choice for the Wasteland, especially if a civil war is about to erupt?
I looked at reviews for the episode on YouTube, and one comment that kept coming up was that Maximus should leave the Brotherhood altogether. That he should find a group or faction that’s more idealistic and less close-minded than the Brotherhood of Steel. I’m starting to think that they might be right, because right now, the Brotherhood doesn’t have the best interests of the Wasteland at heart. Of course, none of this will matter if Hank Maclean and Vault-Tec have their way, and this episode had them notably absent.
Once again, though, this episode had plenty of Easter eggs and goodies for Fallout fans to look over, the most notable being the live-action debut of the Securitrons. The fact that they’re in their MKII version means that the Courier did indeed upgrade them like House wanted. More importantly, it also revealed that Caesar is dead, either from old age or his brain tumor. Little by little, the story of New Vegas is becoming clearer to us, and that makes me want to give the game a try. If there are civil wars brewing, though, I pray that at least the slaves of the Legion make it out alive. They deserve that much.
