The interactive element inherent to video games means that, unlike most other storytelling mediums, the person experiencing the story is usually the main character. And since videogame writers tend to have more control of the world surrounding our hero than the hero themselves, it makes sense that a long-running franchise like Fallout would focus on fleshing out a memorable post-nuclear environment while allowing players to role-play to their heart’s content through a blank canvas protagonist.
When Prime Video enlisted Graham Wagner and Geneva Robertson-Dworetto to adapt the world of Fallout for a brand-new audience, the creative duo made sure to shine a spotlight on all of the series’ infamous groups that continuously fight for control of the wasteland.
Season 2 is no different, with the latest batch of episodes reintroducing us to iconic factions ripped straight from the games (especially the fan-favorite New Vegas). However, non-gamers might struggle to keep up with all of these colorful rivals, and that’s why we’ve prepared this handy primer to better explain the factions that we’ve seen so far in Fallout Season 2.
So without further ado, let’s take a sip from our trusty Vault 13 canteen and head into the Mojave!
New California Republic
When it was first teased that Season 2 of the show would be taking Lucy (Ella Purnell) and The Ghoul (Walton Goggins) to Nevada, fans were already speculating about how the live-action incarnation of the franchise would handle the aftermath of one of the most brutal conflicts from the games. After all, 2011’s New Vegas revolved around a power struggle involving the Hoover Dam and the New California Republic – a faction that had already been hinted at in season one.
An expansionist post-war government attempting to bring democracy to the wasteland (though their valiant efforts often fall victim to corruption and bureaucratic red tape), the NCR was revealed to have suffered a brutal blow when its capital city was destroyed by Hank MacLean (Kyle MacLachlan). However, the group might not have died out entirely.
While it’s pretty clear that the NCR is no longer the two-headed giant that it once was, and this power vacuum has opened the way for new (and familiar) factions to fight for control of the Mojave, the show refuses to commit to a single “canonical” finale of the New Vegas story. That’s why it’s entirely possible that the Republic is reconsolidating its forces for a violent comeback in the near post-nuclear future.
Caesar’s Legion
It’s not uncommon for post-apocalyptic fiction to feature groups of desperate survivors who become obsessed with the glory days of humanity before the fall, but few of these fictional fan clubs take their love of historical role-playing as seriously as Caesar’s Legion. First introduced in Fallout: New Vegas, this brutal faction is the brainchild of a small group of initially peaceful expeditioners who took control of warring tribal cultures and merged them into a grim parody of the Roman Empire.
While the Legion operates as a violent and expansionist culture led by an authoritarian warlord, their cruel ways brought order and stability to much of the American Southwest before they set their sights on the Hoover Dam. Of course, we’re still not sure exactly how the events of New Vegas played out within the show, so we’ll have to wait and see in order to find out how the Legion reacted to the inevitable death of their leader (as the titular Caesar was suffering from a brain tumor during the Mojave campaign) as well as what appears to have been a grueling defeat at the dam.
The Great Khans
Tribalistic descendants of the inhabitants of an overcrowded Vault 15, the original Khans were defeated by the protagonist of the first Fallout game before reforming as the New Khans in the sequel. This group was subsequently kicked out of California by the Chosen One, though they would later resurface as The Great Khans when they popped up again in the Mojave.
While these highly organized raiders boast a robust code of honor loosely inspired by ancient Mongol cultures (as well as biker gangs), the Great Khans are still murderous thieves and unapologetic drug traffickers. In fact, their addiction-driven empire was the result of an act of misplaced charity from the Followers of the Apocalypse, with the naïve group believing that the Khans would use their newfound knowledge of pharmacology to make the Wasteland a better place.
The Great Khans were also involved with the battle for the Hoover Dam, with their leader deciding to side with the Legion due to his hatred of the NCR. The Legion’s implied defeat at the Dam is likely the reason why the Khans in the show appear to be a mere husk of their former selves, as Lucy and the Ghoul dispatch a large number of the seemingly incompetent raiders during a violent encounter in Novac.
That being said, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Khans showed up again later on in the season.
The Commonwealth Brotherhood
The first season of Fallout already introduced newcomers to the paramilitary might of the Brotherhood of Steel, with the show establishing their knightly codes as well as the multitude of different chapters that make up the larger organization. However, Season 2 began with the reveal that Elder Quintus (Michael Cristofer) is intentionally provoking a Civil War by acting without the approval of the largest and most powerful segment of the Brotherhood: the Commonwealth Chapter.
Primarily featured in Fallout 4, this fearsome horde of high-tech knights is based in New England and has apparently grown larger and more influential than their west-coast brethren over the years. While they were originally a mere expedition sent out to the East Coast in order to combat the rising Synth threat, the Commonwealth Chapter has since emerged as one of the most dangerous factions in the entire wasteland – hinting that the canonical ending to Fallout 4 likely involves their complete domination of post-war Massachusetts.