What Happened To Vault 32 In Fallout?

Warning! This article contains SPOILERS for Amazon Prime Video's Fallout.

Summary Vault-Tec had darker motives, causing the Fallout apocalypse by orchestrating the bombing and exploiting survivors in underground shelters.

Vault 32 was not what it seemed, with the residents having died two years before Fallout in a mass suicide after discovering Vault-Tec's secrets.

Betty's plan to save Vault 32 by moving Vault 33 dwellers there raises suspicions of ulterior motives and sets the stage for future conflicts.

In Fallout, much of the story was set in Vault 33, where protagonist Lucy MacClean was born and raised, but a shocking discovery was made later in the season about Vault 32. Amazon Prime Video’s Fallout is an adaptation of the video game franchise of the same name. The first Fallout game was released in 1997 and Fallout 5 is currently in development, with the franchise also including seven spinoff games. Both the video games and Fallout television series take place in the post-apocalyptic future in the 21st, 22nd, and 23rd centuries.

Fallout mainly takes place in the year 2296, though the story begins in 2077 and continuously flashes back to that time. In 2077, during the Great War between China and the United States, nuclear bombs were detonated and destroyed most of the world. Many of the people who survived in Fallout lived in Vaults, or underground shelters, created by a company called Vault-Tec in anticipation of the apocalypse. While the characters and viewers are led to believe Vault-Tec were the good guys, the Fallout season 1 twist ending reveals some darker truths.

Vault 32 Was Originally Part Of Vault-Tec's Management Plan

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Ahead of the bombing, Vault-Tec created an unknown number of Vaults to supposedly help people survive the Great War and eventually create a new world. However, later episodes of Fallout revealed that Vault-Tec’s management was not acting in the interest of the people. Vault-Tec itself played a role in the Fallout apocalypse by dropping bombs on the United States and making it look as though China was at fault. This prevented potential peace talks that would have made their Vaults unnecessary and unprofitable.

Beyond profiting off the Vaults, the employees of Vault-Tec had even greater plans to create their own ideal society. To do this, a program called “Bud’s Buds” was created within the Vaults, headed by Vault-Tec sales executive Bud Askins. Rather than having residents in Vault 31 like in Vaults 32 and 33, Vault 31 was the home of Bud, who had his brain preserved in a robot, and a group of trusted junior executives, whose bodies were cryogenically frozen.

The goal of “Bud’s Buds” was to breed a population of employees who would be loyal to Vault-Tec for generations. To do this, Bud would periodically unfreeze the executives to become the overseers of Vaults 32 and 33 and breed with the Vault dwellers. The truth behind Vault 31 was uncovered by Lucy’s brother Norm at the end of Fallout season 1 after he’d already made a surprising discovery about Vault 32.

Related How Many Vaults Exist In Fallout Prime Video's Fallout TV show adds to the lore of the post-apocalyptic video game series by exploring new vaults in the existing canon.

Did All Of Vault 32's Residents Die?

Vault 32’s Residents Weren’t Killed By Raiders

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In Fallout episode 1, Lucy, the daughter of Vault 33 overseer Hank, was set to marry a man from Vault 32 as part of an intermarriage trade to help breed new generations. However, the residents of Vault 32 appeared to be nothing like those in their neighboring vault, and it turned out that they weren’t actually from Vault 32. Rather, they were a group of raiders led by the Fallout Flame Mother Moldaver. The raiders killed many of the Vault 33 dwellers, who assumed they’d done the same in Vault 32 before Norm and his cousin Chet looked into it.

When Norm and Chet explored Vault 32 in Fallout episode 4, they discovered skeletons that proved its dwellers died two years before Moldaver and her raiders ever broke in. Along with evidence of starvation, infighting, suicide, and cannibalism, writings on the wall provided further explanation for the devolution of Vault 32. Written on the wall in blood were the phrases, “WE KNOW THE TRUTH” and “DEATH TO MANAGEMENT.” Though Norm and Chet didn’t initially understand the meaning behind the messages, Norm and viewers now know the Vault 32 dwellers had discovered the truth about Vault-Tec, leading to the mass murder-suicide.

Vault 33's Plan To Fix Vault 32 Explained

Betty Had A Plan To Save Vault 32

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As part of “Bud’s Buds,” Betty became Vault 33’s new overseer after Hank was taken by Moldaver in Fallout episode 1. When she learned about Chet and Norm’s visit to Vault 32, she cleaned up all the evidence of what had happened there, unbeknownst to the rest of the dwellers. With all the real Vault 32 dwellers dead, Betty had a plan to save the Vault and keep Bud’s plan alive.

To do this, Betty moved half of the dwellers in Vault 33 to Vault 32 to restart civilization there. Though she claimed they were picked randomly, her picking Chet to move to Vault 32 while keeping Norm in Vault 33 appeared to be a purposeful way of splitting them up. With Norm’s newfound knowledge of Vaults 31 and 32, he poses a threat to “Bud’s Buds.” Though Fallout season 2 hasn’t been confirmed yet, it would need to continue Norm’s storyline with the Vaults.

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