Forget About New Vegas - This Fallout Show Detail Completely Changes Another Game’s Ending

Warning! This article contains spoilers for Amazon's Fallout show and Fallout 4.

Summary The Fallout show's inclusion of the Brotherhood of Steel's airship, the Prydwen, retcons multiple Fallout 4 endings, making only two endings possibly canon.

The appearance of the Prydwen in the show hints at drastic effects on Fallout season 2 and potential conflicts between the Brotherhood and the NCR.

The Prydwen's presence in the show suggests the Minutemen ending of Fallout 4 is more likely canon than the Brotherhood of Steel's.

Despite the controversy the Fallout show has caused about the status of New Vegas in canon, a small hidden detail suggests another game could have been changed even more drastically. Where the Fallout show fits into the larger canon of the franchise, and how it interacts with the games, has plagued the series since its announcement. Fallout has finally answered that the show does in fact fit into the main canon timeline of the franchise, but the resolution of that problem has created several new ones.

Fallout made several changes to the video games, with some of the biggest being to Fallout: New Vegas. In the show, Shady Sands, the capital of the New California Republic - a major faction in the game - was destroyed by a nuclear explosion. While that was a major deviation from Fallout: New Vegas, there's another detail hidden in the show that changes a different Fallout game even more. A simple, and easily missed, part of the show could completely change this game's ending, and the entire future of the Fallout franchise.

Related The World Of Fallout Explained In celebration of Fallout's release on Prime Video, here's Screen Rant's complete guide to the franchise's characters, locations, lore, and changes.

The Brotherhood Of Steel’s Airship Is Likely Fallout 4’s Prydwen

The show subtly confirmed the airship's name to be the Prydwen, which hints that it's the same ship as in Fallout 4

The Brotherhood of Steel was introduced to the Fallout show in spectacular fashion with the arrival of an enormous airship. It immediately established the Brotherhood's power and technological advantages, but it also created quite a problem in relation to the games. Zooming in on the side of the airship, just next to the Brotherhood's insignia, reveals the word "Prydwen" faintly painted on it. The problem with that is that there is already a Brotherhood of Steel airship named the Prydwen in Fallout's canon. As user TKsMantis noted on social media, that could indicate that it's the same ship that appears in both Fallout 4 and the show.

In Fallout 4, the Prydwen acted in much the same way as it did in the show: as proof of the Brotherhood's power. The Prydwen was the flagship of the East Coast chapter of the Brotherhood of Steel, and they used it to establish their presence in the Commonwealth. It also served as the Brotherhood's mobile headquarters during their mission to eliminate the synths that had been infiltrating the Commonwealth, which made it an extremely important location in the game. It's a seemingly inconsequential Easter egg to the game, but in actuality, its inclusion in the show completely changes Fallout 4's ending.

Fallout Showing The Prydwen In 2096 Retcons Several Fallout 4 Endings

Half of the game's endings saw the destruction of the Prydwen, so they can't be canon now

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Fallout 4, like many other entries in the franchise, featured several endings that were dependent upon the player's choices. There were four endings to the game's main quest, but only two of them - the Brotherhood ending and the Minutemen ending - can possibly be canon due to the show including the Prydwen. The other two endings - siding with the Railroad or the Institute - force the player to destroy the Prydwen. Since the Fallout show takes place nine years after Fallout 4 in the Fallout timeline, the Prydwen couldn't have been around anymore if the player had chosen to side with them, making both endings decidedly non-canon.

Fallout's Main Installments Year (In-Universe) Fallout 76 2102 Fallout 2161 Fallout 2 2241 Fallout 3 2277 Fallout: New Vegas 2281 Fallout 4 2287 Fallout season 1 2296

Since Fallout games feature multiple endings, the franchise has historically avoided choosing a specific one to canonize outright. Fallout is a series of roleplaying games, and choice is important for making the player feel immersed in the game's world, so canonizing a particular ending over others would remove some of that agency. The Fallout show broke that trend by including the Prydwen, and consequently devalued the player's choice to side with the Institute or Railroad.

Could There Be Another Prydwen In Fallout?

If it was a different ship, giving it another name would have been much easier

The Fallout show will have to address how there is a ship named the Prydwen nine years after its fate was decided, and there's no way to avoid picking a canon ending anymore.

There's a small chance that the show's airship being named the Prydwen doesn't retcon Fallout 4, as the Brotherhood of Steel may have reused the name "Prydwen" with a different ship. That could have been done to reclaim the original Prydwen and use it as a way to save face after being defeated in the Commonwealth. It's just as likely that a different chapter of the Brotherhood would have tried to distance themselves from such a resounding defeat, though, which would have caused them to avoid using the name.

That fix also would have caused the exact same problem in reverse, as it would confirm the Prydwen had been destroyed and decanonize the Brotherhood's ending. No matter how they go about it, using the same name from Fallout 4 would always cause confusion and lead to questions about the franchise's continuity. The Fallout show will have to address how there is a ship named the Prydwen nine years after its fate was decided, and there's no way to avoid picking a canon ending anymore.

In addition to those in-universe problems, the Prydwen also posed a real life issue as well. The creators of Fallout also worked very hard to hide the ship's name before the show's release. In a preview for Vanity Fair, the name of the ship was referenced as the "Caswennan," and the name on the side of the ship had been removed. If the Prydwen shown in the show was just another airship, that wouldn't have justified such secrecy.

The Prydwen Changes Fallout 4's Canon More Than New Vegas

The show's references to New Vegas changed the fate of one faction, whereas the Fallout 4 references change the fate of the entire Commonwealth

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The destruction of Shady Sands and New Vegas certainly changed the backstory of Fallout: New Vegas, but two Fallout creators confirmed the show didn't retcon the game. Even if it had taken place before the events of New Vegas, the Fallout show wouldn't have completely redefined the game's ending and chosen one to canonize, as it never expressly defined which ending was canon. The show did, however, eliminate several of Fallout 4's endings, making it a much larger shift in that game's canon storyline.

Related New Vegas Explained, And Where Fallout Season 2 & Beyond Will Go Amazon Prime Video’s Fallout TV show features a massive connection to an iconic location from the video game series on which it is based: New Vegas.

Which Fallout 4 Ending Is Canon In The Show?

Both are possible, but the Minutemen's is more likely

Since the Prydwen is still around, only the Brotherhood of Steel ending and the Minutemen ending can possibly be canon in the Fallout show. While both endings could be canon, it's more likely that the Minutemen ending is the official finale of Fallout 4. Siding with the Minutemen allows for the Prydwen to still be around, but it also means the Brotherhood wouldn't necessarily have any remaining claim over the Commonwealth. Both of those conditions are important, as given the Prydwen's appearance in the Fallout show, it had to leave the Commonwealth at some point and head to California.

The Brotherhood ending would have placed them in charge of the Commonwealth and given them all the responsibilities that go along with such a task. Holding and protecting such a large and important area would have required countless troops and resources, and they likely wouldn't have been able to spare the Prydwen for its California mission. If the Minutemen had won, though, the Brotherhood wouldn't need to dedicate any of its resources to the Commonwealth anymore, freeing up the Prydwen to go wherever it was needed.

The appearance of the Prydwen also gives a hint into what Fallout season 2 might hold. In the games, the Brotherhood of Steel in the West entered into a war with the NCR, and they were in retreat by the time of Fallout: New Vegas. Now, bolstered by their possession of Siggi Wilzig's cold fusion technology and the presence of the Prydwen, the Brotherhood might be set to go after what remains of the NCR. The changes the show has made to Fallout 4 could have drastic effects on Fallout season 2.

Sources: TKsMantis, Vanity Fair