Highlights
- Fallout TV series trailer showcases major elements of the video game series, including the return of the Los Angeles Boneyard and new mutant creatures.
- Iconic Fallout companions, Dogmeat and Mr. Handy, make their live-action debut in the series.
- The West Coast Brotherhood of Steel has a new airship, the Caswennan, continuing the naming convention established in Fallout 4.
Amazon’s Fallout TV series has finally released its first trailer, teasing quite a few major elements of the popular video game series. The series is helmed by Jonathon Nolan and Lisa Joy, both of whom worked on HBO’s Westworld, and stars Walton Goggins, Ella Purnell, Kyle MacLachlan, Xelia Mendes-Jones, and Aaron Moten. Fallout is set to take place in California in the year 2296, which is nine years after Fallout 4.
The trailer contains many references to the games, both overt and subtle, as it serves to hint at a grander narrative that has been referred to as a kind of “Fallout 5.” Here is a list of some of the major references and Easter eggs that eagle-eyed fans won’t want to let slip past them.
8 The Los Angeles Boneyard
The Once Bustling Metropolis Returns to Fallout
Much like the first game in the series, the Fallout show is set in California. In fact, the whole series seems to be set within the first game’s map 136 years after the fact. This is obviously significant because this is the first time since the original game that this region has been seen at all, let alone outside the dated isometric 2D engine in which it initially appeared.
Of the potential returning locations, the LA Boneyard is the only one seen in the trailer, primarily as a background piece in both the pre and postwar shots. Whether the story will bring the main characters there is a mystery, though even in a limited capacity, the very presence of the LA Boneyard within the story raises fairly significant lore-related questions.
7 Mutated Creatures
Ghouls, Radroaches and Bears
One thing the trailer shows quite beautifully is the diversity of mutants that will be present in the series. Not only do returning classics like Yao Guais and Radroaches get teased, but a new mutant creature that seems to resemble the typically cutesy axolotl is revealed in all its disgusting glory. In addition to these, one of the main characters of the series is a ghoul, played by the always-excellent Walton Goggins.
In a franchise first, there’s also a cyclops character played by comedy veteran Chris Parnell. Not much else is known about the show’s cast of mutants (such as whether Super Mutants will play a role), though it does seem that it is willing to take a few risks and give fans something new.
6 Returning Companions
Dogmeat and Mister Handy Make Their Live-Action Debut
A Fallout TV series just wouldn’t feel complete without featuring some of the franchise’s most memorable companion-type characters. Dogmeat, the ever-lovable furry death machine, which was originally inspired by the dog in Mad Max: The Road Warrior, is shown quite prominently in the trailer and additional promotional material.
Here, they can be seen having just a grand ol’ time. Additionally, a Mr. Handy robot is also shown for a brief moment in what looks like a vault setting. The production of Mr. Handy has served as companions in the games several times, with Codsworth in Fallout 4 being the most famous.
5 The Brotherhood Of Steel Has a New Ride
The Prydwen’s Sister Ship Prepares for War
One of Fallout 4’s most striking images was the introduction of the East Coast Brotherhood of Steel in their state-of-the-art airship named, the Prydwen. The naming convention comes from Arthurian legend, in which the Prydwen is King Arthur’s ship. This is the East Coast, however, which means that the airship shown off in the trailer cannot be the Prydwen.
Instead, the West Coast Brotherhood has the Caswennan, which continues the same naming convention. This ship is every bit as massive as the Prydwen (if not more so), and is bound to receive some sort of backstory for why it exists and what its purpose is.
4 Santa Monica Pier
Continuing the Series’ Use of Famous Landmarks
While the TV show is technically set within the same area as the first Fallout game, it wasn’t possible to visit the Santa Monica Pier or the city itself in the game. The famous pier, however, was always there rusting away for 219 years, waiting for Lucy to find it.
Fallout games usually have introductory pre-war ruins for the player to interact with. In Fallout 3, it’s the town of Springvale, for example. Fallout games also like to take real-life landmarks and contort them in interesting ways to fit the world/story. It remains to be seen how Santa Monica will be used in this way.
3 The Pre-War World
The Old World Was Erased by Nuclear Fire in 2077
A common trend in the Fallout franchise has been to show glimpses of what the world was like before the bombs dropped. The trailer teased this yet again by showing an overhead shot of the Los Angeles skyline as it is subject to nuclear hellfire in the Great War of 2077. Also shown is Walton Goggins’ character before he became a ghoul, indicating that part of his story will be told in the past via flashbacks.
This is similar to the Sole Survivor in Fallout 4, though that was strictly a prologue to the game, and this likely won’t involve any Cryo freezing.
2 A Mysterious Briefcase
Is This Old World Relic the Key to a Brighter Future?
At some point in the trailer, a woman can be seen running while in possession of a briefcase. What this briefcase contains is obviously a mystery. However, there are a few theories as to what it might be. Past Fallout games have featured something called a G.E.C.K, or Garden of Eden Creation Kit. This piece of technology was issued to several vaults and was intended to be used as a recolonization tool.
It allows the user to alter the landscape into something more hospitable for human life after a nuclear war, which is exactly how the inhabitants of Vault 8 used theirs, resulting in the founding of Vault City in Fallout 2. Nobody knows for sure if this is what’s in the briefcase, though. It is very possible that something brand new is contained within. It could also be possible that it’s not important to the story at all.
1 Vault-Tec Experiments
More of Vault-Tec’s Infamous Human Experimentation
Virtually every Fallout game there has ever been has featured one or several vaults, so it’s no surprise that the Amazon series will also be featuring them in some form. In many ways, it’s a core part of the experience, as the vaults, aside from being great dungeons, are also a source of political and social satire. The main thing that makes the vaults truly fascinating, however, is that almost all of them are designed to be clandestine experiments at the expense of their occupants.
This may have been demonstrated in the trailer for the show, as there are scenes of what looks to be a collective psychotic breakdown of vault 33. People can be seen violently beating on each other, firing weapons wildly, and overall just causing a big ruckus. This may very well be a part of some twisted Vault-Tec experiment.
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