Daddy, Where Do Ghouls Come From? And Other 'Fallout' Questions
All your Season 1 questions asked and answered
Last year, I gathered all the questions that arose from season 1 of Silo and answered them in this very space. I thought to do the same for Fallout, because apparently the chief export of post-apocalyptic TV shows about survivors living in enormous underground shelters is lots of questions.
Like with Silo, I come equipped with pre-knowledge. I’ve played all of the Fallout games (except Fallout 76) and thus, know a thing or two. You can trust me at least as much as you can trust a quasi-learned man who knows chickens carnally.
Super spoilery from here on!
Where does Fallout take place?
Fallout occurs on an irradiated alternate Earth, 200+ years after nuclear holocaust renders the planet inhospitable.
In that version of Earth, America is embroiled in a 1960s-esque Cold War and fear of Communism runs high. This 1960s vibe is why the clothes, music, and technology are old fashioned. But there’s also talking robots and futuristic cars. The debris of this retro-futurism litters Fallout, and gives the show (and the games) its unique flavor.
When does Fallout take place?
In the games, the Great War occurs in 2077. The show is part of the same timeline, and the post-war scenes take place in 2296.
The Great War: Imagine the end of Reservoir Dogs, except everyone is holding nuclear bombs.
Who killed the world?
Vault-Tech has means and motive, and Barb Cooper also says something like “when it happens,” not “if it happens.” These are not people preparing for an eventuality so much as they are manifesting it.
Was Vault-Tech the ones to drop the nukes? At least the initial ones, to goad every country into a nuclear dogpile? Sure seems that way. But I’m going to say no, if for no other reason than this: Barb’s daughter was out with Cooper, and thus, very much in danger. If she knew bombs were about to fall because Vault-Tech was gonna push a button, she would’ve made sure her daughter was safely stowed away first.
Fallout can be dark at times, but man, nothing is bleaker than watching a bunch of suits calmly discussing the destruction of the planet and the murdering of billions with the cold calculus of business.
Where do ghouls come from?
Ghouls are the unfortunate people who were neither obliterated by bombs nor protected by vaults. Exposed to radiation for prolonged periods, they developed genetic mutations that make them appear like living corpses.
Not everyone left on the surface becomes a ghoul. Most die horrible deaths. Something unique to their DNA combined with the intense radiation enabled their survival, albeit by turning them into something horrific.
What makes a ghoul go feral?
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Feral ghouls are a sharp departure from the games, where time and radiation-damaged brains eventually turn most if not all ghouls into mindless creatures. These ferals often roam in hunting packs.
In the show, the line between sane and feral appears to be vials of some mysterious liquid. Which allows the show to dramatize the Ghoul’s plight, as he has to take a prolonged side quest to resupply. Plus it enables that really cool visual where he’s buried in a coffin and has IV drips running underground.
Related point: The chicken test. There’s nothing specific about chickens that prove if a ghoul is feral or not. The general idea was just to see if the Ghoul mindlessly attacked the chicken, and thus, had gone feral.
Why do ghouls lose their nose but not their ears?
I’ve been wondering about this since I finished season 1.
There is no clear reason, canon or not. Logically, nose cartilage must be somehow less resilient than ear cartilage. But I think the real reason is ghouls look distinctive and cool without a nose, but would look less-good without ears.
Sometimes aesthetics is everything.
Are ghouls immortal?
We don’t really have a clear answer for this, either.
Here’s what we know: Ghouls live extremely long lives and have the ability to quickly heal, Wolverine-like, including regrowing organs. (Why else do you think most of the supermarket’s stock was in ghouls?) Radiation also no longer poses a threat, and may offer some health benefits.
Short of a bullet to the dome, they are far more likely to go feral before they die.
Ghouls still need to eat—and at times, the Ghoul really chows down—but presumably can live without food if necessary. Worst case, I suppose they could snack on their own flesh. Nothing says desperately hungry like eating your own ass jerky.
What happened to the Ghoul’s family?
It’s left purposefully ambiguous until the last episode, when the Ghoul demands Hank MacLean divulge the whereabouts of his family. Note he says “family.” Not daughter, not wife. So that suggests both are alive, and given Barb’s Vault-Tech connections, they’re likely tucked away in a vault someplace (though not Vault 31, it seems.)
We can then assume Cooper’s heroic gallop delivered his daughter to safety, though he was clearly not let in. Barb and Cooper must be separated or divorced. Could you stay with someone after listening to her plot the end of the world?
What’s the deal with Shady Sands?
Shady Sands is a post-war community built upon the bones of pre-war infrastructure. It steadily grew, becoming a beacon of hope, and eventually was named capital of the New California Republic.
This idyllic city sat squarely in the way of Vault-Tech’s plans to wipe the world clean of any and all factions, except their own, a vision for which they’d plotted and likely helped perpetuate nuclear war.
Rose MacLean, Lucy’s mother, deduced Shady Sands’ existence after she discovered someone was syphoning Vault 33’s water. She shared her findings with her husband Hank, Vault 33’s Overseer. He forbid her to go to the surface, so Rose did what any self-respecting woman would: She packed up her kids and left.
Hank followed, took the kids, and destroyed Shady Sands with a nuke.
What’s up with Vault 31?
Per Barb Cooper’s grand design, Vault-Tech operated vaults are grouped in threes, with one vault to rule them all, and in the darkness, bind them.
Vault 31 is the brains of the operation. Vaults 32 and 33 provide enough genetic variation to ensure the people reclaiming the surface in the future aren’t hordes of West Virginia hillbillies. The goal is to produce a kind of super-manager through years of selective breeding.
Gross.
Vault 31 keeps a group of Vault-Tech management in cryosleep. Once a generation, or as needs arise, a manager is thawed and enters Vault 32 or 33 through an arranged marriage, and eventually is voted Overseer through a vote I’m certain is totally on the up-and-up.
What happened to Vault 32?
It’s not clear how exactly, but the people within Vault 32 discovered the truth about Vault 31, and perhaps the wider implications that Vault-Tech is a horrible corporation, and went on a murder-suicide spree.
Who cleaned up Vault 32?
The brain-roomba thawed the managers in Vault 31 and set them to work.
What about Vault 33’s damaged water chip?
Yeah, what about that? Aren’t they about to run out of water?
This plot line never comes up again. Given Vault 32 was emptied out, Vault 33 could’ve taken their chip. I’m guessing Vault 31 has a way of making this problem go away.
Who poisoned the prisoners?
I hate to stereotype, but it’s hard to trust someone wearing an eyepatch.
Though in this case, it’s really more about Steph Harper’s naked eagerness to further the cause—including immediately selecting a new baby daddy before the old baby daddy was even cold in the ground or the baby had even arrived.
Wouldn’t doubt it if the poisoning was part of her Overseer initiation.
Why was Vault 4 so… weird?
As established in a pre-war flashback, Vault-Tech was open to letting everyone run their vaults however they wanted. Vault 4 was a science vault. And they got down to some science. And by science, I mean some weird shit.
Much mutated fruit was wrought. The warden-scientists were killed by their own creations, and eventually the offspring of all that genetic monkeying around took control of the vault.
Vault 4 is quite possibly the most wholesome place left on Earth. If you overlook their weird, nudist cult vibe. And level 12. I’m not sure I can unsee the woman giving birth to fish, but I’d sure like to.
How and why did Moldaver get into Vault 32?
How: She used Rose’s Pip-Boy, those chonky (intentional misspelling because appropriate) wrist-worn computers.
Why: To pose a marriage proposal to Vault 33, and thereby kidnap Hank and force him to enter his credentials so she could use Vault-Tech equipment to unlock cold fusion.
That’s the nerdiest sentence I’ve ever written.
Why is cold fusion important?
As Palpatine once said, “Unlimited… power!”
Cold fusion could enable a utopia and a second coming of Shady Sands. Which is why it will only ever be used for nefarious purposes. Fallout is just like real life!
Since it fell into the Brotherhood of Steel’s hands, there’s no way this could go wrong.
How did Moldaver live so long?
No clear answers, but I have 3 guesses:
She used cryosleep. Pros: Clearly established in the show lore. Con: Seems like proprietary Vault-Tech tech, and she’s definitely not cozy with Vault-Tech.
She’s a synth, which is Fallout-speak for an android. Big Con: She freaking dies of a gut shot.
She’s a clone. Feasible, but I feel pretty meh about it.
Given Moldaver is a scientist, it could reasonably be any of these. I’m putting my chips on cryosleep, and guessing she used her big brain to rig up her own cryo-bed.
Do you have any lasting questions? Drop them in the comments and I’ll update this accordingly. I can’t promise an accurate answer, but I’ll at least provide an entertaining one.
One of my theories about Moldaver was that she was a very well preserved Ghoul. Hoping her story is revealed in S2.
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