Fallout Season 2 has confirmed the deadliest bomb in the franchise's history - both in the TV show and the games. The Prime Video series is the latest instalment in Bethesda's post-apocalyptic world, which began with the 1997 game, and follows the action on the West Coast of North America after the events of Fallout 4. The TV show has been responsible for several revelations in Fallout lore, and the upcoming finale is only adding to the expansive canon that Bethesda has built over 25 years.
Ahead of Fallout Season 2's finale airing on February 3, IGN revealed an exclusive clip from Episode 8 that sees a meeting between the Ghoul/Cooper Howard (Walton Goggins) and his old foe, Robert House (Justin Theroux), in New Vegas. In the prior episode, The Ghoul managed to reactivate House, who successfully cheated death by uploading himself into New Vegas' computer network, by plugging in the cold fusion diode.
During the clip, House tries to block the Ghoul from re-accessing the cold fusion diode, but the Ghoul wedges his gun in the door to prevent it from closing. It's then he threatens House, asking, "The diode... what happens if I shoot this thing?"
House looks concerned, stating it's "unclear" what will happen, but that the damage from exploding the cold fusion diode would likely reach "other planets:"
Robert House: "There's only ever been one of them so it would be fresh snow from a scientific standpoint. But if it were to expel all of its energy simultaneously, the damage would likely extend to other planets, so I would exercise extreme caution."
Fallout's cold fusion diode has been a prized possession throughout the series, changing hands multiple times as characters from different factions vie for its power.
Cold fusion was the instigator for all of the events in the Fallout TV series, as it motivated Moldaver to infiltrate Vault 33 and kidnap Hank MacLean, which sent Lucy on a journey into the wasteland to rescue him, where she eventually ran into Dr. Wilzig (Michael Emerson), who embedded the diode in his head. After Moldaver came into possession of the diode in the Season 1 finale and revealed it was cold fusion, the Brotherhood of Steel took ownership of it in Season 2. Until Maximus and Thaddeus fled their camp with the diode and traded it with the Ghoul in New Vegas.
It's been clear since its introduction that cold fusion has immense potential, with Moldaver coveting it to provide limitless energy in Shady Sands, while House wanted it for his own nefarious reasons. Given cold fusion's integration into the plot, it makes sense that the device is now also confirmed as one of the deadliest in Fallout's history. Based on House's calculations, the energy within the diode has the potential to reach outer space, making it easily the most dangerous known weapon on Earth in Fallout at the time.
Cold Fusion Blows Away the Competition in Fallout
Fallout has introduced its share of weapons over the years, but cold fusion well and truly takes the cake. If House's prediction about the blast radius for the cold fusion diode is true, an explosion from it could very easily wipe out the entirety of Earth.
The only thing that has ever come close to this in Fallout is the nuclear bombs that ended the world. Although even for this event, it took multiple bomb drops to end North America, whereas in cold fusion's case, it seems like it would only take one explosion to wipe everything on Earth out.
In the Fallout games, players come across a variety of powerful weapons. The Brotherhood of Steel's power armor is a formidable force in the Fallout world, epitomized by the group's giant mech, Liberty Prime, which is easily one of the strongest weapons in existence. Although even a giant robot wouldn't stand a chance against the blast potential of a nuclear bomb, let alone cold fusion.
Additionally, some of the mutated creatures in Fallout exhibit great strength, like the Deathclaws that have been shown roaming the New Vegas strip in the TV show. But still, there's no known creature that could combat an explosion like cold fusion.
This reveal about cold fusion in Fallout Season 2 now makes the Ghoul one of the most dangerous people in the wasteland, as long as he possesses the diode.
