A new storyline hinted at in Fallout Season 2's trailer opens the door for one of the game's biggest characters to appear: Liberty Prime. The upcoming season of Prime Video's video game adaptation takes the action to New Vegas, a fan-favorite location from Bethesda's game series. As the series continues to expand on the post-apocalyptic Fallout world in the year 2296, it opens up new opportunities to bring together elements of the game's lore in the TV show.
One such direction that the Fallout TV show seems to be taking is a civil war between the factions of the Brotherhood of Steel. Introduced in Season 1 of the show, the Brotherhood of Steel is a technocratic military organization with different chapters operating across the post-war United States. Fallout viewers have met the western chapter of the Brotherhood of Steel, led by Elder Cleric Quintus (Michael Cristofer), to which Maximus (Aaron Moten) belongs. Another chapter of the Brotherhood of Steel was also hinted at throughout Season 1, as more Brotherhood members arrived on the Prydwen airship from the East Coast.
This expansion of the Brotherhood of Steel storyline appears to be a focus in Fallout Season 2, as the trailer confirms that a civil war is brewing within the group, likely between its Eastern and Western chapters.
The trailer features scenes of more airships arriving at the Brotherhood base, with Kumail Nanjiani's mystery character seemingly a new member of the Brotherhood that audiences will meet, potentially from the Eastern chapter. "I understand we're discussing a civil war? I must not have gotten my invitation," Nanjiani's character says to the assembled Brotherhood members after he arrives in his aircraft.
This convergence of the Eastern Brotherhood factions moving West might be motivated by the Western group's discovery of cold fusion at Moldaver's base in Season 1. Potentially, a conflict over who controls cold fusion among the Brotherhood could be the spark that leads the rival chapters into their civil war in Season 2.
This foundation of war between the Brotherhood chapters also opens up another possibility for the show to draw upon a major piece of Fallout lore in Season 2, by introducing Liberty Prime.
In the Fallout games, Liberty Prime is a giant combat robot or humanoid mech, devised by the US Government and then left dormant for years, until it was uncovered by the Brotherhood of Steel's Capital Wasteland chapter on the East Coast.
Liberty Prime was activated and deployed by the Capital Wasteland chapter to fight the Eastern faction of the Enclave, where it was left in disrepair from an orbital strike. The Brotherhood spent years laboring over the reconstruction of Liberty Prime.
Eventually, its remains were shipped to the Commonwealth to assist in the fight against the Institute and its synths. In Fallout 4, the player can help in a mission to reactivate Liberty Prime, confirming that the mech is operational again in the Fallout universe.
With the East and West Coast chapters of the Brotherhood of Steel potentially going to war against each other in Fallout Season 2, this seems like a natural place for the Eastern chapter to bring in its most significant weapon, that being Liberty Prime.
Fallout Season 2 Is Setting Up A Prime Finale
The Brotherhood of Steel's Civil War will only be one portion of the story in Fallout Season 2, and it's still unclear how it may crossover with the happenings in New Vegas. However, with Maximus's return to the Brotherhood at the end of Fallout Season 1, it seems the faction's story will remain a focus in Season 2.
A civil war between the Brotherhood of Steel factions would be new territory for Fallout to explore, and could lead to the introduction of the East Coast chapter's leader, Elder Maxson. With Quintus having control over the cold fusion technology, Maxson would need something like Liberty Prime to fight his rival, which could serve for a blockbuster finale in Fallout Season 2.
Adding to that is the potential power that Liberty Prime could harness in combination with cold fusion technology. If either of the chapter leaders manages to get their hands on this combination, it could dramatically alter the structure of power in the wasteland and change the Brotherhood forever.
