8 Episodes
Short on time? Here's the essentials:
In a post-apocalyptic America, two centuries after a nuclear war, Lucy MacLean, a sheltered resident of Vault 33, ventures into the irradiated wasteland. Her goal is to find her father, Hank MacLean, the Vault's Overseer, who was kidnapped by raiders led by Moldaver. Accompanying Lucy on her journey is Maximus, a squire in the Brotherhood of Steel, who is secretly impersonating a knight. Also navigating the wasteland is the Ghoul, a mutated, centuries-old gunslinger who was once actor Cooper Howard.
The central conflict revolves around a mysterious blue chip Dr. Siggi Wilzig carries, which Moldaver desperately wants. Lucy encounters the Ghoul and Maximus, leading to a chaotic confrontation where Wilzig instructs Lucy to decapitate him and deliver his head to Moldaver. Lucy's quest takes her through dangerous territories, including the destroyed city of Shady Sands, and into the experimental Vault 4. Meanwhile, Lucy's brother Norm discovers a shocking truth: all Vault 33 Overseers originate from Vault 31. The season culminates with Lucy discovering her father, Hank, is a Vault-Tec executive responsible for the destruction of Shady Sands and the ghoulification of her mother. After mercy-killing her mother, Lucy teams up with the Ghoul to pursue Hank, who escapes towards New Vegas.
Season 1 of Fallout covers episodes 1-8. Here's everything that happened:
Season 1, Episode 1: The End - In 2077, actor Cooper Howard and his daughter witness the Great War's nuclear devastation. Two centuries later, Vault 33 dweller Lucy MacLean marries a man from Vault 32, only for him and other "guests" to be revealed as raiders led by Moldaver, who kidnaps Overseer Hank MacLean. Lucy defies Vault 33's council, venturing into the irradiated Wasteland to find her father. Meanwhile, Brotherhood of Steel aspirant Maximus is assigned as a squire, and the Ghoul, a mutated Cooper Howard, dispatches bounty hunters in a graveyard.
Season 1, Episode 2: The Target - Dr. Siggi Wilzig escapes an Enclave facility with the dog CX404 and a mysterious glowing blue chip injected into his neck. Lucy MacLean navigates the dangerous wasteland, eventually reaching the town of Filly. Meanwhile, Brotherhood of Steel Squire Maximus accompanies Knight Titus on a mission to find Wilzig; after a Yao Guai fatally wounds Titus, Maximus allows Titus to die to claim his Power Armor and identity. In Filly, Lucy encounters Wilzig, but their meeting is interrupted by the Ghoul, who shoots off Wilzig's foot during a chaotic shootout. Maximus arrives, briefly fighting the Ghoul before his power armor is disabled. Wilzig, having taken a cyanide pill, instructs Lucy to decapitate him and deliver his head to Moldaver. The episode ends with Lucy preparing to carry out the gruesome task.
Season 1, Episode 3: The Head - Lucy MacLean carries Dr. Wilzig's severed head, placing a Pip-Boy tracker inside it before a Gulper creature swallows it in a flooded Hollywood Boulevard. The Ghoul captures Lucy, using her as bait to retrieve the head, but his chems are destroyed in the struggle, leading him to kidnap Lucy as his prisoner. Meanwhile, Maximus, after selling a tooth to repair his power armor, crushes a scavenger's head while defending his suit. He then impersonates Knight Titus and is joined by his former bully, Thaddeus, as his new squire. Following the Ghoul's radiation trail, Maximus and Thaddeus encounter the Gulper, with Maximus saving Thaddeus and recovering Wilzig's head. In pre-war flashbacks, Cooper Howard films a Western before posing for a Vault-Tec advertisement in a Vault suit, giving the iconic thumbs-up. The episode concludes with a shot of a dilapidated Vault-Tec billboard featuring Vault Boy, modeled after Cooper Howard, in a ruined city.
Season 1, Episode 4: The Ghouls - Lucy MacLean endures the Ghoul's brutal survival lessons, witnessing him mercy-kill Roger and forcing her to harvest his flesh. After Lucy loses a finger, the Ghoul sells her to organ harvesters at a Super Duper Mart. Lucy escapes, kills a feral ghoul named Martha, and gives the Ghoul vials to prevent his own feral transformation. Meanwhile, Norm and Chet discover Vault 32's inhabitants died two years prior, with Norm's mother's Pip-Boy used to open the vault. The Ghoul watches his old movie, "The Man From Deadhorse," inside the Super Duper Mart.
Season 1, Episode 5: "The Past" - Maximus, posing as Knight Titus, reveals his true identity to Thaddeus, who retaliates by disabling Maximus's power armor and escaping with Wilzig's head and CX404. Lucy later frees Maximus, and they journey together, discovering the destroyed city of Shady Sands, which shatters Lucy's vault ideals about surface civilization. After being wounded by "fiends," they seek aid at a Vault-Tec facility, only to be trapped and awaken inside an unknown vault. Meanwhile, Norm uncovers that all Vault 33 Overseers originated from Vault 31.
Season 1, Episode 6: The Trap - Lucy and Maximus are welcomed into Vault 4, a community of surface dwellers. While Maximus embraces the amenities, Lucy discovers horrifying genetic experiments on Level 12 and witnesses a ritual worshipping Moldaver as "the Flame Mother", leading to her capture. Pre-war flashbacks show Cooper Howard's growing distrust of Vault-Tec and his initial meeting with a younger Moldaver. The Ghoul kills his captors after recognizing Moldaver on a wanted poster.
Season 1, Episode 7: The Radio - The Ghoul brutally interrogates lead farmer Adam, killing his son Tommy to pinpoint Moldaver's location at the Griffith Observatory. Lucy is banished from Vault 4; Maximus returns their stolen fusion core, then gives Lucy Wilzig's head after a ghoulifying Thaddeus flees. Lucy departs for Moldaver. Concurrently, Norm hacks Vault 33's terminal, contacts Vault 31, and enters the mysterious vault, ending on his shocked discovery.
Season 1, Episode 8: The Beginning - Maximus is hailed a Knight after Moldaver's death and cold fusion activation. Lucy learns her father, Hank, is a Vault-Tec executive who destroyed Shady Sands, ghoulifying her mother. After mercifully killing her mother, Lucy joins The Ghoul pursuing Hank, who flees in power armor to New Vegas. Norm remains trapped in Vault 31.
