This article contains spoilers for “Fallout” season 2, episode 2.
“Fallout” Season 2 finally gives us an update on Maximus (Aaron Moten), who has become something of a hero of the Brotherhood of Steel after proving himself at the end of “Fallout” Season 1. Operating directly under former cleric Quintus (Michael Cristofer), the young knight appears instrumental in his chapter’s plans… until other faction leaders come to conspire with Quintus and Maximus discovers the hard way where his true place in the chain of command lies.
The reason behind the meeting of the Brotherhood’s leaders is Quintus’ attempt to lead a revolt against the mysterious but clearly powerful Commonwealth Brotherhood, represented by the late arrival of Paladin Harkness (Kumail Nanjiani). Fans of the “Fallout” video game series may have a good idea of why this particular faction also elicits such fearful reactions from other commanders. The Commonwealth Brotherhood is a proven evolution of the Capital Wasteland Brotherhood from “Fallout 3”, and a major presence in “Fallout 4”.
The Commonwealth is essentially post-apocalyptic Boston and what’s left of the state of Massachusetts, and it’s a turbulent place where various factions and creatures run rampant. The Brotherhood leader who sets out to establish a presence there in “Fallout 4” is Arthur Maxson (Derek Phillips), a direct descendant of the entire Brotherhood founder. In the nine years between the events of “Fallout 4” and the Prime Video show, it seems the Commonwealth Brotherhood has only increased its influence and power. Granted, it’s a little surprising to see this East Coast faction play a role in Season 2’s journey of the stellar video game adaptation to New Vegas, but I’m certainly not complaining.
The Commonwealth Brotherhood could bring the franchise’s biggest surprise to the series
Other members of the Brotherhood place great emphasis on the dangers posed by their Commonwealth brethren should open conflict become necessary. This is probably a good thing considering that the Commonwealth Brotherhood clearly survived the events of the game’s Commonwealth War, where they were one of the factions that fought against the high-tech cabal known as the Institute. Since they still call themselves the Commonwealth Brotherhood, it seems they canonically won the conflict – which, in turn, may have given them access to all sorts of Institute technology.
Speaking of technology, there’s one more thing that could cause other Brotherhood chapters to tread lightly. In the games, the Commonwealth Brotherhood owns the gigantic fighting robot known as Liberty Prime, who is truly unlike any other figure in the franchise. The fearsome robot is present in “Fallout 3” and can potentially be rebuilt in “Fallout 4”. Given that the Commonwealth Brotherhood appears to be in full force in the series, it’s probably safe to assume that the canon version of events has Liberty Prime at least largely operational… and perhaps a good power source, like the one recently acquired by Maximus’ faction, might be just the thing to get him back on the board. Given that the central theme of “Fallout” Season 2 seems to be capturing the original games more faithfully than ever, it wouldn’t be that surprising if we actually got to see the big lug in action at some point.
Season 2 of “Fallout” is streaming on Prime Video.
