Fallout season 2 has come to a close and whether you've seen all there is to see this year on the Strip or haven't been back into the Wasteland yet on Prime Video, you may want either a recap or refresher of what went down both above and below ground...
To help guide you, we've put together a Fallout season 2 guide that tiptoes into spoiler territory if you want to go that far, but also provides an overview of the season. That includes its spot on the Fallout timeline, reviews, interviews, explainers, and more.
For our full verdict, we've even got the Fallout season 2 review. Then, discover the show's secrets with our guide to Fallout season 2 Easter eggs.
Fallout season 2 release date and reviews
Fallout season 2 premiered on December 16, 2025 and its season finale aired on February 3, 2026.
The Fallout season 2 release schedule even changed course in its final two episodes, with Prime Video opting to revert to the earlier time of 6:00 PM Pacific. That bodes well for those in the States, hopefully catching Fallout season 3 at a more palatable time upon its release.
As for the reviews? They've been mighty impressive. We gave the initial burst of six episodes three-and-a-half stars, saying, "the flashbacks to the Ghoul's Hollywood actor past prove to be the most compelling part of the season, [but] other plotlines make it all feel a little overcrowded in the end."
IGN gave the finale an 8/10, citing that while it felt more like a season "midpoint", the "collection of well-earned emotional beats sees this trip to New Vegas end on a winning streak."
Elsewhere, XboxEra scored the final episode a 9.5/10, in line with the season's current lofty Rotten Tomatoes critic score of 97%. The House does win, after all.
Fallout season 2 cast
Alongside the main cast of Ella Purnell, Aaron Moten, and Walton Goggins, Macaulay Culkin joined the cast as a recurring Caesar's Legion character across multiple episodes, including the finale.
The most intriguing newcomer was Justin Theroux, who served up a disturbing turn as Mr. House, the iconic ruler of New Vegas. Ron Perlman, best known to Fallout fans as the speaker of the iconic 'war never changes' line even showed up as a Super Mutant.
Here's the Fallout season 2 cast list:
- Ella Purnell – Lucy MacLean
- Walton Goggins – The Ghoul / Cooper Howard
- Aaron Moten – Maximus
- Kyle MacLachlan – Hank MacLean
- Moisés Arias – Norm MacLean
- Justin Theroux – Mr. House
- Frances Turner – Barb
- Johnny Pemberton – Thaddeus
- Michael Cristofer – Elder Cleric Quintus
- Annabel O'Hagan – Steph Harper
- Leslie Uggams – Betty
- Macaulay Culkin – Legate
- Xelia Mendes-Jones – Dane
- Ron Perlman – Super Mutant
- Clancy Brown – U.S. President
Fallout season 2 trailer
The first full official trailer for Fallout season 2 was unveiled on November 13, and sees Lucy (Ella Purnell) and the Ghoul (Walton Goggins) gear up for a civil war in New Vegas. It also offered us a first look at Macaulay Culkin's "crazy genius" and Kumail Nanjiani's undisclosed character. We also see Norm (Moises Arias) running through the vaults, which means he succeeded in escaping Vault 41 (where he was trapped at the end of season 1).
A first teaser, which you can view below, dropped during Gamescom Opening Night Live 2025 on August 19. In the clip, Lucy asks why her (evil) father (Kyle MacLachlan) would run to Las Vegas, leading the Ghoul to explain that this is where the nuclear disaster began. We immediately flashback to his days as successful actor Cooper Howard, with a few quick scenes depicting glamorous, pre-war Vegas. There's plenty of gunfire, explosions, a Deathclaw, and the evil Mr. House. The most exciting part, though, is knowing that this season will delve into the Ghoul's tragic backstory.
What happened at the end of Fallout season 1?
The season finale of Fallout season 1 (which you can read more about in our Fallout season 1 ending explained guide) left out lots of open plot points for all of the major characters. The final episode all comes down to a stand-off at the Observatory, where Lucy finally meets Moldaver and finds her dad.
However, Hank has not been entirely truthful. He was actually a member of Vault-Tec's management team 200 years prior. As Norm found out elsewhere in the episode, Vaults 32 and 33 have been home to the generation of super managers known as Bud's Buds.
That's not all, either, as Lucy's mother didn't die in the way they had always been told. She had figured out that civilization was living on the surface and tried to take her children there to Shady Sands. Hank found her and burned it to the ground, leaving Lucy's mom as a ghoul-like creature.
Elsewhere, Maximus is now seen as the Brotherhood's "sword". He turns up at the Observatory, planning to free Hank and help Lucy. However, Hank escapes in the Brotherhood's power armour after the Ghoul confronts him about what happened to his family.
In the final moments, Lucy is given a choice: stay with Maximus as he wages a war for the Brotherhood or join the Ghoul to find out who is "behind the wheel".
She chooses the latter, shooting her mom dead and leaving Maximus behind. When Maximus wakes up, he's now got the cold fusion device and is declared a knight.
That's not all, either, as we see Hank walking towards a very familiar location for fans of the games: New Vegas.
What happened in Fallout season 2? A recap
Fallout season 2 first paired Lucy and the Ghoul together as they inched their way towards New Vegas and Hank MacLean, but ran afoul of a Roman-styled group known as Caesar's Legion.
After eventually worming their way out of that predicament, the cowboy/Vaultie duo runs into a group of monstrous Deathclaws. As we discover, those mutated creatures are the same 'devils in the snow' that Coop found during his time serving during the Sino-American War in Alaska.
In the settlement of Freeside, the Ghoul betrays Lucy in the hopes of finding his family, handing her to Hank. The former Overseer has been conducting experiments using Mr. House's brain chips in a Vault-Tec facility in New Vegas.
Elsewhere, Maximus disrupted the Brotherhood in a big way, killing Commonwealth Brotherhood member Xander and also making a play to kill Elder Cleric Quintus, while also being party to intra-factional disputes boiling over among the group.
After fleeing and finding old pal Thaddeus, they encounter the Ghoul and give him the cold fusion diode so they can reach New Vegas and help save Lucy.
The pre-war Cooper Howard flashbacks, though, proved most narratively intriguing. They dealt with Cooper crossing paths with Robert House, as well as being told about the forthcoming nuclear armageddon.
The Fallout season 2 ending featured the reveal that Coop inadvertently brought on the end of the world by handing the cold fusion diode to the U.S. President, who appears to be working for a group known as the Enclave. The Ghoul's fight to see his family in the present day leads to the discovery that they have been taken by their cryo-pods to an Enclave facility in Colorado.
Maximus doesn't fare much better in the finale, fending off Deathclaws before being helped by the returning New California Republic. Lucy, meanwhile, installs a brain chip in her father and activates it, but not before his and Vault Overseer Steph Harper's 'phase 2' plans are put into action...
In a final reveal, it is shown that Elder Quintus has procured plans to build a robotic weapon known as Liberty Prime Alpha.
Below, you'll find a range of exclusives, interviews, and spoilery breakdowns all about the final episode:
- Fallout season 2, episode 8 post-credits scenes: how many are there and how do they set up the next season?
- Fallout season 2 finale blueprints explained: what is Liberty Prime Alpha?
- Fallout season 2 Easter eggs and cameos: All the nods to New Vegas and the Fallout video games you might have missed
- Fallout season 2 doubles down on not committing to a canon New Vegas ending – thanks to one Courier line
- Todd Howard says the Brotherhood of Steel surprise in Fallout season 2's post-credits scene was no afterthought: "It was always a matter of how and when, not if"
Will there be a Fallout season 3?
Yes, there will be a Fallout season 3! The news was confirmed before season 2 has even premiered, with executive producer Jonathan Nolan telling IGN he wants the show "back on the air" as soon as he's able to. Filming begins next summer.
We have more quotes and guides on Fallout season 3 below:
- Fallout season 3 is headed to a new location, but its underrated semi-canon RPG has taken us there before
- With Colorado on the horizon, Todd Howard says it's "good" for the Fallout TV show to "go new places where the games haven't been"
For more on Fallout, you can read our Fallout Season 1 review. Or, if you are a gamer, we also have a guide on everything that you need to know about Fallout 5.
