The future of New Vegas hangs in the balance

There aren’t many other shows that scratch the same itch for Fallout fans. Fallout blends a multitude of genres, including sci-fi, western, horror, and action, many of which appear in other hit TV series. The Mandalorian has a similar sci-fi Western vibe, The Last of Us has plenty of horror, and The Witcher is filled with action. But factions are what sets Fallout apart from the rest. Factions have formed the foundation of every great Bethesda game, and the Wasteland has been home to many of them.

Every faction tells a different story. Many are peaceful, like the scholars of the Followers of the Apocalypse and the Minutemen’s hopeful underdogs. But others are not so friendly, like the tyrannical Caesar’s Legion or the warmongering knights in the Brotherhood of Steel. The most prominent faction in Amazon’s Fallout series is the NCR, which falls somewhere in the middle. In Episode 1, the show introduced Moldaver (Sarita Choudhury) as a ruthless raider, but like most things in Fallout, there’s more to her than meets the eye. Moldaver led the New California Republic across the Wasteland in her efforts to restore the region’s power grid. By the end of Season 1, the NCR come across as a relatively respectable group looking to bring peace and order to the Wasteland, but their origins tell a different story.

The Origins of the NCR in the Games

The NCR began when the dwellers of Vault 15 emerged from their nuclear bunker to explore the Wasteland, a bold decision that few vault-dwellers have been brave enough to make. Led by a man called Aradesh, they fought off raiders from the savage Great Khan tribe settled in California, and formed the small town of Shady Sands. Shady Sands gradually developed into a larger sustainable community. After Aradesh died, his daughter, Tandi, took over Shady Sands and became the first President when the town folded five other colonies into its jurisdiction and formed the New California Republic. The Republic slowly began to restore law and order to the Wasteland, along with water, electricity, and security for its citizens. Under President Tandi, the NCR became a pillar of democracy in the West, envisioning a hopeful future that resembled pre-war America. However, the NCR took a darker turn after various strategic and political missteps, which might be explored in Season 2.

As the NCR Grew in Power, They Also Became Greedy

The NCR began to expand rapidly, becoming the most dominant force in the West. After President Tandi’s death, the Republic grew overly ambitious, expanding across as much area as possible. The faction became narrow-sighted, fixated on its end goal of restoring law and order. The NCR abandoned its careful networking with other communities and adopted brutal expansionism, losing its code of ethics and embracing the mentality that ‘the ends justify the means’. It didn’t matter if a region had to be taken by force because their mission to restore order to the Wasteland was for the greater good. The Republic became indistinguishable from the more totalitarian factions it protected people from, like Caesar’s Legion and the Brotherhood of Steel. Around this time, New Vegas rose to supremacy in the West. Mr. House’s (Rafi Silver) union of desert tribes formed a stranglehold on the most profitable region in the Wasteland, so naturally, the NCR wanted control of it. Their expansion into the Mojave would prove a near-fatal move for the faction.

When Will We See the NCR or Moldaver Again?

The NCR’s desperate attempt to establish territory in New Vegas led to the first Battle of Hoover Dam, where the NCR fought off the Legion to secure the dam and control the flow of electricity and water. However, as the years went on, their campaign proved fruitless. The NCR was stuck in a stalemate with Mr. House, The Legion, and the Brotherhood, lacking the numbers and resources to take on all three factions simultaneously. During the events of Fallout: New Vegas, the player can choose to support the NCR and lead them to victory during the second battle of Hoover Dam. However, Moldaver’s presence in California confirms that this ending is not canon in the Fallout universe. Regardless of Fallout: New Vegas’s ending, Shady Sands still suffers a nuclear attack, as seen in the show. The NCR lost its capital and fled from New Vegas under Moldaver’s leadership. By the time the series introduces the NCR, they are on their last legs, hoping to restore power to California.

The NCR’s history tells the classic story of overambition and the rise and fall of an empire. Given their moral complexity, the Republic is undoubtedly one of the most interesting factions in Fallout. While groups like The Brotherhood and Caesar’s Legion are wholly evil, and factions like the Minutemen and the Railroad are clearly good, the NCR falls somewhere in between. While Season 1 Episode 8 showed the downfall of the remaining NCR units during the Battle of Griffith Observatory, there may be a future for the NCR in Season 2. Moldaver’s actor, Sarita Choudhury, teased Moldaver’s role in Season 2. The Fallout series is moving to New Vegas, so it’s likely that the surviving remnants of the NCR still reside in the Mojave, but will the Republic learn from its past mistakes?

Fallout is available to watch on Prime Video in the U.S.