A major reveal in Fallout’s season 1 finale provided a perfect explanation for one of the oldest and most important villain themes in the franchise.

Following a significant reveal in Prime Video’s Fallout show, one of the biggest villain themes from the games finally makes sense. The Vault-Tec meeting in the Fallout season 1 finale was packed with eye-opening details, from Mr. House’s surprising role in the discussions and Barb Howard expressing a willingness to drop the first nuke. Nearly everything said during the exchange between Barb and the other company representatives carried some level of significance, whether it be because of what it meant for the future or how it connected to the franchise’s past.

Through appearances from Rob-Co’s Mr. House and members of other relevant corporations in Fallout’s world, the season finale was able to shed light on the backstory of the apocalypse in an interesting, unexpected way. The conversation touched on various existing elements of the franchise, including West-Tek’s role in the creation of super mutants, the existence of over a hundred Vaults in the United States, and more. Some of the remarks relate directly to one of the most common practices in the games, and actually account for why they even happened in the first place.

Barb Howard’s Speech Explains Why So Many Vaults Conducted Horrific Experiments

The goal was “to create the perfect conditions for humanity”

During the Vault-Tec meeting in Fallout, Barb made some curious comments about what Vault-Tec’s Vaults could be used for. Saying that each company could “claim several,” Barb explained that these Vaults were places where they could “play out” their own ideas about how to “create the perfect conditions for humanity.” She then added the extremely ominous statement, “whatever you want to do, no one needs to know. May the best idea win.” And with this, Barb Howard essentially put Vault-Tec’s stamp of approval on all morally reprehensible acts committed in the Vaults after the start of the apocalypse.

This part of Barb’s speech ties into a recurring theme in the Fallout franchise, which revolves around Vault-Tec’s evil experiments. When exploring the Wasteland, players in Fallout’s games will inevitably come across various hidden Vaults, where they’ll realize just how sinister the people living there really were. Multiple Vaults played host to nefarious, bizarre experiments. For example, Fallout 3’s Vault 92 used white noise to create hostility in its subjects. Meanwhile, Fallout: New Vegas’ Vault 22 tried to transform people into plant monsters.

There were no inherently obvious connections between the activities that occurred in the many Vaults that exist in Fallout. After all, the goals of the individual Vault Overseers often differed considerably, which raised questions as to why they were sanctioned and why it seemed that every Vault ultimately chose to partake in morally dubious experiments. But after Barb’s speech, this aspect of Fallout’s universe is much less ambiguous. As she said, the Vaults were an opportunity for those in charge of them to pursue their own scientific agendas. In fact, this behavior was actually encouraged, as demonstrated by Barb assuring the others that their actions wouldn’t have consequences.

Everything Fallout Had Already Established About Vault-Tec’s Experiments

The Enclave was also involved in Vault-Tec’s experiments

Prior to Fallout’s show, there were few concrete facts on the backstory of Vault-Tec’s experiments. What was known, though, was that Vault-Tec was in league with the Enclave, the same organization that Dr. Wilzig was working for in the TV series. Fallout’s The Enclave, which was comprised of officials from with the U.S. government, made arrangements with the Vault-Tec and commissioned the construction of the Vaults. It was also the Enclave that had called for the experiments that occurred in the Vaults, meaning that the original directive came from them.

But while it was understood in Fallout that both Vault-Tec and the Enclave wanted the experiments, that didn’t explain why they were ordered. According to Tim Cain, the creator of the franchise, the underlying idea was that the Enclave thought that the threat of nuclear war made life on Earth unsustainable [via IGN]. For that reason, they intended to build a starship and colonize another planet. But prior to that, the Enclave wanted to use Vault-Tec’s experiments to gather data that would help ensure the best possible results of such a massive undertaking.

However, there are a lot of questions as to the canonicity of this part of Fallout lore. The idea has been around since Fallout 2, and was the subject of content that didn’t officially make it into the game. There have been vague references to this project in the Fallout games, but there’s no material that provides solid confirmation that the purpose of the experiments was to prepare for interplanetary travel. On account of that, there was a degree of mystery about the purpose of the experiments, creating room for Prime Video’s Fallout show to make some of its own additions to the lore.

Fallout’s New Vault-Tec Experiment Explanation Makes Perfect Sense For The Franchise

More so than the seemingly non-canon space travel idea, Barb’s speech in the Vault-Tec meeting serves as a fitting explanation for the horrors that went on in the Vaults. While aliens admittedly do exist in Fallout’s universe, the franchise rarely intersects with outer space, hence why Enclave planning to colonize another planet hardly meshed with the landscape of its world. Also, linking its bizarre experiments on human beings to intergalactic exploration would have been a huge leap for Fallout to make. Barb’s comments, on the other hand, offer a much more reasonable interpretation of what was motivating them.

In the context of Barb’s speech, it’s revealed that a major factor in all of this was competition. Vault-Tec felt that the “spirit of competition” would assist them in meeting their goals. By using this to spark the ambitions of several company figureheads, Vault-Tec was able to set the stage for experiments of all different kinds to be conducted across the country. And with the aim “tocreate the perfect conditions for humanity” setting such broad parameters for their work, it’s now easy to see why the experiments lacked consistency from Vault to Vault.

Furthermore, the promise that “no one needs to know” underscored the insidious nature of Vault-Tec’s plans in Fallout. The research practiced in the Vaults was strictly to the detriment of its test subjects, and in light of the shady meeting that set it all in motion, it’s not surprising that the Vaults went in the direction that they did. As Barb’s remark confirms, their leaders were promised that they had the freedom to do as they pleased and without having to answer to anyone. No restrictions only paved the way for the Vault’s Overseers to unleash their worst impulses.

Fallout’s New Vault-Tec Experiment Explanation Makes Perfect Sense For The Franchise

More so than the seemingly non-canon space travel idea, Barb’s speech in the Vault-Tec meeting serves as a fitting explanation for the horrors that went on in the Vaults. While aliens admittedly do exist in Fallout’s universe, the franchise rarely intersects with outer space, hence why Enclave planning to colonize another planet hardly meshed with the landscape of its world. Also, linking its bizarre experiments on human beings to intergalactic exploration would have been a huge leap for Fallout to make. Barb’s comments, on the other hand, offer a much more reasonable interpretation of what was motivating them.

Fallout’s New Vault-Tec Experiment Explanation Makes Perfect Sense For The Franchise

More so than the seemingly non-canon space travel idea, Barb’s speech in the Vault-Tec meeting serves as a fitting explanation for the horrors that went on in the Vaults. While aliens admittedly do exist in Fallout’s universe, the franchise rarely intersects with outer space, hence why Enclave planning to colonize another planet hardly meshed with the landscape of its world. Also, linking its bizarre experiments on human beings to intergalactic exploration would have been a huge leap for Fallout to make. Barb’s comments, on the other hand, offer a much more reasonable interpretation of what was motivating them.