According to one theory, Cooper Howard’s family in Fallout is actually being kept in a vault that fans of the games have already visited. The events of the Fallout season 1 finale turned the whereabouts of Barb and Janey Howard into a major mystery going into Fallout season 2. Upon catching up to Hank MacLean, Walton Goggins’ The Ghoul asked him the location of the two characters.

Based on this exchange, it can be assumed that the search for Barb and Janey will be a significant plot point and perhaps the focus of The Ghoul’s story when Prime Video’s show returns. Though exactly what happened after the bombs dropped – as seen in the series premiere – it seems The Ghoul is under the assumption that Vault-Tec managed to save both Barb and Janey by putting them in a vault. As for where they were taken, a seemingly inconsequential location in one of the Fallout games could hold the answer.

The Fallout Season 1 Finale Has a Massive Connection To Vault 21

A billboard directly name-drops a Fallout: New Vegas location (and secretly teases another)

The Fallout season 1 finale holds a subtle link to a specific vault from Fallout: New Vegas. A billboard in the credits serves as an advertisement for “cryo suites” at The Tops Hotel and Casino. An existing location in the Fallout franchise, the Tops was a large building that Fallout: New Vegas’ player character – known in-universe as the Courier – was free to explore. Notably, though, there were no cryopods to be found anywhere in the Tops. But that doesn’t mean the billboard is a plot hole, given that it’s also established in New Vegas that there’s a secret vault accessible from the Tops’ basement: Vault 21.

Why It Would Make Sense For Barb & Janey To Be In A New Vegas Vault (Like Vault 21)

There are multiple vaults in and around New Vegas

As noted by Barb herself, there’s over a hundred vaults in Fallout’s world, meaning there’s no shortage of places they could be, many of which being vaults that are completely new to the franchise. However, various story hints create evidence that the two may be in New Vegas. Hank was seen arriving at New Vegas (the titular setting of Fallout: New Vegas), plus Cooper theorized that he was looking for those in charge, insinuating that Hank knows where Vault-Tec management is. And as Barb’s ability to take command at the Vault-Tec meeting suggests, she’s most assuredly a member of management.

If Vault-Tec took care of its management in the same way that Bud’s program looked after “junior executives” like Betty and Hank, it stands to reason that they were placed in cryopods and locked away safely in a vault. With that in mind, it’s possible that Hank is looking for Vault-Tec management and preparing to wake them up. Hank’s destination being New Vegas makes sense, considering that it is the location of several vaults, with six being confirmed to exist in Fallout: New Vegas. That, combined with the billboard tease, supports the possibility that Vault 21 is important to Fallout season 2’s story.

Why Barb & Janey Being In Vault 21 Would Solve A Fallout: New Vegas Mystery

On the surface, it may seem as if Barb and Janey would have to be in a new, unexplored vault if they were in New Vegas, otherwise, the player would have come across a large storage of unopened cryopods. However, the game’s introduction of Vault 21 proves that’s not the case. Vault 21 couldn’t be fully explored in the game; what Vault-Tec had down there is a mystery even today. The reason for that relates to the fact that parts of Vault 21 were filled in with concrete. That naturally raised questions about why Vault 21 was partially sealed off and what’s down there that the player doesn’t get to see.

It goes without saying that this was an odd detail for Fallout: New Vegas to incorporate into the map. In regards to the reasons for this decision, they were mostly ambiguous, though it was known that Mr. House – New Vegas’ ruler – was behind it. Apparently, Mr. House arranged for the concrete to be poured into the lower levels so that it would be closed off for good. There was speculation that he did this as part of his plan to turn the area into a hotel and get the people living in the vault to join him, but even so, there remained a sense of mystery surrounding his method and motivations.

Why this mattered to him remained unclear in Fallout: New Vegas. But if Vault-Tac management was stationed down there, that could add a new perspective on Mr. House’s Vault 21 plans. One possibility is that Mr. House believed that Vault-Tec management posed a threat to his rule of New Vegas and didn’t want them waking up. Admittedly, such an opinion would be warranted when taking into consideration how both Vault-Tec and Mr. House had designs on the Wasteland. Neither would have been content with the other party being in a position to control the rebuilding of civilization.

Mr. House’s Fallout Season 1 Cameo Makes a Vault 21 Storyline More Likely

Supporting this idea that Fallout is setting up an exciting trip into Vault 21 in pursuit of Barb and Janey Howard is Mr. House’s surprise cameo. The founder of Rob-Co Industries, Mr. House represented his company at the Vault-Tec meeting and even inserted himself into the conversation. This gave the episode an additional Fallout: New Vegas Easter egg, but also added another building block for season 2. Now that Fallout has officially cast an actor for the live-action role of Mr. House, it has an easy way of clearing up old mysteries about his activities in the Fallout timeline.

With Barb and Janey’s current location, as well as Mr. House’s connection to Vault-Tec both being brought into focus in the Fallout season 1 finale, there’s a good chance the two stories will be connected in some way. It could be that if the show’s next flashback storyline dives into Mr. House’s dealings with Vault-Tec, it’ll culminate in some worthwhile reveals about Vault 21 and what became of Vault-Tec management. And even if Barb and Janey were in Vault 21 but were moved out after the concrete was added, such a major discovery would still be a big stepping stone toward Cooper completing his search.