Fans new and old have been singing almost nothing but praise for Prime Video’s Fallout show. Based on the award-winning and beloved video game series of the same name, just about every Fallout story thrusts viewers into a wholly unique vision of a futuristic America. One where a retrofuturistic utopia has crumbled into a nuclear irradiated Wasteland, the denizens of which are in a constant fight for survival. Fans of the games have acclaimed the Fallout show’s extreme faithfulness to the source material, being packed to the brim with too many Easter eggs and references to count. The creative decision to have the Fallout show take place in the same continuity as the games rather than adapting a specific entry from the long-running franchise. That doesn’t mean established characters, storylines, and locations can’t still appear in the show, and the ending of Fallout features a location that definitely ends a longstanding debate within the Fallout fandom.

The Ending of ‘Fallout’ Sees Hank Arrive at New Vegas

The bulk of Fallout Season 1 largely revolves around the main Vault-dwelling protagonist Lucy (Ella Purnell) searching for her father, Hank (Kyle MacLachlan), who has been abducted by a New California Repbulic sympathizer named Lee Moldaver (Sarita Choudhury). After trekking across a dangerous, irradiated Wasteland, Lucy finally finds her father, but soon learns some terrible secrets. Not only is Hank a Vault-Tec employee that was alive in pre-war America, but he’s also the one that dropped a nuke on Shady Sands and turned Lucy’s mother into a feral ghoul. Before Lucy can even comprehend the atrocities Hank is guilty of, Hank steals Maximus’ (Aaron Moten) power armor and makes a daring escape.

The final scene of Fallout Season 1 drops the bombshell reveal of where Hank is headed. After trekking through a deadly desert for who knows how long, Hank finally looks over the horizon to see New Vegas – one of the most popular locations from the Fallout game series. The city has certainly seen better days, and it’s not currently clear what Hank is looking for in the city, perhaps seeking out the former RobCo CEO Robert House (played by Rafi Silver, who we briefly met during a flashback earlier in the same episode). Regardless of what might be in store for Season 2, the appearance of New Vegas in Fallout Season 1 is definitive evidence that one of the franchise’s best games is still canonical.

What is ‘Fallout: New Vegas’?

For those unfamiliar with the game series that the show is based on, Fallout: New Vegas is one of the best and unique entries in the franchise. There are several reasons for the game’s unique identity, and much of it comes from the fact that the game was developed as a spin-off by Obsidian Entertainment rather than the main series developer, Bethesda Game Studios. Taking place a few years after the events of Fallout 3 (the game even uses the exact same game engine), Fallout: New Vegas thrusts players into a post-apocalyptic Nevada, where they become engulfed in an unusual conspiracy.

Fallout: New Vegas has players fill the shoes of an amorphous individual known only as “The Courier”, who embarks on a quest for revenge after being shot and left for dead by a gangster named Benny (Matthew Perry). The Courier ventures across the Wasteland to find Benny, with their journey finally taking them to New Vegas. As the city’s name implies, New Vegas is the revitalized version of Las Vegas, being one of the few parts of the country to not be destroyed in the nuclear war thanks to Mr. House.

Obsidian Entertainment has a long history in the role-playing game genre, and they’ve become very well-known for their open-ended approach to their worlds and stories. Where even the best RPGs have stringent restrictions for the benefit of their games’ stories (including Bethesda Game Studios’ Fallout games), Fallout: New Vegas allows players the freedom to do almost anything they please. It’s a level of creative freedom that’s comparable to something on the scale of Baldur’s Gate III, and it’s why so many still return to the game to this very day.

‘Fallout: New Vegas’ Hasn’t Been Frequently Acknowledged by Bethesda

Due to the game being so open-ended, Fallout: New Vegas is the one game in the series that does not have a canonical ending. While every game in the franchise allows for player choice to various extents, they still have endings that have been confirmed by Bethesda as canon. Not only has Bethesda not confirmed which ending, if any, of New Vegas is canonical, but the game developer has rarely acknowledged the game’s existence since its release.

Some fans have interpreted Bethesda’s lack of acknowledgment of Fallout: New Vegas as a sign that the game as a whole is not canon. Some even suggest that the reasoning for this is because Bethesda is “jealous” of Obsidian for creating one of the game franchise’s most popular entries, but this is a largely unfounded accusation. It’s also worth acknowledging that, while Bethesda hasn’t regularly acknowledged New Vegas in subsequent games like Fallout 4, they’ve never explicitly stated the game isn’t canon.

Perhaps in a bid to avoid further confusion, Bethesda Game Studios director Todd Howard definitively debunked rumors that New Vegas is not canon. With Season 2 confirmed to explore New Vegas as a location, Howard said “We’re careful about maintaining the key events of that game and the great content in it”. It also appears that Bethesda wants to keep the open-ended nature that makes Fallout: New Vegas so special intact, with statements implying that the show might not reveal which ending is considered canon. That may or may not be the case when Season 2 comes around, but it seems like its safe to say that Fallout: New Vegas is canon.

Fallout Season 1 is currently streaming on Prime Video, with Season 2 currently in development.