[Exclusive] Jonathan Nolan Confirms Fallout Season 2 “Abandons Any Outcome” Where Mr. House Doesn’t Survive

During a press junket for Amazon Prime’s Fallout Season 2, we got the chance to speak to director Jonathan Nolan and quiz him on the topics fans are anxious to learn more about. With the show officially heading to the City of Sin, the question that sat at the top of our list was whether the second season would finally give Fallout: New Vegas a canon ending.

The canon, or ‘best ending’ for FNV is among the most divisive questions in all gaming. Obsidian’s 2010 classic posits four opposing worldviews and governing systems in front of the player, calling on them to pick the best direction for the Mojave Wasteland. It’s a choice loaded with consequences, as every option demands sacrifices of some sort. Thanks to some excellent writing, the game also ensures that there’s actual validity to every route, which is why you’ll find an infinite number of Reddit threads with fans passionately defending their stance.

In an effort to preserve this wonderful ambiguity, Fallout Season 2 doesn’t outright adapt one of the endings as the indisputed canon. But according to Nolan, one iconic character’s survival did inform their creative decisions.

The House Always Survives in the Fallout: New Vegas Canon

When asked whether it was difficult to pick a canon ending for Fallout: New Vegas, Nolan stated,

“We didn’t pick. And I think that was crucial. How could you pick? I think certain decisions steered us a little bit.” – Jonathan Nolan

He continued, “House is one of my favorite characters from that game, so I think we abandoned any outcome in which House couldn’t be part of the story, as people will discover as they make their way through it.“

As fans will know, Mr. House, or Robert House, is one of the three major players in the Mojave. He’s the sole proprietor of New Vegas and the Strip, and FNV’s ‘The House Always Wins’ ending sees him tighten his grip over the wasteland. It’s also the only ending in the game where House survives, and according to Nolan, his survival is indeed the canon outcome. Of course, this doesn’t mean that the Courier helping House is the official ending. But we now know that the pre-war billionaire lives on in his stasis chamber no matter which route you pick.

Nolan went on to mention that Season 2 “honors the ambiguity” of the game but keeps things going in the spirit of organic continuity:

“I’m now, you know, old enough to have seen that you reach these moments in history where it feels like, ‘Oh, this has been decided once and for all,’ and it’s like, ‘No, no it has not.” – Jonathan Nolan

“And so embracing that idea that yes, in the wasteland of the Mojave, 15 years later, things would have moved on. And that many of these factions might imagine or might tell the story of how they won that particular conflict (Second Battle of Hoover Dam) was an irony that I thought was too delicious not to incorporate.”

It’ll be interesting to see how these ideas are represented on the screen and how receptive diehard fans of the game will be towards them.