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Fallout TV Show: How did the Great War start?
The Fallout series paints a post-apocalyptic world ravaged by nuclear war but who fired the first shot one of the series’ great mysteries.
Vault doors open! The Fallout TV show landed on Amazon Prime Video on 10 April, 2024. Witness a wasteland brought to life, delve into the lore, and see what secrets Vault-Tec may be hiding.
The series takes place in a world ravaged by a nuclear war between the US and China. In the games that the new series is based upon, players navigate a wasteland filled with mutants, raiders, and remnants of past civilisations.
The games are known for their dark humor, retro-futuristic aesthetic, and player choice-driven narratives.
Breaking down the lore: the Sino-American War
Traditionally, the games haven’t explicitly pointed fingers. Decades of resource conflicts between the United States and China culminated in the Sino-American War of 2077. We see glimpses of this war fought on Alaskan soil with Chinese paratroopers in the opening of ‘Fallout 4′. However, tensions only escalated.
Nuclear bombs rained down, transforming a once-familiar world into a wasteland. The answer may lie buried in the ruins, waiting to be unearthed by future Vault Dwellers.
China is often cast as the aggressor, possibly launching nuclear strikes in a final act of desperation. The concept of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) adds another layer. If one side felt defeat was imminent, they might resort to nuclear weapons, even knowing it would be suicidal.
Leonard Boyarsky, co-creator of Fallout, stated that he thought it should not really matter who started it. Some fan theories suggest Vault-Tec, the corporation behind the underground vaults supposedly built to preserve humanity, might have orchestrated the war itself.