Fallout

cabbitcabbit · 2026-01-15T01:35:41-0500

Cybsled said:
More than likely - we know House never gets the cold fusion device, but the Enclave did have it by the time we see it in season 1.

I strongly suspect the cryotubes we saw in the episode are a red herring as well - they'll probably be empty and Barb will be at an Enclave facility. House mentions Barb was signing off on all the vaults and the Enclave scientist in s1 knew about Lucy and her vault, which would suggest they were being fed updated information on the vaults. It would also explain why Coop didn't get to go with Barb - The Enclave would have allowed the kid out of pragmatism, but an adult that isn't aligned with them? Barb would have abandoned him because it would at least mean a chance at life vs. certain death by the Enclave.

My #3 suspect for Enclave is Stephanie (even though she is Canadian). If Hank is Enclave, then by extension Stephanie probably is because she specifically requested an item from Hank's quarters (probably FEV vials).

The Claudia girl that is being friendly with Norm could be a plant too. This episode did sell a bit more the "innocent person caught up in a Vault Tec experiment", but she could be a honeypot. Norm does have very good computer skills and the Enclave isn't above recruiting sufficiently pure humans if they have needed skill sets and demonstrate they're on board with everything. Given he has been in a vault this entire time and assuming his dad is Enclave, that could give him an in. I don't think Vault 33 is surviving the season and they'll need to give him a plotline when all that goes to shit. Having him serve as the viewer's eyes in The Enclave could be a possible plotline in s3 if they go there.

I think Barb being Enclave is the most likely suspicion. They’d never let a filthy Canadian into their order since American Purity is their core tenet.

Xevy · 2026-01-15T01:52:44-0500

Cybsled said:
More than likely - we know House never gets the cold fusion device, but the Enclave did have it by the time we see it in season 1.

I strongly suspect the cryotubes we saw in the episode are a red herring as well - they'll probably be empty and Barb will be at an Enclave facility. House mentions Barb was signing off on all the vaults and the Enclave scientist in s1 knew about Lucy and her vault, which would suggest they were being fed updated information on the vaults. It would also explain why Coop didn't get to go with Barb - The Enclave would have allowed the kid out of pragmatism, but an adult that isn't aligned with them? Barb would have abandoned him because it would at least mean a chance at life vs. certain death by the Enclave.

My #3 suspect for Enclave is Stephanie (even though she is Canadian). If Hank is Enclave, then by extension Stephanie probably is because she specifically requested an item from Hank's quarters (probably FEV vials).

The Claudia girl that is being friendly with Norm could be a plant too. This episode did sell a bit more the "innocent person caught up in a Vault Tec experiment", but she could be a honeypot. Norm does have very good computer skills and the Enclave isn't above recruiting sufficiently pure humans if they have needed skill sets and demonstrate they're on board with everything. Given he has been in a vault this entire time and assuming his dad is Enclave, that could give him an in. I don't think Vault 33 is surviving the season and they'll need to give him a plotline when all that goes to shit. Having him serve as the viewer's eyes in The Enclave could be a possible plotline in s3 if they go there.

It gets deeper:

Maybe Barb has been out a while and Claudia is actually Howard and Barb's daughter grown up. Could still be an Enclave operative all grown up and trained by Barb. Something definitely felt off about her and she was ambiguously ethnic.

We're 100% getting Super Mutants vs DeathClaws. Not this season, maybe, but sometime. Sometime.

Cybsled · 2026-01-15T10:05:22-0500

For that to work, you'd have to have Claudia grow up THEN get put on cryo in Vault 31. Plus risking her being exposed to FEV? Not saying it is impossible, but that would involve a lot of good plausible writing to make work.

I do think Coop's daughter being grown up is very likely, though. Kids grow up and the longer a show goes on, the harder it becomes to pass the same actor off as a kid.

Wombat · 2026-01-15T13:27:15-0500

Coop's kid aging out will be a problem, like in all TV shows. Hell, when she answered the door earlier this season, there was some weird artifacting that had me wonder if they didn't digitally alter her height.

It'll be even worse if they go earlier in the timeline to cover New Plague material.

I don't think Claudia is Coop's kid, but I do assume it's all an act and she's actually Enclave.