The live-action series of the Fallout series has received international praise for its faithful reproduction of gameplay elements. Despite this, a small part of the show sparked a heated debate among fans about the "canonical history", a controversy that eventually prompted Bethesda's design director and lead writer to step in to explain.
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Set in the year 2296, the show tells the story of the heroine, Lucy, who leaves Vault 33 in Santa Monica, California, and enters a desolate world after the nuclear disaster. Since its premiere on April 11, it has a 94% freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes and an 86% viewer rating, showing the wide acceptance of the show by viewers.
It is revealed that Shady Sands, the capital of the New California Republic (NCR), an important city with a population of more than 30,000 mentioned in Fallout Generations 1 to 3, is no longer as prosperous as it once was. A blackboard timeline in the plot shows that the town of Shasa fell in 2277, which is also the year Fallout 3 takes place. However, due to the fact that Fallout 3 is set on the East Coast of the United States and has nothing to do with NCR, the town of Shasa is not mentioned in the game.
After "Fallout 3", "Fallout: New Vegas" launched by Obsidian Entertainment, although it took place on the West Coast of the United States in 2281, there was no mention of the fall of Sasa, and the "mushroom cloud" on the blackboard was speculated by the majority of players to be a nuclear bomb.
Todd Howard, CEO of B Society, once said in an interview with Vanity Fair that they see the live-action drama as a canonical history. This has led many fans to be confused about the timing of the fall of Sasa Town.
As the episode aired, controversy surfaced online about the fall of Shasa Town that did not correspond to the canonical history, as well as images of New Vegas. Some media and fans even suggested that Company B may intend to use the plot of the live-action drama to overturn the official history of non-Company B productions in the past. The controversy has sparked heated discussions in international forums.
In response, Emil Pagliarulo, the design director of Fallout at B Society, spoke out publicly, clarifying the timeline of the series and emphasizing on Twitter that he is serious about the canonical story. Mistakes and contradictions, he says, make him uncomfortable, and that the coherence of the story is crucial.
When asked if New Vegas is part of the canon, Emil Pagliarulo replied flatly: "Of course it is, we don't have a choice. ”
At the moment, what the live-action show reveals has not yet clearly stated how the time period shown in the show has changed, and what exactly happened to NCR in the plot could become the suspense of the next season.