Warning: Spoilers for Fallout season 1
Summary
- Fallout show explores an unexpected origin story for a Fallout 4 character through flashbacks and new vaults in the franchise lore.
- Sebastian Leslie's Hollywood character Bartholomew Codsworth has a surprising link to Fallout 4's robot butler, voiced by Matt Berry.
- Rob-Co Industries, not General Atomics, is implied to be behind Codsworth's creation in Fallout season 1, uncovering new details in the lore.
Thanks to Prime Video's Walton Goggins' The Ghoul, Ella Purnell's Lucy MacLean, and Aaron Moten's Maximus, are all new additions to the canon, that's not to say Fallout doesn't acknowledge any of the games' existing characters.
Through a series of flashbacks to The Ghoul's past, Prime Video's series was able to explore the backstory behind Fallout's apocalypse from the perspective of someone who was acutely aware of Vault-Tec's preparation for the event. Because of his marriage to Barb, a person who apparently held a lot of authority in the company, Cooper Howard - the survivor who eventually evolved into The Ghoul - interacted with a variety of figures associated with Vault-Tec. These conversations yielded some interesting reveals, including one with a surprising link to a Fallout 4 companion.
How Many Vaults Exist In Fallout
Prime Video's Fallout TV show adds to the lore of the post-apocalyptic video game series by exploring new vaults in the existing canon.
One Of Cooper Howard's Friends In Hollywood Had A Role In Codsworth's Creation
Codsworth's voice belongs to a movie star
As it turns out, one of Cooper Howard's friends in the acting business, Sebastian Leslie, had a direct role in the origin story of Codsworth, a robot who can the player's adventure in Fallout 4. In the game, the Vault Dweller controlled by the player begins the game with a robot butler named Codsworth. Speaking with a British accent and using a very formal tone, Codsworth is a loyal ally to the main character programmed to serve the protagonist and their family. Apparently, Codsworth's formal but friendly persona and voice were provided by Sebastian Leslie.
In Fallout season 1, episode 6, Sebastian jokingly spoke in character as Codsworth during his exchange with Cooper, and even referred to himself as "Bartholomew Codsworth." Sebastian explained that he sold his "vocal records," which were being used to voice a servant robot. The use of the "Codsworth" name, combined with the explanation about butler robots, confirms that this was how the Fallout 4 character wound up with his winning personality. He was programmed to talk like that using recordings from a Hollywood actor, which were actually purchased cheap.
It would seem that the the "Codsworth" identity was not created by the company that built the robot, nor was the actor responsible. When told about the deal, Cooper said, "I thought the studio owned that character." Apparently, a butler named Bartholomew Codsworth was a role Leslie played in one of his movies. The rights to the film was purchased, allowing engineers to use the character in combination with Leslie's voice to make Fallout 4's Codsworth robot. And since it was said that Leslie was given one of his own as partial compensation, it can be assumed that multiple versions of the Codsworth model were produced.
Who Made Codsworth & The Mr. Handy Robots
Large tech corporations had hands in Codworth's construction
In the Fallout games, Codsworth represents a specific type of robot in the franchise. There are all sorts of different robots or automatons, each with their own uses. One of them is Mr. Handy, a utility robot designed for cleaning and other daily tasks. It's understood in Fallout's games that Mr. Handy - and by extension, Codsworth - was created by General Atomics International, one of the most powerful corporations in its world. They were in business with Fallout's Vault-Tec, which explains why many of General Atomics' products can be found inside the vaults in Fallout games.
Interestingly, Fallout episode 6's surprise Codsworth reveal doesn't make any mention of General Atomics International's role in the robot's creation. Instead, it infers that another corporation is behind its existence. Sebastian mentioned to Cooper that it was Rob-Co that bought the rights to Codsworth from the movie studio that owned the character. This would indicate that Rob-Co Industries, one of the evil corporations represented in the meeting in the Fallout season 1 finale, is the real reason Codsworth was created. This is in line with the games, considering that it's been known since Fallout: New Vegas that Rob-Co designed at least one of the Mr. Handy models from General Atomics.
Who Plays The Original Codsworth In Fallout's Show
Matt Berry plays the actor behind the Codsworth persona
While Sebastian Leslie's Codsworth impression sounds a lot like the Fallout 4 character, it's not the actual voice of the Codsworth robot in the game. In Fallout 4, Codsworth was voiced by Stephen Russell, an actor who's lent his voice to several Fallout characters over the years. In a nod to the character's future role, Sebastian Leslie, he was portrayed by Matt Berry in Fallout episode 6. In a nod to Leslie's new place in the lore, Berry also voices the show's Mr. Handy. While bringing back Russell for both roles would have been an appropriate move for the show, Berry does deliver a convincing rendition of the Fallout 4 companion.
Fallout
- Release Date
- April 10, 2024
- Showrunner
- Lisa Joy, Jonathan Nolan
- Writers
- Lisa Joy, Jonathan Nolan
Cast
Lucy MacLean
Aaron MotenMaximus
WHERE TO WATCH
- Seasons
- 1
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