Warning: SPOILERS ahead for Fallout season 1!

Summary

• The Fallout TV series is part of official Fallout timeline, with Todd Howard and Jonathan Nolan confirming references to games like New Vegas are purposeful to build the timeline.
• Producers focused on consistency with the game universe, with the timeline shifting to after the New Vegas bombing.
• Since the TV show is officially part of the game timeline, it's possible the future Fallout 5 will make references to its events.

Fallout executive producers Todd Howard and Jonathan Nolan have clarified the timeline of the series, revealing how the TV show fits into the canon of the games - including Fallout: New Vegas. The series takes place in 2296, following the Vault Dweller Lucy as she ventures into the wasteland of former Los Angeles. The series features references to games in the franchise, seemingly posturing it as part of the official timeline of the universe.

Speaking with official Fallout timeline, clarifying where it fits together with the game series. The executive producers explained what it was like balancing ideas for the series while making sure they didn't break the canon of the games. They also confirmed that the bombing of Shady Sands did happen in the official timeline, just after the events of New Vegas. Check out what Howard and Nolan had to say below:

Todd Howard: [W]e talked through it and it was, ‘This would be a pretty impactful story moment that a lot of things anchor on.' We’re careful about the timeline. There might be a little bit of confusion in some places. But everything that happened in the previous games, including New Vegas, happened. We’re very careful about that. All I can say is we’re threading it tighter there, but the bombs fall just after the events of New Vegas.... [I wanted something that] would stand up as another entry in the series as opposed to retelling one of the games we did and sort of treat it like we do a game and move the timeline forward and do some great things. And that’s what [Nolan] was thinking as well.

Jonathan Nolan: Everyone who worked on Fallout, all the games, were so respectful and so careful to keep this consistent universe. If we’d gone a different direction, the show would be the only thing that doesn’t fit with that universe... We didn’t want to be in our own private corner of an elseworld or a different universe. I think that will be less meaningful to me watching the series, to know it was completely divorced from the reality of the games.

What The Fallout TV Series Being Canon To The Games Means For The Franchise

The new TV series was previously indicated to be in the same canon of the games, with the show itself making plenty of references to the Fallout games. The plot also introduces familiar names and locations, with Shady Sands, Vault-Tec, and Mr. House all making significant appearances in the series. Just the presence of ideas central to the game series, coupled with the show taking place after the events of everything that's come before, signaled it could be canon to the games' timeline.

With Howard and Nolan's clarification, it seems the Fallout series is central to the overarching plot of the franchise, just as important to the timeline as the games are. This means the fall of Shady Sands as well as revelations about the Great War of 2077 are all part of the same timeline as the game series. It also sets the stage for the previously announced Fallout 5, which can now freely reference the TV shows characters and events, since they both take place in the same world.

Given the confirmation of how official the series' story is to the rest of the timeline, it's possible the show is setting the stage for what happens in future games. The possibility of Fallout season 2 could also strengthen the timeline, having Lucy's story start weaving its way into ideas that could then making their way into future games. Now that the show's place in the timeline has been confirmed, it could start making even more direct references to the game series and what played out in possible future seasons.

All episodes of Fallout are streaming on Prime Video.

Source: IGN