When does the Fallout TV show take place?
Prime VideoThe Fallout timeline spans hundreds of years, from our shared history into a terrifying, scorched-Earth future — so, when exactly does the new TV show take place?
“Fallout” is basically gaming shorthand for “post-apocalyptic”, with each game pitting players against the American wasteland decades in the future.
The new series, developed by Westworld’s Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy, isn’t a direct adaptation of any title in the franchise. It’s an original story with survivors: Lucy (Ella Purnell), who leaves Vault 33 to find her dad in the real world; Maximus (Aaron Moten), an aspirant in the Brotherhood of Steel; and the Ghoul (Walton Goggins), a mutated gunslinger wandering California’s lawless lands.
If you want to know exactly when the TV show takes place compared to the other Fallout games, or maybe missed a few details when you were watching it, we’ve got you covered.
Fallout TV show timeline explained
The Fallout TV show takes place in 2296. This makes it the the furthest expansion of the universe’s timeline to date.
Below, we’ve listed all of the games and when they take place compared to the TV series:
- Fallout 76 — 2102-2104
- Fallout — 2161
- Fallout 2 — 2241
- Fallout 3 — 2277
- Fallout: New Vegas — 2281
- Fallout 4 — 2287
- Fallout (TV show) — 2296
In the simplest terms, Fallout is an alternate universe with history that’s similar to our own… before World War II, that is. From there, things get a bit wonky, mostly due to the world’s focus on nuclear energy, leaving it in a bizarre retro-futuristic state; pop culture didn’t really evolve past the 1950s, but extraordinary technology still emerged, like personal robots and Pip-Boy.
As Fallout 2 explained, “the end of the world occurred pretty much as we had predicted. Too many humans, not enough space or resources to go around. The details are trivial and pointless, the reasons, as always, purely human ones.”
On October 23, 2077, tensions between the US and China culminated in the Great War, a two-hour exchange of atomic weaponry that plunged the world into a nuclear holocaust. While the most recent game, Fallout 76 is the earliest chronologically, with the player emerging from their vault 25 years later.
You can also read our review of the Fallout TV series, check out its incredible soundtrack, and find out what other TV shows you should be streaming this month.
