For over a decade now, fans of Fallout New Vegas have traded theories like their bottle caps over a specific hole in the Mojave's map, Vault 24. Mentioned in abandoned code, but never physically accessible in the game, it became a piece of gaming lore. It was a cut concept that left completionists wondering if it was a developer oversight or a deliberate mystery.
With the premiere of Fallout season 2, the showrunners haven't just acknowledged the oversight; they've made it a full-on central location in Episode 1, thereby bridging the gap between cut game content and prestige television. However you look at it, this is proof that no detail in the Fallout universe is too small to be resurrected.
In the original 2010 release of New Vegas, Vault 24 existed only as a string of data. While players could explore vaults 3, 11, 19, 21, and 22, vault 24 remained something of a phantom. Players could uncover a suit from the mysterious vault hidden within the game's code, but little else.
For years, members of the community speculated on what the vault was meant to be, with one theory suggesting that Vault 24 was intended to be the control vault for the Mojave. By bringing it into the live-action canon, season 2 rewards the most dedicated segment of the fan base, while also answering questions seeded into the DNA of this post-apocalyptic world.
It turns out that the speculation over Vault 24 was pretty much off base, though the mystery still remains despite what's been revealed. When Lucy and the ghoul stumble upon the trashed facility beneath the Starlight Drive-In, they don't find a control vault at all. Instead, they discover a chamber of horrors dedicated to ideological subversion.
According to what we can gather from the episode, Vault 24 was a testing ground for forced communist brainwashing. Our main duo finds skeletons strapped into chairs in what appears to be Soviet garb with their eyes forced open in front of looping propaganda videos. It's a horrific sight, and along with everything else they uncover, it proves Vault-Tec was experimenting with the mind control device used by Robert House at the top of the episode.
This is why Hank McClean specifically chose Vault 24 to stop by on his route to New Vegas. He was collecting the control chip, which he presumably worked on in some capacity prior to the whole end-of-the-world thing. At the very least, it's something he was aware of.
So, as you can see, introducing Vault 24 is a significant step for the franchise. It takes what was once just a wayward file buried in code and makes it a real location with a real purpose. And that purpose is likely to be a major element throughout season 2. With Robert House positioned as a major antagonist moving forward and the mind control chip at the center of his plans, there's little doubt that we'll learn so much more as the season progresses.
But hey, that's all we know so far. Do you have any theories? Let me know in the comments. And thank you for watching Screen Rants.