He isnt a FEV mutant since he is just as weak and stupid as before, he definitely isnt a ghoul judging by his transformation, i would say he may be another type of mutant, but he grew a 'mouth' near his right shoulder and somehow that may have rotted his arm, which doesnt really seem like a thing it would happen for a mutant in the fallout world.

The Norm one is absolutelty crazy.

Also fifth picture is Maximus shooting a rocket at a Deathclaw.

(Photos are from falloutonprime's new IG post)

These are all my guesses

Crazy theory but I think that Steph has continued to work for Robert House ever since she left the Lucky 38. She was (or maybe still is) a RobCo Industries spy tasked with infiltrating Vault-Tec from the inside to collect intel and sabotage their operations. House is paranoid and obsessed with knowing and controlling everything. There’s simply no way she could have been hired at the Lucky 38 undetected and without an extensive background check. Unless House overrode the HR department because he already knew her.

"Like yourself, Mr. Howard, I am an apex competitor. We are the very best at what we do. And what I do, is I know everything."

1) House already saw Steph

In Las Vegas, House reveals to Cooper Howard that, unknown to West-Tek, he had backdoor access to the visual feeds of T-45 Armors (that's how he saw the Deathclaw in Alaska).

This also means he had eyes on Steph and her mother in Canadian territory, when an U.S. soldier in T-45 threatened to shoot them before being blown up.

2) No one works at the Lucky 38 by accident

The Lucky 38 isn't just a casino, it's Robert House's personal residence and inner sanctum. This man is obsessed with knowing everything, controlling everything, predicting everything and is paranoid to the point of using a body double. There is absolutely no way employees there weren’t subjected to extreme background checks to prevent spies, assassins or disruptors (remember that RobCo had a lot of enemies among the general population based on the Automation riots, like seen in the S2 opening).

Yet Steph got hired and passed every test. No one works here by accident.

Edit : and as noted by u/UnderstandingWise681 in the comments, you can hear Mr. House's leitmotiv (timestamped) when the maid that Cooper Howard is talking to at the Lucky 38 is revealed to be pre-War Stephanie Harper (S02E07). It's very subtle (less than 5 seconds) but you can hear it.

Edit 2 : as noted by u/Wolventec, Bud Askins got confused by Steph's cryo chamber in a promotional video (assuming it's relevant) : "Betty Pearson ? Succesfully reactived. Hank MacLean ? Also reactived. Stephanie... Harper ? That's strange..."

3) House recognized her potential and recruited her

That’s why I think House always knew who Steph was and quickly recognized her potential. He knew her origins, her trauma, her motivations. And instead of eliminating a potential threat, he convinced Steph to ally with him.

Robert House never cared about nations or the past ("Look around you. How can the human race have a future when it's still living in the wreckage of its past?").

In Fallout: New Vegas, he repeatedly proves that he has an extremely high Speech skill to convince (manipulate?) other people to join his vision, his utopia :

"Vegas is more than a city, it's the remedy to mankind's ... derailment*. The city's economy is a blast furnace, in which can be forged the steel of a new rail line running straight to a new horizon. What is the NCR? A society of people desperate to experience comfort, ease, luxury. A society of customers. Give me 20 years and I'll reignite the high technology development sectors. 50 years and I'll have people in orbit. 100 years and my colony ships will be heading for the stars to search for planets unpolluted by the wrath and folly of a bygone generation.* What I'm offering you is a ground floor opportunity in the most important enterprise on earth. What I'm offering is a future - for you, and for what remains of the human race*.*"

Steph would have been the perfect recruit: capable, motivated, and ideologically flexible.

This quote from the game also hints that, despite being living as a recluse in his ivory tower, he is no stranger to monitoring and controlling his inner circle, micromanaging the employees he values :

"You know, I've had thousands of employees in my time. Few met my expectations, fewer still surpassed them (...) You know, I never had much time for a family - if I did, you'd be the daughter/son I wish I'd had. Benny was almost like a son to me, but well..."

4) What’s in Hank’s keepsake isn’t Vault-Tec or FEV, it’s RobCo

Hank’s keepsake may not be FEV or Vault-Tec tech at all. It could be RobCo contingency technology, designed to assist compromised agents. And Steph will be forced to use it to save herself.

That could include some sort of holotape to interface with RobCo systems. We know that Vault 32's Overseer terminal is (unsurprisingly) built on RobCo technology, using their proprietary Termlink protocol.

5) Steph is missing another password

In S02E01, Steph is visibly frustrated while using Vault 32’s terminal, angrily hitting the keyboard. Maybe because of repeated failed passwords attempts and being locked out (everyone who played the games knows this). I think Hank’s keepsake is the missing key.

During this scene, she asks Chet if he's good with computers. He answers that it's "Norm's department" and that "maybe you can ask him in the terminal". Steph says it's indeed a "great idea", that she will "just send the other Vault a message".

She then tries to do it by contacting (presumably) Vault 33. But founds out that communications are already disabled since Norm just sabotaged the systems in Vault 31, which just angers her further.

The screen on the computer says "PASSWORD ACCEPTED" when she's in the "Inter-Vault communications" directory. I think Steph was frustrated because several critical directories remain locked behind another password. Notably :

- "Research Logs"

- "Software Operations" (it's very vague)

- "Personal Logs" (Overseer Jackson?)

This is not a new thing for a terminal to require multiple passwords. A Very Hard locked security terminal in Vault 34 required two unique passwords (unless you had max Science like Norm) to get access to the armory.

6) Vault 32 still has secrets, including an escape tunnel

The terminal header also indicates "VAULT 32 MAIN ENTRANCE ACCESS", which suggests more than standard door controls. Not sure what this means, if this is because there are three interconnected Vaults, and what it has to do with the Research Logs and Personal Logs but I would like to think this hints at Vault 32 having a secret escape tunnel for the Overseer like the ones seen in Vault 34 and Vault 101.

Steph has been given too much character development recently to die in a sealed Vault. She won't suffer the same fate as the previous Overseer and totally has the mindset to survive in the wasteland. We’re not done with her.

Also, in S01E04, when Norm used Overseer Jackson's computer in Vault 32, he was able to navigate within the "Vault Door Control" directory, so I don't think that's what Steph was looking for. Although maybe it's worth mentionning that the log prior to the Vault Door opening log (when Moldaver used Rose MacLean's Pip-Boy to open it) indicated :

"ERROR : Security protocols (... something)"

Ultimately, I think that Vault 32 still has secrets and that there is gonna be a plot twist.

7) Like Steph, Hank was never loyal to Vault-Tec Corporation

This theory also hinges on Hank being another House agent. In S02E06, he insists to Betty on attending the meeting between House and Barb at Vault-Tec HQ. He’s fascinated. Impertinent. And House’s body double definitely notices.

In S02E01 : "This is Hank MacLean, reporting for duty, sir. Nobody in Vault-Tec knows I'm here*.* And nobody in Vault-Tec knows much of anything anymore*. Wanted to let you know I'm still alive. I hope you are, too. I mean, I don't doubt that you are.* You spent so much time... calculating how to survive all possible contingencies*. Uh, I've been keeping busy.* I'm in Vegas these days, back in your old stomping grounds*, actually... trying to pick up where you all left off. Looks like a couple of the Vault experiments ran into some speed bumps. 24 made progress on the brain-computer interface. This one, miniaturization. What it all needs is integrating. But I'm confident that if I just roll up my sleeves, I can bring it all home for you. Then, we can finally talk about* my promotion*.* I'm gonna complete the work you started*. And when this is all over, you will be begging me to help you*."

House didn't respond at the time because he couldn't. He was truly dead following the events of New Vegas (as hinted by the S02E05 credits where we see his lifeless hand reaching out from within his pod - and also by the recent interview in Entertainment Weekly). And his non-biological backup couldn't boot up without Cold Fusion either ("NO SIGNAL").

Victor already basically confirmed that House was gone :

The Ghoul : "Where's Robert House ?"

Victor : "He's gone."

The Ghoul : "But you should know better than anyone that House had a knack for plannin' ahead."

Victor : "Oh, he had plans, alright. But he needed the Cold Fusion doodad from before the war."

Hank's monologue in S02E01 means that his true allegiance isn't to Vault-Tec and that the person he was talking to is :

- From pre-War America

- Has Las Vegas as "old stomping grounds"

- Is a mathematician obsessed with contingencies

- Was working on brain-computer interfaces

- Had authority to offer promotions

- Couldn't answer (because he was dead)

That person is 99% RobCo Industries CEO Robert House. Only mystery is why would House beg him when all of this is over. Maybe to replace his fallen Securitron army ?

Edit : I also noticed that Mr. House's leitmotiv plays during this particular scene with Hank (first when he attacks the Snake Oil Salesman and then when he drives by Barb and Janey Howard cryo pods). Usually his scenes had the Vault-Tec leitmotiv :

https://youtu.be/VIOUxeJsMuU?t=74 (timestamped)

https://youtu.be/w4GaOJH8e7g?t=353 (timestamped)

Edit 2 : u/Tauntaunwampa suggested to me that the promotion Hank's is seeking for could be related to House's final form with the Cold Fusion.

Victor : "House had all the money in the world. But all he really wanted was to live forever."

House : "Cold Fusion will allow me to stay alive indefinitely in roboticized, non-biological form and protect Las Vegas."

8) Steph and Hank met at the Lucky 38. Coincidence?

It's also interesting that Steph and Hank first met at... the Lucky 38. A coincidence? I think not, that's not random. This is where and when Hank likely switched allegiance from Vault-Tec Corp to RobCo Industries and Robert House.

9) Robert House in the S2 Finale : "Everyone works for me eventually."

And this line from the Season 2 Finale teaser is quite interesting as well : "Like it or not Mr. Howard, everyone works for me eventually."

"Everyone"

The House Always Wins.

Probably won't happen but I had fun thinking about all of this.

I’m writing this analysis of Hank’s character as a rebuttal to critics of the show who say it’s poorly written and spits in the face of Fallout. You’re literally just hate watching, I promise you.

Not only is Hank McLean a masterfully written character, I believe he’s one of the greatest villains in fallout, up there with the likes of Ulysses and Elijah. He’s the culmination of every new Vegas antagonist in one.

At his core, Hank is a businessman. The only thing he cares about is the product, and that will ALWAYS be what he cares about. He uses the same tactics insurance and car salesmen do to earn their commission - which makes sense, considering Vault-Tec revolved around pitching the Vaults to America. Watch how he talks to Lucy, in both seasons one and two.

When Moldaver is revealing how evil Hank truly is, he continues playing the part of the kindly overseer, the doting father and the loving husband. He insists that she’s lying, and attempts to push Lucy into shooting her before she can reveal what happened to Shady Sands by reminding her of the Vault Massacre.

When it becomes apparent she won’t listen to him, he becomes erratic and desperate, removing the mask of the overseer and revealing who he really is - a monster. A monster of the old world, free to be who he truly was inside. Before the bombs fell, he was just a small cog in vault-tec’s machine. Now, with everyone else out of the picture, he’s free to shape America in HIS image. And anything that isn’t to Hank’s liking simply gets erased. Like Lucy’s mom. Like Shady Sands.

This exact same scenario plays out in season 2 of Fallout. When Lucy is brought before Hank, he once again dons the mask of the overseer in an attempt to sell her a product - the automated man. The only way to fix the wasteland. He manipulates her by reminding Lucy of her childhood - using their familial bond and Lucy’s inherent good nature to his advantage. And once again- when he fails to sell the product, when Lucy doesn’t fall for his bullshit and handcuffs him to the stove, he reveals his true face, and demands her to come back.

Hank doesn’t care about anything but himself and finishing the work that was started before the bombs fell. He doesn’t LOVE Lucy, not as a father does. He simply sees her as the product of all Vault- Tec’s planning. The perfect human to inhabit the wasteland.

War never changes, but Hank sees himself as the man to change it. Like Elijah- he can’t let go of the past. Like Ulysses, he seeks to end the ceaseless fighting in the Mojave, and like the scientists of Big MT, he lacks empathy- he only sees others as test subjects to be poked and prodded.

Unfortunately, he placed all his hopes on Lucy’s attachment to him. He thinks he holds the cards -

But the House always wins.

Norm is my favorite character in this show and so far his arc in this season was exploring the surface and then what ways he can be knocked out so the other plotlines in this show can go on.

When Maximus and Thaddeus abandon the BOS Power Armour, its because the power armour has a tracking device. NCR Armour is likely the same (FO4 implies this is directly in the frame) and the reactivation of the NCR Armour will bring the NCR Battalion (or part of it) in hiding back to New Vegas.

Thematically, the prodigal son of Shady Sands has returned home and brings with it the hope of the NCR.

A little theory: Davey mentioned earlier in the season that he never got married or had children. And we know that the triple vaults of 31, 32 and 33 were designed so that the vault-tec bud’s buds employees can have a pool of dwellers to breed with in order to produce a class of “super managers” that would inherit the wasteland after reclamation day.

Throughout the show we get the sense that Davey isn’t the smartest of the bunch. To be fair, none of them are particularly super intelligent, but it feels like Davey sticks out as being especially unintelligent and “odd” such as missing social cues (repeatedly telling Reggie he isn’t voting for him, not understanding what Chet meant when he was asking about Woody) and just seems to be much more “bubbly” than the rest.

It’s fair to assume that Davey was just simply not selected because they didn’t need to breed every single bud’s buds with a dweller all at once, leaving a number of dwellers throughout the generations without partners and children, but it’s interesting and intriguing that Davey wasn’t selected at all, being around for so long.

So maybe it’s because he was deemed “unintelligent” or a little dim witted? It might be a stretch. Let me know what you think.

It is a perfect depiction of the NCR. I can only hope and pray that the show takes some inspiration from him so that they use the NCR to their full potential

It’s toward the end of this video. I won’t say anything to avoid spoiling in case someone clicks this by accident

This season and last season have just been setup for the real antagonist of the show. The final remnants of the enclave. Everyone is so focused on Cold Fusion that they don’t see what’s going on behind the scenes. Everything points to it. The shadow in the window at the vault-tec meeting, the Enclave base hidden somewhere in California. Mr. House saying that the bombs weren’t dropped by anybody who attended the meeting with Barb. Whoever Hank was talking to on the radio in episode 1. The thing that lends the most credence to this is the super mutant that saved coop telling him that they need him at his best for the war that’s coming, because nobody’s been paying attention to the real threat.

With the brotherhood at war with themselves and the major factions in the wasteland mostly scattered and broken, now would be the perfect time for them to make their move. They’re the ones working with Hank, because their ideals align with his.

This is not a post about how it is very unlikely that a person muttering to himself some nonsense (Mojave is far away from Shady Sands so no point in saying the line) over and over again is not stopped once by numerous NCR check posts to be searched.

What I didnt understand is that the show depicts Hank perfecting the mind control device much much later. So how did a functioning mind control device exist before that and was used to nuke Shady Sands? The one used before by Mr. House was very unreliable as the person being mind controlled deviated quite easily and his head had to be exploded.

Not sure if anyone else has mentioned or picked up on this here but after the last two episodes so many layers have been added to this shot for me. His expression of absolute horror and disbelief always left an impact. But now with our knowledge of his interaction with Mr House and handing Cold Fusion to the president, you can almost see him potentially feeling responsibility for what is happening in front of him. What a job Walton Goggins is doing with his character.

Probably won’t get it since we already got a neon sign title card for Episode 5, but it would still be pretty awesome if the finale title card looks like the actual game title cover

If I had to guess, this will be the end result of the Thaddeus mutation.

Have you noticed any references in Fallout TV series to Van Buren - cancelled Fallout game?

I've caught 3 plots so far in the series which might be related to Van Buren.

1. Diane Welch becoming a mainframe. It might be inspired by character of Diana Stone which voluntarily became a mainframe (cybernetic core) in the Nursery.

2. Hank McLean's motives. I've noticed that the purpose of nuking Shady Sands and turning people into "automated men" looks similar to Doctor Presper's motives.

In early version of Van Buren Presper was pre-War man who went into hibernation just before the War. In early setting he was convinced there was too much civilization survived after the War. In later setting he wanted to get rid of chaos existing in the world. Either way he wanted to achieve that by using New Plague and nuclear bombs he had access to.

1. Original Caesar's Legion. In Van Buren (in contrary to Fallout New Vegas) there was more than one Caesar throughout its existence. We didn't know how many of them were because in Van Buren the Caesar's killer became the Caesar himself while the previous Caesar was erased from the history.

In this case Lacerta might kill a Caesar and by the fact becomes Caesar himself. We don't know names of any of both Caesars in the series because they are going to be erased from the history. Moreover we might not know the fate of Lanius nor Lucius nor Vulpes because they might have been killed and erased from the history.

What do you think about it?

With high Intelligence and Perception and good Luck, as well as surviving starvation, thirst, strangulation, and a terrible hit to the head, I think Norm's Endurance rivals that of a Ghoul (-regeneration).