Fallout Season 2, Episode 7: Unpacking the Secrets of Hank’s Mainframe Ending

What’s behind the door? The latest episode of Fallout season 2 gradually unveiled the mystery lurking behind the square-shaped mainframe door in Hank’s Vault-Tec testing facility, and the revelation was far from what we anticipated. This twist could have significant implications for the season finale and the series as a whole.

Spoilers for the ending of Fallout season 2, episode 7 ahead.

Lucy was on a quest for answers, and she certainly found some this week. While the grim cliffhanger featuring a head might not shock those familiar with Vault-Tec’s notorious history of human experimentation, the identity of the head is sure to raise some eyebrows: it belongs to Representative Diane Welch (Martha Kelly).

Welch was previously seen in flashbacks orchestrating a pre-war meeting between Cooper Howard and the President of the United States, portrayed by former Fallout actor Clancy Brown.

The fact that Welch’s head is still preserved centuries later is surprising, but it’s the wires running through it and connecting to a large mainframe that truly alarms Lucy. What’s going on here? The finale will likely provide more clarity, but our theory suggests that Welch was killed—possibly betrayed by the Enclave—and her ideals were exploited to ‘train’ a new generation of experiments, pacified by Vault-Tec’s brain chip. It’s a clever concept, albeit a chilling one.

Earlier in the episode, Hank MacLean emphasized the theme of controlling the masses, explaining the brain chip’s function: “It tidies things up a bit, cleans the memories of the horrors they’ve experienced. This dial controls how much amnesia they have, and the mainframe implants new ideas in their heads, turning the Wastelanders into well-meaning, good people.”

The role of the President in all this (is he an Enclave puppet?) remains uncertain, but the episode repeatedly stressed that cold fusion must be given to a “good person.” It’s plausible that Coop’s icy demeanor towards Maximus and Thaddeus stems from misplaced trust in the President, leading to the demise—and worse—of his political ally.