4 December 2025

How to Prepare for Fallout Season 2

By newsgame

This article contains spoilers for Fallout Season 1

Fallout Season 2 is right around the corner, and following Amazon’s successful adaptation of the beloved franchise in 2024, it’s no surprise some fans are looking to do some prep work. Adaptations that tie into in-game lore are rare, while canonizing the show was a considerable risk, but Season 1 managed to (more or less) honor the history of the franchise and carve out its own place in it. Fallout Season 2 is upping the ante by attempting that same success, while this time approaching the beloved New Vegas title.

Fallout Season 2 has its work cut out for it in this regard, but the fans do too. After all, it’s the lore wizards and canon cops who’ll have to tie together all the potential reveals Season 2 has in store. Fortunately, there’s no better time to dive back into the irradiated world of Fallout than the present, and there are plenty of great ways for fans to go about it.

Fallout Season 2 can be seen on Amazon Prime Video
The first episode premieres December 17, with new episodes every following Wednesday

Rewatch Fallout Season 1

Jones Soda Company sells new Nuka-Cola and Sunset Sarsaparilla flavors

It may seem redundant to conjure this up first, but rewatching the first season of Fallout is practically essential for anyone looking to stay sharp on the canon as it stands. The show packed an incredible number of lore-bombs into only eight episodes, so there’s a generous spread of detail-shrapnel scattered throughout that’ll likely pay off in some form. Both Vault-Tec’s relationship with Mr. House and the seemingly shattered state of the NCR are elements of Season 1 that probably deserve a second look ahead of next season.

Particular narrative attention should be paid to the backstory of The Ghoul and his pre-war flashbacks, as these moments were crucial to understanding how the characters and the world at large ended up so broken. The show’s approach to more relevant lore deserves attention, too, particularly the destruction of Shady Sands and the East Coast Brotherhood of Steel’s expedition west. These massive lore changes establish a rich tapestry of unknowns that Fallout Season 2 will more than likely expand upon.

Replay Fallout New Vegas (Again)

fallout-new-vegas-key-art — fallout new vegas key art

Considering it’s widely regarded as the best entry in the series and one of the best games, period, it’s phenomenal news for both new and old fans that New Vegas will be relevant to Season 2’s arc. It’ll do more than enough to provide appropriate context to what’s in store in Season 2 of Fallout, but Obsidian Entertainment’s masterpiece is just that: a masterpiece. It offers some of the most morally complex faction conflicts in gaming history, and while these elements might translate beautifully to the show’s format, fans should make sure they’ve experienced its greatness firsthand, just in case.

Choose a Faction (And Defend It Forever)

Here’s where things get personal: It’ll be important to pick a faction allegiance before Season 2 drops. Mr. House’s autocratic vision of progress, NCR’s bureaucratically bloated democracy, and the brutal order of Caesar’s Legion all offer and signify different things in the Wasteland, and the beauty of New Vegas is each faction presents compelling arguments for its worldview, even when its methods are questionable. Understanding these warring philosophies and their flaws will greatly enhance the viewing experience.

Whichever faction you choose, just be prepared to defend it passionately, as the Fallout community lives for these debates. Season 2 is guaranteed to reignite discussions about which path best serves the people of the Mojave, so it’s best to get an opinion beforehand. Just remember that everyone thinks they’re doing the right thing in the apocalypse, even when they’re objectively making everything worse, like Caesar’s Legion.

Add Way Too Many Mods

To be clear, playing New Vegas likely means modding it into oblivion anyway. Modders have essentially kept New Vegas alive for over a decade, with borderline-necessary bug fixes, animation overhauls, and even full-sized DLC-style mods that offer something totally new (or totally too difficult). It doesn’t matter if players are searching for new weapons, questlines, or even the ability to turn every Deathclaw into Randy Savage; just know, there’s a mod for that. It’s probably best to keep it lore-friendly if you’re trying to prepare for the show, though.

Play Fallout 76’s Burning Springs Update

Fallout 76 recently launched its Burning Springs update, and it’s actually worth checking out for both fans of the show and the franchise alike. Bethesda’s live-service entry has come an astonishingly long way since launch, as it’s now a genuinely enjoyable experience with solid content updates on offer. Fallout season 1 directly influenced the map of Burning Springs, for one. Burning Springs expands Appalachia’s already impressive map to Ohio, with fresh mysteries to uncover, bandits to take out, and bounties to collect alongside The Ghoul, voiced by Walton Goggins himself.

For the Completionists: Rewatch Home Alone

This next one might seem like a strange suggestion, but with Macaulay Culkin seemingly joining Fallout Season 2 as a member of Caesar’s Legion, this is more about the potential for some worthwhile laughs. Watching the cherubic Kevin McCallister from Home Alone potentially transform into a hardened member of a brutal, ancient Rome-inspired slaver army represents one of the most delightfully absurd and compelling casting choices imaginable. The tonal whiplash is worth the price of admission alone, though it’s also fitting considering how close Season 2’s release is to the holidays.

With Fallout Season 2’s release on December 17, the Wasteland calls once again. Preparation is half the fun with shows like this, so rewatch the first season or dive back into New Vegas. The franchise has always rewarded fans who pay attention to the details, and if Season 2 delivers on its promise of more of what made the first season such a hit, fans who’ve stocked up will have a lot to look forward to.