Prime Video’s Fallout show is officially part of Fallout canon – so, how does that work? Where exactly does Fallout Season 1 fit within the video game franchise’s established timeline?
Related: When Does Fallout Season 1 Come Out?
Fallout Season 1’s Place on the Fallout Timeline, Explained
Fallout Season 1 primarily takes place 219 years after the Great War, the nuclear war that created the franchise’s post-apocalyptic setting. Given the Great War happened in 2077, this means that Fallout‘s first batch of episodes is largely set in 2296. What’s with the use of “primarily” and “largely,” here? It’s our way of acknowledging the show’s non-linear narrative, which includes flashbacks exploring the backstory of one of its three leads, the Ghoul, in the lead-up to the Great War. So, yes, Fallout Season 1 mostly unfolds in 2296 – with occasional detours to the 2070s.
Related: Fallout Season 1: What Caused the Nuclear War?
Where does that place Prime Video’s Fallout adaptation on the existing franchise timeline? First and last, depending on how you look at it. Season 1’s flashbacks pre-date every canonical Fallout installment. Meanwhile, its main story kicks off after each of the games has wrapped up. To break that down even further, Fallout Season 1 is set 192 years after Fallout 76, 135 years after Fallout, 55 years after Fallout 2, 19 years after Fallout 3, 15 years after Fallout: New Vegas, and nine years after Fallout 4. What about non/semi-canonical spinoffs Fallout Tactics and Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel? For completeness sake, they’re set 99 and 88 years before Fallout Season 1, respectively.
The Fallout Canon Timeline By In-Universe Year
If all those numbers are a bit hard to wrap your noggin’ around, here’s a concise breakdown of the core Fallout canon by year:
- 2077 – Fallout Season 1 (flashbacks)
- 2102-2104 – Fallout 76
- 2161 – Fallout
- 2197 – Fallout Tactics
- 2208 – Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel
- 2241 – Fallout 2
- 2277 – Fallout 3
- 2281 – Fallout: New Vegas
- 2287 – Fallout 4
- 2296 – Fallout Season 1 (main narrative)
A few clarifications on the above timeline. First, as noted earlier, the exact date of Fallout Season 1’s various flashback sequences remains unclear for now. While some take place in 2077, others may be set one or more years earlier. Second, as we’ve also previously highlighted, the exact canonical status of Fallout Tactics and Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel is somewhat dubious. Bethesda Game Studios executive producer Todd Howard previously stated that neither title is part of the official Fallout chronology, however, apparent references to Tactics have since shown up in later titles. Based on this ambiguity, we’ve included both in our Fallout timeline.
Fallout Season 1 debuts on Prime Video on April 11, 2024.
