The Fallout television series and video game franchise both explore themes of independence, western motifs, and the American dream. However, America isn’t the sole nation in this universe, though it’s easy to overlook that fact when navigating the Wasteland’s numerous factions and vaults.
Season 2 Episode 7 of Fallout opens with a scene set in a foreign country, exposing both a major betrayal and a concealed portion of Fallout history.
Spoilers ahead for Fallout Season 2’s “The Handoff.”
The installment begins with two women sprinting through a wintry forest while pursued by attackers. After one is gunned down, their identities become clear: Steph, the future eyepatched Overseer of Vault 33, and her mother. As her mother dies, she commands Steph to reach America by any means necessary. “They’re not humans,” she declares. “They’re Americans.”
This clarifies a major revelation from an earlier episode, when Chet uncovered a hidden compartment containing Steph’s pre-war wallet and identification—a temporary status card designating her as Canadian. Yet more jarring than her nationality is how the card labels Canada: “United States Annexed Territory Canada.”
In established Fallout lore, China stands as the perpetual adversary, a fact reflected in Cooper Howard’s Battle of Anchorage flashbacks. Following China’s 2066 invasion of Alaska, the United States pressured Canadian authorities to accept escalating military presence until America fully absorbed Canada. This yielded multiple advantages: the U.S. could access Alaskan front lines more readily and exploit Canada’s abundant natural resources.
After the apocalypse dissolved the United States, its annexation naturally dissolved as well. Nevertheless, this episode demonstrates that anti-Canadian bias remains widespread, perpetuated by centuries of vault dwellers transmitting propaganda across generations. Therefore, Steph isn’t merely one of Bud’s pre-war associates—she was never technically American to begin with. With only one episode remaining, Vault 33’s response to this revelation could determine the series’ future direction.