Fallout’s glimpse of the Enclave is just the beginning

Fallout’s glimpse of the Enclave is just the beginning

[Ed. note: This post contains light spoilers for episode 2 of Prime Video’s Fallout.]

The Enclave marks its presence very early on in Prime Video’s Fallout show with the introduction of Dr. Siggi Wilzig. Wilzig is a bad dude, as proven just as early on when he commits the unforgivable sin of incinerating a puppy. But while the Enclave is mentioned by name, the show doesn’t delve too deeply into its lore in favor of focusing on other factions. The Fallout games, however, have a wealth of information on what the Enclave is and what it wants. And it might be important for understanding where Wilzig is coming from (and why the mysteries around him matter).

The Enclave is the main antagonist of Fallout 2 and Fallout 3, and by the time of Fallout: New Vegas, its presence in the West has been diminished to a few old survivors and pieces of prewar technology. It represents a contingency plan set up by the American government, creating a system that would allow the United States to survive after nuclear war. Unsurprisingly, this organization isn’t focused on benevolently providing for its people — instead, it wants to restore the old order, with the Enclave firmly in control of an ethno-state of “pure” humans.

In Fallout 76, the player can encounter an AI called MODUS running Enclave operations in Appalachia. MODUS helps shine some light on the relationship between Vault-Tec and the Enclave, revealing that the Enclave sees Vault Dwellers as pure, untarnished members of humanity — not worthy of wielding power, but respectable subjects to be ruled over. The Fallout show delves deeply into the corporate intrigue that played out prewar, including the monstrous acts of Vault-Tec — the Enclave is complicit in many of these crimes.

With its adherence to the prewar social order, including elected presidents, the Stars and Stripes, and embracing “traditional” values, the Enclave embodies the aesthetics and ideology of old-world America. (Through the character of Cooper Howard, Fallout takes the time to show the alternate prewar America the Enclave sprang up from.) The Enclave doesn’t show up in any of these flashbacks, but its presence is continually felt. American society is deeply hostile toward communism and anti-authoritarianism; everyone is expected to back the war and not ask questions. Being concerned about these things means you’re a pinko and will be removed from positions of power.

The Enclave’s ideology means that it has few friends in the Wasteland. Even the Brotherhood of Steel, another faction with power-armored troops who believe in cleansing ghouls and mutants from their ranks, considers the Enclave to be war criminals and enemies.

In Fallout 2, the game’s final battle takes place upon an oil rig called Raven Rock, one of the bastions of the Enclave’s power. After Raven Rock exploded, the Enclave withdrew toward the Capital Wasteland, with the survivors either going into hiding or attempting to join the New California Republic. In the Capital Wasteland, the Enclave immediately started a scheme to control the region’s water and use it to purge imperfections in the populace. In the Prime series, it’s unclear how strong it is — but it’s able to run facilities and experiments, with armed guards and all. It’s possible the New California Republic’s losses have allowed the Enclave to grow, as the NCR was one of its major opponents on the political stage.

Wilzig sets up an early link to the Enclave, and though he dies quickly, it seems very likely we’ll see more of this nefarious organization in season 2 of the Prime series. The role it might play is unclear, but with the Wasteland in flux and power players trying to establish the ideology of its new society, it seems likely that the Enclave will have some plot in motion.