What is The Commonwealth in 'Fallout' Season 2? The Brotherhood Chapter, explained 

Maximus gave his Chapter of the Brotherhood, the Knights of San Fernando, cold fusion technology in Fallout‘s season one finale. Elder Cleric Quintus is already taking advantage of having unlimited power. With the piece of technology Maximus found in season two’s second episode, the Brotherhood chapter can now control the strongest armada in the world. But Quintus has even bigger plans. He wants to bring all the other Brotherhood chapters together to work alongside them so they can control the Wasteland.

The leaders of those other factions were not eager to join with Quintus, especially not when they fear the group’s strongest chapter. The other Elder Clerics believed they had no shot, even fighting together, against The Commonwealth chapter of the Brotherhood of Steel—what they refer to simply as “The Commonwealth.”

What Is The Commonwealth in the Fallout Games?

The Commonwealth Is Actually a Location in the Fallout Games

The Commonwealth is actually the primary location of Fallout 4 in the world of the games. It’s the territory located in the former state of Massachusetts. The region and its capital city of Boston were major players in American politics even before the Great War. It remained so after the bombs dropped. Over the last two centuries, different factions and communities—some extremely dangerous and powerful—have gained and lost influence over the region.

The Brotherhood Takes Control of The Commonwealth in Some Fallout 4 Endings

After decades of conflict, the war for The Commonwealth reached a tipping point in 2287 (when Fallout 4 takes place). That’s when three factions fought for control. One of the main reasons for the war’s escalation was the actions of a Brotherhood chapter from the former Washington DC. In Fallout‘s world, The Brotherhood had already established itself in The Commonwealth area by 2280, so the order was not unknown to the region. But over the next seven years, various recon missions that ended in death and missing Brotherhood members led the group to establish an outpost inside the Commonwealth.

Like with Fallout: New Vegas, there are multiple possible endings (each with their own variations) that a player can unlock in Fallout 4. In some Fallout 4 endings, the Brotherhood takes control over the Commonwealth. We don’t know if Prime Video’s Fallout will treat one of those endings as canon, but it’s not doing that with Fallout: New Vegas. The show is using a “fog of war” approach to make it so no video game ending is definitive. It could very well do the same with Fallout 4. In total, nine years have passed between the end Fallout 4 and the present timeline of the Fallout TV series. A decade is a lot of time.

What Do We Learn About The Commonwealth in Fallout Season 2?

What happened nine years ago is less important than what we’ve learned about the Commonwealth Brotherhood at the time of Fallout season two. The Commonwealth chapter of the Brotherhood told (and essentially ordered) Quintus’ chapter to go find Siggi Wilzig in Fallout season one after the Enclave scientist escaped with the cold fusion tech. But now we know that The Commonwealth chapter of the Brotherhood is not just more powerful than Quintus’ group in the Fallout TV series. We learn in Fallout season two that The Commonwealth is more powerful than all the other Brotherhood factions combined. Powerful enough that in the Fallout series, the phrase “The Commonwealth” stops referring to just a location, and starts referring to the chapter of the Brotherhood located there.

The Commonwealth Is a Chapter of the Brotherhood in the Fallout Series, and It’s Large and In Charge

The other leaders laughed at Quintus’ proposal to unite against “the Commonwealth,” a telling phrase. As mentioned, by simply calling that faction “the Commonwealth” in Fallout season two, it seems as though the Brotherhood is now synonymous with the Commonwealth itself. It’s the ruling power of the important region. (Possibly thanks to some very sought-after tech.) The other leaders didn’t want to have a civil war with the Commonwealth anyway, because even as one united force, it would easily lose to their Boston-based brethren.

That was until Maximus gave his chapter of the Brotherhood cold fusion in Fallout season one. Now Quintus can make more fusion cores than they could ever need. That means more power suits, more ships, more weapons, and more firepower, which could allow them to usurp the Commonwealth as the dominant Brotherhood force in Fallout season two. The other chapters liked the sound of that and finally agreed to Quintus plan for civil war. Even though The Brotherhood’s codex forbids any chapter from fighting another… When you have unlimited power, the codex is open to interpretation.

Kumail Nanjiani Plays a Liaison of the Commonwealth on Fallout Season 2

The united Brotherhood army isn’t going to catch its common enemy by surprise, though. The Commonwealth somehow knew about the meeting it wasn’t invited to on Fallout season two. Did it intercept messages? Have spies in the other chapters? We don’t know yet. Kumail Nanjiani’s Xander Harkness, a liaison from the Commonwealth, didn’t reveal much when he showed up unexpectedly at the end of Fallout season two, episode two. He’s just there to discuss the possibility of Brotherhood civil war.

As for who exactly Kumail Nanjiani plays on Fallout season two? We don’t really know anything about the Brotherhood’s Xander Harkness yet, except that he hails from the Commonwealth chapter.

Is Civil War on the Way for the Brotherhood on Fallout Season 2?

Will it come to civil war for the Brotherhood? Will The Commonwealth stop this uprising before it starts? Join with the other factions to rule the Wasteland? Try to steal the cold fusion technology for itself? Whatever the Commonwealth decides to do on Fallout season two, and no matter the fate of any of its factions, the Brotherhood’s quest to save the world from itself seems certain to result in a lot more people dying.

New episodes of Fallout season two drop Wednesdays on Prime Video.

Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist. He would like to at least try the Brotherhood suit of armor once. Maybe twice. You can follow him on Bluesky at @burgermike. And also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.