The Fallout TV series will venture into uncharted territory for season 3, setting much of the action in Colorado, a location never before featured in the franchise's main games. Showrunner Geneva Robertson-Dworet and executive producer Jonathan Nolan revealed this at a special screening of season 2's finale. The announcement ties into plot points from the episode, hinting at broader explorations across the American Southwest.
The Fallout franchise, known for its post-apocalyptic adventures across various U.S. regions, is expanding its map once more. Previous games have covered California in Fallout 1 and 2, parts of Oregon and Nevada, the Capital Wasteland spanning Virginia, Maryland, the District of Columbia, and Pennsylvania in Fallout 3, the Mojave in Fallout: New Vegas, the Commonwealth (Massachusetts) in Fallout 4, and Appalachia (West Virginia) in Fallout 76. Season 1 of the Prime Video series took viewers to Los Angeles, another fresh take on California.
At a special screening of season 2's finale, Robertson-Dworet and Nolan shared that season 3 will head to Colorado, marking the first time this state serves as a primary setting in the core canon. The reveal builds on hints from the episode's past timeline, where characters Cooper Howard (the Ghoul) and his wife Barb discuss fleeing to Colorado after believing they averted nuclear war. Barb suggests Bakersfield at first, but Coop insists it's not far enough, proposing Colorado instead.
In the finale, the Ghoul discovers empty cryogenic chambers in Vault-Tec's New Vegas vault, where Barb and their daughter Janey were supposed to be preserved. Instead, he finds a postcard from Barb reading “Greetings from Colorado” on the front and “Colorado was a good idea” handwritten on the back. The episode ends with the Ghoul heading east, presumably toward Colorado.
This location ties into earlier teases about the Enclave and the last President of the United States, played by Clancy Brown. A pre-season 1 promotional video mentioned the president having a mountain in Colorado for safety, evoking real-world sites like the Cheyenne Mountain Complex. The president, who vanished before the Great War, may have fled there, potentially still alive and influencing Enclave plots.
Colorado has peripheral ties to Fallout lore: it appeared in the non-canon Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel and was considered for a cancelled Fallout 3 project called Van Buren, focused on a plague storyline.
However, the journey won't be direct. Executive producer Jonathan Nolan noted, “We didn’t say Colorado exactly, we’re heading in that direction, and there are stops along the way.” Todd Howard, Bethesda's game director, emphasized the franchise's focus on geography: “For Fallout, such a big part of it is geography... you want to go to new locations, show new factions or people... there are a lot of surprises coming up.”
The path from Nevada to Colorado could introduce Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico, all untouched by main games. While season 3 may not reach Colorado immediately, it promises multiple new areas and time jumps, enriching the wasteland's narrative.
Fallout season 2 is now streaming on Prime Video.
