Fallout Season 2 Timeline Revealed: The Year It Takes Place — And Whether It’s a New Vegas Sequel
Lost in centuries of irradiated history? Our guide maps the Fallout timeline and pinpoints where season 2 fits.
Fallout timelines are like trying to track a Brahmin herd after a dust storm: technically possible, not exactly clean. With season 2 heading to New Vegas, the show is stepping into a part of the map where canon can get messy fast. Here’s the clean, no-headache version of when and where season 2 sits, and how it links to the games without getting handcuffed to any one ending.
When is season 2 set?
Season 2 takes place in 2296, making it the furthest point forward in the franchise so far. That also means it’s the latest entry by both release order and in-universe chronology.
The new season starts just days after the season 1 finale. Producer James Altman spelled it out in SFX, and it doesn’t sound like there’s been a big time jump.
'It’s a short amount of time after we left [the Ghoul and Lucy] at the end of season one. It’s been days, not hours, and they are on their way to Vegas on foot.'
Meanwhile, the Cooper Howard flashbacks are still anchored in 2077, the year the Great War turns the world into the wasteland we know.
Where does it fit in the big picture?
Co-showrunner Geneva Dworet-Robertson has said season 2 lands 15 years after Fallout: New Vegas, which was set in 2281. Do the math and you’re back at 2296, same as season 1. Yes, both seasons share a year; season 2 just rolls in a few days later.
- Cooper Howard flashbacks – 2077
- Fallout 76 – 2102
- Fallout 1 – 2161
- Fallout 2 – 2241
- Fallout 3 – 2277
- Fallout: New Vegas – 2281
- Fallout 4 – 2287
- Fallout season 1 – 2296
- Fallout season 2 – 2296
So… is season 2 a sequel to New Vegas?
Chronologically, yes. It takes place after the 2010 Obsidian game and it’s set in New Vegas. The show is also bringing back a very familiar figure: Mr. House, played here by Justin Theroux, is poised to matter in a big way.
On the creative side, Todd Howard has said they talked through what the factions have been up to since the game. That tells you the approach: focus on 'what comes next' in that world, not on locking the show to one of New Vegas’s multiple endings.
Translation: the series is not choosing a single 'canon' outcome from the game. If you remember how New Vegas could end with different factions in charge, the show is avoiding picking a winner. It’s more interested in the state of the Mojave 15 years later and how Lucy, the Ghoul, and Mr. House collide with that.
The bottom line
Season 2 plants a flag at 2296, days after season 1, with 2077 flashbacks still in play. It’s effectively a follow-up to New Vegas without being boxed in by any single game ending. Expect familiar faces, a jump into Vegas proper, and just enough timeline neatness to keep the headaches to a minimum.