What Is the Enclave? ‘Fallout’s Mysterious Group Explained

Editor’s note: The following contains full spoilers for Fallout.

One of the most exciting aspects of Prime Video’s adaptation of Fallout is that the game is canonical to the acclaimed video game series that it’s based on. That essentially means that the Fallout show takes place in the exact same world of the games, effectively functioning as a loose continuation of the franchise taking place after the events of Fallout 4. This gives Jonathan Nolan‘s ambitious new series the opportunity to tell its own original story in the world of Fallout without having to directly adapt the events of a specific game.

What will be the first of hopefully several seasons, Fallout primarily follows a naive life-long Vault Dweller named Lucy (Ella Purnell). Lucy ventures out into the Wasteland for the very first time in order to find her father, Hank (Kyle MacLachlan), who has been abducted by a notorious raider leader by the name of Moldaver (Sarita Choudhury). During her quest, Lucy encounters a seemingly goodhearted yet eccentric doctor named Wilzig (Michael Emerson), who was previously working for an infamous organization that fans of the Fallout games are bound to recognize.

Fallout

In a future, post-apocalyptic Los Angeles brought about by nuclear decimation, citizens must live in underground bunkers to protect themselves from radiation, mutants and bandits.

Release Date

April 11, 2024

Main Genre

Sci-Fi

Seasons

1

Creator(s)

Graham Wagner , Geneva Robertson-Dworet

Streaming Service(s)

Prime Video

The Enclave is the ‘Fallout’ Equivalent to the Galactic Empire from Star Wars

The organization that Wilzig fled is none other than the nefarious Enclave — a group of radical patriots who we have not gotten a proper good look at in the world of Fallout since Fallout 3, where they were the game’s main antagonist. Essentially, they are to the world of Fallout what the Galactic Empire is to the world of Star Wars. Where many of the Fallout universe’s factions are limited to control over small and specific locales of what used to be the United States, The Enclave is practically ubiquitous across the country’s remnants. They’re easily one of the franchise’s most powerful organizations, second only to their historic arch-rivals, The Brotherhood of Steel.

Most folks in the Wasteland are entirely unfamiliar with the history of the sands they call home, but The Enclave’s goal is to, quite literally, make America great again. The concept of restoring modern society to what it once was certainly sounds like a positive in a world filled with mutants, monsters, raiders, and more. However, The Enclave’s radical goals for America’s reconstruction for them are not recommendations, but mandates. It’s abundantly clear that the shadowy organization’s plans to unite the country in patriotism have quickly become perverted into a radical form of fascism.

The military might of The Enclave is second to none. Their experimental power armor and proficiency in plasma weaponry make them a military force to be reckoned with. It’s hardly controversial to suggest that their knowledge of old-world technology exceeds that of the Brotherhood of Steel, and they are really the only organization that can give the Brotherhood a genuinely difficult challenge.

The Enclave’s Origins Go Beyond the Start of The Great War

In Fallout 3, The Enclave claims to be the genuine and rightful successors to the U.S. government after it collapsed in The Great War. The is perpetrated by a propaganda-infused radio station, where a man claiming to be the new President of the United States, John Henry Eden (Malcolm McDowell), encourages skeptical Wastelanders to join The Enclave. John Henry Eden is later revealed to be an AI (which is fairly prophetic for a game released in 2008), and the creation of that program and The Enclave entire goes well-beyond the cataclysm of The Great War.

Before the world was engulfed by nuclear flames, The Enclave began as a highly exclusive deep-state cabal operated by some of the country’s most elite individuals. Respected scientists, military leaders, and even the true President of the United States were involved in this Illuminati-like organization. It’s hardly a stretch to suggest they were well-aware of the incoming nuclear war and perhaps even had a hand in progressing it. If a shady organization like Vault Tec gleefully made efforts to profit off of nuclear fear and conflict, it’s not nearly surprising that The Enclave also were involved, making them an even more fearsome and malignant force in the Fallout universe.

Having knowledge of the world’s nuclear collapse is something fans have suspected for a long time, but we potentially get an explicit confirmation of that in Fallout Season 1’s finale. Here, we see Vault-Tec conducting a meeting with the industry’s leading technological leaders, including RobCo representative Mr. House from Fallout: New Vegas. The meeting reveals that Vault-Tec is the one that suggested deliberately nuking the United States, giving them and their allies a pathway to a « true monopoly ». While it isn’t explicitly stated if these board members are affiliated with The Enclave, this certainly seems like a meeting that the shadowy cabal would conduct.

How Does The Enclave Factor Into Prime Video’s ‘Fallout’ Show?

The Enclave is first name-dropped in the first episode of Prime Video’s Fallout, officially revealing that the nefarious organization is alive and well despite seemingly being scattered after Fallout 3. The Brotherhood of Steel receives word that a known Enclave associate named Dr. Siggi Wilzig and his canine companion are reportedly on the run, and the Knights of the Brotherhood are ordered to capture Wilzig and bring him back to the Brotherhood’s leaders. One such duo assigned to this mission are newly anointed squire Maximus (Aaron Moten) and his Knight Titus (played in a hysterical cameo by Michael Rapaport).

Episode 2 of Fallout begins with a proper tease of The Enclave, and what better way to show their true level of evil than by having them set a newborn puppy on fire? We see Wilzig raising the show’s very own Dogmeat to maturity, as he quickly develops a bond between himself and the dog. It’s clear that Wilzig no longer was interested in assisting a fascist would-be dictatorship, so he flees the Enclave base with Dogmeat as well as a very valuable piece of technology.

What Wilzig stole is a breakthrough in cold fusion technology, which obviously must be something of great importance to The Enclave. His disappearance begins a state-wide manhunt across New California. Various parties are on the hunt for what Wilzig has in his possession, and The Enclave is undoubtedly one of them. We already mentioned that Maximus is seeking to capture Wilzig to prove himself to the Brotherhood of Steel, but there’s also the infamous bounty hunter formerly known as Cooper Howard (Walton Goggins) who hopes to bring Wilzig in for a healthy reward.

In between all of that is Lucy, who befriends Wilzig and agrees to help take him to Moldaver. Their friendship is short-lived, as Wilzig’s encounter with The Ghoul resulted in a mortal wound. Fortunately, Wilzig stored that contentious piece of technology in his head, and Lucy reluctantly agrees to saw it off and bring it to Moldaver. Little does Lucy know that this admittedly gross act of kindness will make her the target of some of the most dangerous people in the Wasteland. It’s only a matter of time for the Enclave to get wind that their advancement was stolen, and who knows how they’ll retaliate in a potential follow-up season?

Fallout is available to stream on Prime Video in the U.S.

Watch on Prime Video