The Steel Brotherhood plays an important role in the new series of Fallout on Amazon. However, who they are is never really explained. MeinMMO reveals what the mission of the Brotherhood of Steel actually is and where they come from.
Spoiler Warning: We cover topics from the Fallout series here. Although it mainly focuses on backgrounds, we cannot entirely avoid a quote or two.
In the Fallout series on Amazon, the main focus is on the vault dweller Lucy MacLean, played by Ella Purnell. However, during her journey through the wasteland, she encounters Maximus, a squire from the Brotherhood of Steel.
Maximus himself plays one of the leading roles in the series. You will learn how difficult it is for him as a squire in this strange brotherhood, what challenges he faces, and how tough decisions present him with hurdles.
What is only mentioned in passing, however, is the function of the Brotherhood itself. As a viewer, you only know three of the squires and two quite nasty members: Elder Quintus and Knight Titus, both quite obnoxious.
This only partially paints an accurate picture of the Brotherhood of Steel, which actually pursues a noble goal.
Collect pre-war tech to collect pre-war tech so that no one else can
What is the actual mission of the Brotherhood of Steel? Lucy asks Maximus at one point in the series something like: “Your brotherhood collects pre-war technology to look for pre-war technology so that it can prevent others from using pre-war technology?”.
This is somewhat exaggerated, but it does capture the essence of what the Brotherhood of Steel does. In the Fallout story, a great nuclear war between the USA and China has essentially led to the apocalypse.
The Brotherhood of Steel has made it their mission to collect blueprints and all sorts of technologies originating from before the war to preserve them safely. The goal: No one should have enough power to destroy the world a second time.
The trigger for this was experiments on humans sanctioned by the governments. Something the original Brotherhood of Steel could not come to terms with at all.
How did the Brotherhood actually come to be? The predecessors of the Brotherhood were supposed to oversee an experiment with the “Forced Evolutionary Virus”, short FEV, in 2076. With this virus, super soldiers were to be created. Veterans know them as super mutants from the games.
Since this violated all morals, Captain Roger Maxson and his crew decided to rebel. From them emerged the first Brotherhood of Steel, three days before the bombs fell.
After the nuclear strikes, Maxson, his troops, and their families built their new faction in old government bunkers. Other units were mobilized via satellite, and around the same time, the Brotherhood of Steel was founded throughout the wasteland.
The Brotherhood of Steel was one of the biggest expansions of Fallout 76:
“America has failed. Let us forge a Steel Brotherhood”
Why are these guys so brutal? The Brotherhood’s highest principle is – or more accurately: was – that dangerous knowledge must not fall into the wrong hands. Accordingly, it had to be secured by all means, even through the use of violence.
The Fallout series takes place over 200 years after the founding of the Brotherhood and after all Fallout installments, namely in the year 2296. Over time, various factions within the Brotherhood have developed, broadly categorized into:
- those who continue to gather and secure knowledge
- and members who primarily want to protect lives
And, as is often the case, at least in the first of these groups, there have always been black sheep who strive for more and not always for the good.
What is the state of the Brotherhood in the Fallout series? It’s hard to say exactly. The chapter of the Brotherhood in the series is apparently strongly connected to the Commonwealth.
Since the series takes place in Los Angeles, it is likely that the Brotherhood still orients itself strongly toward its origins there. Maxson also founded his Brotherhood in Lost Hills, California.
This aligns with the Elder’s desire for power. Quintus primarily wants knowledge for himself and to use it to gather and preserve more knowledge. Charity seems to be less important to him.
If you’re interested in more history, here you’ll find everything that happened before the Fallout games explained easily.
