Fallout Season 2: How will Xander’s death affect the future of the show? Details explored

The wasteland has become even more riotous. One of the greatest moments of surprise in Fallout Season 2 occurs when Paladin Xander Harkness, played by Kumail Nanjiani, the representative of the Brotherhood of Steel in the Commonwealth, is unexpectedly assassinated by Maximus (Aaron Moten's character) in the third episode.

This is not a sensational death to create drama; it is a pivotal point in Fallout Season 2. The death of Xander may alter the flow of the story on a grand scale and have an impact on several characters and groups.

How Xander’s death could spark a brotherhood civil war in Fallout Season 2

Xander’s death in Fallout Season 2 does not merely mean the loss of a character, but it carries extensive political repercussions. Xander was acting on behalf of an entire faction and not only himself because he was a member of the strong Commonwealth wing of the Brotherhood of Steel. His appearance had already created tension between the various groups in the Brotherhood.

When Maximus kills him in a hot confrontation over the fate of the ghoul children and faces a difficult moral decision, Maximus risks escalating it into an overt fight.

Before the occurrence of this, Elder Cleric Quintus was already attempting to unite various factions of the Brotherhood to oppose Commonwealth rule. The entry of Xander just instilled more instability in the situation, reminding everyone that not every chapter of the Brotherhood is similar and operates in the same manner. Since Xander has died, his death in Fallout Season 2 may serve as a catalyst that would ultimately ignite a bloody civil war in the Brotherhood.

Maximus’ character arc takes a sharp turn

Maximus remains one of the most intriguing characters in the Fallout series: hard, pragmatic, always wondering what exactly the Brotherhood is all about. Through the murder of Xander, a man who believed all too much in this cause, it isn't only a life that is taken; it is a statement made.

This is a major turning point for him and Fallout Season 2. Until now, Maximus has been grappling with the loyalty he owes to the Brotherhood and the righteousness he feels in his heart. Xander’s rigid and unswerving code of conduct put pressure on him to examine his own values and ethics. Such a brutal way of ending the relationship might just drive him further apart from the code of conduct dictated by the Brotherhood and more towards what he holds as righteousness in his heart. This could bring him to question absolutely everything he ever valued in Fallout Season 2.

Bigger factions, bigger stakes, and new alliances

With Xander eliminated, Fallout has its chance to develop its political narrative on a grand scale. The Commonwealth chapter of the Brotherhood of Steel is still a major force, and a possible retribution attack or an intervention by the likes of the New California Republic or even the New Vegas factions could take place in Fallout Season 2 because of this assassination.

His death also gives the opportunity to display the effects of other factions experiencing the rifts of the brotherhood and the different alliances that could possibly emerge from the brotherhood’s disintegration. Will Maximus make other alliances? Could other brotherhood factions turn against one another? Could other factions take advantage of the situation as the Brotherhood is disintegrating?

It will be left to the future episodes of Season 2 to provide answers to these questions, but one thing is clear: Xander’s death has rendered this show a bolder, more unpredictable course.

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