The most iconic line in Fallout, the line that has kicked off every single Fallout game, usually spoken in the dulcet tones of the narrator Ron Perlman, almost didn’t make the cut for the Fallout TV show.
This wasn’t for any insidious reason or because the showrunners didn’t like the sound of it—it was actually to preserve its reputation. “We talked about it and decided we weren’t sure we were even going to have it, because it can feel a little forced,” Todd Howard tells me. “So we’re like, well, let’s see if there’s an earned moment.”
Thankfully, there was certainly an earned moment. Barb Howard is the first person in the series to utter the line ‘War never changes’ while sat in Vault Tec during a meeting with other high-powered and money-hungry execs. Then Cooper, who is secretly listening in to his wife’s conversation, repeats this line 200 years later at the end of the first season.
It’s not only a poignant moment for fans of the games who know just how important this line is to the core of Fallout’s narrative, but it’s made all the more meaningful by Cooper’s own past experiences.
It’s the line that broke his marriage apart, completely changing how he looked at and thought of his wife, very likely being the reason why he finds himself separated from his family for 200 years. But Cooper also knows that war never changes, he’s experienced it first hand. He fought in Alaska pre-bombs dropping—something that is also explored more in the second season—and has continued to fight in the Wasteland for two centuries. So the line was certainly earned.
“It wasn’t like we had to have it, to be honest,” Howard continues. “You might think, Oh, you have to have this. Well, only if it makes sense, because it can sound cliché. And if you ask the actors who had to say it, we didn’t tell them it was an iconic line. Walton didn’t know when he said it. To keep it authentic.”
Walton Goggins, who plays Cooper Howard and The Ghoul, has already admitted that he had no prior knowledge of the line ‘War never changes’ or how integral it is to the DNA of Fallout. But did admit that he was all the better for it as it ensured there wasn’t any pressure around delivering the line.
“I thought Graham and Geneva had written one of the best lines of dialogue I’ve been given the opportunity to say over the course of my career,” Goggins explained. “Alas, I was wrong. I didn’t ask, and they didn’t tell me. And I’m glad I didn’t.”
I’m sure Goggins could have pulled it off even if he did know the weight of the line, but all I’m really thankful for is that it was not only included in the show, but it was properly executed. This kind of respect for the source material is one of the reasons why the Fallout TV adaptation works so well.
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