This review contains spoilers for Fallout Season 2, Episode 3, “The Profligate,” which is available to stream now on Prime Video.

“I think I just started a war.” Yeah, Maximus, I think you did.

Killing off Kumail Nanjiani’s Paladin Harkness just a single episode after he was introduced is a bold move, but a shock that thrillingly caps off a great episode full of snarling factions, long-awaited fan service, and some huge decisions that not only have major consequences for the Mojave wasteland, but also provide deep, fascinating insights into the hearts of two of our leads: Maximus and The Ghoul.

Let’s start with our noseless gunslinger, who after treading water for a couple of hours is suddenly on the move to some real interesting places. Left by Lucy last week to sweat it out with a leg full of radscorpion venom, The Ghoul has a remarkably vulnerable moment with the ever-faithful Dogmeat. His musings on how many planks you have to remove from a boat until it’s not a boat anymore, muttered as he rips oozing chunks out of his own thigh, is a sort-of-ship-of-Theseus metaphor for his own life. His soul has lost too many planks, and it’s a new milestone for what’s left of Cooper Howard to admit that, even if he’ll only say it to a dog. Lucy’s Christmas Carol sermon from last week has clearly been ticking away in his mind – he’s dedicated two centuries to finding his family, but will he be worth a damn when he finally does?

Perhaps The Ghoul really can change, though, if his rescuing of Lucy is anything to go by. Her choice to help the tunic-wearing woman last week led her right into the den of Caesar’s Legion, who naturally did what any bloodthirsty Romans would do: strung her up for crucifixion. The Ghoul goes significantly (and uncharacteristically) out of his way to save his travelling companion from such a fate, betraying his former uneasy allies at the NCR. As much as she may annoy the living heck out of him, it seems like The Ghoul may have developed some genuine (low level) affection for Lucy.

While Walton Goggins is undoubtedly the headliner of the Lucy/Ghoul double act this week, Ella Purnell does get a solitary sparkling moment in the spotlight before she’s Life of Brian’d. Her argument with the Legion’s leaders is really good fun, particularly her fast-fired, enjoyably educated objections to their prima nocta clause (although if we’re honest, the “I’m not even a virgin, and that’s not even including all of the cousin stuff” is the real winning punchline here). Lucy has clearly hardened into someone who has no intention of being torn down by the wasteland, even when her opponent is much bigger and scarier than she is.

And scary they are! Horrible cutthroats who butcher the woman Lucy saved within seconds of them entering the camp. But they’re a wonderful contradiction of incredibly cruel and impossibly silly. We’ve got a bunch of Roman cosplayers, wearing sunglasses and wielding machine guns, who have dedicated themselves to a man pretending to be Julius Caesar. Second in command is Macaulay Culkin, who’s having an absolute riot in the role. His aloof, classical theatre tone, perfectly shaved head, and dedication to the Legion’s rules makes him a deadly serious joke. I certainly hope this isn’t the last we’ve seen of him.

As I’ve mentioned in prior reviews, I’m really pleased that showrunners Graham Wagner and Geneva Robertson-Dworet have made the faction interplay that defines the Fallout: New Vegas video game such a key part of this season’s fabric. That continues here with the introduction of the game’s NCR rangers, although they’re sadly afforded much less screen time than the Legion. Now barely more than a handful of troops, their desperate fight for survival is interesting, but so far little explored.

The Ghoul's soul has lost too many planks, and it’s a new milestone for what’s left of Cooper Howard to admit that.

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There’s a chance that die-hard fans may find the presentation of the NCR and the Legion somewhat frustrating because of how thinly drawn their direct links to the game are. With the show taking place a decade and a half after the events of Fallout: New Vegas, many will have hoped or even expected it to establish a “canon ending” for the game. But it seems those answers aren’t coming – while these are undoubtedly the factions we met in the digital world, brought to life with exceptional understanding of the material, the Legion’s double-Caesar civil war and the NCR’s continuing rivalry with them doesn’t directly relate to any of the game’s multiple endings. Both factions squabbling in the dirt, miles away from the Vegas Strip, does suggest that if there even is a canon ending to the game, it’s the one that saw you fight for an independent Vegas (or, less likely, carried Mr. House to victory). But Wagner and Robertson-Dworet have wisely decided to leave the key events of New Vegas' finale shrouded in mystery. Still, it’s fun to wonder what happened to the original Caesar, whose death has split the Legion into rival gangs: was he killed by the courier, or did he die from that brain tumor?

While the Legion wages its playground-sized war, the real thing is brewing over at Area 51. Maximus goes on a fantastically messy journey this week, once again crushed and reshaped by the bullies that rule his life. Belittled by Quintus for suggesting they kick-start the very war that his master has been plotting, Maximus finds an unexpected ego boost in the man he would assassinate. Paladin Harkness butters him up with tales of how he’d be leadership material over in the Commonwealth – silver-tongued lies delivered by Kumail Nanjiani, who’s having the time of his life. But you can see why Maximus falls for them; he may be made of matchsticks, but it’d take an iron will to resist the Paladin’s maverick charm. It’s just a shame Nanjiani and his Han Solo-schtick didn’t get to stick around longer.

It’s amusing to see just how easily-influenced Maximus is across this episode. First he wants to kill Harkness, then he walks into his arms after Quintus tells him off. He sees right through Harkness when it becomes clear all the Paladin wants is to take the Cold Fusion relic for the Commonwealth, but falls back under his smooth-talking spell the moment the pair get to goof off and play croquet with a Super Sledge hammer and a Securitron robot. He is so incredibly weak of character and so easily manipulated by external forces, which is exactly what makes the episode’s final, fatal hammer blow so exciting. Finally, we see Maximus make a decision that’s all his own, one that comes from his own sense of justice. And by killing Paladin Harkness to save the ghoul children, we can see that the good, moral man that his father always hoped he’d grow up to become is somewhere inside him.

Of course, I can’t move on from Maximus’ story without mentioning the wonderful walking joke that is Johnny Pemberton’s Thaddeus. His new life as a ghoul has turned him into some kind of Dickensian slave driver, with an army of kids twisting off soda bottle caps in an effort to fill his coffers. This kindergarten factory scores the best joke of the episode: two dozen eight year-olds cheering “Most kids are dead by this age!”

Finally, this week’s trip to pre-war America is surprisingly uneventful considering both the killer stakes established in the premiere and its absence last week. House’s appearance feels a little thin and lacking in bite, but it’s enough to demonstrate that he’s already clued into Cooper and Moldaver’s plans. He is The Man Who Knew, after all. Cooper, however, is very much a man who doesn’t know, clueless as to who this moustachio’d man that looks almost identical to the famous Robert House is. This certainly clarifies that Justin Theroux’s identity is supposed to be a mystery, and only further demonstrates what a bad idea the prior announcement of his casting was.

There’s still good stuff in the past, though, but it’s all in character, not plot. Charlie Whiteknife’s veteran award acceptance speech frames Cooper as a soldier who deeply cared for the people around him, emphasising a stark contrast with the man he’ll be 200 years into the nuclear-scorched future. Later, Charlie explains that he won his award for saving people, not for the kills that heroic act required. The implication, of course, is that Cooper should kill Robert House to save humanity from annihilation.

But there’s more to that flashback than just Cooper’s torn conscience. We see reflected in Charlie’s words The Ghoul’s choice. He’d do pretty much anything to protect the people he loves, even something bad. Which, of course, wasn’t sending the NCR to their deaths in order to save Lucy. No, that’s not the man Cooper Howard becomes. For all his personal admissions of having lost too many planks, he’s still content to be a pile of wood. Lucy is surely the price he’ll pay to save his family. And he’s not found his family yet, so Lucy has to live. Wherever this selfish decision takes him, it’s sure to be a fascinating direction.

Verdict

Civil wars are erupting all over the wasteland in Fallout Season 2’s third chapter, and in the middle of it all are two men making hugely important decisions that will shape their destinies. While it’s a shame that Lucy had to be put in crucifixion time-out for most of this episode, and Robert House’s not-so-mysterious identity continues to be a sticking point, this is an otherwise fantastic, character-driven episode that thrives on bringing important elements from the New Vegas video game into the spotlight. It’s packed with so much good stuff that I didn’t even get to mention Victor the Securitron’s guest appearance, but I’m sure you’re as pleased as me that he’s still rolling around the Mojave.