Fallout's Three-Vault Experiment Is Far Worse Than What We Saw, Here's Why

Summary:

• According to Norman’s investigation and Bud’s words, Vault 33 used 31 and 32 as breeding grounds to create the perfect managers.
• But some hints, like Davey’s words, the Vault 32 purge, and Betty’s first ruling as an Overseer, imply that the reality is much darker than that.
• Bud’s eugenics program relies on methodically murdering Vault Dwellers who don’t live up to his standards using exiles to Vault 32 and its purges.

Every Vault in Fallout runs some sort of an experiment on its inhabitants, whether it’s a social or a literal one. Rather early into Prime Video ’s TV show, it became clear that something was off with Vaults 31, 32, and 33 — and in Season 1’s finale, we finally learned the truth alongside Norman MacLean. But there’s a catch.

What Bud told Norm was only a small portion of the truth, and the TV show heavily implies that the reality of the Three-Vault experiment is far darker than that.

What Do We Know About the Three Vaults?

The information that’s explicitly stated in the TV show isn’t plentiful. We know that Vault 31 contains the frozen bodies of Vault-Tec’s lower management; that Bud awakens them as they’re needed; that they are always in charge of Vaults 32 and 33; and that they’re used by Vault-Tec to create the perfect breed of managers.

Weird, gross, but ultimately — relatively harmless. Right?

Wrong.

While Norm discovers some of the truth and learns more from Bud, Fallout implies that something far more sinister is going on in the Three Vaults. Vault-Tec’s methods of staying in control are the primary giveaway, and we learn about them if we pay attention to Davey’s words, Vault 32’s sorry state, and Overseer Betty’s first ruling.

Bud’s Eugenics Program Is Based On Murder

Vault-Tec uses the Three Vaults to create the perfect breed of managers — that much we know. But let’s see just what they’re doing, shall we?

One. Vault 32 fell before Moldaver’s raiders arrived there. Its inhabitants went crazy, leaving bloody messages on the walls claiming that they “know the truth.” They killed each other, and the massacre was bloody.

Two. Davey claimed that every time something went wrong in Vaults 31 or 32, they elected a person from 33rd as an Overseer to fix it. But as we know, there have never been a non-31 Overseer in 31 and 32.

Three. After she’d been elected as Vault 31’s new Overseer, Betty ruled that some people from her Vault go and “repopulate” 32nd. The people she selected were the most spineless and useless, save for Steph who was Vault-Tec’s appointee.

If we combine all these clues with what we learned from Bud, the picture is rather sinister. Vault 31 is the primary “breeding ground” where the best genetic pool lives. Vault 32 is the dumping ground for those who don’t fit in Bud’s perfect vision. And when Bud deems necessary, Vault 32 gets purged — likely, via madness-inducing gas — to make room for those who are better in his eyes.

Bud’s eugenics program relies on methodical murder of people who don’t live up to his managerial standards, and the folks who went to Vault 32?.. They’re doomed.