With all itsbrilliant Easter eggs and attention to detail from the games, theFalloutshow does not disappoint in the fan service department. An even further testament to that is how organically it works in the signature phrase heard throughout all Fallout games – “War. War never changes.”

If you’re a fan of the games, you probably caught onto it right away when it came up not once, but twice in the show. And if you’re a new Fallout fan from watching the Prime Video series, you can learn more about why it’s so important and iconic here! Even Walton Goggins refrained from playing the games and, therefore,had no idea what it meant!

Some major spoilers for the finale of the Fallout TV show.

What Is The Significance Of The “War Never Changes” Phrase In Fallout?

“War. War never changes” isone of the most famous quotes in video game history. And if you play the Fallout games, it’s probably the quote you associate most with this series.

It’s said at the start of every Fallout game, spoken in a monologue by the game’sone and only narrator,Ron Perlman, who’s had the privilege of delivering the opening line ever since the first game in 1997.

The only main exceptions to this, however, are Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel andFallout 4, the latter of which opted to use the male Sole Survivor protagonist Nate for the introduction, voiced by Brian T. Delaney.

The opening speech is also written differently across the Fallout games, but the “War. War never changes” quote is one that always remains.You can listen and watch each one here.

This line acts asthe main hook for the Fallout games, and the rest of the monologue plays out over flashbacks of the nuclear bombs going off and painting a picture of what the state of the world was like before you arrive at the very premise that starts the game off.

The words that follow the iconic quote all pretty much continuereiterating the same point it makes. In the original Fallout, the speech goes:

The Romans waged war to gather slaves and wealth. Spain built an empire from its lust for gold and territory. Hitler shaped a battered Germany into an economic superpower. But war never changes.

Fallout 76ties it back to the American Revolution, saying “In 1776, this great nation accepted that armed conflict was the only way to preserve our rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.“Fallout 3then takes it all the way back to"Since the dawn of humankind, when our ancestors first discovered the killing power of rock and bone.”

No matter what time you’re in, whether ancient civilizations, the Middle Ages, or the modern era, the message is thatarmed conflict will always ensue to no end and war will never change. And that couldn’t be truer as to what’s happening in the real world today.

Even the fictional future state of the Fallout worldcaused by a nuclear bomb remains in a perpetual state of conflict, despite the utopian image Vault-Tec wanted it to be, with the Brotherhood of Steel, NCR, and other factions taking shape. So truly, war never changes.

How Does It Come Up In The Context Of The Fallout Show?

While the show’s opening does reveal the moment the nuclear bombs began striking Los Angeles,you won’t have any narration from Ron Perlmanor any speech of that sort playing over the scene. It’s one ofthe big departures from the games.

Instead, the writers of the TV series cleverly managed to work this line in during a pivotal moment in the show, if not the most pivotal moment of the entire Fallout series. You hear it said early on in the finaleduring a meeting of Vault-Tec executives and other big corporation CEOs, including Robert House.

As they go around the table expressing concerns, seeking reassurance, and feeling skepticism about Vault-Tec’s plan for their vaults, Barb Howard, Cooper’s wife and one of the representatives for Vault-Tec,reveals how they will ensurethe success of their vaults.

Barb tells them thatVault-Tec will drop the bombs themselves, as this will not only be the right move to get a return on the investment for the vaults and shape a new society, but, in a twisted way, she believes it’ll also be safeguarding humanity because of its never-ending cycle of wars and, drumroll, “War never changes.”

It’s at this moment that her husband,Cooper Howard, was also listening to her speechthrough a bug he synced with her Pip-Boy device.

This is important to note because he wouldrepeat this exact line later in the finale as The Ghoulwhen the battle between the Brotherhood and NCR nears its end.

The Ghoul looks out at the sight of fallen Knights in Power Armor and various bodies of NCR soldiers laid out all around the Griffith Observatory and remembers those words his wife once used –“War never changes.”

It only further proves the point of the quote and draws the parallel that, even in a futuristic wasteland in 2296, where an attempt was made to wipe out the population of the Earth with a nuclear bomb,armed conflict will always return in some form.