While it might appear to most fans that Fallout Season 2, Episode 1 answered any lingering questions about the true identify of antagonist Mr. House, there are lingering theories that the character may not be who he seems. Well, it really is that simple, Fallout fans are insisting — and no, that’s not his brother.
If all that sounds a little like word soup to you, let’s get some background in. Fallout Season 1 ended with Rafi Silver as Mr. House plotting to end the world with a nuclear bomb for profit. We saw a shadowy figure watch on, a character who was not named.
Season 2, however, “recast” Mr. House with Justin Theroux taking over. But as becomes apparent in the first scene from Episode 1, this isn’t a recast situation. Rather, there’s a perfectly good in-universe explanation for why we all of a sudden have a new actor playing Mr. House.
We see Rafi Silver’s Mr. House on the TV, calling on the government to let his company, RobCo, do all sorts of things a company really shouldn’t be doing. This is the public-facing Mr. House, the Robert House the people of Fallout’s alternate history believed to be the real boss of the company. But watching on in a bar is Justin Theroux as Mr. House. He’s his own biggest fan, he admits. That’s because he’s the real Robert House, pulling the strings from the shadows, and the obvious candidate for that shadowy figure from the end of Season 1.
Justin Theroux’s Mr. House, it turns out, has a horrible mind control device that he ends up testing out on a hapless goon. Perhaps he was using this to control his body double at the end of Season 1? It will surely play a crucial role in what’s to come, either way.
In the Wasteland of the future, Lucy and The Ghoul are traveling to New Vegas, where Mr. House rules the roost. We haven’t seen him yet, but post-apocalyptic Justin Theroux will be waiting for The Ghoul in what looks like the computer form we saw him in the much-loved video game.
Why is all this important? Because there is a theory doing the rounds that Theroux is playing Anthony House, Robert House’s brother. Anthony House is a character mentioned only in Fallout: New Vegas, and the show would have to be doing some deep and potentially confusing cuts here to work him into the events of the show.
But fans now believe the body double theory to be the answer here, based on what we’ve seen in Episode 1 and various pieces of promotional material released to support the second season. And then there’s a quote from Rafi Silver himself, speaking to Deadline on the Fallout red carpet: “I’m a dude playing a dude disguised as Robert House.”
“Thank goodness,” one fan said. “Tired of the overexplaining theories. Some things are just… that simple.”
The question is, to what extent does Silver’s body double believe he is in fact the real Mr. House? And what happened to him in the last 200 years? And, which Mr. House do we meet in Fallout: New Vegas, really?
We’ve got plenty more on the Fallout TV show. Check out IGN’s Fallout Season 2 Episodes 1-6 review to find out what we think of it, as well as our roundup of details and Easter eggs.
Image credit: Lorenzo Sisti/Prime.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
