Fallout season two kicked off with a bang… Literally, if you’re one of a few unlucky people who cross paths with Mr. House or Hank MacLean. But what is it that’s making people’s heads go bang?Fallout season two’s newly introduced technology, which we’re going to call the Brain/Computer Interface Implant Chip (or mind-control device, for short), was definitely an important part of this chapter of the show, in both the past and present timelines… And we feel like it will continue to be as the series continues. But once again, we must ask what the heck is Fallout season two’s Brain-Computer Interface Implant Chip/mind-control device? Here’s what we’ve learned about this mysterious device so far.
Table of Contents; Jump To:
Everything to Know About The Brain/Computer Interface Implant Chip Device on Fallout Season 2
- What Is Mr. House’s Brain-Computer Interface Implant Chip, and How Does It Feature in Fallout Season 2?
- Mr. House’s Mind-Control Device in Fallout ‘s First Scene
- The Brain-Computer Interface Implant Device in Vault 24
- Mr. House’s Mind-Control Device Was Used to Bomb Shady Sands in Fallout
- Hank MacLean Perfected the Mind-Control Device of Fallout Season 2 In Service of the Enclave
- Hank MacLean Erases His Own Memories on Fallout Season 2
- How Does Fallout Season 2’s Brain-Computer Interface Mind-Control Device Work?
- Can the Memory Wiping Done By the Mind Control Machine Be Reversed
- What Was Wrong with the Brain-Computer Interface Chip on Fallout Season 2?
- What Plans Does The Enclave Have For the Mind-Control Device?
- The Brain-Computer Interface Mind-Control Device Is NOT From the Fallout Games
- Why Is The Mind Control Device Important in Fallout Season 2?
What Is Mr. House’s Brain-Computer Interface Implant Chip, and How Does It Feature in Fallout Season 2?
Mr. House’s Brain-Computer Interface Implant Chip is one of the first things we see on Fallout season two. We learn from this Fallout scene that Mr. House’s Brain-Computer Interface Implant Chip is a mind-control device that leaves humans under the will of whoever controls it, but it’s not working perfectly… at least not at first.
Mr. House’s Mind-Control Device in Fallout‘s First Scene
In Fallout‘s cold open, we see Mr. House lurking in a bar. Something he’s able to do because the pubic believes a fake Mr. House doppelganger is the real Mr. House. He purposefully picks a fight with some of the construction workers (who are Mr. House haters) and lures them outside. Once there, Mr. House slaps the Brain-Computer Interface Implant Chip into the back of one of the workers’ necks, and we get a taste of what the Brain-Computer Interface Implant is on Fallout season two. At least, we see Fallout‘s mind-control device in its earliest iterations.
After Mr. House attaches the mind-control device to the man’s spinal cord/the back of his neck on Fallout, he appears to be able to control the man’s behavior using a remote control with a dial and a red button on it. When he presses the button, Mr. House appears to take over the man’s behaviors, or mind-control him. The man is forced to obey Mr. House’s orders when he verbally gives him. In the opening sequence of Fallout season two, episode one, Mr. House presses the button, activates the Brain-Computer Interface Implant Chip, and orders his captive to kill his friends, which he does.
But the Brain-Computer Interface Implant Chip/mind-control device does not appear to work perfectly on Fallout season two. The man fights against Mr. House’s control and seems to break free of it. In response to that, Mr. House turns up the dial on his remote, hoping to bring the man under his control once more. The Brain/Computer Interface Implant appears to work harder on the man’s brain. But alas, too hard. The man’s head explodes, leaving only the Brain-Computer Interface Implant chip with a thin bit of skin attached to it. Yum.
The Brain-Computer Interface Implant Device in Vault 24
As Lucy and The Ghoul continue following Hank MacLean to New Vegas, they are led to a Vault which has been broken into, Vault 24. Inside Vault 24, we see yet another Vault experiment. This time, it appears to have had something to do with turning Americans into Communists through the mechanism of brainwashing. But more importantly, we see on Fallout season two that Vault 24 had been working on the mind-control device before things went very wrong.
Hank MacLean appears to use one of the devices that remained in the Vault to brainwash a Wastelander into repeating a message to Lucy. Under the power of Fallout‘s Brain-Computer Interface Implant chip, the man tells Lucy to give up and go home, that Hank is fixing everything. Once his message has been delivered against his will, his head and brain explode. Once again, leaving the device behind with a thin layer of skin attached.
Mr. House’s Mind-Control Device Was Used to Bomb Shady Sands in Fallout
We already knew this Brain-Computer Interface Implant chip was BAD news on Fallout. But Fallout season two, episode two shows us just how evil this mind-control device can be. The episode takes us back to the bombing of Shady Sands and reveals what really happened the day the NCR capital was nuked. And it all comes back to Mr. House’s Brain-Computer Interface Implant device. The device clearly forced a man to bring a nuke into Shady Sands and then detonate it. (In the creepiest way possible.) But this raises an important question. How did Hank MacLean get his hands on this technology from Vault 33, and did he act alone to send it to Shady Sands? At first, we thought Hank was acting on behalf of Vault-Tec, but now we know it’s in all likelihood The Enclave he was serving. So what went down exactly, it’s hard to say for now, but the implications are certainly even more twisted than before.
Hank MacLean Perfected the Mind-Control Device of Fallout Season 2 In Service of the Enclave
Over the course of Fallout season two, Hank MacLean perfected the mind-control device so that he could use it without exploding anyone’s brains. Slowly, but surely, Hank made the device more effective and miniaturized it. It seemed like Hank’s endgame was simply to brainwash all the Wastelanders and turn them into carbon copies of Vault dwellers that he could control. But in the end, Hank revealed that his ultimate goal was to make the brain-computer interface chip so small that no one would know who was “automated.” And then, he wanted to use these “automated people” to carry out “orders written for them centuries ago,” presumably, by The Enclave. Orders to do what, though? Nobody knows.
Hank MacLean Erases His Own Memories on Fallout Season 2
And it’s going to be that much harder to find out. At the very end of season two, Lucy MacLean implants her father with the brain-computer interface chip. She plans to turn him into the father she thought he was, so he doesn’t hurt anyone else. But first, she wants answers about Hank’s plans. Hank doesn’t want to give them, though, so he uses the remote control dial for the mind-control device and wipes all of his memories. Hank doesn’t remember his daughter, or anything else… We think.
How Does Fallout Season 2’s Brain-Computer Interface Mind-Control Device Work?
We love the introduction of some good old-fashioned sci-fi mind-control technology in Fallout season two. But what do we know so far about how the Brain/Computer Interface Implant Chip works? Well, a little bit. In early season two, Hank MacLean told us a few of the components that go into its creation, though. Or at least, what might be needed for the creation of the most ideal version of Mr. House’s Brain-Computer Interface Implant Chip on Fallout… one that actually works.
The Mind-Control Device Hijacks People’s Brains
As mentioned, in Fallout season two, episode one, we see inside Vault 24. The Vault ran an experiment in brainwashing/mind-control, which involved the Brain-Computer Interface Implant Chip. Hank confirms they were working on the “Brain-Computer interface” aspect of the mind-control implant. In our reality, “brain/computer interfaces” are defined as devices that “acquire brain signals, analyze them, and translate them into commands that are relayed to output devices that carry out desired actions.” We assume this is more or less what Mr. House and Hank MacLean are after on Fallout with their version of a Brain-Computer Interface Implant Chip. But unlike devices in our, we hope, this nefarious RobCo technology wants to use the device to make brain signals carry out the desired actions of whoever holds the remote control for the device. Mr. House and Hank MacLean are trying to make the ultimate mind-control technology on Fallout.
Fallout Season 2 Explains Exactly How the Mind-Control Device Works
In Fallout season two, episode seven, we get a very specific explanation of how the mind-control device works. When Lucy asks her father, “What does it do to their brains?” Hank MacLean explains to Lucy (and to the viewers back home), “It tidies things up a bit, cleans the memories of the horrors they’ve experienced, this dial [on the remote for the device] controls how much amnesia they have, and the mainframe implants new ideas in their heads, turning these Wastelanders into well-meaning, good people.”
The mainframe, Hank explains, programs the boxes…
What Is Programming Fallout Season 2’s Mind-Control Device?
But it turns out that it’s no ordinary machine programming the brain-computer interface implant chips. Instead, Hank was using Congresswoman Diane Welch’s brain/personality to do so. It seems Hank kept just the head of Welch alive so that he could use her to create the personality module that he wanted to input into his mind-controlled servants.
Hank shares, “Robert House wanted to turn human beings into machines, erase their memories, make them suggestible enough to follow his order… What I was trying to do is add a little personality to his product.” He shares that Welch was, “ISTP on the old Meyers-Briggs, which is still the gold standard for personality, ideal personality to scale, with the kind of attributes we could stand to see more of out there if you ask me. Well-meaning, sweet, non-threatening.” Essentially, Hank encoded Welch’s personality into his mind-control chips and used them to transform the personality of whoever he implanted them in. Lucy has now killed Welch, so if anyone wants to code more brain-computer interface chips, they’ll have to find a new personality source.
Can the Memory Wiping Done By the Mind Control Machine Be Reversed
According to Hank MacLean, once the procedure’s been finished, it’s irreversible. Of course, that might not be 100% true. We’ll see if Hank or any of the other implanted people ever get their memories back on Fallout.
What Was Wrong with the Brain-Computer Interface Chip on Fallout Season 2?
It’s safe to say that RobCo’s mind-control device was not ready for the marketplace at the beginning of Fallout season two. At the beginning of Fallout season two, the Brain-Computer Interface Implant device was making people’s heads explode, presumably because it was exerting too much pressure on the brain. Based on Hank’s comments, it was also too big for subtle control. And the brain/computer interactions weren’t yet working perfectly. We see Hank MacLean get on the case throughout Fallout season two, though. For much of his time in the second chapter of the series, he worked to perfect the device in Fallout season two. (And no, he didn’t care how many mice he has to explode to do so. It’s honestly chilling.)
So, mostly, yeah, the problem was it was causing heads to explode. Also, we guess, trying to have a brainwashing technology that controls people’s minds isn’t great either.
What Plans Does The Enclave Have For the Mind-Control Device?
In the end, Fallout has revealed The Enclave as its big bad. And all the work Hank has done on the mind-control device has been for this villainous organization. But Hank seems to imply the Enclave has plans beyond just brainwashing all of the Wasteland with a mind-control chip on Fallout.
He tells Lucy, “You think this is the real world. The surface is the experiment, not the Vaults. I’ve already sent my R&D into the wasteland; their boxes are the latest models, too. You can’t even see them. Unbeknownst to everyone, they’re following orders written for them centuries ago.”
Chilling! We’ll have to wait and see what horrors The Enclave’s mind-controlled servants wreck on the Wasteland.
The Brain-Computer Interface Mind-Control Device Is NOT From the Fallout Games
We’ve searched high and low, and it seems like Mr. House’s Brain-Computer Interface Implant Chip is not from the Fallout games, not New Vegas, nor any other. There are many Easter eggs from Fallout‘s games in season two, but this isn’t one of them.
Yes, this mind-control device is new for Fallout season two. And we love that. Not only will this technology mean something new in the world of Fallout, but it will also mean that we get to learn more about Mr. House in the series. We love when the show boldly evolves the canon of the games. And, we bet we might just see this mind-control device pop up to cause trouble in the world of new Fallout games.
Why Is The Mind Control Device Important in Fallout Season 2?
Welp, the ongoing project of the evil folks from various nefarious corporations in Fallout seems to always be creating a new world order where they have perfect control over everyone. With that in mind, a device that lets you eliminate free will with the press of the button and the turn of the dial seems like the ideal villainy in the world of Fallout. We’re not surprised that a brain-control technology is being developed. Not at all.
But hey, The Enclave, free will might be messy, but it makes humanity human and not just machines. We feel like that’s something any baddie would be foolish to overlook. People will always fight for their autonomy.
We’ll just have to see what becomes of the Brain-Computer Interface Implant Chip as Fallout‘s story continues to unfold.
Fallout season two is now streaming on Prime Video.
Originally published December 17, 2025.
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