Fallout Season 2 Shows A New Side Of Ghouls And We Need To Talk About It

War never changes ... and neither do spoilers. This article discusses major details from "Fallout" season 2, episode 7.

There's no other (fictional) dystopia quite like the world of "Fallout." Its retrofuturistic aesthetic alone gives the franchise a unique design that adds to its sociopolitical commentary. McCarthyism, in particular, is a core theme of the "Fallout" video games, and the property's setting looks and feels very much like the worst part of the U.S. in the 1940s and '50s (even after a nuclear armageddon). Likewise, the darkly comedic tone of the games and the stellar "Fallout" TV series adaptation adds a layer of satire to this universe that helps drive home its anticapitalist themes. That's not to say the games and the TV show don't get silly, though, as evidenced by their inclusion of actual aliens.

Then there are the ghouls. As seen in the first season of the "Fallout" TV series, ghouls are people who've been exposed to an excess of radiation over an extended period of time. It's a tragic condition that eventually turns those afflicted with it into feral zombies, although they can stave this off and retain their mental capacities by ingesting a tricky-to-find substance — the same one that the Ghoul (Walton Goggins) takes on the show. Yet, for as much as both the series and the "Fallout" games have already explored ghoul physiology, something quite unexpected happens to Maximus's (Aaron Moten) ghoul buddy Thaddeus (Johnny Pemberton) in "Fallout" season 2's penultimate episode.

Thaddeus, recall, initially assumed he was turning into a ghoul when he survived being shot by a crossbow and his foot regenerated after it was crushed. Now, however, he appears to have a second, autonomous mouth growing on his chest, and his right arm has fallen off. Is this normal ghoul stuff?

It's important to note that we don't exactly have confirmation of Thaddeus being a ghoul. All we know is that he bought some weird serum from the Snake Oil Salesman (Jon Daly) back in "Fallout" season 1. The serum was apparently the thing that caused Thaddeus' foot to inexplicably regenerate after being severely crushed, while the salesman himself told Thaddeus that he wouldn't need to worry about the dangers of radiation ever again. It also wasn't until Thaddeus survived getting shot in the neck with an arrow that Maximus (Aaron Moten) speculated that his friend might be turning into a ghoul.

But ghouls, so far as we're aware, don't have a second mouth growing somewhere random on their bodies. Not to mention, the ghouls that we've encountered on the "Fallout" series before haven't suddenly lost their limbs. That would explain why the Ghoul looks suspicious and even a bit alarmed when Thaddeus shows him his extra mouth (and, later, when his arm drops off), as he, too, realizes that this isn't ghoul business as usual.

Again, we don't know for certain that Thaddeus is turning into a ghoul. The ghoulification process involves one's flesh burning off because of radiation, but Thaddeus' skin doesn't look all that identical to that of the other ghouls we've seen on the show. It's possible, then, that what we're seeing is the next step in the ghoul mutation process ... or maybe something else entirely.

Recall that we have no idea what the serum Thaddeus got actually was. "Fallout" season 2 has already name-dropped the Forced Evolutionary Virus (or FEV), itself one of the most disturbing bio-weapons from the original games and an element with huge implications for the Wasteland. It's the same virus that led to the creation of super mutants, for one, but it's also given rise to an even more disturbing creature.

When humans are thrown into a vat of FEV with other organisms (specifically canines), they become "centaurs." These grotesque hybrid monsters have no proper arms and instead develop four legs that allow them to walk around. Some centaurs even have two heads (one human and one canine), along with red tongue-like tentacles coming out of their mouths. The fact that Thaddeus is growing strange tumors and losing his arms may, in fact, indicate that he's really transforming into a centaur.

But wait, you might say, Thaddeus wasn't exposed to a vat of FEV! Nevertheless, there's a real chance that the serum he took back in season 1 was already infused with DNA from other creatures. And let's not forget: Dogmeat licked his regenerated leg at one point, which could've caused his and Thaddeus' DNA to merge, starting the mutation.

If Thaddeus is actually turning into a centaur, of course, then that version of the character will likely be depicted as a complex mixture of CGI and practical effects (if not CGI alone), and a pretty funny looking one at that. Either way, life in the "Fallout" world is a never-ending cruel joke, and it seems that Thaddeus is about to become the punchline.

"Fallout" season 2 will conclude when its final episode premieres on Prime Video on February 3, 2026.