Fallout season 2 episode 2 ending explained: Has Maximus embraced the Brotherhood?

Fallout season 2 episode 2 continues Lucy MacLean and the Ghoul's journey after the wild goings-on and discoveries in the season premiere last week. But besides their banter and a possible danger for Lucy, episode 2 also brings Maximus's character to the spotlight. 

He was noticeably absent in episode 1, but his story is all over the second episode. It reveals what happened in Shady Sands all those years ago and what's going on in his life with the Brotherhood at the present. By the end of Fallout season 2 episode 2, it's evident that Maximus has embraced the Brotherhood of Steel. 

Season 2 episode 2, titled The Golden Rule, shows the change that's been happening to Maximus since Lucy left him. 

Fallout season 2 episode 2 shows a hardened Maximus

Fallout season 2 episode 2 shows Maximus in his Brotherhood of Steel suit, shooting and violently killing ghouls with no visible emotion. He's become a hardened soldier who appears to have embraced the life with the Brotherhood more than he ever did. 

The praise he receives from people and even Quintus referring to him as his 'son' makes him happy, however. It implies how he's starting to find family and acceptance with the Brotherhood. Even his friend Dane briefly addresses how Maximus has changed and how he's taking the Brotherhood more seriously than he ever did. 

The change in Maximus, in Dane's eyes, is even more evident at the final scene of Fallout season 2 episode 2. Maximus is unfazed by the Brotherhood of Steel members fighting each other in their suits at Area 51. But when a man picks a fight with him just as he is about to leave, Maximus accepts the fight. 

They are not doing it with armor. It looks like Maximus is done for at first, especially after the man grabs a knife. But Maximus overpowers the man in the end and uses the knife to slit the man's gut. As everyone cheers, Dane watches on with the greater realization of who Maximus has become. 

Is Lucy in danger in Fallout season 2 episode 2?

Fallout season 2 episode 2 brings another military faction to the mix that could put Lucy in danger. The episode follows her and the Ghoul as they continue their journey until they happen into a hospital and a woman crying for help. 

Lucy abandons the Ghoul in favor of saving the unknown woman wearing a mysterious tunic. They also fight off scorpions and a giant scorpion, which stung both the woman and the Ghoul. But Lucy saves the woman with the one remaining Stimpak, leaving the Ghoul sick. But in her defense, the Ghoul wouldn't die from the sting but the woman would. 

She leaves him writhing at the hospital and helps the woman return to her home. That's when Lucy stumbles upon an encampment guarded by men who look like Roman soldiers while the woman mysteriously vanishes. They circle Lucy with their weapons drawn as she realizes the potential danger. 

Hank MacLean continues his experiments in Fallout season 2 episode 2

Hank stays true to his promise in the letter he left Lucy in episode 1. He goes to work at the now-abandoned Vault-Tec facility. Hank is doing the same experiment with the mind control device, testing it first with a rat. 

But rat after rat dies during the experiment. Their heads explode, similar to what happened with the man in episode 1. Hank tries over and over again but to no avail and frustration is evident on his face. He reckons that the rats are too tiny to experiment on so he tries again, this time, with a human. 

He unfreezes one of the people from the cryogenic tanks, a Premium Elite Plus member, and attaches the mind-control device to the man's neck. But the experiment is still unsuccessful as the man's head blows up. 

Watch Fallout season 2 episode 2 on Amazon Prime Video.