Fallout TV show star Walton Goggins reveals why he had no idea that his finale line was such a big deal

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"My son is a gamer. I am not."

Fallout
(Image credit: Prime Video)

The Fallout TV show finale features plenty of big references to all of the best Fallout games, but perhaps its most poignant comes from Walton Goggins' character. Spoilers for the Fallout season 1 ending to follow.

In the final episode, we finally learn the truth about how involved Vault-Tec have been in the origins of dropping the bombs. Goggins’ Cooper Howard is listening to his wife’s Barb’s call as he hears her speak about how humanity will always be obsessed with conflict. "War never changes," she says, speaking an iconic line from the games. Then, later in the finale, Goggins’ Ghoul says the same thing to Lucy, two centuries later.

In an interview with GQ, Goggins shared that he had no idea the importance of the line when he spoke it. "I gotta be honest with you, I didn't know that. I had no idea. And I am so happy I didn't know that because I would have been so intimidated by it."

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Now, he’s doubled down on his reasoning for this, sharing a lengthy Instagram post about it, which you can read in full above. In it, Goggins says: "War. War never changes… spoken by the great Ron Perlman. I had no idea how iconic those words were to the players of this game. I thought Graham and Geneva had written one of the best lines of dialogue I’ve been given the opportunity to say over the course of my career. Alas, I was wrong. I didn’t ask and they didn’t tell me."

The actor goes on to add that he’s pleased they didn’t, writing: "I’m glad I didn’t. If I had known I might not of said them because no one can replicate a line spoken by Ron. My son is a gamer. I am not."

In an interview with GamesRadar+, Goggins previously opened up about his decision not to play any of the Fallout games before joining the show, as he had faith in the series to create an original world that could stand apart. And given how much praise the sci-fi show has received, his gamble has seemingly paid off…

Fallout season 1 is on Prime Video now. For more on the show, including some spoiler-filled deep dives, check out our guides to:

Fay Watson
Fay Watson
Deputy Entertainment Editor

I’m the Deputy Entertainment Editor here at GamesRadar+, covering TV and film for the Total Film and SFX sections online. I previously worked as a Senior Showbiz Reporter and SEO TV reporter at Express Online for three years. I've also written for The Resident magazines and Amateur Photographer, before specializing in entertainment.