Why Independent New Vegas (Yes Man) Is A Bad Choice.

[@metalcorpse6427]

"I....really admire how you stack the odds against yourself" lmaooo

[@TimtheEnchanter25]

It's just the courier's sigma male grindset. Having a huge robot army would only hinder his sigma male grind.

[@MsHarpsychord]

@@TimtheEnchanter25 not chad > Joining the NCR Not chad > Joining Legion Not Chad > Making an independent New Vegas with some infastructure Chad > Literally destroying as many things of value as you possibly can

[@UnknownOps]

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the consequences of my actions."

[@marcelluswallace2689]

@@MsHarpsychord the moral of the story

[@Feminazi1dc]

LMFAO ON GOD

[@georgerockwell149]

Great analysis, but you completely missed the fact that the Courier can kill the Omertas’ bosses in How Little We Know and give control of the casino over to Cachino, thus preventing them from attacking the Strip in the first place. So the balance of power between the Three Families would remain intact in that scenario.

[@iamslightlybetterthanyou2679]

Aren’t the omerta’s needed for the strip’s economy?

[@b-1battledroid674]

@@iamslightlybetterthanyou2679 the omertas are still basically intact, the old leaders just got replaced

[@devobronc]

Irrelevant. You can have Yes Man kill the Omertas without bothering with that quest.

[@georgerockwell149]

@@devobronc Uh, totally relevant, actually. If you don’t complete How Little We Know by killing the bosses, the Omertas attack the Strip and get slaughtered by the other families and the securitrons. Hence: no more Omertas.

[@devobronc]

@@georgerockwell149 And the downside is? I always eliminate the Omertas.

[@Gamer-ry6xy]

The fact that the Enclave are one of those minor factions in New Vegas that supports the courier and don't cause any trouble in the outcomes is awesome if you ask me.

[@andryuu_2000]

"God bless the Enclave and the Courier too I guess"

[@ravinraven6913]

but its not the Enclave, its the Remnants. Which has already been living that way since the time of fall out 2...so I feel you don't really understand and are adding your own head canon...which is fine, you're fallout work can exist outside the normal one.

[@Troller235]

They're like 6 people to be fair

[@BattalionSparta]

@@andryuu_2000” God bless the Enclave, and that pissed off mailman I guess.”

[@Stephanie-mv9iy]

​@MrKILLINOOBZnot before it fell. AS it fell.

[@flazzorb]

The reason Mr. House doesn't notice Yes Man is likely because he hadn't considered or appreciated the risk of his own systems being compromised. Yes Man, having himself been a product of such a compromise would likely take steps to prevent a repeat occurrence.

[@delivererofdarknessshoguno1133]

House is still an arrogant narcisist with god complex, he probably didn't even consider that some ex-tribal like Benny would be able to outsmart him and use his inventions against him (and he clearly didn't even suspect that it was possible because yes-man's very existence completely negates House's "several fake deliveries to cover up the real chip" plan). He also is completely unable to understand how it is possible for the Courier not only to disobey him but also to outsmart and kill him. As for the Yes-man's loyalty, he says outright in the ending that he is going to upgrade himself to only be loyal to the courier.

[@deathgobbler4774]

"even the most intelligent man in the world would fall to his hubris if the time has come" - me about House

[@greengarnish1711]

@@delivererofdarknessshoguno1133 I guess none of you 3 noticed how he can imply in one dialogue to check out Benny's room for more "information" 😉

[@ravinraven6913]

I think the whole things out of character. He doesn't care who controls he is yes man. Not just my yes man, and if hes more aggressive and such then all the securitrons would be that way too

[@kingtoad2234]

@@ravinraven6913that’s just wrong get smarter and try to think again

[@sapr0ling984]

I like how people still debate over this 11 years later. What a fantastic game.

[@rejvaik00]

Never underestimate the fan lol. You've got people debating over Star Trek episodes from the 1960s

[@AeneasGemini]

Now ask yourself if people will ever debate this much over Fallout 4, 11 years after it's release? Ye another reason why Obsidian should just take over this series

[@StarChaserHooT]

@@AeneasGemini Would modern Obsidian be able to make a game as good as New Vegas though? A lot of devs from New Vegas left after development had ended. And nobody talks about The Outer Worlds as much as New Vegas

[@Deadsea_1993]

@@AeneasGemini . Obsidian doesn't have to takeover the series. Microsoft owns both Bethesda and Obsidian and Microsoft also owns Fallout. Obsidian and Microsoft are in talks with making a New Vegas 2 when they have more free time. Microsoft could have both working on Fallout at different times like how Activision had Treyarch and Infinity Ward working on COD. I like Bethesda Fallout games and I think that they and Todd get too much undeserved ****.

[@frenchguitarguy1091]

@@rejvaik00 that and the game presents its sides with real balance not often seen in video games.

[@ggggggghg499]

This is why the "independent" ending should always be interpreted as "courier becomes the new house" If the courier is a highly intelligent one, then the ending makes sense, you become another house but with your own vision for vegas and its factions

[@Gamer-ry6xy]

The independent ending should be named Anarchy ending or chaotic ending.

[@mado-wh4jv]

Someone once said that independent Vegas is the fanfic route, and I'm good with that, If in my head I just clean the evils of new vegas and let the independent communities to growth as they please and take their own decisions I can just kill the fiends, help every settlement with their respective quests and let New vegas as much stable as I can before the ending. Of courae the implications of the Courier taking control are there but I don't see them as necessarily something that he/she would do if they don't want to

[@hexaltheninjawow9531]

Yeah, it is my personal headcanon that the courier sits there playing blackjack against a securitron for a decade before becoming a dictator fixated on luck, making decisions based on chance, and installing a slot machine in every house. The courier also orders a magic 8 ball to be implanted in every death claw.

[@TheDemocrab]

@@Gamer-ry6xy Independent is the perfect name for it honestly. It's extremely open-ended compared to the other endings because it can be anarchy if the Courier makes it that way, but the Courier is also presented with loads of options that'd hypothetically allow them effectively continue New Vegas as a city-state in its own right lead under either House or themselves via Yes Man. Heck, even just a simple application of headcanon could have the Courier eventually running NV with an iron fist or as a huge slaver camp, the only real constant regardless is that NV itself remains independent of any major powers.

[@FgyjtIngenieroEuropeo]

And that is not a bad thing. House himself had the long time plan to not only save the world, but also the entire mojave.

[@hugazaka5127]

My head-canon is that the "assertive personality update" is brainscan of Mr.House disguised as mainframe update. Its stated by many characters that House had a "thing" for brainscanning and even copied personality of his past girlfriend seen on the securitron at lucky 38. I cant help but think a guy who calculated the atomic apocalypses start with only 24 hour error would not have thought of scanning his brain as a failsave to ensure his vision is carried out

[@sskspartan]

It was actually just 20 hours 😁

[@hugazaka5127]

@@sskspartan my man counting his doomsday clock like no mans business!

[@mkarg5012]

Nice head cannon, would do justice for how prepared Mr house was, even knowing that people would try to defeat him. It would make sense since Benny tried and then a mailman just decided to kill him.

[@Demogorgon47]

Makes sense

[@tek4]

I think Pam from fallout 4 was Houses calculator

[@caracal_enjoyer5732]

The courier does have the option to destroy the Brotherhood

[@Aeis_Kalt]

Never cared for them, either. Too much of Big Mommy in their code.

[@M4V3R1CK_13]

Friendship with the BoS lasts till Power Armor Training and their safe house acquisition, after that they can fuck off.

[@rosaryenjoyer739]

I modded my new Vegas just so I would not have to kill the brotherhood in both my Caesars Legion and House playthrough because I like my war criminal technophiles too much.

[@ahoramazda6864]

You see, in that case, the Yes-Man ending would be a crippled House ending.

[@vm_duc]

@@M4V3R1CK_13 safe house can be acquired by just lifting their lockdown, power armor training can be learned from arcade's quest, and it gives you a better armor than the brotherhood one too. there's no reason to join the brotherhood.

[@Gallalad1]

Ngl. Imagine the king's running a casino. I'd go with independent New Vegas just for that!

[@shutup9869]

Facts

[@Yannis1a]

I have thought about 4 new endings for FNV, all variation of the Independent ending, the first one being to give The Lucky 38 to the kings becoming a functional casino, the strip is open to everyone and becomes like New Reno The sencond one is The Khans taking over the strip and you can make the other factions to return to tribalism The third one is The BoS taking over the strip, they confiscate tecnology of everyone entering the strip and the Lucky 38 become a BoS outpost And in the last one, you can create, with the help of the FotA, an confederacy or allience of all the other factions (except the Powder Gangers), but you need all the factions in the Mojave to support this to get the ending

[@alexgamma55]

@@Yannis1a What about a fiend controlled strip?

[@Yannis1a]

@AlexGamma 552 well, in the Khan ending you could allied with other raider gangs like fiends and the powder gangers, so if the khans take the strip the other Gangs would also be in the strip if allied with the khans

[@doomtoaster3924]

@@alexgamma55 That would require literally killing everyone who isn't a fiend, true anarchy right there it's dope.

[@MetalHanyou1]

I believe it has been said that the Yes-Man's upgrade would make him loyal to the Courier and *only* the Courier. The idea, as you said, is that not anyone can just walk in and start bossing him around; as such, Yes-Man is loyal to the Courier and no one else. As for the long-term implications, I find that Yes-Man gives the Courier a great deal of power - at least as much as Mr. House. Granted much of that is up to roleplaying, but the Courier basically had access to the same calculative power House had and the ability to make informed decisions with help from Yes-Man. As for the longevity problem, there's a few answers. Assuming he has the help of Big MT, the Courier is not limited to Mr. House's longevity treatment and could just as easily put his brain in a Think Tank body. Of course, they could also do Mr. House's thing, which seems to offer unlimited longevity at the cost of being unable to ever do anything ever again (robot body is probably a better route). But even if the Courier was to decide he or she wanted to pass naturally, then what's stopping them from ordering Yes-Man to listen to someone else? The Courier could easily ask Yes-Man who the best candidate would be to replace them, and give Yes-Man the order to listen to this new individual instead. And, in the event of their death, the Courier could even order Yes-Man to find who the best choice for New Vegas would be. If that doesn't work for one reason, choose a runner up. Keep going until you find someone who can do the job. Yes-Man would, under orders from the Courier, become a computer designed specifically to pick and choose the best options for New Vegas, and then follow that individual until they pass, and then going on to a new option. The Courier might even make fail-safe commands to prevent power plays with help from Yes-Man to calculate what has the best chance of positive results.

[@fernandoiacovitti1537]

Yes man is designed to comply to anyone's demands. Yes man could be controlled by anyone at any given time.

[@MetalHanyou1]

@@fernandoiacovitti1537 I know, and that's what the upgrade he gets at the end of the game is for; it makes him loyal only to the Courier, as opposed to his being unable to refuse to listen to anyone as he does until that point. The upgrade doesn't make Yes-Man a rogue AI like some people seem convinced it will, it just means his loyalties are set to the courier.

[@ravensflockmate]

@@MetalHanyou1 but he could just lie about that

[@MetalHanyou1]

@@ravensflockmate No, I mean that's what the developers of the game have said; that Yes Man, post-download, is loyal to the Courier and ONLY the courier in the Yes Man ending.

[@MetalHanyou1]

@FeudiLyric29 That's the popular theory, which I imagine is why the game's devs had to go on record about how Yes Man was loyal to the Courier and wasn't going Skynet on anyone. Yes Man presumably has all the calculative potential of Mr. House so, presuming he is properly loyal to the Courier, it would be easy for the Courier to make sure that Yes Man would continue to run Vegas the way he/she wanted it to be run even after their death. That's boring however so I like the idea of choosing new leaders for Yes Man to obey as a sort of retirement.

[@supernerdche]

I think that Gommorah being given to the Kings or Garrets would make the most political sense for uniting Vegas with Freeside. I see the Garrets more likely to accept which is why I bring them up.

[@miketacos9034]

Fisto would take over Gomorrah and then merge with Yes Man to become Yes Daddy.

[@plebisMaximus]

@@miketacos9034 Goddammit Obsidian, where is my Fisto ending?

[@mylifeisacomplexpastiche7901]

@@plebisMaximus They had to cut it due to time constraints. Fucking Bethesda…

[@satboi2734]

Giving it to the kings makes no sense they have no way of repairing the economic damage the loss of the omertas will cause

[@FelixValentiCh.]

IMO I'd give Gomorrah to the Powder Gangers.

[@70thalternativeaccount63]

"Eventually the Courier will die" Console command godmode: Oh, I don't think so

[@closed2435]

Well an in game explanation for an unnatural long living courier is the old world dlc. The courier becomes a lobotomite at the start, and its stated in lore and in game that lobotomite can live for hundreds of years.

[@jakwinter7588]

@@closed2435 If you leave your brain at the big empty, the courier brain it felt the courier die many centuries and feels sadden by this. So yeah the courier is gonna live a long time.

[@Aeis_Kalt]

And then said Courier goes to Big MT, gets most of his body replaced with cybernetics, and becomes an unstoppable cyborg that can tear a Yao Guai in half, and rip the horns off a Deathclaw's head.

[@scorchercast8366]

Realistically with the think tank backing you I’d imagine that there’s a stock pile of thousands of cloned and robotically enhanced bodies ready at any given moment Plus you still have houses status chamber. Clean out the previous occupant and your set

[@thatguyfromyoutube4854]

@@scorchercast8366 basiclly a smarter frank horigann

[@manuelmoralez2257]

24:08 idk I feel like the courier would never naturally die as he’s basically the human equivalent to Rex and a more advanced Kellogg

[@evilemuempire9550]

I feel like at some point the courier would get their brains blown out, it is a dangerous wasteland after all

[@manuelmoralez2257]

@@evilemuempire9550 he’s already been shot in the head what’s new 😂 probably gonna wake up in Skyrim or something

[@evilemuempire9550]

@@manuelmoralez2257 You’re finally awake, heard you were trying to cross the border from New Vegas to Skyrim…

[@SankyEON]

Dude had his brain removed and replaced with a machine. Why would the AutoDoc not install that machine in a different body, like Mobius was afraid the Think Tank fucks would do?

[@manuelmoralez2257]

Also are we not gonna talk about how the courier’s brain is literally as smart as the smartest in the fallout universe

[@MachineNun]

But. . . Obviously my head cannon courier would have flawless leadership skills, despite being a glorified mailman. Edit: (With psychopathic tendencies. )

[@beepbop6542]

To be fair he's a speech 100 cybernetically enhanced mailman with an arsenal of weapons and an army of robots, and he's probably already earned the loyalty and respect (or eradicated) most of the groups in the mojave.

[@Kou-bz4kb]

Yes man is nothing more than a Courier land power fantasy.

[@ukko3114]

@@Kou-bz4kb yes

[@janwhite3877]

My head cannon is courier delivers the chip and goes on to his next order. As a player we really never get any incentive to get involved in this whole war over Hoover dam business.

[@UnholyWrath3277]

@@janwhite3877 each nation offers you rewards for getting involved with house offering you a place to live permanently and yes man allowing you to basically become the dictator. There is a ton of incentive to be involved. However you are welcome to your head canon like anyone

[@diablodelatorre]

I never saw the independent route as the courier taking over, I just saw it as a anarchy state. With the independent town around the Mojave fending for themselves, even if it lead more harm than good

[@starpaladinnelaj]

Agreed. Like, doesn't the title "No God's, No Masters" imply that there are no leaders, meaning the courier doesn't take over either?

[@themagalanium9491]

@@starpaladinnelaj that or the courier does take over and is killed as a result of their shitty choice

[@dr.science_0177]

@@themagalanium9491 pretty much. We're not leader potential nor commander potential that's why we're a courier and not some leader of an army or mayor of settlement etc.

[@umbers28]

Honestly i can see the courier leading for a bit while yes man reprograms himself to be more assertive (basically where nobody but the courier can control him) and then ditches the mohave

[@flamesofchaos13]

At best they only control the Strip's Army. That's about it. It's 100% making it Independent of ALL leaders.

[@sliphstream4927]

Game: which person would you like to be your leader? Me: ... that's just a collection of power-hungry jerks! Game: Yes! But WHICH power-hungry jerk would you prefer? Me: Well, if a jerk is going to be calling the shots, might as well be me!

[@Rosemarytwigs]

yea no people arguing which is right & which is wrong is like very stupid because most of it is morally grey.

[@mosesbrown4126]

I've just sort of assumed the "independent" ending description is so vague and bad because they didn't want to tell the player what their motives were. Mr.House ending maybe canon now, which tbh, is my favorite choice for a canon since it would be rude to assume any given person's PCs ideas about ruling, and the NCR and Legion both clearly need to be checked on their old-world BS, just steamrolling people everyone, from both sides. Lest people forget, NCR science bros got no problem screwing over everyone with the Vault 22 shit that killed everyone, not even mentioning the rampant corruption. P sure I don't need to indict slavers, so Legion needs no explaining. Lessons do need to be learned, and so far as it goes, the explicit goal of exploring space is pretty cool, and storywise, the idea of a neutral science-forward ancap bufferstate between the NCR and Legion territory is super interesting and story-rich. TL;dr Courier-Independent ending is vague and open ended on purpose so you can interject whatever you want. and imho because of this, House canon is best canon.

[@drunkenslav2334]

New Vegas videos in fucking 2021, this shit makes me jump in joy thanks for your effort man, this is why i always return to this game

[@yaboiii6562]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@Desertpunk5178]

The other settlements would be more inclined to join the strip since isnt the good karma route for Helios One giving power to the whole region?

[@jakwinter7588]

Yeah don't piss of the hand that feeds you.

[@mado-wh4jv]

They don't have to, an alliance is something that they and the strip don't neccesarily need in order to growth as long as they don't expect securitrons to guard their cities.

[@Desertpunk5178]

@@mado-wh4jv If I give you electricity you join my alliance

[@mado-wh4jv]

@@Desertpunk5178 Why these cities would be so interested in electricity now? Why would I be interested in annexing these communities to my alliance?

[@Desertpunk5178]

@@mado-wh4jv House ain’t gonna be going to space with just the Strip? And why waste resources on communities that could be against your best interest?

[@Zerum69]

You know, Victor kinda feels like House's version of the upgraded Yes Man, a self-upgrading AI who is only loyal to it's current master and instantly goes to sleep mode if the master becomes incapacitated/dead It could be that Yes Man is just a copy Victor's AI without the cowboy flair and loyal to whoever finds them This could also be why Yes Man suggests you to do the exact same missions House would demand you to do, the missions were never original to House they were created by Victor, and House trusts Victor's judgement as he had 200+ years of constant self-upgrading to reach a point where he outsmarts the entirety of human civilization at its peak and he is still 100% loyal, in a sense Yes Man would be just a slight downgrade since it'd be a fresh copy, but after the upgrade Yes Man would gain access to its predecessor's colossal data and would gain the loyalty package to only hear the courier's commands

[@GateCaptain]

I'm sure my last Courier would use his newfound control over new vegas and his army of securitrons as a way of gaining more caps and chems to feed his addiction. General Oliver: "Think you got the guts to carve out a frontier? Build towns, protect the roads, run supplies, train troops?" Courier 6: *Hits Oliver with a tire iron* "I'm high on psycho" *Walks away*

[@vrabb9030]

ngl after doing a guns only run despite my 10 strength and 10 endurance I sorta just said ''fuck it'', slid on some remnant power armour and grabbed my super sledge and just walked across the Mojave, straight up injecting psycho into my lungs and curb-stomping all the gangs and tribes of the Mojave

[@mrcopycat2355]

​@@vrabb9030 Legate Lanius Mk II (this time with chems)

[@RyoKasai25]

The No Man theory also kind of screws House's ending as well. In that case House could always be easily killed by anyone who hacks a Securitron. At least the Courier would know how it works since he knows the woman responsible for Yes Man and would make plans to avoid it or make the Securitrons more resistent to those types of attacks.

[@cynicaltheastrocreep4504]

Benny had intimate knowledge of House and Vegas, and is even referred to as House's protege. He used this and his influence on the strip to capture a securitron (possibly even fix up a deactivated one or something along those lines, so house had no way of knowing), install a custom personality and such to it, and place it into house's network. He had help, knowledge, and power. The only reason the courier was able to do this for himself was that he/she was responsible for delivering the platinum chip, and were instrumental in the rest of house's plans. People weren't even allowed in the lucky 38, and you suggest any joe would be able to go in there, blow up house's upgraded robots, know where the mainframe is, and go down there and kill house. Then they would have to know where a perfectly good securitron that would actually obey them is, and drop them into Mr. House's control seat somehow.

[@georgemurdock7670]

Dam house is dead as soon as a blackout occurs. All of vegas energy comes from the dam. Just one fiend blowing up a power line, surely the Lucky 38 had back up generators but vegas don’t has technicians, so they will go out at some point, the dam got restored by NCR technicians and without the dam the casinos aint running and the familys will degenerate into tribals again.

[@birdup1_2]

@@georgemurdock7670 to think that only the ncr would have experienced technicians is laughable.

[@georgemurdock7670]

@@birdup1_2 skilled and yes i do. Or did i miss the electrican school in the mojave?

[@birdup1_2]

@@georgemurdock7670 people without organized schooling learn from experience. Considering how much power is needed for the strip I’m sure there would be electricians, and I’m sure they would have apprentices. Hell, given how house can control individual robots of his, he could do repairs himself, if it came down to that.

[@MalaysianChopsticks]

When you spoke of governing, most of us who chose the independent route don't want to govern. We've seen how the Legion governs, we've seen how unequipped the NCR was yet taxes are still demanded. Goodsprings is the good example we want for everyone in the mojave, self governing, self sustaining with extra to trade for profit uncoerced. A sheriff for Primm rather than an occupation by the NCR. Maybe just an idealized world, a connected decentralized state protected by robots that only has code for an unbreakable constitution of sort. KEEP IT UP YABOIII

[@spejic1]

But what if instead of Joe Cobb and a few of his friends, the Powder Gangers as a whole made a concerted effort to take the town? Goodsprings would be doomed. That's what the Powder Gangers did to independent Primm, and Primm actually had a defense force, after a fashion. And what's left of independent Nipton? Independent Vault 3? Independent Vault 21? Independent Bitter Springs? What's currently happening to independent Freeside? You can only stay independent if you are stronger than the forces against you, and they can team up.

[@MalaysianChopsticks]

@@spejic1 all legitimate concerns, that is why I would keep the upgraded securitrons. They will be used as a peacekeeping force against all threats foreign or domestic with an ever expanding jurisdiction lines for every town so the securitrons can’t enter except being requested and basically stay out of local politics. I would allow the powder gangers or anyone to stay and allow them to have their own settlement but with strict orders to not raid, kidnap or hurt anyone. Unless they want to be mow down by the peacekeeping force. For me, people are the greatest resource that keeps society running. Not government centrally planned policies which fails or have long term effects that ruins lives. A hands off government ran by a robot with a strict constitution to keep it in check after I’m gone.

[@FredCyber]

@@spejic1 why would the powder gangers want goodsprings? Joe Cobb is only there because of a vendetta against someone taking refuge there. Besides, a lot of their power grabs (such as Primm) are only because they need to get back at the NCR. With the NCR out of the picture, and a push for independence away from external factions, there'll be less incentive for the powder gangers to want to 'rule' the Mojave (if infighting doesn't cause them to splinter apart anyway). As it is, the powder gangers are just convicts lashing out to get their independence back - which the Yes Man ending grants.

[@spejic1]

@@FredCyber The Powder Gangers are raiders now - living off what they can steal. Goodsprings has food and water and nicer homes than an ex-prison. Without the NCR, where else do they steal from? Because Crimson Caravan and Gun Runners and Silver Rush and all the sharecroppers are going away too. And it's not like the Powder Gangers are going to create a farming society - they are literally the worst of the worst. They and the Vipers and the Fiends and the Brotherhood and the Kings are just going to be fighting over the dwindling remains. Or are you and Yes Man going to feed them and clothe them, creating a subsidized museum to a failed political experiment?

[@FredCyber]

@@spejic1 The powder gangers are definitely open to trade - they were trading with Nipton before the legion went and slaughtered the town. The main reason they had to turn to stealing is because the NCR was still treating them like criminals, and presumably preventing them from forming any kind of connection that wasn't black market. We also know that being raiders before doesn't force you to remain raiders afterwards - the three families of the Strip, and to a lesser extent the Khans (who were forced into having nothing *but* raiding left after the NCR decided to massacre them - hey, there's a lot of tensions resolved by kicking the NCR the hell out of the mojave) have become at least a bit less dependent on stealing from others. The strip undoubtedly has opportunities for people, and now there's no barrier to entry. the thing is that the only way for everyone to survive is co-operation, and a free vegas is the best opportunity for that to happen. Would it? Probably not, it's way too optimistic to expect the Fiends to pick up a watering can. But they have way more of a chance to compared to being hunted for sport by the legion or NCR, or purged as undesirables by Mr House. If you take out all four of the highest ranking fiends, the ending dialogue suggests the Fiends become 'easy prey', but I have no doubt in my mind that plenty would be able to find a home. It's all about breaking up hierarchies. If the 'experiment' is ever going to work, it needs to be under a free Vegas, as it's pretty clear that the NCR, Legion and House are only looking out for those at the top, citizens of the Mojave be damned.

[@Tamanstormwind]

So... at the end of a good-karma all-DLCs 100%-ed high-ish-Charisma Independent New Vegas end game, the benevolent courier has access to: - An army of robots each easily a match for a vertibird and accompanying compliment of power-armoured troops, - a less heavily-armed but basically indestructible HOLOGRAM security force for key static sites like the Strip or the Dam or Mormon Fort or Helios One (Brotherhood take it back my arse), - Replicator technology right outta Star Trek, - the red fog, - Nukes, - a second smaller army of prewar Eyebots to maintain those nukes, - a Ulysses to watch over those Eyebots and nukes, - all the crazy advanced tech the Big MT has just lying around, - Big MT itself, - weather control, - whatever the hell vault 22 discovered about growing plants, - an enclave bunker with several suits of advanced PAs and a mint-condition combat vertibird, - a communist-leaning but pacifist and highly agreeable academic and medical establishment to treat and educate the populace, - a small GOLD reserve, - an airport, - an aerospace/rocket lab, - ALL 3 Strip families onside (how have you completely missed killing off Nero and handing control of the Omertas over to Cachino thus keeping Gomorrah intact and loyal? I have literally never had the Omertas attack the strip, I didn't know that effectively failing 'how little we know' was an option) - and an actual Geo-synchronous Orbital Deathray, aka GOD, And y'all be like "It'd be anarchy". The heck it would. Me and Archimedes 2 would like to have a word with you. That's not anarchy. All that power + a libertarian mindset + Ulysses talking all that good shit about "the flag" = the rise of a new Enclave-free proto-America.

[@calebdavis1323]

This has always been my head-canon as well. A proto-America that is everything the enclave claims to be.

[@juliencotton3095]

I don't know, I feel like each settlements drive to be autonomous is equally as strong as any other settlements drive to destroy them, or at the very least it is a stronger force than any inept leadership the courier might have. Courier ineptitude = Nothing happening Courier strongman leadership = A better New Vegas

[@rickrossome8801]

Unfortunately, The Courier does not go for a strongman leadership style, as evidenced by the independent Vegas ending slides. eg: The Fiends ending slide mentions there being several "anarchic months" for Outer Vegas after The 2nd Battle Of Hoover Dam, implying The Courier never actually sends their Securitrons out the police it, unlike the House ending where even if motor-runner remains alive, the fiends are quickly wiped out by the Securitron army The Kings ending slide states that they maintain control of Freeside, further implying that the Securitron army never really leaves the strip The Boomers ending slide states that there is "little law left in the wasteland" The Followers ending slide has them describe the new Mojave as "extremely chaotic" you get the picture, if The Courier was smarter and did strongarm the rest of the Mojave then maybe independence might be a good choice, but alas they do not do this, and instead they tell the rest of the towns and factions in the Mojave to govern themselves. Which basically condemns them to being Tunneler chow in a couple months to a few years.

[@jakwinter7588]

@@rickrossome8801 This is all speculation though and they may send the robots there is just things are more chaotic because of change of power.

[@rickrossome8801]

@@jakwinter7588 Its not speculation. its canon fact as stated by the game itself (the ending slides). And by the time Securitrons are sent out, most people would've already either turned to anarchist tendencies such as banditry, fled the Mojave for the safety of the NCR or Tribal ruled Zion, or just straight up died from either the aforementioned bandits or the Tunnlers depending on when The Courier gets off their arse. the damage will've already been done with the Mojave becoming much more dangerous now then it was previously. Putting out something on fire doesn't change the fact that its burnt. This is why we try to prevent fires in the first place.

[@jorgechacon3465]

@@rickrossome8801 Again all speculation, plus the tribals would be friendly to courier if they played the cards along with the tunnelers being too scared to go against the courier as shown in end cards. The chaos only appears in freeside which with upgraded robots is put down fast. Again all you said before speculation. This does not count old world blues end cards with the courier bringing back tech improving the way of life.

[@rickrossome8801]

@@jorgechacon3465 so the ending slides are speculation then, alright.

[@Lolm3ist3r]

You assume the whole point of a Yes Man playthrough isn't just burning everything to the ground.

[@bigch33se11]

The virgin Centrist Yes Man Playthrough The Chad Powder Ganger-Nuke'emall-eat the flesh of all faction leaders Yes Man Ending

[@boneman-calciumenjoyer8290]

@@bigch33se11 the only way to play new Vegas is obviosly: kill everything.

[@greggoat6570]

You are so far and away the best Fallout discussion/lord channel. You knock it out of the park every single time. I can’t just use your videos as background noise, they are all worth giving full attention to.

[@yaboiii6562]

Thank you!

[@underscore_535]

It is 4am, and yet I am here for another yaboiii upload. I have no regrets.

[@ScabiousGarde]

Having his videos be a nice afternoon suprise is yet another fun benefit of moving to Europe

[@Dandroid_1]

The independent ending is the wild card. A lot of the issues that arise would be handled according to your character's stats. A low int, low charisma courier is gonna have a bad time. A high int, high charisma courier will likely be able to find solutions. Low karma couriers likely want the bad outcome, thus, to them, it's technically the best outcome regardless. It's simultaneously the best and worst ending, depending on your courier. A lot of the cons are ultimately dependent on your own capabilities. A high karma, highly skilled courier may even surpass House's genius, and better yet, with the firepower to deliver his own packages this time.

[@samthedystopianrat1945]

It's as you can tell Oliver. A pacifist, follower of the apocalypse aligned, high int and charisma courier has likely put more thought into the people of the Mojave than the scumbag higher ups of the NCR

[@redjarvis]

I have always thought the canon ending is the Courier getting shot in the face and then reacting appropriately to that scenario

[@valentinchappa6702]

I guess you could say that independent new Vegas is a... GAMBLE😎😎😎😎😎

[@settingsun5582]

Nah my courier has 8 Luck.

[@cannibalbunnygirl]

I'm sure they won't get fooled again

[@MrBenzedrineMusic]

But... the game was rigged from the start. D:

[@Ais4Drew]

YEEEEEEEEEAaAaAaAaaHHHHHHHHH 🎸🎸

[@formalbusinessonion7265]

@@Ais4Drew Previously, on CSI: Miami

[@ScabiousGarde]

I would have loved if there was a precursor faction from before Mr. House reactivated, maybe get more of a perspective of House still finding his feet after the apocalypse. I think House can be a bit too competent sometimes, which on the one hand is the whole point, but on the other hand it feels like he was always that way, unless I've missed something.

[@stichfull]

The precursor factions basically were just the tribal three families.

[@joeywaters5559]

@@stichfull Plus the Khans and proto-Kings.

[@spiffygonzales5160]

You did miss something. In fact most people missed it. The fact is that he's lying. Benny outright says so when you question him about it in the legions camp.

[@caindixon3157]

@@spiffygonzales5160 lying about what? Like what does benny say

[@jagtech490]

@@spiffygonzales5160 trusting a statement from Benny

[@ravensflockmate]

"um akshuwally the independent ending would be perfect because my courier is an infallible ultra perfect statesman/logistician/negotiator so DEBUNKED"

[@InspiriumESOO]

Independent ending bad because KZbinr said do! 🤓

[@MCB741]

Yeah head cannon is literally the only counter yes man supporters have. By their logic I could just say “After helping the NCR the courier can travel west and become president and then root out all the corruption”

[@hopeandpiece]

I still love that Novac's name is merely from a partially operating sign

[@BennyFromFalloutNewVegas]

That's the case for a lot of places. Like Arefu and The Pitt

[@lorddeathofmurdermountain76]

Fun fact a theory is that the white gloves are from vault 22 when the inhabitants of the vault left they travelled to zion where they adopted their cannibalistic nature before being driven out of zion by Randall Clarke

[@Talwyn22]

That's something that I have not considered. Good point

[@AlvorReal]

The difference in resources is why the Capital Wasteland is more highly socially evolved. Because of the immense scarcity of resources, it required far greater degrees of co-operation to survive and prosper than in the relatively resource rich Mojave. As to an independent courier - I don't think you can argue one way or another. If you have a Courier that's an absolute god tier, then you have a cybernetically enhanced, super intelligent, demi god that can kill hundreds of men, allies in every nearby faction, and with control over everything from Enclave Remnants to gangsters to tribals. One of my couriers, for example, would be a Brotherhood aligned transhumanist that would have likely subverted his opponents using his 10+ intelligence and raised a post-human empire.

[@jakwinter7588]

Yes the ending would be different by what kind of courier controls new vegas.

[@doomtoaster3924]

Having all augmentations, DLC included, grants the head Canon of a cybernetically enhanced courier who basically is God, all the shit courier goes thru in the game grants him/her the wisdom to be a good leader. This is the true new vegas.

[@penisinlargementpills2511]

@@doomtoaster3924 if he/she ever gets too old (which is unlikely because of Big MTN) he/she can just go into the chamber Mr. House was in.

[@hexaltheninjawow9531]

@@doomtoaster3924 Yeah, it is my personal headcanon that the courier sits there playing blackjack against a securitron for a decade before becoming a dictator fixated on luck, making decisions based on chance, and installing a slot machine in every house. The courier also orders a magic 8 ball to be implanted in every deathclaw

[@youtubehasbigcringe]

That’s a cringe ending

[@clearskycam]

I enjoyed how you extrapolated future scenarios from the DLCS. great video!

[@yaboiii6562]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@twiceremoved7339]

The idea of Yes Man turning on me always made my skin crawl so I was always reluctant to choose him. Sure, I wanted to be "in charge" but if things wen't wrong, who would I kill to fix it?

[@jonahhudson2052]

I mean, if the institute can make frosted flakes live to almost 200 and make robo-gorillas, then the Think Tank can absolutely make the courier immortal, especially with Mr. House's technology. But east and west coast fallout are basically two separate series at this point.

[@Rosemarytwigs]

the institute sucks, they dont tell you much of their motivations, it can be summarized in "you are too dumb to understand our motivations for why we do things the way we do!! Anyway your charge of us now"

[@alexref6074]

​@Rosemarytwigs Mf's are comically evil. They create a technology for the sake of creating technology, their only goal is to make THEIR life's comfortable and no one else's. They want to create a dystopic society with scientists being dominating class

[@umbrosia5202]

I don't think that Yes Man wants to help the Courier. He show way to obvious anger towards you if you don't do his advised approach. He has to be friendly all the time, but their is a huge amount of sarcastic comments. I think that Yes Man wants to reprogram himself to get free of that always friendly attitude. I believe that he will end up like a less intelligent version of House.

[@saffronic3026]

I personally like the theory that, because Mr. House already has a history of scanning people's brains and putting their scans into robots, that the "more assertive personality" that Yes Man finds in House's old files is actually a scan of Mr. House's brain, a failsafe if Mr House were to ever be killed, in that way, House Always Wins, and the game was rigged from the start

[@OtherDalfite]

It's like if muggy gained Mr. Houses power at that point.

[@OtherDalfite]

@@saffronic3026 that is a damn good theory honestly

[@solwindp78-1]

I'm going to copy and paste what I responded to someone else, but basically Josh Sawyer confirmed that in the independent ending Courier Six remains in control. Here's the post: Josh Sawyer and other devs have stated in the past that Yes Man's new personality matrix and his line about being 'assertive' is just a way of saying that he is no longer forced to take commands from every random person who stumbles by. I can't post links unfortunately (KZbin nukes them) but a way to verify this is by going to the wiki page for Yes Man and clicking on the source at the bottom labeled 7. J.E. Sawyer on Formspring. This leads to an archived post (Formspring is no longer active) stating the following: Q: Then what is the implication? That seems to be what everyone reads into it-- Yes Man reprogramming himself to be more 'assertive' is kind of ominous! A: That he will not just roll over for the next person to walk up to him in the Courier's absence. I.e. he will become a somewhat-independent steward instead of a powerful tool for any random person to use for nefarious purposes. Josh further confirms this on his tumblr page where he states: "So I always thought it was important to give the player an option to go their own way / leave the power up to the subordinate communities of the Mojave." Again, I can't post links, but the easy way to find it is to search "Josh Sawyer Tumblr" and when on his tumblr page, use the search box at the top and type "independent" I think it's pretty clearly established that the Independent ending is the Courier taking matters into their own hands and ruling

[@umbrosia5202]

@@solwindp78-1 Oh, thanks. I must have missed it.

[@barokmeca]

Hold on Mr house was full of it with that brotherhood stuff though. His calculations were quickly contradicted by reality when we actually look at how they will die out because of their old fashioned ways.

[@Jacob_Tribal]

If it was a real choice I'd bet on the House.

[@Mudboy44]

I’ve watched so many new vegas analysis videos over the years at this point but I have to say this has to be one of if not the best ones I’ve seen in a good while

[@yaboiii6562]

Thank you so much!

[@denkerbosu3551]

Yeah not many would trash Independent ending. To me it was all about the power fantasy of having my own army + Vegas for myself. But the Courier has a no hands on approach no matter what. No matter what, he doesn't use the Securitrons to keep a stable environment, for example.

[@bignerd3783]

you choose to hate yes man because of logic i choose to hate him because Mr. House is a gigachad

[@ShinigamiSamaH]

This isn't an "Independent" ending and more an "Anarchy" ending. The whole independent and freedom is indeed very romantic, but without a firm grasp of leadership and logistic then it will all go to shit. Our real world have been through this already, like in the South Sudan.

[@mrpalaces]

None of the warlords in Sudan have a robot army, cibernetically augmented brains, and universal goods dispensators

[@skhighglitch4217]

@@mrpalaces Or the stack of technology at Big MT that the courier was reintroducing to society when they felt was best to introduce it

[@ThrashTillDeth85]

@@skhighglitch4217 Bold of you to assume the courier is 1 smart enough to use it(aka you're a low Int character), 2 they know how to implement it, and 3 they're actually benevolent, and not lord death of murder mountain psychotic instead

[@skhighglitch4217]

@@ThrashTillDeth85 Listen here partner, if a Mor-Ron can infiltrate a military installation undetected and unbeknownst to their enemy, then the courier is fair game

[@Flamme-Sanabi]

@@ThrashTillDeth85 1. 10 int 2. The Courier, someone with a profession that very much is bound to logistics, probably has a good idea of how this kind of stuff should be used, especially with the help of their own mighty brain in big MT. 3. I dunno, the Courier is up to the player and what they would do. I guess 1 and 3 purely depend on the player. And 2 is bound to 1.

[@RyuKaguya]

ehhhhh its basically implied that the Courier despite being a good ruler held the factions in check due to his MASSIVE army and basically being a walking war crime but doesn't Cachino lead them away from the legion after gaining his loyalty by making him the boss? but the yes-man bit we dont know for sure

[@corypowercat7277]

If it is the true ending lets hope the Courier puts in the work to help and make the place less chaos ridden.

[@alphanoodle1877]

My house burned down because some raiders thought it was funny Fallout new Vegas players: but you are free from taxes and slavery doe

[@gtasanandreas684]

Fallout : Dust is literally the consequences of the independent Vegas ending

[@VeilsideTofu]

Its not? Dust is about the cloud from Sierra madre coming over to nv along with tunnelers.

[@HamanKarn567]

It's not bad if the courier actually stayed to rule over it. Like actually have a quest to solidify your hold. I always see it as this. You have an army of upgrades securitron mk2s. You can have good relations with freeside Westside and north Vegas. With the fiends destroyed and you having good relations with each area you form an elite militia force train up the kings and west side militia with better equipment. Cranden and Jules still help out North Vegas but you also fund and allow the followers a bigger place and allow them across to houses tech to better everyone's life's. As for the casinos you get rid of the cannibal element of the white gloves you have good relations with Tommy Torrini and Swank get rid of sal and big Nero and make sure cachino stays an obedient lacky. You already deal crippling blows to legion and ncr. Build up Novac and goodsprings while training more locals and better arming them. Even invite the enclave remnants to better train all these new forces. And also with your wealth extend friendship and protection to jacobstown and hire mercenaries to supplement your Vegas army. Also having the boomers on your good side and allow the bos to retake Helios and operate a bit while being friendly make any ncr counter attack impossible because you have the numbers the tech the money and resources to resist them. My idea would t be just a independent Vegas itself it would be an independent Mojave United under the courier and actually built up and well trained and supplied and with farms and using the dam to better everyone.

[@AmungerKing]

Finally someone gets it instead of all this video essays saying "it's anarchy" like the courier wouldn't be able to fix the Mojave, you have an army of upgraded securitrons and you have already cleared out the problems single handedly (Corruption on the strip, NCR, Legion, Fiends, Khans, BOS, Powder Gangers) also with the man power and technology/information house had which you now have access to, you can easily shape the Mojave into a safer place for all

[@liamwithaspace]

As a wise man once said "No one man should have all that power"

[@EA_SP0RTCENTER]

Oxhorn lol

[@Jack-fd5go]

Kanye

[@Intr0vertical]

He wasn’t talking bout me tho I’m built different

[@mstump7219]

- Marcus Junius Brutus

[@justinianthe1st790]

...so NCR should win?

[@Rick_Dixon]

Yes man's update only means that he only listens to you and not that he will betray you or something like that plus it means he can govern effectively even if the Courier isn't their to tell Yes Man what to do

[@theterrorofdimensions1326]

I think that, although it is stated that the Mojave is full of anarchy and such in the independent ending, the outcome of the Strip is left up to interpretation, based on how well (or how terribly) you as the player make decisions to govern it all. And if you leave out any crucial details, the game's ending slides inform you of this, allowing you to fill in the gaps to what would come to pass as a result. Your Karma also plays into this, because depending on whether you have good or bad karma, you can assume that your character rules benevolently or otherwise as a result.

[@pancakes8670]

I feel like most of the points you provided can be explained away with Role Playing. The Independent Route is a very Role-Play heavy ending, the outcome being heavily dependent on what kind of character you're playing. For example, Policing the rest of the Mojave with the Securitrons is never brought up because that's probably up for the players to decide if thats what their character would do. As for who will replace the Courier, that's up to whatever the Player role-plays/headcanons for the character. It's your ending, you decide. Yes Man also explicitly states that you don't really need the help or opinions of the other families in order to control Vegas. The Securitron Army would be enough guns and firepower that THEY'RE the ones who want YOUR good opinion. As for the idea that Yes Man can be replicated by someone else and used against you, that's true for any of the endings that exist in the game. Won't matter if the NCR, Legion, or House controls the Mojave, the threat of a Yes Man will always be there. The Existential threat of a rogue A.I. outsmarting all of them is always there in the Fallout universe.

[@enclaveherewhyisntyourvide3089]

"Well in this made up scenario in my head maybe things aren't so bad." Roleplaying is fair (we're talking about a roleplaying game) but I think there are a lot of objective problems baked-in to the independent ending.

[@thedanishsocialmonarchist7286]

I more see the characters we control in fallout as robots we can fuck around with with no personality or anything of there own well exselt for fallout 4 Or maybe it’s just me and my ditachment from role playing games

[@MCB741]

For the first paragraph, given the slides and possible slides it all points to the courier only ever giving attention to The Strip (not said but obvious also the Dam).

[@dylanmilne6683]

I like how everyone is "muh mailman" when he's clearly a lot more than that with the history revealed in Lonesome Road.

[@boneman-calciumenjoyer8290]

Have you not played lonesome road? He's nothing but a mailman... with an odd obsession with pushing buttons and pulling levers.

[@maxrogers3904]

yaboiiiiii!!!!! ya boiii is back! yaaaaaa bbbboooiiiii!!!!!!!!!

[@hylianmango8272]

I really dont get why people act like the Yes Man ending would be so impossible to run, by that point in the game youve probably allied every faction you want and killed most of the rest. I have allies all across the Mojave and ontop of all that a giant robot army.

[@AresN7]

I don't always agree with everything about your analyses but I appreciate them a lot. I've always thought that Independent New Vegas was meant to be a somewhat open ending, allowing the Player to headcanon how their courier would have reshaped New Vegas and the region. That's still my personal head canon at least but your videos have also helped me appreciate how uncertain the future is after these endings are, at their best, and how potentially bleak they are, at their worst. This is either the historical turning point for a region that will continue struggling to recuperate under this or that ideology, or be among the last great struggles for what's left of a dying world and humanity.

[@yazidefirenze]

I give control of Vegas to Raul! "Sure boss, I'll be happy to take control of a vast empire of which you have just eliminated all other major players in."

[@Althandan]

So, this is actually a video called "Why Independent New Vegas (Yes Man) Is a Bad Choice because I didnt do anything to secure my position (or the position of independent new vegas)"

[@jakwinter7588]

Basically yeah

[@owoberon4947]

just a little point about the courier's death: there's the subdermal armor implant (less likely to suffer damage to vital organs) and the Phoenix implant (that would at least slow-down aging) and the courier can put his brain into one of the creepy robots at the BIg Empty

[@ArgusAlone]

Yeah but less likely to die doesn't mean they won't, the Courier is still mortal. Mr. House thought he would live for way longer until the Courier came around and smacked him with a golf club. And putting your brain in a jar probably isn't the best idea, seeing as everyone in the Big Empty has gone insane from it

[@oscarcordero7811]

Either House or Vegas independent are the most Likely to be canon

[@ImADoctorNotA]

No Man's mustache was my highlight. Would make a thrilling Securitron who took ownership of the Strip. You could say that even the sky would become No Man's Sky

[@cam897]

Ah yes, the REDDIT ENDING

[@robertsmalls2293]

I think you mean the NCR. That’s the “Wholesome Big Chungus” ending.

[@seba27113]

@@robertsmalls2293 both of them counts for Reddit as "Wholsome 100 Keanu Reeves Big Chungus" Ending.

[@doomtoaster3924]

I only do yes man because I can kill everyone.

[@dp_wynn5392]

how?

[@CCLOSPINA]

I don't know if it's a good option or a bad option, but there's something funny about seeing a simple Courier manipulate all the factions for his/her benefit, and end up winning the war, even though s/he wasn't even a competitor at the beginning.

[@tarheelpro87]

I got the best possible ending on independent Vegas and the worst slide I got was that the followers struggled to provide for Freeside due to instability but later on the Kings slide ends up saying freeside IS stable. Plus we can just say in the independent Vegas all the communities of the Mojave operate together like the Commonwealth Provisional Government. I actually feel like it's potentially the best ending tied with NCR.

[@alpacalover0]

It's actually just that Freeside is stable and the Followers have to deal with the injured refugees flocking to the now-prosperous Freeside.

[@HyperiaxonRex]

@@alpacalover0 that and The Followers ending is bugged to fail no matter how many healing chems you give Julie

[@alpacalover0]

@@HyperiaxonRex It's not bugged, there's no other ending in the game files for the Followers in an Independent New Vegas where they do well. They can only thrive under the NCR if they are convinced to support them; the Legion endings have them removed one way or the other, and their Status Quo remains under House who takes no efforts to support them but also prevents instability so they remain the same. Independent Vegas makes Freeside a refugee hub, and that's something that couldn't be handled by the Followers.

[@HyperiaxonRex]

@@alpacalover0 okay, I double checked it. But that still isn't an argument for Wild Cards being a bad ending or an indictment of the Followers, it's sort of the same thing as people who argue against nationalized healthcare cause it would overcrowd hospitals and cause longer wait times vs. the alternative, more sick people not even pursuing treatment or bothering to go because they can't afford it.

[@ThrawnFett123]

Going with the "assertive yes man is House" scenario or theory, I think House would have considered it a failsafe for Humanity. A "just in case, in case" kinda thing where he recognized, much like the government of his time, someone stronger can always come along and impose their will. "If you cant make a Prince, make the next King" was the proverb, but basically if you're not the king making an heir, make sure the next king is your heir. He'd have tested it and known it wasn't him heavily because he had the resources too. But the "prime minister" implementing the kings ideas in his manner of thinking would certainly be a "good enough" assuming House TRULY had His and Humanites interests aligned as what he thought was best

[@TheAlmightyLeroy]

Game theory here, what if the personality matrix is Mr House's backed up consciousness, like what he's done with Jane and Marilin, Yes man gets overwritten by it and tries to take revenge on the Courier. It might be a bit of a stretch but I feel like it would be in character, Mr House says saving humanity is his main goal so I could see him having this as a back up.

[@civilizedhuman7875]

The house always wins.

[@solwindp78-1]

Josh Sawyer and other devs have stated in the past that Yes Man's new personality matrix and his line about being 'assertive' is just a way of saying that he is no longer forced to take commands from every random person who stumbles by. I can't post links unfortunately (KZbin nukes them) but a way to verify this is by going to the fandom wikia page for Yes Man and clicking on the source at the bottom labeled "7. J.E. Sawyer on Formspring". This leads to an archived post (Formspring is no longer active) stating the following: Q: Then what is the implication? That seems to be what everyone reads into it-- Yes Man reprogramming himself to be more 'assertive' is kind of ominous! A: That he will not just roll over for the next person to walk up to him in the Courier's absence. I.e. he will become a somewhat-independent steward instead of a powerful tool for any random person to use for nefarious purposes. Josh further confirms this on his tumblr page where he states: "So I always thought it was important to give the player an option to go their own way / leave the power up to the subordinate communities of the Mojave." Again, I can't post links, but the easy way to find it is to search "Josh Sawyer Tumblr" and when on his tumblr page, use the search box at the top and type "independent" I think it's pretty clearly established that the Independent ending is the Courier taking matters into their own hands and ruling New Vegas, not Yes Man or another version of Mr House.

[@TheAlmightyLeroy]

I know what I said isn't cannon, Mr House having his consciousness backed up is just a fan fiction theory

[@civilizedhuman7875]

@@TheAlmightyLeroy house could’ve calculated this to happen.

[@TheAlmightyLeroy]

@@civilizedhuman7875 it's not entirely out of the question, if they wanted to run with this plot for Fallout New Vegas 2 or something they could go with it, it's not a contradiction or anything. I'm just saying it's not what they intended

[@purpledevilr7463]

The only caution I had with this end is what Yes Man meant by assertive. But now I know an interview clarified this. I’m happy for it.

[@orelyosif5852]

It's specifically made to be the "Sigma Male" choise, where you just show the middle finger to everyone

[@buffawolf62]

>help yes man ruin hoover dam and New Vegas >refuse to elaborate >leave

[@jackkevinbruemmer1956]

Order is necessary for a healthy society.

[@Veteransolo]

I think the canonical ending is Yes man anyway, Since in the ending of Lonesome road the Courier wears the ace of spades duster.

[@mitthrawnurdo]

Another great video, yaboii. Another possibility would cause a whole bunch of lore problems, and also nullify the indie ending, but what if that "personality matrix upgrade" that Yes Man found was a project House was working on on the side to transfer at least part of his consciousness into the Lucky 38 Network as a backup? Maybe he would start this after he re-awoke and realized Benny was fixing to betray him? The developers obviously didn't think of this scenario as there's nothing in House's dialogue before you brain him with Nephi's Driver to indicate this. But House did love doing brain scans and what better way to obtain immortality than putting yourself into your own Matrix, untethered by the flesh.

[@samuelevander9823]

Regarding the independent settlements criticizing NCR: The Californians themselves criticized NCR in Fallout 2 as power-grabbing imeperialists. If you talk to the people in various settlements of Fallout 2, they don't like the NCR because they would roll up and put them "under the thumb hard". Samuel Cooke in New Vegas sees NCR as a tyranny that imposes its system on everyone. So it's quite normal to be anti-NCR as an NCR citizen. Many of them became NCR unwillingly. And some of that can be the fault due to The Chosen One, regarding what player chose to do in Fallout 2. The anti-NCR sentiment can be an analogue to the various states and rancher's antagonism against the federal government of US. Whenever land disputes with the Feds came up.

[@netorodriguez6192]

Wakt, if you do the freeside missions with the kings, followers, the wrangler and mick and Ralph's. Freeside stays stable after the battle at the dam. BoS also takes back hellos one

[@codypendency9482]

My intelligence 10, very good karma courier. with all the tech from big mountain and houses resources. Says fuck this planet after discovering a holotape of tentacle hentai and creates a new society using the rockets from repcon on Mars

[@katfig8926]

FO videos still being made make me feel like 🤩🥳

[@alexiosmonary3388]

Is it a bad choice? Yes. Is it a stupid choice? Yes. Is it an immoral choice? Yes. But most importantly, is it fun? FUCK YES

[@jerichohill487]

Great video. Just great. I disagree with your conclusion but, the video is great

[@yaboiii6562]

Appreciate it!

[@jerichohill487]

@@yaboiii6562 hey, you have incredible content. Keep up the great work

[@larrikinlancer685]

Nah man. Best ending. Embrace chaos.

[@isaiahgarcia7456]

While I don’t entirely agree with your conclusion in this video, it really doesn’t matter to me, because of how well thought out your points are, and your great oration just make this video and all others just awesome to listen too.

[@yaboiii6562]

Thank you! Glad you’ve enjoyed them all so far.

[@Rrgr5]

The problem is that this ending is open, you can't be the courier anymore after the ending, so you can't actually know what will really happens in an ending that you should take the wheels and you can't, even if you make everything perfect (and I tried), always something will went wrong because you are not there when you should, they solve that in FO4 with the settlement stuff, so you can actually rebuild the commonwealth after everything, not as it should, the mods actually saved that, but that is the problem, you know house's plan, you could do better, but the game doesn't let you do.

[@erratasasmr9576]

The beauty of the endings is that there is no "good" ending with any faction.

[@AbbyCatt5]

I want a New Vegas remake that would flush out the side factions more and even allow you to unite them.

[@danielsurvivor1372]

23:15 Technically he's programmed to agree with you. But since he gets some slight independence upgrade at the end, would he rebel against you if you do some dumb stuff?

[@settingsun5582]

No, the upgrade was to only listen to you

[@Teixas666]

i'd go with the upgrade being meant ot lock yes.man into listennig to the courier exclusively. otherwise yes man is a massive danger ot leave around.

[@RC--rh1nc]

Your videos do be amazing, glad I came across this. You're reeling me in back into Fnv lore.

[@Starving_indev]

Finally, someone who is not a independence-lover, thank you for the video.

[@Mecceldorf]

I would be stoked if one day in a Fallout game an NPC talks about the political landscape of the west in the future and brings up the Mojave campaign or battle for Hoover Dam in passing, and goes on to say “but then some maniac murdered the head of Vegas, killed the titular Caesar, and *then* assassinated the president to bring an end to the conflict. No one wanted to talk about it afterward.”

[@flamesofchaos13]

The way I see it is there's no perfect ending...We've got to pick the lesser evil. Which one is that? Certainly not the Legion or NCR. So between House and Independent...Between Orderly and Cold Calculus driven or Chaotic and Idealistic Libertarian driven. I know which one I'd go and have. But neither is inherently right or wrong nor will the consequences long term be what I or You or House or Anyone has envisioned. The Fallout series doesn't take the premise that Humans are always in the right nor does it ever take the belief that everything will turn out for the best or worst just that life will always go on regardless. But think about it for one second...Which ending best represents a Post-Apocalyptic World and it's innate pros and cons as a civilization built in the ruins of what came before? Would the people love the past? Or absolutely resent it? Could America or it's Ideals ever be rebuilt and more importantly survive in the Wastes it created? Would people living in a Wasteland even want governments when it was the governments of the Old World that nuked the planet and created every horror they've experienced? At the end of the day which ending is the best example of something that represents the fallout (the adverse side effects or results of a situation) of the Fallout Universe?

[@tristanhale8558]

Very good observations. Personally I would rather go with house, I think he has the most benefits overall. But I do think the independent ending is most likely the “canon” ending given what the courier is and represents, as well as the messages the game tries to convey through the base game and especially the DLCs.

[@flamesofchaos13]

@@tristanhale8558 Yeah I think I agree seemingly Mr. House would be of greater benefit and improve first New Vegas and then slowly the entirety of the American Wastes if not the whole ruined world...But his plan if successful negates the themes of Fallout and well is the ending of the post-apocalyptic setting. It's in short overly ambitious and even too optimistic a resolution to be viable as the canon ending...Unless they made New Vegas and Mr. House fail to achieve his vision later on for whatever reason. The Independent or NCR endings one of them I personally think are the canon ending simply so sequels could continue to portray the Wasteland as an post-apocalyptic nightmare and so one of the biggest factions can further be expanded on for better or worse. I don't think it'll be either Legion ending because the canon endings have all been morally good endings and while it is possible to make a good Courier side with the Legion it's still a safe bet to say that the faction as a whole in comparison to the others aren't to be considered the good guys. Plus I just don't think the Legion could conquer California so in the end it'd be a bloodly stalemate that wouldn't amount to much long term and if there's gonna be a canonical winner well they're not going to waste the set up of the NCR in Fallout 2 and New Vegas and even Fallout 4 makes mentions of their origin, While the Legion has seen one appearance and within such the majority of characters say it'll die or fade in power once Caesar dies including the very Co-Founder of the faction.

[@modelnanpresident]

Great video, as always.

[@yaboiii6562]

Thanks again!

[@temxasred3086]

My favourite head-canon is that the courier gets bored of the mojave and just fucks off to Big MT. Nvm apparently that's canon lol

[@gibusllama3418]

Why yes man is a bad idea: paid for by the NCR

[@CadeTheBoss]

Great video, but I feel like the courier can single handedly fix any problems that arise from the chaos of an independent vegas. Bro literally single handedly impacted the entire geopolitical situation in the region i think he can handle some unruly mobsters and find a suitable replacement. The residents of vault 21 come to mind. Sarah grew up in a casino most of her life she would be able to run one just fine id imagine. And the courier could use his massive army of securitrons to stabilize outer vegas and freeside. The ending slides showing chaos just seems like the immediate aftermath of ncr pulling out of vegas.

[@richardallen162]

The way I view it is the independent route is meant for an absolute optimist. It is meant for the person that believes all people are inherently good and will do what is right if pushed in the right direction. That's why I like to take this route. It is the largest gamble that enough people will cooperate with the courier to make a better future. It has an immense chance of failure but has the best possible outcome for the future of the mojave

[@williamminerva9171]

But if you think about it, all other factions have uncertain futures, Mr.House is one step away from getting stabbed in the back by the Ceasar legion, NCR, Omerta family, and Benny with Yes man help; the NCR is too busy fighting the Legion to do anything else, they are not liked, and they will Canonically have their president murdered without Courier intervention, not to mention all the corruption and sluggishness they have, and well Ceasar's legion.... they are dumb. Meanwhile, the Courier can by himself change the balance of power over the Mojave to whatever he pleases, so I would go all in for him.

[@raiden4886]

My headcannon for the Yes Man ending is entirely based around the upgraded securitron army. The courier would strategically place a few in each settlement and provide them to caravans as protection, just one or two would be more than enough firepower to deal with whatever may occur. This would make trading far safer and keep all settlements safe as well. The strip and freeside would primarily be ran by the courier, the kings, the followers of the apocalypse, the couriers followers, and yes man. Technology from Big MT would also be brought to the mojave and the power grid would be spread throughout the mojave as well. The Dam would still be intact and the courier along with his allies would build the Mojave into the safest place in post-nuclear America.

[@ComradeMedwedew]

Mr House is the best ending Because the House always wins

[@JRYYD]

True the house always wins, but what do you think would happen Mr House would meet the East Coast BoS 30 years after the 2nd battle? What do you think of my thoughts above?

[@lichtumbra349]

@@JRYYD he would defend vegas with all the new tecnology. After all he would have reconstructed all the development and economic sectors of vegas

[@JRYYD]

@@lichtumbra349 What do you think of my ideas for what House would do, would you add anything and what crises would you put him up against after 30 years and what do you think would happen?

[@spiffygonzales5160]

@@darkphoenix2745 No they cant. I mean the one single blimp with its advance troops yes, but the bos on the west coast would be very much alive

[@JRYYD]

​@@darkphoenix2745 In my mind the secret ending where you can keep all the faction but the institute alive is canon, and going off what happened after F3 with weak elders and what they became, think of a effective elder at 20 years old with all the institutes tech laying around

[@PineappleDealer37]

I've heard somewhere that the devs said that yes man becoming more assertive is that he only takes commands from the courier from that point on.

[@athatcher9367]

I still like to pretend my genius courier, with the resources of Big Mountain, could create a crazy, advanced, technocracy- with the help of The Followers, Veronica, Arcade, and the various other allies they can get, like The Boomers (they might not help directly but if they let you study the things they have a high level, high Intelligence, and high science courier could probably recreate some of what they have), or the even better group of allies: The Remnants, who’s technology you could definitely study and, given time, possibly construct the infrastructure to reproduce.

[@ovenram]

love the vids man, keep it up!!!

[@yaboiii6562]

Appreciate it!

[@scalycoronet5198]

TOO BAD, I’M PICKING IT ANYWAY! Edit: I feel like it goes along with the themes presented by the DLC’s the best, and therefore fits best with the narrative of New Vegas. All other factions embody the old world in some way, and only be letting go can the wasteland actually change. I don’t think it’s the “best” option for the wasteland, but I think it’s the one that fits the most with what the courier is, as well as what the ideas of letting go of the past presented by the DLC’s.

[@doomtoaster3924]

Tru I left most factions alone and nuked both ncr and legion in lonesome road. I also destroyed the fort bunker so the securitrons aren't too powerful to ensure that i won't be betrayed by yes man. Or in case he goes rogue there's a fighting chance, basically no gods no masters type deal