NOTE: This article will include spoilers for Fallout 3, Fallout 4 and season 1 of the Fallout TV show.
Fallout games are seeing a resurgence in popularity due exclusively to the release of the critically acclaimed Fallout TV show in April 2024. This follows a trend of popular games entering the TV world; Edgerunners, The Last of Us, and now Fallout.
Fallout 4 and Fallout 76 are seeing the largest increase in player activity - which makes sense, given their (relatively) recent release.
Given Fallout 4's resurgence and the next-gen update's release, I thought it would be prudent to discuss why the Brotherhood of Steel is the best (canonical and logical) choice for Fallout 4's Commonwealth.
The Brotherhood of Steel has Teeth
As depicted in previous Fallout games, as well as in the TV show (with some creative liberties), the Brotherhood of Steel appears to be the most powerful faction in the regions it operates within (New Vegas being an exception). The Brotherhood of Steel's mission is to hoard of technology - not to act as a government body or security guarantor. The Brotherhood operates multiple chapters across the post-nuclear United States each with its own short term, local goals (eliminating the Enclave remnants, destroying the Institute, etc.).
The Brotherhood is a well-equipped and organized fighting force with chains of command, rules, and structure. It represents the best, although flawed, form of justice in the wasteland. They use power armour, energy weapons, and squad tactics to achieve victory. No other faction has such organization in the Commonwealth.
We've also seen the Brotherhood can do good for wastelanders. Fallout 3's Brotherhood conclusion ensured the Capital Wasteland gained access to clean, drinkable water for civilians. So successful was the Brotherhood in the Capital Wasteland that a large detachment of their chapter ventured north to the Commonwealth during the events of Fallout 4 which becomes the defacto headquarters of the Brotherhood according to the Fallout TV show.
The East Coast Under One Banner
Another reason why the Brotherhood is the best choice for the wasteland is their reach along the East coast.
The conclusion of Fallout 3 leaves the Capital Wasteland under the firm control of the Brotherhood of Steel. By ensuring the Brotherhood also controls the Commonwealth, significant portions of the East coast of the United States would be under their rule. This, in turn, means the Brotherhood can start sharing resources, information, and troops between chapters up and down the coast - setting the stage for nation(re)building, trade routes, and permanent protected settlements.
By siding with another faction, one could argue there's a risk of future war between another Brotherhood force coming from the Capital Wasteland and whomever is in power in the Commonwealth.
Moreover, we already know the Commonwealth Brotherhood is the strongest chapter because of the Fallout TV show. The Brotherhood in the show receive their orders from command in the Commonwealth. This segues into my next major point which is...
The Brotherhood Ending of Fallout 4 is Now Canon
The only way for a West coast chapter of the Brotherhood in the TV show to receive orders from the Commonwealth Brotherhood would be if a Brotherhood victory was the canon ending of Fallout 4. All other endings result in the Commonwealth Brotherhood being destroyed which would make the reception of orders impossible.
In a TV show of a game series that has multiple endings, the showrunners had to choose one possible ending to build off. This doesn't mean the Institute ending, the Railroad ending, or the Minuteman ending are less valid - it's your game after all. It just means for the sake of the Fallout show, the Brotherhood control the Commonwealth.
Why Not Support Other Factions in the Commonwealth?
There're three other factions to choose from in Fallout 4: The Minutemen, the Railroad, and the Institute.
Why are none of these factions the most logical choice?
The Minutemen are essentially an organized police force. They patrol the Commonwealth, help people in need, and protect settlements from attack. They even have a pretty kick-ass headquarters. They are the best 'good guy' faction in Fallout 4, but they're also spread thin and under-armed. Their choice of weapon is the laser-musket - which is really ridiculous given the array of automatic and explosive weapons strewn across the Commonwealth. The Minutemen feels flimsy, as if a single coordinated raider attack would be enough to topple their faction (which you can do with the Nuka-World DLC).
While the Minutemen are a decent faction for the Commonwealth in a vacuum, wholistically it makes more sense for the Brotherhood to control Boston for the reasons already mentioned. Luckily, you can also spare the Minutemen in your Fallout 4 campaign while still siding with another major faction - to get the best of both worlds. These War of Independence LARPers are not the best choice to secure the Commonwealth - but they're certainly not the worst choice.
The Railroad's goal is the emancipation of synths from the control of the Institute. Noble, but the Railroad is a small and clandestine organization that barely has the tech to take on the perils of the wastes. The Railroad's appears to be the weakest of all the factions in the game and only those players looking to RP as a 23rd century Harriet Tubman should consider siding with them. The Commonwealth needs bold and strong leadership. Hiding in tunnels will not save settlements from raiders and mutants.
Finally, the Institute. This faction of scholars, scientists, and synthetic humans comes with a secret, underground base under the ruins of the Commonwealth Institute of Technology and is the most morally and ethically troubling faction in the game. They systematically assassinate high-value humans on the surface and replace them with a perfect synth clone which the Institute can manipulate to benefit their goals. For example, the Mayor of the largest community in the Commonwealth, Diamond City, is a synth after his human body was assassinated and replaced.
This means the wasteland is not allowed self-determination under Institute 'rule', and any resistance or rebellion leads to dissidents being disappeared. The Institute, naturally, is also rivals of the Brotherhood of Steel. The Brotherhood sees synths as robots masquerading as humans and must therefore, be exterminated. There's also a record of some synths 'escaping' the clutches of the Institute. One of the escaped synths even makes it as far as the Capital Wasteland in a popular Fallout 3 questline.
The Brotherhood of Steel, despite its flaws, is the best faction to be in control of the Commonwealth. With its allies in the Capital Wasteland, it's monopoly of technology & power, it's history of helping wastelanders, and the Fallout show's canon means the Brotherhood is best suited to rule the Commonwealth.
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