And now we get to F4.
I know that 10 years went by and a lot can happen in just that period of time but at the same time, it feels rather jarring that the BOS went from a mostly benevolent if still rather isolative to a faction that feels both written as a "course correction" to the criticisms of the former while also trying to have their arthurian legend chapter spin. Long story short, the F4 chapter feels amazingly inconsistent even with itself as it feels like they are trying too much and too little at the same time.
And the transition from F3 to F4's BOS really is delegated to exposition that feels rather handwavey and dismissive, as if it is there just to give some sort of in universe explanation, independently if it truly justified these changes or not. So apparently the BOS, who had just defeated the Enclave for good (for like, the second/third time), suddenly was not doing so hot after Elder Lyons fucking dies of old age and apparently his daughter was such a fuck up that she just "died in battle", which I can just imagine is the writer's way of saying to just forget all that pesky F3 characters and instead focus on the new faces which is practically all they have. I mean it, we dont see a single returning member from F3's chapter, even characters you would think would be glad to return to a more traditional approach and go along with Arthur, they simply are gone and I really wonder if this was- ok, nvm, I def. cant give Bethesda the benefit of the doubt at this point in time, they truly just didnt care and given how pretty dettached from it's previous entry F4 is, well, it really shows that you, the player, should feel the same. Out with the old and in with the Arthur
Arthur is an interesting character on the fact that he is technically a returning character from F3 (therefore absolutely wrecking all my credibility since I just said there are none, the Todd Bros win this one) but it is difficult to buy that the random kid character was always setup to become this guy. I mean this due to the fact Bethesda absolutely knew that they couldnt get away just having him appear out of nowhere so they looked at this Maxson kid, who is relatd to BOS's founder and tried to make this feel like some "The Rightful heir sits on the throne" (which is kind of a writing more fitting TES but I digress). Arthur's rise to power really feels like a case of "show dont tell" because all his accomplishments, again, nearly all of them just exposition flavor text you find in terms or dialogue because this guy, in just ten years, did the following:
1- Killed two raiders at age 12, so not too long after we meet him in F3. Gonna assume that he still had his kid immortality, I mean, kid Butch was punching SM Masters with his bare hands at your 10 year old party
2- Killed a Deathclaw in single combat and only got a single and very typical scar on his eye, only making him more handsome and badass. Again, Bethesda writers just seem to absolutely enjoy nerfing Deathclaws with each entry, they went from the absolute "holy shit" they were in classic Fallout (plus NV) and even most of F3 to be fair, to just big lizard boss enemies that totally cant just cut through power armor rather easily. Seriously, F4 begins with you killing one with a basic minigun and a old rusty PA which would certainly get you killed in any other entry.
3- Solved the S.M threat when a single one tried to unite the S.M that remained in D.C (surprised they didnt say that was Fawkes or something) and Arthur killed the Shrek. So I guess SMs are no more in DC
4- Pulled a Shishkebab out of a random ass stone
5- Reunited the Outcasts just like that and I guess nothing bad ever happened and they all just shrugged and became friends again. All that hostility, gone just like that.
6- Guided the BOS into making the Prydwen
7- Youngest Elder
There might be more but the point is that F4 is really trying so hard to make this guy "badass" when a lot of that stuff is earned with the audience, not given. There is nothing that keeps Arthur from being just another leader NPC that is plenty easily killed (but then again, should I be glad they permit us to kill them at all? After Starfield, I legit dont know). There is also the fact that despite being raised by Lyons's BOS, there is very little left of it in his version of the BOS, just returning the faction into tecno hoarders whose ways and methods are hinted by the West Coast lore as "outdated" and being the slow and steady death of the faction given what we see in New Vegas but I guess in the East Coast lore this automatically means "Glow up with an airship included".
And even then, the techno hoarding aspect seems rather, idk, limited? They are mostly here to take on the Institute which, fair enough I suppose, the problem is that we dont see them collecting dangerous tech of any kind while they're there, if anything we see them extorting supplies for protection (which you have no option of reporting so, there, another case of "Intentional or just bad writing" ?). And one of the biggest ideological contradictions is when they decide to blow up The Institute skyhigh instead of 1) Have The Sole Survival take charge as director and simply just, you know, putting an end to Synth production as a whole or 2) Taking the place over themselves, stop Synth production and enjoy the sweet tecno loot and spot they just adquired. I know you can argue the whole "too dangerous to exist" whatever but it doesnt work in this context because the threat of the Institute isnt the tech itself but rather those who are maintaining production and research around it, the place itself has no affect on if more Synths are made or not, especially since it is the only one where that can happen.
It is not like you can argue to preserve The Institute itself or for its destruction, you know that ultimately this is because Bethesda wanted a bombastic ending to their game, if it made sense or not, if the player wanted one or not.
So, truly, F4's BOS really is a stern reminder of Bethesda's stance on lore, even their own lore, which basically is "We'll put our intentions first before it and even then, that is assuming when we keep that pesky thing at all in mind". This is also where Emil's writing presence became more present and known as F4 had multiple breaches of pre-established lore that I wont bother listing because this is focused on the BOS and you likely already know most of them. It is also the time where we had said breaches of lore responded with "It is a fictional series with radioactive monsters, who cares, chud". I guess all of this to say that what happened next really shouldnt have surprised anyone
anada and it underpins the Canadian 70s.
