This Is Why Everyone's After Dr. Wilzig in 'Fallout' (SPOILERS)

Spoiler alert: This article contains spoilers for Season 1 of Fallout.

By the second episode of Prime Video's new series Fallout, we've met Dr. Siggi Wilzig, played by none other than Michael Emerson. Michael seems to have a keen ability to play ethically questionable scientists — and Dr. Wilzig is a key player in the first season of Fallout.

Though Lucy isn't initially looking for the scientist, she quickly becomes responsible for his transportation to Moldaver — the same woman she's hunting down for taking her father. Maximus and the Brotherhood of Steel, as well as the Ghoul, are looking for him.

So what's so important about Dr. Wilzig? What's in his head that makes it the only necessary piece of him that has to make it to its final destination? Let's break it down.

Though Dr. Wilzig is an important figure, the character only manages to stay alive for a single episode. When he's introduced in Episode 2, we see him researching something, though the details of his research are sparse and vague. Before escaping from his research facility with his pet dog, he injects his head with something.

In the face-off in Filly between the Ghoul and the shopkeeper tasked with keeping Dr. Wilzig safe, the scientist's foot is quickly shot off by the Ghoul.

Maximus steps in, now donned in the Brotherhood of Steel Power Armor, and tries to play the hero (as well as get Dr. Wilzig back to his superiors). While the Ghoul is distracted fighting Maximus, Dr. Wilzig is given a clunky metal replacement foot and sent off with Lucy, both of them on the way to find Moldaver.

With 20 miles to go to their destination, Dr. Wilzig takes a cyanide pill, essentially killing himself. Before dying, he tells Lucy to cut his head off and take that with her.

Apparently, the artifact that Dr. Wilzig planted in his own head contains the secret to Cold Fusion. In the real world, Cold Fusion is a type of nuclear reaction that, hypothetically, would work at room temperature. Typically, a nuclear reaction happens at extremely hot temperatures, but Cold Fusion would allow it to happen in much less extreme conditions. Though there are some claims that Cold Fusion is possible, it has yet to be reproduced consistently.

In the world of Fallout, though, Cold Fusion is the key to rebuilding on the surface. Following the nuclear fallout, energy resources are difficult to come by, and the knowledge of Cold Fusion could be the key to rebuilding civilization on the surface. Of course, that's not what everyone wants — especially those closely associated with Vault-Tec.

It's knowledge that plenty are ready to kill for (and there are plenty who die in the process beyond Dr. Wilzig). But who will end up victorious? You'll have to tune into Season 1 of Fallout, now available on Prime Video to find out.