You’ve finally found your son, though perhaps it’s not the reunion you hoped for. Should You Save Shaun in Fallout 4?
Your son Shaun is an infant at the start of Fallout 4 and it doesn’t appear that he will have much impact on the game. However, following the fall of the bombs and the manipulation of the cryogenic pods, you watch the event of his kidnapping and the death of your spouse. Consequently, Shaun becomes your original driving need. Your escape from the vault and entrance into the bizarre, twisted, post-apocalyptic world above becomes all about survival so you can find your son.
Can you succeed in your quest, and what are the consequences of doing so? We’ll answer both of those questions and more in the following guide, Should You Save Shaun? However, be aware that this will contain major spoilers for the ending of Fallout 4.
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Finding Shaun in Fallout 4
To find Shaun in Fallout 4 you must follow the stretch of main story quests throughout the game. Along the way, there will be a lot of side quests and story to experience, as well. Additionally, you will eventually run into three of the four major factions:
- Brotherhood of Steel
- Railroad
- Minutemen
You’ll learn of the fourth major faction, the Institute. They have a shadowy, threatening presence amongst the people of the Commonwealth. Moreover, their current headquarters is unknown and it’s not a location you can get to independently. At the end of The Glowing Sea quest, you will meet a former Institute synth named Virgil. Later, during The Molecular Level, he will tell you that the Institute uses teleportation. He can give you the plans to replicate the technology, but you will have to enlist the help of one of the other factions to help build it.
Shaun and Father
You’ll finally make your way into the Institute during the quest Institutionalized. You’ll meet a 10-year-old boy named Shaun, and immediately assume that you’ve come to the end of your quest. But the truth is not quite so simple.
It turns out the boy is a synth, while the real Shaun is the one the Institute calls ‘Father’. Your time in the cryogenic pod has allowed your son to grow much older than you, and the reunion is a confusing one. The synth, however, retains the name of Shaun. Moreover, depending on your choices in the dramatic final main story quest of the game, you can choose to accept or deny him as your son.
Choosing to Save Shaun in Fallout 4
After the quest Institutionalized you will have to make a serious choice about which of the four factions to side with. Siding with the Brotherhood of Steel, the Railroad, or the Minutemen will lead to a faction-specific version of the quest Nuclear Option. All three of these quests have the same end goal of destroying the Institute. Near the end of this quest, you will run into the synth boy Shaun, who will suddenly be insisting that you are his parent.
This is the pivotal moment where you must make your choice. You can save Shaun and bring him out of the Institute. Or you can deny him and leave him behind to die with the others. There is nothing else you have to do to make this moment happen. So long as he isn’t dead before this moment, Shaun will appear and ask to go with you.
On the other hand, if you choose to side with the Institute, then you will take over as leader of the organization. The older, real Shaun is dying from cancer and his wish is for you to take his place. This final Institute and main story quest is called Nuclear Family, and as a result, you will unlock the Institute paint for the X-01 power armor. Additionally, in this scenario, the synth boy named Shaun can be found afterward in the Advanced Systems Lab.
Consequences of Saving Shaun in Fallout 4
If you agree to save Shaun and bring him with you, he can later craft you the weapon Wazer Wifle and weapon mods if you complete quests for him. Despite its silly name, the Wazer Wifle comes with the Never Ending effect. This legendary weapon effect grants you an unlimited magazine capacity and never needs to be reloaded. However, it does still require ammunition to fire.
After destroying the Institute you can find Shaun waiting for you at the headquarters of whichever faction you sided with in the final quest. Speak with him, and he will give you a holotape from ‘Father’. If you listen to it, the senior Shaun will have a message for you. There are a couple of different versions, but it is essentially asking you to look after the boy.
Additionally, Shaun wants to help out and offers to create something for you if you bring him items. This will start a series of radiant fetch quests. There are several different items Shaun may ask for, including:
- Alarm clock
- Biometric scanner
- Camera
- Hot plate
- Microscope
- Telephone
- Vacuum tube
You will receive the Wazer Wifle after completing the first three of these, and then other weapon mods thereafter. The mods can be useful if you don’t already have the necessary Science perks, otherwise, they are mods you can just as easily craft yourself.
Overall, choosing to save Shaun is more of a role-playing choice than anything else. The Never Ending effect on the Wazer Wifle is a nice perk, but other than that there isn’t much that makes the weapon stand out. However, it also doesn’t cost you anything to take Shaun out of the Institute with you. None of the factions will heavily disapprove and it won’t turn any of them against you.
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