Why did you side with the Brotherhood (or not) in Fallout 4?

Alright, first of all, I want to lay out my position and arguments for it.

So I did side with the Brotherhood of Steel by a number of reasons:

1. I see their point, synths are basically self-aware computers, I can’t see them as humans, they are built on top of someone else’s life’s and are generally weapons of war/espionage, being worried about them would be like being worried about the Sink’s appliances, sure they might sound human, but sounding/looking=/=being
2. In my opinion, the Institute isn’t the most suitable candidate for establishing a nation, sure they may have tech and manpower, but most of those scientists have been down there for hundreds of years, probably never even saw the sun, sure the food shortages problems, may be solved, but how can we expect them to do the rest? Like how can we expect them to establish a judicial system about issues they have no knowledge about themselves? And besides kidnapping humans and send them to God knows where, well…
3. They have the manpower, know how and resources to pacify the Commonwealth, and besides the Institute, no one is as well prepared as them.
4. They don’t have Preston Garvey.

So leave your thoughts and opinions down below.

First Opinion

I did not side with the Brotherhood because:

1. I personally believe synths who are peaceful deserve fair and good treatment. If they truly feel then I don’t see why they cant. Its not their fault they are a synth. I feel like that’s saying that you are a terrible person because your parents are, let’s say, killers for example. That wouldn’t be your fault.
2. I also believe non feral ghouls are still human and they also should be treated equally. I find it funny that I usually find more kind non feral ghouls than kind humans in the game.
3. Not sure if I should be putting this also here but.. once again, the super mutans who DONT attack should also be treated equally. Sure, I won’t deny the fact that in Fallout 4 the majority are the ones who just kill on sight and they do really fucked up shit to the corpses. Those should definitely be dealt with the violent way. But then you have Strong (though hes pretty violent, he doesn’t actually kill you), Vigil, or even that one super mutant in Far Harbor who isn’t trying to rip you apart. Even if there are very few of those, they should be treated well.
4. I don’t think simply because some dumbasses decided to start a war, everyone will be responsible for it.
5. They are assholes IMO. Take that one guy you can buy guns from in the prydwen for example. When you ask for a job, he will pretty much say you need to go to settlers for something (forgot atm) and if they don’t want to give it the BOS will take it by force. It also annoys me how he said they should be oh so grateful for them. He really pisses me off.

I recommend watching Oxhorns video on why the BOS is evil. I pretty much agree with everything he says in the video (if I do remember correctly).

Second Opinion

• Gen 3 Synths are people. Full-Stop. Canonically, they are indistinguishable from ‘regular’ humanity down to the cellular level, and no medical test can determine a difference. They feel pain, fear, love and more. As such;

The Institute is guilty of slavery, as well as other crimes against humanity.

The Brotherhood is guilty of genocide, not just of Synths but of Ghouls.

The Railroad….. is “guilty” of not focusing on slavery as a whole, but that is more a Commonwealth problem than an issue with their organization as a whole. Slavery doesn’t really exist in the Commonwealth outside of, what, a single reference in a sidequest….. and the Institute, so I can give them a pass for going “All Synths, all the time”.

• The Brotherhood is a military dictatorship *at best*, and quasi-facism at worst.

There is no civilian oversight in the Brotherhood. They don’t answer to anyone, except themselves. Maxon is the *literal* ruler of the Capital Wasteland*, and there is very little dissent in the Brotherhood. Very few Brotherhood members speak out against even their most disgusting actions, and the few that do speak out are the green recruits. They are *fanatics*, and fanaticism is never a good thing.

“If you aren’t Brotherhood, you are nothing” is *literally* something Brotherhood soldiers say to the inhabitants of the Commonwealth.

• If you pay attention to the companions that have visited/come from the Capital Wasteland….. it really sounds like the Brotherhood isn’t nearly as effective at nation-building as you (and other people) make it seem.

Macready, for one, essentially states that despite the Capital Wasteland being ruled over by the BoS for almost a decade, the Commonwealth is *still* a safer place to live than the Capital Wasteland.

Original Link – Continuation of discussion