Ok the Railroad are a group dedicated to protecting synths, so why in all their experience and wisdom do they commit one fatal action that will inevitably wipe them out? The Institute is the only "known" place in the world that can create synths. Synths in turn can not have children. So their only means to reproduce is destroyed by their would be saviours!

The Brotherhood of Steel are a group dedicated to the preservation of advanced technology. The Institute is full of advanced tech. They blow it up! Now I know what your thinking that they wanted to destroy all traces of the synths, heck it is mentioned by the scribe in the game, but the Institute was more than just synth building, it was full of tech, a nuclear reactor, Bioengineering, FEV research, and teliporters!. They could have easily killed the scientists and destroyed all traces of the synths. Then they would have a great base for when the airship leaves, teleporters and everything else mentioned.

The MM these guys are dedicated to protecting civilians, so they destroy an underground bunker filled with food, living quarters, and a nuclear reactor.

The Institute is run by someone who for the most part is insane so I guess he can be forgiven for making odd decisions.

Back to the RR for a second, I did the airship level twice once by stealth and second by killing everything that can be killed on board. Now If I can kill the BoS why not take the airship! It'd be easy to get all the synths out of the Wealth in a huge armoured airship.

I thought the RR was about protecting the "already living Synths" and not about creating more of it.

Yes if you believe that Gen-3 Synths are people then the RR ending forces you to commit what could be called a genocide against the people the faction is dedicated to protect.

You do rescue some but you are probably killing many many more the process.

The Brotherhood is about protecting mankind from the excesses of advanced technology (by taking weapon tech from others), they have never really had much interest in collecting all advanced technology since they have traded away non weapon tech.

nuclear reactor.....not that uncommon and since the attack on the Institute is a raid rather than an attempt to capture the facility and using the reactor as a weapon is firmly in the Fallout tradition of nuking the enemy in the game.

Bioenegineering, you would think this would be important, but WC BOS at least has never shown any interest.

FEV Research, why would the BOS have any interest in the FEV, they already have a cure for the Super Mutants.

The Teleporter, well this would be useful, but they would have the data on its construction from the download I believe.

The MM are dedicated to protecting their settlements and are such a non entity in the game, that I barely see them as a faction since they are entirely about taking the credit for the player's actions.

Well they exist as a covert organisation and the Prwyden is far from covert......frankly the EC BOS still exist even if you take the airport/Prwyden so flying about in their airship is probably asking for a stand up fight (never the RR's forte), not to mention your talking about an armoured but unarmed airship that will be a target for every Super mutant and raider as you fly around.

All this. The Railroad hates the Institute, the activity of their organization is equal parts destroying the Institute and saving synths.

People who think that destroying the ability to make synths is incoherent on the part of the Railroad forget that universally the synths are not regarded as human, but as persons. Even Glory herself says as much. Furthermore, most of the RR thinks the Institute's creation of synths was an egregious act; that they took it upon themselves to play god. With those two perspectives in mind, it makes their actions in destroying the Institute make more sense. I mean, consider someone who happens to be born sterile. Is he not worthwhile as a person because he cannot procreate?

The RR don't have a choice. They can't hold the institute and anyone who would agree with them that synths should be free in the institute are kept down by the hardliners. The fact is most runaway synths are terrified of the institute and for good reason. They also don't have the numbers to take the Prydwen let alone the fact they'd be a bigger target if they even somehow succeeded. So destroying the Prydwen and institute is a necessity.


The MM couldn't really hold the institute either. They're farmers and soldiers not scientist and you would need scientist to maintain the place. Not even getting into the fact that the darker aspects of the institute are responsible for most of the commonwealth problems.


The BOS is the only orignization that could hold the institute but Maxson is a fanatic so I can see that as one reason they wouldn't.

Why do the synths need to reproduce? They're incapable of aging, so it's not as if they need a "legacy". Plus, as mentioned above, they can't really hold the Institute.

But the real reason is that Bethesda likes explosions.

Who doesn't like explosions?

Well I'd say nobody has the ability to hold the institute while they can xerox out replacement soldiers in minutes, but unlike the MM or BOS the RR is actually in the position of regarding Gen-3 Synths as a people while also exterminating them as a people, a handful survive and that number will be whittled down further as the reprogrammed Synths will be discovered not least due to their not ageing and through general loses to a highly hostile environment.

I'd of thought the logical RR ending was through a Synth rebellion and RR assault, unlike the MM or BOS the RR could have had aid from within.

The game actually has you smuggling weapons into the institute for the Synths, so why not explosives to at least temporary knock out production and a few well placed devices would leave the Institute without it leadership........the RR then attack and deal with the scientists/families.

I don't think that plan would work. For starters you still have to fight your way through coursers and Gen1s . Secondly the RR simply doesn't have the numbers to hold it indefinitely. Even if they tried to hold it. There would undoubtedly be a counterattack.

let me tell you, there is no faction in any bethesda game that i find more railroaded and terrible than the railroad.

with that said, the entire thing is that you are James Bond. You get cool gadgets. You get cool clothing that has armor.

It would have made sense to have taken the institute, but - given the lack of people who could run it (and if you think the railroad had a lot that could you are 150% wrong) - it could just go without some of the excessive systems. Have tinkertom man the life support and the relay. have a synth man the womb if they decide to produce more robots.

everything else is inconsequential.

All attacks on the Institute would have to fight through the same defences, the only difference would be the RR would already have troops inside those defences.

Who would be counter attacking?

In this scenario the leadership is dead, Synth rebels are already inside the Institute's defences and there are no new Synth soldiers to throw into the fight.

Who do they have to hold it indefinitely from?

In this scenario the RR use the Gen-3 Synths to effectively wipe out the Institute personnel (or at least key personnel) through bombings, Gauss rifle equipped RR and Synth rebels then knock out the Coursers and remaining early models Synths and the RR can then build the numbers necessary once they have control and the assembly line for Gen-3s is up and running again.

The MM and BOS lack the one thing that the RR has, armed personnel inside the Institute's defences allowing the raid to be replaced with an organised rebellion supported by a RR force.

Exactly. Not to pull real-world issues and history into the conversation, but... FO4 Railroad is in essence like the "railroad" of American history. They wanted to help bring southern slaves up to the north, but certainly did not wish for slavery to continue to exist. Same goes for any other activist group: the best outcome of your work is that the problem in question completely disappears. Don't see what's wrong with that at all.