Hank's Power Armor Jets Him to New Vegas

Hank does not flee blindly. He steals Brotherhood power armor with a jetpack, uses it with practiced precision, and rockets away from the observatory without hesitation. A man who has been periodically unfrozen since before the war to manage vault populations would have contingency plans. The final shot of the season places his destination at a recognizable illuminated desert skyline, and the theory's core claim is not simply that this is New Vegas, but that Hank knew to go there before he ran.

New Vegas is the logical sanctuary for a Vault-Tec executive in 2296. The city exists outside Brotherhood of Steel jurisdiction and has historically operated as a power unto itself. A pre-war corporate operative seeking cover from both the Brotherhood and the NCR remnants would have strong reason to move toward the one major settlement that has maintained its independence. The Ghoul's demand to know where Barb is, directed specifically at Hank, reinforces that Hank carries information about pre-war Vault-Tec personnel and locations that extends beyond the vaults the show has revealed. He did not give that information up. He fled with it.

If Hank arrives in New Vegas because it is a pre-designated refuge for Vault-Tec interests, then the city is not merely a sequel setting but an active node in the same corporate network that built the vaults and staged the nuclear war. That means someone is already there waiting for him, and the question Season 2 must answer is whether Barb MacLean, or whatever remains of the Vault-Tec executive structure, has been operating out of New Vegas since before the bombs fell.