#elder nolan mcnamara fonv

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@theartofblossoming @g0thiclem0nade

I'm glad you guys asked because I've been manic about this for the past 3 days 🙃 

This is long one, so bear with me...

It is weird tho, that we haven’t gotten much about the Codex and it’s not as tho it were a secret. There’s so many aspects of the Codex that isn’t just the tennents and oaths of the BoS, its it’s entire way the BoS function, it’s entire *history*, down to the very lowest ranking soldier.

I think the problem is that the Codex itself is just so long and very complicated that no writer wants to go into detail about every rule and scripture, and member. There’s got to be 100s if not thousands of entries over the past, canonly, two centuries it’s existed. And with the way the scriptures we got are worded, there’s bound to be a million different interpretations to everything. That’s a daunting task even for the most enthusiastic writer. 

Really tho, I’m more interested in the tenets of the Brotherhood. The core pillars that makes up the Brotherhood ideology, and you’d think that would be something important to write down. But for some reason, we haven’t been given the core tenets of the Brotherhood, only a few entries and mentions of the “Founder’s Axioms”.

Of all these tenets and cores, we’ve been given five... and two of them, are contradictory as hell:

"Shield yourself from those not bound to you by steel, for they are the blind. Aid them when you can, but lose not sight of yourself, it says." - Which is said by a Baby Maxson in Fo3

"We do not help them, or let them in. We keep knowledge they must never have."  - Which is stated by Nolan McNamara in FoNV

But this also got me thinking about how the Codex is essentially edited. In games, Scribes will tell you that they update the Codex as time goes on, however editing the Codex or at least the tenets/founder’s axioms, has incredibly bad consequences. The only time something is removed is when a name is struck from the Codex.

As, Veronica says,  “Ah, the Codex. If it's in there, we have to abide it, if it's not, it's not important.”

Unless.... ya know, you happen to be the High Elder of the Brotherhood... because I can’t imagine the High Elder not having that power, and I can’t imagine that the Codex cover’s every situations imaginable that may be important.

Roger Maxson, despite writing the damn thing, is only one man, he can’t account for everything that may happen. It would make sense that he’d at least be smart enough to put in a catch-all as a precaution. Basically, if something goes south, and it’s not in the Codex, defer to High Elder.

Because, as Baby Maxson says,  "Give way your suspicions to the wisdom of thine Elder {...}”

My theory is that contradictions are present in the Codex because past High Elders have made edits to the core tenets and axioms, specifically, past Maxson Elders, for the BoS’s continued survival. Because I can only imagine changing the very ideology of your organization doesn’t go over well unless you happen to be the descendant of the very founder.

However, the status of being a High Elder, and even being a Maxson decedent, doesn’t mean you can just change the Codex without repercussions. 

People often describe certain factions of the BoS as being “conservative”. I can picture their response to a changed Codex tenant/axiom not going well. Just like in religious circles, these members may be more purist in their views of the Codex, and any change that comes after the original core written down by Roger Maxson, they straight up ignore. 

It could be possible, given the changing landscape of the Brotherhood and how much time has passed, there are sects that still follow the original Founder’s Axioms, and nothing else. Resulting in wildly different interpretations of the tenets, and different ways that each chapter of the Brotherhood function. 

To me, this seems plausible if we look at how religious texts work in the real world. It.... just makes sense that something like this would happen, especially with how much the Brotherhood has evolved in its 200 years of existence. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Codex’s core ideology has gotten a facelift every so often to keep up with the times. 

It would be interesting to explore this more often in games and in fan content. The idea of a High Elder changing the core tenets and seeing what happens as a result.