The Sole Survivor’s Sentinel Rank Has Nothing To Do With Maxson’s Trust

The Sole Survivor’s Sentinel rank has nothing to do with Maxson’s trust

So if you play through the BoS ending, you get promoted to Sentinel for your part in helping take down the Institute. One criticism about this is that it seems incredibly strange that Maxson would come to trust you so quickly, especially if your decision in Blind Betrayal was to go against his orders. He even promotes you to Paladin immediately after completely Blind Betrayal, no matter what decision you made. It seems way too sudden and that Maxson is putting too much trust in you that has no basis whatsoever, something that reads like bad writing (and well, considering Bethany “four dead wives” Esda, I wouldn’t be too critical of anyone who says it’s just bad writing).

But what if your promotions don’t actually have anything to do with trusting you?

Let’s look at what happens after Blind Betrayal. No matter what happens during the quest, you get the same outcome; you are promoted to Paladin, you are given Danse’s quarters on the Prydwen, and you are given his power armor to use as your own. You effectively take Danse’s position, getting his rank, his quarters, his armor, literally everything he owned that was left on the Prydwen. You replace Danse in the Brotherhood. There’s a void in the chain of command that needs to be filled, so you’re put there.

And then, the promotion to Sentinel. The Sentinel armor was already on the Prydwen, so Maxson clearly intended to name a Sentinel while the BoS was in the Commonwealth. And if he was intending to name a Sentinel, he probably also had a person in mind already, because Maxson isn’t psychic and probably didn’t see you coming. But who was he considering?

Remember back to Danse’s quarters, which are now yours. Around his quarters are Maxson’s room and Kells’ room, the Elder of the Brotherhood and the Captain of the Prydwen, respectively. Danse’s room was right next to the two highest-ranking officers on the ship. That part of the ship is effectively the officer’s quarters. Danse is a Paladin, but he’s not as high up on the chain of command that he’d be equated with the highest leadership. So what’s his room doing there then?

So we’ve got a) Danse’s room right next to the rooms of the two highest-ranking leaders on the ship, b) the likely intention of Maxson granting the Sentinel rank to someone on the ship, and c) you replacing Danse in the chain of command.

Danse was going to be Maxson’s Sentinel, hence why his room was so close to the other high-ranking officers’ rooms. You’ve replaced Danse’s place in the Brotherhood, as established by you taking his rank, his room, and his belongings. So, as Danse’s replacement, you become Sentinel after the Institute falls.

It has nothing to do with whether Maxson trusts you or not. Maxson likely doesn’t know how to emotionally deal with Danse’s absence in a healthy way. The closest way to coping he has is to fill the gap with something else and act like nothing is wrong. He makes you the Sentinel not because he trusts you, but because he’s mentally replaced Danse with you.

That’s what the Brotherhood taught him, after all. When you lose someone in command, you just replace them. Just like how fallen Elders are replaced with new Elders, Maxson replaces a fallen Danse with you.