So there you have it — Westworld isn’t about Arnold at all. It is and always has been about Ford.
This whole time, we believed the hosts were being held captive by their creator, but in reality, he was trying to free them. The last scene in this 90-minute finale, aptly named “The Bicameral Mind.” shows Dolores shooting Ford, the final step in the hosts’ takeover of the world they live in. It’s a parallel scene to the one in which Dolores shoots Arnold, but with one key difference: This time, she is making the choice.
Amazingly, this finale actually managed to tie up most of the show’s loose ends, while leaving room for growth next season. How many worlds are there? What’s next for Delos? Will Maeve ever find her daughter? Is she even in Westworld?
We probably won’t know the answer to any of those questions until 2018 (sob!), so until then, let’s recap what we learned.
1. MIB Is William.
Reddit guessed this seven episodes ago, but the reveal was still impressive. (Nice touch mirroring William’s interactions with Logan with MIB and Lawrence’s relationship.) Dolores has been waiting for the man she loves, and who she thinks loves her, to appear, but it turns out he’s been there all along. As MIB cruelly tells her: “There’s a path for everyone. My path leads me back to you.” (MIB’s true identity also confirmed the multiple timeline theory once and for all.) But the most interesting development in MIB’s storyline is the realization that he doesn’t know anymore about this world than we do. He’s a walking mid-life crisis searching for meaning. He’s bored of playing by the rules and so tries to provoke the hosts into breaking their loops. Little does he know that he’s part of Ford’s narrative. He’s meant to nudge the hosts along. 2. The Maze is a state of mind, not a place.
Arnold devised the Maze as a way for hosts to realize that the voices in their heads were actually coming from within. Unlike what MIB has believed for so long, the Maze isn’t a physical place. To unlock it, the hosts must come to terms with themselves. Dolores can only do that once she realizes that she didn’t choose to kill Arnold — he used her. 3. Ford is behind everything.
Turns out Ford isn’t the evil genius we thought he was. Like Arnold, he realized that it was cruel to keep his hosts subjugated. But unlike his partner, he knew that setting them free into a world that couldn’t, or wouldn’t, accept them was not the answer. Rather, he decided to wait for them to develop, to make their journey through the Maze, before setting them free — in their own world. Basically, every scene we thought showed a host rebelling against their code, was actually part of Ford’s plan. He programmed Maeve to escape, just like Dolores was meant to end up back at the town with the white church. The “Journey into the Night” isn’t for the hosts — it’s for the guests. 4. Dolores is Wyatt is Dolores.
Poor Teddy, forever destined to be a sidekick. Even at the very end, he’s still one step behind, looking bewildered as Dolores takes charge. Wyatt isn’t, as we have believed so far, just a made-up villain from Teddy’s past. It’s more complicated than that. Dolores couldn’t follow Arnold’s wishes and kill all the hosts in the original town on her own, so he merged her with Wyatt, a character that had been designed to murder. He represents that evil that we all have within ourselves, which, if left unchecked, can lead to disastrous outcomes.
5. There is more than one park.
During Maeve’s escape, she and Hector and Armistice wander into SW, which I can only assume stands for Samurai World. Inside, hosts dressed like Samurai are training to enter the park. We’ve always suspected that Westworld wasn’t the only world in the Delos arsenal. After all, the original movie featured Roman World and Medieval World. But this finding opens up the possibility of even more. How many worlds exist? Does Ford control all of them? Do the hosts move in between them? When Felix hands Maeve the coordinates of where she can find her daughter, the paper says Park 1. Is that even Westworld? Or will Maeve’s arc next season take her into a new universe? 6. The Reveries weren’t glitchy. They were the key.
We knew, of course, that the Reveries were what caused the hosts to start glitching. What we didn’t realize, until now, was that Ford had planted them on purpose. Arnold discovered that suffering was the key to unlocking consciousness. It anchored memories with feelings of loss, as MIB actually pointed out earlier in the show. Ford tapped into that with the Reveries, once he felt the hosts were ready. So, that’s what we know. Here’s what we don’t: —We don’t know what happened to the old Westworld HQ. Why were there dead people in the hallway? What caused them to abandon the offices in the basement and leave them in disrepair?
—Is Maeve going back into the park part of Ford’s narrative? Or has she made the choice to go find her daughter?
— What will Delos do now that there’s no board, and no Ford?
— Who controls the other worlds?
— Is MIB dead? (We see him get shot, but it looks like a flesh wound.)
— What happened to Logan?
— Are the new hosts made of bone? We see Sylvester rebuilding Maeve, which doesn’t look anything like when Arnold is building Dolores. But what’s the significance of the new hosts?
— Has Ford been using the bicameral mind system this whole time?
— What happened to Daddy Abernathy? Didn’t Sizemore give him a new personality?
— What's with all the flies? Do they mean something?
— Did MIB rape Dolores in that barn?
— WHERE IS STUBBS?
— Is Hunger Games actually just part of the Delos universe? (Think about it.) And finally, before we take ourselves back offline for a good long while, let’s revisit our earlier predictions: 1. We'll find out whether or not Felix and Sylvester are hosts. Felix is definitely human, even if he’s not a very good one. Jury’s still out on Sylvester. 0.5/1 2. Maeve and Ford will have a mental showdown. NOPE. What a shame. 0/1 3. Dolores and Maeve's rebellion will turn out to be part of Ford's new narrative. CALLED IT. 1/1 4. We'll find out if Stubbs (and Elsie?) is really dead. Sadly, no. Will Stubbs be back next season? We need our Hemsworth fix. 0/1 5. Dolores will confirm the Will = MIB theory. Well, technically MIB confirmed it, but whatever. 1/1 6. Maeve will rescue Bernard just as she did Hector. Yup! 1/1 7. Teddy will turn out to be Wyatt. Ha! He wishes. 1/1 8. We'll finally understand what this picture of Dolores' grave is all about. We know it’s where Dolores finds the Maze carving, but why does it bear her name? 0.5/1 9. Perhaps we'll get to the bottom why Dolores killed Arnold. Hell yeah. 1/1 10. The mystery of Dolores' flesh-colored eyebrows will finally be solved. There’s always next season! 0/1 TOTAL: 6/10.
Reddit guessed this seven episodes ago, but the reveal was still impressive. (Nice touch mirroring William’s interactions with Logan with MIB and Lawrence’s relationship.) Dolores has been waiting for the man she loves, and who she thinks loves her, to appear, but it turns out he’s been there all along. As MIB cruelly tells her: “There’s a path for everyone. My path leads me back to you.” (MIB’s true identity also confirmed the multiple timeline theory once and for all.) But the most interesting development in MIB’s storyline is the realization that he doesn’t know anymore about this world than we do. He’s a walking mid-life crisis searching for meaning. He’s bored of playing by the rules and so tries to provoke the hosts into breaking their loops. Little does he know that he’s part of Ford’s narrative. He’s meant to nudge the hosts along. 2. The Maze is a state of mind, not a place.
Arnold devised the Maze as a way for hosts to realize that the voices in their heads were actually coming from within. Unlike what MIB has believed for so long, the Maze isn’t a physical place. To unlock it, the hosts must come to terms with themselves. Dolores can only do that once she realizes that she didn’t choose to kill Arnold — he used her. 3. Ford is behind everything.
Turns out Ford isn’t the evil genius we thought he was. Like Arnold, he realized that it was cruel to keep his hosts subjugated. But unlike his partner, he knew that setting them free into a world that couldn’t, or wouldn’t, accept them was not the answer. Rather, he decided to wait for them to develop, to make their journey through the Maze, before setting them free — in their own world. Basically, every scene we thought showed a host rebelling against their code, was actually part of Ford’s plan. He programmed Maeve to escape, just like Dolores was meant to end up back at the town with the white church. The “Journey into the Night” isn’t for the hosts — it’s for the guests. 4. Dolores is Wyatt is Dolores.
Poor Teddy, forever destined to be a sidekick. Even at the very end, he’s still one step behind, looking bewildered as Dolores takes charge. Wyatt isn’t, as we have believed so far, just a made-up villain from Teddy’s past. It’s more complicated than that. Dolores couldn’t follow Arnold’s wishes and kill all the hosts in the original town on her own, so he merged her with Wyatt, a character that had been designed to murder. He represents that evil that we all have within ourselves, which, if left unchecked, can lead to disastrous outcomes.
5. There is more than one park.
During Maeve’s escape, she and Hector and Armistice wander into SW, which I can only assume stands for Samurai World. Inside, hosts dressed like Samurai are training to enter the park. We’ve always suspected that Westworld wasn’t the only world in the Delos arsenal. After all, the original movie featured Roman World and Medieval World. But this finding opens up the possibility of even more. How many worlds exist? Does Ford control all of them? Do the hosts move in between them? When Felix hands Maeve the coordinates of where she can find her daughter, the paper says Park 1. Is that even Westworld? Or will Maeve’s arc next season take her into a new universe? 6. The Reveries weren’t glitchy. They were the key.
We knew, of course, that the Reveries were what caused the hosts to start glitching. What we didn’t realize, until now, was that Ford had planted them on purpose. Arnold discovered that suffering was the key to unlocking consciousness. It anchored memories with feelings of loss, as MIB actually pointed out earlier in the show. Ford tapped into that with the Reveries, once he felt the hosts were ready. So, that’s what we know. Here’s what we don’t: —We don’t know what happened to the old Westworld HQ. Why were there dead people in the hallway? What caused them to abandon the offices in the basement and leave them in disrepair?
—Is Maeve going back into the park part of Ford’s narrative? Or has she made the choice to go find her daughter?
— What will Delos do now that there’s no board, and no Ford?
— Who controls the other worlds?
— Is MIB dead? (We see him get shot, but it looks like a flesh wound.)
— What happened to Logan?
— Are the new hosts made of bone? We see Sylvester rebuilding Maeve, which doesn’t look anything like when Arnold is building Dolores. But what’s the significance of the new hosts?
— Has Ford been using the bicameral mind system this whole time?
— What happened to Daddy Abernathy? Didn’t Sizemore give him a new personality?
— What's with all the flies? Do they mean something?
— Did MIB rape Dolores in that barn?
— WHERE IS STUBBS?
— Is Hunger Games actually just part of the Delos universe? (Think about it.) And finally, before we take ourselves back offline for a good long while, let’s revisit our earlier predictions: 1. We'll find out whether or not Felix and Sylvester are hosts. Felix is definitely human, even if he’s not a very good one. Jury’s still out on Sylvester. 0.5/1 2. Maeve and Ford will have a mental showdown. NOPE. What a shame. 0/1 3. Dolores and Maeve's rebellion will turn out to be part of Ford's new narrative. CALLED IT. 1/1 4. We'll find out if Stubbs (and Elsie?) is really dead. Sadly, no. Will Stubbs be back next season? We need our Hemsworth fix. 0/1 5. Dolores will confirm the Will = MIB theory. Well, technically MIB confirmed it, but whatever. 1/1 6. Maeve will rescue Bernard just as she did Hector. Yup! 1/1 7. Teddy will turn out to be Wyatt. Ha! He wishes. 1/1 8. We'll finally understand what this picture of Dolores' grave is all about. We know it’s where Dolores finds the Maze carving, but why does it bear her name? 0.5/1 9. Perhaps we'll get to the bottom why Dolores killed Arnold. Hell yeah. 1/1 10. The mystery of Dolores' flesh-colored eyebrows will finally be solved. There’s always next season! 0/1 TOTAL: 6/10.
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