Westworld season 2's new promo hints at park's location

Here’s a big Westworld update.

First, there is a new short season 2 teaser promo, seen above, that seemingly gives another clue to one of the show’s biggest mysteries: The location of the high-tech adults-only theme park. More on that in a moment.

Second, the teaser announces that the show’s first full official season 2 trailer is being released tomorrow — Thursday at 11 a.m. ET. (This is not to be confused with last year’s Comic-Con teaser trailer, or that lavish Super Bowl ad — neither were considered the official Westworld season 2 trailer … this is).

And finally, HBO released this at 8 p.m. ET in an unprecedented way that might interest you: For the first time ever, they “disrupted” every HBO cable channel for the same ad at the same time — yeah, even the Cinemaxes!

But let’s get back to the trailer.

We see the response team sent in, presumably by Delos Incorporated, to regain control of the park. What’s interesting is Bernard (Jeffrey Wright) sees them landing in rafts on the beach, with larger transport ships offshore. Until now it wasn’t even clear that ocean we’ve glimpsed was actually real, and not some Truman Show-like facsimile. Previously, we’ve heard insiders at the park refer to “the mainland,” but all the visitors have arrived by an underground train. With this shot, it’s another hint that the park might be on a very large island. Do the trains travel in underground tunnels below the water? Even if all this is true, it doesn’t necessarily negate the “another planet” theory.

Also: We have a bit of voiceover dialogue from The Man in Black: “They wanted a place hidden from God. A place they could sin in peace. We had something else in mind entirely.” This seems to clearly hint at one of the revelations showrunners Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy have said are coming this season: The real purpose of the park for Delos and its investors. This is something The Man in Black (a.k.a. William) knows, and we’ll see flashbacks in season 2 about how he came to have so much influence in the park, as well as the introduction of James Delos (Peter Mullan), the company’s founder.

We also have shots of what appears to be Maeve (Thandie Newton) awaking Hector (Rodrigo Santoro).

For more on Westworld season 2, check out our full cover story now online going behind the scene so of the new season.