Dolores Heads to the Outside World in 'Westworld'
Hear that? It's the sound of hundreds of Redditors having their minds collectively blown thanks to the latest episode of Westworld. This week, the show took a trip back to ye olden days and gave us insight into the park's creation-but before we jump into what happened-let's go over the time periods we'll be dealing with:
35-ish years ago, when Arnold and Ford were trying to find investors.
30-ish years ago-after William's first visit to the park.
The two week period following Ford's death.
35-ish Years Ago
Remember all those shots of Dolores wearing contemporary clothing? Turns out they're from a trip she took into the real world when Arnold and Ford were trying to secure investors. The real takeaway here is that Dolores is VERY familiar with life outside Westworld (which will be a huge advantage when she eventually tries to leave the park), but we also learn how Arnold and Ford convinced Logan to invest in their company. Which brings us to...
The Argos Initiative
What is The Argos Initiative, you ask? It appears to be the name of Ford and Arnold's start up before it was bought by the Delos family. To impress Logan, the robot-obsessed duo have Angela stage an elaborate cocktail party wherein the prodigal Delos son is tasked with figuring out who's a robot and who's human. Naturally, it turns out everyone at the party is a robot, and Logan's duly impressed. Also naturally, he has a mini orgy with several hosts including Angela.
FYI, there are some recognizable faces at the party, including that of Clementine:
I think the show's focus on robots assimilating into regular society and tricking humans is extremely important when taking into account other moments in this episode, so please keep this in the back of your mind as you keep reading.
30-ish Years Ago
We now know that after his first trip to Westworld, William took his father-in-law James Delos on a quick visit to the park and convinced him to invest even more money into the business. Flash-forward an undisclosed amount of time and James decides to retire from Delos, giving William room to take over. Which brings us to James' retirement party, where several key events take place.
2) We find out William is married to an America's Top Model contestant. Just kidding, but only kind of. Remember when a Westworld fan discovered that the dusty old photo of William's wife Peter Abernathy found (the one that introduced us to the "doesn't look like anything to me" line in the pilot) was actually a Getty stock image of Claire Unabia from Cycle 10 of America’s Next Top Model?
Fans assumed this was an error on the part of the Westworld creators, but William's wife showed up during Papa Delos' retirement party, and yep, they hired the real Claire Unabia to play her. Which is honestly the best thing that has ever happened.
In case you need more convincing, Unabia Instagramed about it:
Dolores was at the same party as William and his wife, and you'll probably recognize her dress. It's the same one Angela wore to greet William and Logan when they arrived at Westworld in Episode 2.
Also there? William's daughter Emily.
3) Did William clone himself? I know, I know, but bear with me here. Towards the end of this episode, William has a conversation with Dolores while she's nude in a chair. After insulting her by saying "you really are just a thing," he tells Dolores that the park holds the answer to a question no one's ever "dreamed of asking." Given that we now know Delos has been harvesting human DNA, it's my personal opinion that the "question" no one's ever "dreamed of asking" has to do with human cloning. Furthermore, it should be noted that in the movie Futureworld, Delos is replacing world leaders with human clones.
The next shot we see is William and Dolores in full Western-wear, walking through the park. Now, it's possible that William simply got them both dressed and they went on a hike. But when they come across an abandoned bridge over a gorge, William utters the line "have you ever seen anything so full of splendor?"-a musing Dolores says not once, but TWICE during this episode. My question? Why is William, a human, reciting the same lines that have been programmed into Dolores, a host? Has William the human answered the "question no one's ever dreamed of asking" by creating a clone of himself? I don't know, but all of this feels incredibly suspicious.
Circa Two Weeks Ago
Dolores and Teddy
There isn't much to theorize about with Dolores this week, but I'd argue that her behavior is less about control and more about awakening her robotic friends. Yes, she's playing god by killing and reviving the hosts so they help her fight Delos, but remember: Dolores knows the key to waking up hosts is repeat trauma. I'm willing to give her the benefit of the doubt here.
The Man in Black
Ford continued to troll The Man in Black this week by once again inserting himself into his narrative via host proxy. This time Faux Ford was lurking in a new El Lazo, (a character once played by TMIB's good friend Lawrence, this time portrayed by Giancarlo Esposito), who muses, "this game was meant for you William, but you must play it alone" before referencing the ever-mysterious "valley beyond" and killing himself.
What's important here is that Ford's narrative is posthumously running without him-thought it's still unclear exactly how far into the future Ford programed it. And speaking of things being programmed, we need to discuss the Man in Black. Because yep, I think he could be a host. Or at the very least, Westworld creators are hinting at the possibility.
While grabbing a drink with Lawrence, the Man in Black gives a speech that has me convinced the show is entering "Surprise! The people you think are human are actually robots!" territory.
"They wanted a place hidden from God. A place they could sin in peace," he says. "But we were watching them. We were tallying up all their sins. All their choices. Of course, judgement wasn't the point. We had something else in mind entirely."
Does this not sound like something Dolores would say? And who is "we," exactly? Is it the members of Delos who are in cahoots with The Man in Black? Because last time we checked, he had few clear allies-not even Charlotte Hale seems to like him. Or, is the use of "we" a subtle indication that the Man in Black is looping himself in with the robots? I'll admit I'm less convinced the Man in Black is secretly a host than I am convinced that William cloned himself-but the events in this episode have made it abundantly clear that infiltrating the modern world with robots was always part of Ford and Arnold's agenda (I mean, look at Bernard!). The conspiracy theorist in me is definitely on high alert.
Also, speaking of conspiracies, go ahead and read Reddit's genius thoughts on multiple Bernards below.
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