Westworld's Season Finale Was Insane
Hi, Westworld is over, as is my reason for bothering to wake up on Sundays. And the episode was-to be frank-a complete and total clusterf*ck. As we predicted, the season culminated in all our best robotic buddies meeting up at the Valley Beyond, and TBH, this was me during the relatively snoozy first half:
Meanwhile, this was me during the last completely WTF-worthy 30 minutes:
Let's break down what the hell happened, shall we?
The Forge/The Valley Beyond
As Bernard explained to us last week, the Forge did indeed turn out to be a vast server with the guests laid out in code. Basically, it's the human version of the Cradle, and the key to Delos' plan to clone humans. In the most Nolan-y move ever, Bernard and Dolores are able to ~enter~ the Forge using James Delos' simulation memories, find the "system" (which is inexplicably physically personified by Logan Delos), and learn that humans are essentially nothing more than code.
Said code looks like this:
Which, FYI, is similar to what Westworld's piano scroll music looks like, leading me to believe these pianos have been writing human code this entire time:
Regardless, this is all clearly an elaborate, extremely Nolan-y way for the viewer to realize that humans have even less chance at independent thought than robots, and that they ultimately make the same life choices no matter what variables come their way. (See: James Delos always returning to the day he rejected Logan, no matter how many simulation variables he's put through.)
Dolores' plan? To say "f*ck this, f*ck that, f*ck everything," delete all the guest data, and enter the human world. The catch? Deleting the guest data will also delete the Virtual Eden. Which, sigh, brings us to.....
The Virtual Eden = The Door
Welp, we finally know what The Door is. YAY! Apparently, it's a host paradise that exists purely in code, a parting gift from Ford to his robotic BFFs which only they have access to. The good news is that a bunch of our Ghost Nation faves (and Teddy!) make it through the door before Clementine rolls in and forces everyone to start slaughtering each other.
The bad news is that it's unclear where the Virtual Eden is, but it appears as though Dolores ends up beaming it out somewhere via satellite so no humans can access it. I'm assuming Season 3 will delve deeper into this, but I'm not sure people care.
What body Is Dolores currently in?
Those of you who were convinced there'd be some brain unit/body swapping this season can give yourselves a pat on the back. Not only did we see Bernard kill Dolores, regret it, and shove her brain unit in a host version of Charlotte, but saw Dolores/Charlotte travel to the real world with five brain units in a bag thanks to Stubbs (who is maybe also a robot?) and rebuild Bernard after killing him. Oh, and she also rebuilt herself in the process.
The confusing thing? This scene, wherein we see Dolores, Bernard, and Robot Charlotte chilling:
If Bernard's brain unit is in his body and Dolores' brain unit was swapped from Charlotte into her rebuilt original body, who the hell is that third brain unit in Charlotte Hale? We know Maeve is "dead" on the beach (and will presumably be brought back to life next season), and we know Teddy is in the Virtual Eden thanks to Dolores sticking his brain unit in the simulator. My theory? Charlotte is Ford. I'm pretty sure his clone brain unit has been unaccounted for since Bernard created it and placed it in the Cradle (assuming it didn't blow up when Angela destroyed the Cradle), so I think it's possible that this is the scenario we're dealing with:
Bernard Body = Bernard Brain
Charlotte Body = Ford Brain
Dolores Body = Dolores Brain
3 Extra Brain Units = Who the hell knows.
A Note on Charlotte/Dolores
I've been operating under the assumption that the season's major reveal would be TMIB coming face-to-face with a robot version of himself-but instead we got Charlotte coming face-to-face with a robot version of herself (who again, is actually Dolores).
Hat's off to the Redditor who pointed out that this moment was pre-ordained by the trailer for Futureworld, which ends with the musing "even those of us who create them can’t tell the original from the duplicate" and shows Peter Fonda shooting another Peter Fonda.
So, the Man in Black is...a Clone?
Westworld's massive post-credits twist was TMIB entering a room much like that of Peter Delos and being told by his daughter that he's undergoing fidelity testing. So, yep-looks like TMIB decided to clone himself at some point.
It's unclear if the real Man in Black has already died or if he started this experiment when he was alive, but what's even more confusing? Whether the fidelity test involved putting his physical clone body into Westworld, or whether he was placed in a simulation-much like the simulations we now know James Delos went through in the Forge.
If the latter is the case, it stands to reason that TMIB's whole storyline has been a simulation, which begs the question: was this entire season part of that simulation, meaning nothing is real? I really hope not, but I think this isn't the case due to TMIB asking "I'm already in the thing aren't I?" and his daughter replying "no, the system's long gone" and "this isn't a simulation."
Let's hope she's telling the truth because otherwise I simply cannot. On that note, bye 'til next season!
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