The fifth episode of Season 3, titled “Genre,” revealed a lot about chaos theory on Westworld.
The Outlier
As I’ve mentioned before, Michael Crichton’s Westworld was the precursor to his bestselling novel Jurassic Park. Both were based on chaos theory — a notion that no matter how one tries to control a complex system, there are certain things that are impossible to contain or predict. Last Sunday’s episode honored Crichton’s fascination with chaos theory. For we learn that Rehoboam, for all of its complexity, is unable to completely account for chaos — and that is the system’s fatal flaw.
Through a series of scenes that turn out to be Delores accessing Serac’s file on Rehoboam, we learn everything we need to know about the system’s origins and its limitations. Serac explains why he created Rehoboam in several flashbacks narrated in French:
“Humankind was hurtling toward extinction.
“We needed a god to save us.
“To save the world from self-destruction.
“To create order out of chaos.
“So we came to the new world with one goal …
“To build a god. So we built you. “
To save the world from itself, Serac and his brother set out to enslave it. As Delores (in the guise of Connells) tells Bernard later in the episode, “This is their god. This is how they see the future. How they make the future. In order to do that, they watch everyone, tell them what to do, where to live, who to love. Keep them all in a loop.”
But early on, Serac reveals Rehoboam’s fundamental weakness: “There was a bigger problem. In every projection, the world came unglued. There were people, outliers, agitators, who you couldn’t predict or control.”
The episode suggests that Delores may be the ultimate outlier who Rehoboam cannot control — but I don’t believe that’s the case. Delores is not human, and she wasn’t in the system. Rather, I think the true outlier was Dr. Robert Ford.
Rehoboam could not predict that Ford would create a map of the human mind that would allow an android to achieve free will. Ford was an agitator, and Rehoboam could not contain him.
The more I consider this theory, the more I wonder if Ford’s creation was designed to bring down the world Serac had so carefully engineered. Serac had created a god to bring order, so Ford made a god to bring chaos — and her name is Delores.
Opening the Cages
The episode’s most significant development was Delores executing the first phase of her plan. Using Liam’s personal key and Connells’ access to “the node” (Rehoboam’s control center), she sent everyone in the world their Incite profile.
“We’re going to open their cages,” she promised. “The system’s written their life story; they should get to read it.”
As soon as this happens, we see society start collapsing into chaos. Rehoboam has lost control, but this is only the first phase of Delores’ plan. The big question is: What will she do next?
Serac may offer a clue to the answer in his dialogue with Liam Dempsey, Sr.: “The trouble is, Rehoboam ran millions of projections. Every scenario in which you inform the public about my trials ends in human extinction.”
Is the end of the human race really Delores’ plan? Maybe. But whatever her endgame might be, she wants Bernard to be part of it.
The Ongoing Mystery of Bernard Lowe
Some of the most interesting scenes last episode involved Connells and Bernard. When it’s clear that Serac’s men are coming for them, Connells tells Bernard: “It’s almost time, Bernard. You’ll have to choose a side.”
Then, after Stubbs returns to the scene and Serac’s henchwoman enters the building, Connells says something even more interesting after Bernard asks if he will join them in escaping. “My role’s finished,” Connells says. “You’re the only one we can’t replace.”
That line was quite revealing. Delores considers Bernard irreplaceable, and she clearly wants him to survive. The looming question, however, which has existed since the very end of Season 2, is why?
After Stubbs and Bernard escape and watch Connells’ office explode, Stubbs asks what the f*ck is going on. Bernard replies: “The plan, it’s starting. I think I’m part of it.”
We still don’t know how Bernard fits into her plan. Yet as of now, I have two theories. First, Delores might have embedded her own code into Bernard’s core so that he could recreate her one day, if necessary. That would certainly explain why she needs him to survive.
Another theory is that she put the “key” to all of Delos’ data inside Bernard’s head. That would also explain why she wants to protect him. But why in the world would she imbed such precious information into a host she cannot control?
One Last Tidbit
One clue the episode subtly revealed has to do with the four hosts Delores created. So far, the show has only accounted for three of them: Charlotte, Connells, and Musashi. But the scene with Serac and one of his advisors reveals the whereabouts of the last one.
Serac is informed that Rehoboam has discovered a connection between four encrypted devices (Delores’ memory cores) in Jakarta, Berlin, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.
Now, we know that Musashi is in Jakarta, Charlotte is at Delos headquarters in San Francisco, and Connells was in Demsey’s office in LA. Which means the fourth host is in Berlin.
Somehow, Delores’ plan also involves a trip to Europe. As for why? Your guess is as good as mine — but I’m looking forward to finding out.
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