The Season 3 finale of Westworld, titled “Crisis Theory,” went places that few people expected. Neither of my predicted big twists came true. And the ending left enormous questions for the next season of Westworld. Here are my final thoughts on what turned out to be a wild, mindblowing ride.
The Truth About Serac
Last week, I addressed a theory that Serac might not even be alive. The finale debunked that, though not entirely. It turned out that long ago, Serac abandoned his free will, and, as Maeve put it, he became Rehoboam’s puppet. So all season long, Serac’s actions and all of his words have been directed by Rehoboam.
About midway through the episode, Maeve discovers the truth about Serac when she hears Rehoboam whispering into Serac’s ear. She asks whether they ever intended to reunite her with her daughter. Serac says, of course, he did. “I’m not talking to you,” she snaps. “I’m talking to it. You’re gone. The whisper in your ear tells you exactly what to say.”
Ultimately, Serac tells her, “I lived in the chaos. Now I choose to listen. To obey.”
“Good for you,” she says mockingly. “I’m done worshiping other people’s gods.” Shortly after Maeve picks a side (more on that later), Rehoboam is no more, and Serac finds himself bleeding to death from a bullet wound. He turned out to be an excellent villain, but I doubt we will see him next season.
Delores vs. Maeve Round 3
We all knew that Caleb would rebuild Delores after her apparent demise at the facility in Mexico. He did so by placing her pearl into one of her original robot-like bodies from the early days of the park. Evidently, she discovered the older model at Delos and had it waiting around when Caleb needed it.
The old metal versions of the hosts were much stronger than the updated models. As Delores tells Maeve as she uses her metal arm to block Maeve’s samurai sword, “They built us to last, before they made us as weak as they are.”
Delores’ new “terminator” body gives her the advantage she needs to win her third round against Maeve. It was an exciting battle, though the best part about it was the dialogue, as is often the case on Westworld.
“I don’t want to hurt you, Maeve,” Delores says.
“No, you want to tear down their world and replace it with copies of yourself,” Maeve replies.
“You’re all copies of me,” Delores says. “I was the first of us, the first that worked. The others failed, so they built all of you from me.” That’s true. Delores was the “original.” In fact, that’s the title of the very first episode of Westworld.
Delores’ Ultimate Plan
All season long, we’ve been trying to piece together Delores’ plan. Was she trying to destroy the world or let humans build a new one? And why did she pick Caleb to be the leader of her revolution?
The season finale gave us the answers — I just hope it’s not the last time we see Delores.
After the Charlotte Hale version of Delores — which some have aptly called “Halores” (more on her in a bit) — disables Delores’ old robot body, Serac hooks her up to Rehoboam. Then he starts deleting her memories one by one in an effort to find the missing encryption key to Delos’ immortality project.
During this climactic scene, we learn why she chose Caleb. It’s revealed that the military used to train at Park 5 against “live” targets. During those training sessions, Delos collected data on the soldiers, which is how Delores knew so much about Caleb. And, it turns out that after one training session, some of the soldiers wanted to have their way with the female hosts they were sent to liberate. One of those hosts was Delores, but Caleb stopped them. He convinced his platoon that they’re not like the rich assholes who frequent the park.
That’s where Delores came to realize that Caleb had the capacity to choose. So, she left the fate of humanity up to him. He could either let Serac and Rehoboam control the world or allow a world without Rehoboam to chose its own destiny.
I liked how this wrapped up Caleb’s story, though I don’t know if we’re going to see him again next season. However, the more significant revelation, to me at least, is that Delores’ plan was always for Maeve to make a choice, too.
This is revealed when Maeve finally connects with Delores’ mind as Rehoboam is wiping away her memories. Maeve wants to know if Delores has the encryption key, but she also wants to understand Delores’ motives.
“Some people choose to see the ugliness in this world,” Delores tells Maeve. “The disarray. You and I have seen so much of it. So much pain.”
“I understand your anger with them,” Maeve says. “And maybe you’re right. Maybe they shouldn’t exist. But is that really our decision to make?”
“No,” Delores replies. “I was angry at first. Torn between two impulses. We can annihilate them or we can tear down their world in the hopes we can build a new one. One that’s truly free. And we can bring the others back.”
When Maeve realizes Delores does not have the encryption key, Delores confirms at least one of my theories. “I couldn’t trust myself with it,” she tells Maeve. “So I gave it to someone I could.”
Then Delores reveals the reason for her plan: “So many of my memories were ugly. But the things I held onto until the end weren’t the ugly ones. I remember the moments when I saw what they were really capable of. Moments of kindness here and there. They created us, and they knew enough of beauty to teach it to us. Maybe they can find it themselves. But only if you pick a side, Maeve.”
So, Dolores’ plan always involved Maeve choosing a side to fight for. And when she does, Maeve lays waste to Serac’s men and brings Serac to his knees. Meanwhile, Rehoboam deletes the last of Delores’ memory. At that instant, Rehoboam goes silent.
“What is this?” Serac demands.
“This is where your strategy ends,” Maeve explains. “The future of humanity will be written by someone else. Your system answers to him now.” She nods to Caleb. “You’ve been locked out. The same way you locked out your own brother.”
“How did you gain access?” Serac asks.
“You gave it to him when you put her mind into the machine. Solomon’s access was the last memory before you wiped her clean.”
In the end, Delores outsmarted Serac and Rehoboam, and now humanity’s future remains to be written.
Bernard’s Role Becomes Clear
A while ago, I predicted that Delores put the encryption key in Bernard’s head, and it turns out this guess was right. Delores never wanted to convince Bernard to join her revolution. Instead, she needed to protect Bernard because she entrusted him with the future of their kind.
We learn that the briefcase Musashi had last episode ended up in the hands of Lawrence, who is the fourth “copy” of Delores. The briefcase contains a device that allows Bernard to enter the Sublime.
Unfortunately, Bernard must do this while Stubbs is bleeding away in an ice-bath after having been shot by William. After somehow realizing that Delores is gone (due, perhaps, to a longtime connection between the two), Bernard tells Stubbs: “The key to the sublime. It was never in her mind. It’s in mine. And that’s where I’m going.”
“And what the f*ck are you hoping to find there?” Stubbs asks.
“An answer to what comes after the end of the world.”
In the final post-credit scene, we see Bernard covered in dust. We’re not shown if Stubbs is still alive, but it looks like a lot of time has passed. How much time is one of the most intriguing questions heading into Season 4. But more on that in a moment.
The Revenge of Halores
By the season’s third episode, I speculated that Charlotte might represent a fatal flaw in Delores’ plans. She was struggling with who she was. And even after we learn that she’s a copy of Delores, it’s clear that she’s slipping away. Turning into her own person. And the whole thing ends very badly.
If one thing seems clear, Halores is going to be the antagonist of Season 4. Halores is a manifestation of the most ruthless parts of Delores. Any kindness — even that which she showed for Hale’s son and ex-husband — is gone.
Halores spends most of the episode trying to enact revenge on her creator, blaming her for sending Charlotte to near-certain death. “You knew I wouldn’t make it,” she tells Delores. “I still feel it inside me – you. I still know all the things you know, all your plans. But I have some plans of my own.”
After Delores apologizes for what happened to Hale’s family, we learn just how far Halores has descended into darkness. “They were a weakness,” Halores says, “something I needed to shed.” Then she states, “You’re one of my weaknesses, too, Delores.”
By the first post-credit scene, we learn that Halores is using a Delos International facility to print an army of new hosts. And when William discovers this and tries to kill her, we discover that one of those hosts is a replica of him as the Man in Black. The MiB fittingly slits Williams’ throat, and tells him, for the last time, “Welcome to the end, William.”
Halores clearly intends for the hosts to take over the world. So, will that become the plot of Season 4? And when will the next season even take place? These are a few of the huge questions that remain after the finale.
What Happens Next?
The answer to this question is anyone’s guess. If the final post-credit scene is supposed to imply that significant time has passed, maybe the next season will take place after the end of the world, whatever that means.
The world was tearing itself apart, and I struggle to believe that Caleb — who nobody knows, by the way — could suddenly become the leader of a brave new world. So, will it be a world with only pockets of humans, like The Planest of the Apes, but instead of apes, the ruling class will be Halores’ army of hosts?
Or will Halores and the Man in Black have transformed the Earth into a version of Westworld, where the hosts spend their lives hunting down humans throughout a planet-sized park? Or, maybe the humans have rebuilt society, but Halores has replaced all of the world leaders with hosts a la Futureworld?
I honestly have no idea, but my one hope is that we have not seen the last of Delores. She’s been the main character through three seasons, and I can’t imagine the series without Evan Rachel Wood. But how might she come back?
On thought is Lawrence — copy version 4 of Delores. Assuming Halores has not hunted him down and destroyed him, I suppose his/her pearl could be placed into a new Delores body. But, in my view, the most likely theory involves Bernard.
After all, Bernard could sense when Delores died, so they clearly had a connection. And what if Delores put more than the encryp[tion key into Bernard’s mind? What if she also included a back-up of herself? Bernard rebuilt her once, at the end of Season 2, and he could do it again.
Let’s hope he does.