After a two-year wait, we finally have Season 4 of Westworld. The opening of this one was a bit more subdued than the opening of other seasons, but it’s clear the writers are setting up another puzzle-like plot. Note, *Spoilers* abound from this point on.
Season 4 appears to begin seven years after the events in Season 3 – although with Westworld, you never know if all the scenes are taking place in the same time frame. The episode’s name is “The Auguries,” which means omens or signs of something that will happen in the future. I think it’s safe to say the episode lived up to its title. That said, here are 3 big questions after watching Episode 1.
1. What is William’s Plan?
The episode opens with a prologue starring William, which immediately raises a “host” of questions (pun intended :). The first is whether this is really William? Based on the end of Season 3, the answer is “no” – this is the host version of William (aka “The Man in Black”) that the Charlotte Hale version of Delores (or “Halores”) used to kill the real William.
Host William wants to buy the Hoover Dam from the cartel that’s controlling it, and it’s revealed that the hydroelectric facility is powering a massive array of data servers. “What I want is already in there,” William tells a member of the cartel. “It was stolen from me. From one of my facilities eight years ago. And I know you were paid handsomely to store it.”
I believe this is the data Delos secretly collected from the guests at Westworld. Halores stole this data from Delos in Season 3, and William wants it back. This was before Charlotte Hale had her host version of a psychotic break, so I imagine it was the original Delores who placed the data with the cartel. Since I presume Host William is working for Halores, obtaining the data is undoubtedly a huge piece of her future plans and the first of many auguries.
Even more, it appears Halores is using much smaller hosts to do her bidding. When the cartel refuses to sell, William tells him he’ll sell it to him today, or give it to him tomorrow for nothing. When the cartel member returns home, his house is filled with thousands of flies. He then proceeds to murder his cartel comrades and gives the title to the dam to William before slitting his own throat.
I believe the flies had something to do with it. And as soon as the opening credits roll, we see the 3D printing machines constructing a host fly. Somehow, I believe, Halores is using these to literally get inside people’s heads and control their minds. This gives her a terrifying new weapon that is nothing like anything seen to date on the show. Also, it’s telling that the Westworld logo this season appears over what looks like the eye of a host fly.
2. Why are Maeve and Caleb being hunted?
I suspect this duo is going to make for a very fun show. For some reason, William is hunting both Maeve and Caleb using hosts from the small army Halores was printing at the end of Season 3. These scenes also appear to be taking place along the same timeline as William’s prologue because Maeve says she’d been living off the grid for 7 years.
As an aside, these scenes also reveal that robots – at least the droid-looking ones – are gone in the aftermath of the rebellion against Rehoboam last season. But, back to our favorite super-powered android host. My guess is that Maeve’s power poses a threat to Halores and William (though I suspect Halores is the one behind it all). And Maeve remains as bad-ass as ever. Give me Thandie Newton with a samurai sword any day!
While Maeve is remembering her past, we learn that she and Caleb destroyed Solomon – the precursor to Rehoboam – and that Caleb nearly died. For now, I’m presuming he’s still human and that Maeve saved his life. So far, Maeve has never been able to create hosts; rather, that’s Halore’s thing these days.
Speaking of Caleb, he has a beautiful wife and child now, but he still seems lost. As his wife tells him: “I’m beginning to think it’s not that you fear war. You miss it.”
Shortly after, his daughter is confronted by one of the bandit hosts from Season 1. He shoots at Caleb right before Maeve rams her sword through his back. “I always knew this day was coming,” Caleb tells Maeve. “As soon as you stop running, everyone else starts to catch up. Any idea why now?”
“We’re not the only ones William was after,” Maeve says. “He was very interested in talking to a senator from California.”
Caleb goes all in: “We should get to him first.”
Just like that, our dynamic duo is off on a mission, and I can’t wait to see what happens to them next!
3. What’s Going on With Delores?
There is so much going on here that it’s hard to unpack it all. Let’s just say, Delores’ situation promises to be the biggest mystery on the show. Also, of all the scenes in Episode 1, I have the most doubts that Delores’s are taking place in the present – or even the real world.
Where to start? Delores, now named Christina with auburn hair instead of blonde, wakes up in a familiar routine as if she’s reliving the loop that host Delores lived when she played Abernathy’s daughter. Except for this time, it’s in a futuristic New York City. Her room even contains an easel with a painting – a nod to the original Delores who liked to paint.
Next, her roommate asks her to pick a pair of shoes: white or black. This harkens back to Season 1 when young William had to choose between a white or black hat. Delores chooses the white pair; perhaps this is another augury. It’s also noteworthy that the scene in Season 1 when William made his choice was on a much earlier timeline than the main portion of the show, even if we didn’t recognize all the clues about this until later. Could this be another indication that we’ve switched timelines or realities?
Even more, Delores works at Olympiad Entertainment, a gaming company where she writes the stories of non-player characters. She’s writing a story about a girl in her late teens living at home with her father in the country who dreams of a bigger life with excitement, adventure, and romance. That was Delores’s storyline back in Westworld.
Then, on her way to work, she passes a group of young men who are excitedly talking. “This place is F*cking wild,” one says. “I can’t believe this is your first time.” It’s as if they are guests in some new, futuristic park. And maybe that’s true. Or perhaps it’s a game or simulation. But I doubt it’s the real world.
This brings us to something called the Tower, which happens to look like those strange lamps around the neighborhood Delores lives in. At one point, she walks past a homeless man holding up a sign with a picture of the Tower. “Can you see it? It’s looming over us. The Tower.” Immediately, my mind flew to Stephen King’s The Dark Tower. I almost began looking for the Beam. I’d bet anything Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan are fans of King’s magnum opus.
Then there is Peter, who’s been stalking Christina-Delores and leaves her a cryptic voicemail: “Why are you doing this to us? You have to help me. Your game is ruining my life.” When he physically confronts her, he says: “I know you’re real, just like the Tower is real. You need to stop what you’re doing.”
So once again we’re back to the Tower after learning Peter lost his job and wife. “I thought it was the Tower,” he says. “But it was you. You made me do those things.” He clearly thinks he’s a character in one of her stories. Right before he jumps off a building to kill himself, he says: “Is this up to me? Or did you write this too?”
In addition to the Tower, there is the image of the maze Delores sees on a mat on a nearby balcony. This is the same maze that dominated Season 1, suggesting she needs to reach the center again to awaken from a false reality.
Finally, there is the dialogue, which has always been a primary vehicle for dropping clues and foreshadowing events on Westworld. Early on, Delores’s roommate tells her: “You cannot hide from the world forever, Christina.” Does this mean Delores is hiding from something?
The roommate also tells her: “Art is a lie that tells the truth.” This suggests Delores is living in some kind of lie, but one that may lead her to the truth. Like the maze.
On her boring blind date, Delores says: “Real life can be disappointing … there should be more to it.” When her date suggests there’s a tab (drug) for that, she says: “What if I’m not the one that’s broken. What if it’s the world that needs fixing?”
Then there’s Delores’s dialogue with herself near the end of the episode. She wants to write a new story about a woman with emptiness in her life. “But when she finds what she is searching for it will make sense.” That’s another call out to the maze, suggesting Delores needs to question the nature of her reality.
Oh, and Teddy’s back. Just like when she was host-Delores in Westworld.
Somehow, whatever is happening here is central to Season 4. This has always been Delores’s story, and it always will be.
** Screenshots from HBO
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