vulture lists

Our 9 Biggest Questions About Westworld, Episode 5

Photo: HBO

Westworld reached the midpoint of its awesome second season tonight with a shogun adventure! Honestly, tonight’s episode featured fewer questions than nearly any in the series history because the characters were too busy exploring the shogun narrative, one that’s awfully familiar to Maeve. We actually left many of the show’s mysteries behind for a bit of action television. And we learned that Sizemore has been cribbing from his own writing, repeating stories across multiple parks, and we got to see how the Maeve and Hector arc played out in Shogunworld … with a twist.

How did Teddy die, and does Bernard know?

In the episode’s only glimpse of the Bernard/Strand timeline at the beginning of the episode, we got another tragic shot of the dead body of Teddy Flood. We saw him in the water at the end of episode one, and there he is again in the facility. What happened?!?! We have to know! And does it look like Bernard is starting to remember, as he looks at the stack of hosts growing higher? Maybe he’s remembered all along?

Is Shogunworld part of Ford’s narrative?

This is important to consider. We know for sure that a lot of what’s going down in Westworld, including much of what’s happening with the Man in Black and Bernard Lowe and even at least some of Dolores, has been scripted as the new chapter of the game according to Robert Ford. What about what’s happening in the other parks? When Maeve got off the train at the end of last season, she broke from her programming, but did Ford’s new narrative extend beyond the boundaries of Westworld and is she a part of it? If not, what about the people and hosts around her? If we believe that Maeve is independent, did Ford have no role for Hector or Armistice to play in his new story? Or are they “off the track” now too?

Does every world have the same narrative?

We learned this week that there was a mirror image of the Maeve/Hector arc in Shogunworld. Is there one in the other worlds as well? Anyone else want to meet all the Maeves?

Does every world have a Dolores and Teddy?

This is even more important. We met the Shogunworld versions of Maeve, Hector, and Armistice this week. If Sizemore cribbed this arc, doesn’t it stand to reason that he would have also created a version of Teddy and Dolores in this world? And will they play a role this season? Or future ones?

What is Dolores gonna do with the train?

Dolores/Wyatt and her posse got to Sweetwater this week and to the train that brings guests to the park. She’s clearly got plans for that train. Is it just to take them back to the facility and then the real world? Or does she have other plans for it?

Is Dolores on a suicide mission?

She speaks to Teddy about wanting to see Sweetwater for “one last time.” It could just be her typically genre-heavy manner of speaking in that she’s always a bit melodramatic or she could be planning something from which she’s not going to return.

What’s the Mesa?

Angela finds out from a Delos worker that Peter Abernathy was taken to the Mesa. What’s there? And why would Peter be there?

Is Maeve basically Neo now?

Maeve went from being a pretty badass host whisperer this week — trying to influence hosts even in other languages — to being something else entirely. She’s now a full-blown Host Jedi, Neo, whatever you want to call her: She can control other hosts with her mind. As she’s being nearly choked to death, she centers herself, and then looks in the eyes of her attacker, who self-impales. And then she goes full carnage in the final scenes, forcing everyone around her to commit samurai carnage while her expression barely changes. How did she get this powerful? And how will she use it?

What happens to Teddy now?

Well, we know he ends up face-down in the water, but not until Dolores messes with his programming. Knowing he’s too gentle and kind for what’s to come, she has a programmer upload new attributes. If you pause it, you can see high numbers around “Decisiveness,” “Aggression,” “Tenacity,” and “Courage.” It’s time for Super-Teddy!

Our 9 Biggest Questions About Westworld, Episode 5