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‘Westworld’ Episode 3 Recap: Bernard’s Backstory And Fan Theories Revealed

By Erika Miranda
Published on: 17:30 PST, Oct 16, 2016

HBO’s Westworld continues to amaze as Episode 3 titled “The Stray” showcases a backstory about Bernard Lowe and more development for other characters including the show’s female lead, Dolores.

The first season of HBO’s sci-fi-Wild West TV series appears to be becoming more popular thanks to its masterful character development, which was emphasized in Episode 3.

Dubbed as “The Stray,” this week’s Westworld episode showcases more backstories and flashbacks, which will definitely get fans thinking about what happens next.

Be warned, the next sentences you are about to read contain spoilers of the recently aired Westworld episode as well as fan theories that may hold a little bit of truth on what is to come in the next episodes of the HBO TV series.

Westworld’s “The Stray”: Recap

Episode 3 begins with the usual diagnostic session on Dolores where Bernard (Jeffrey Wright) gives her a copy of Alice in Wonderland which has more significance to the Westworld Programming Division Head than we think.

From there, the show proceeds to reveal a part of Bernard’s past that has not been set out in the beginning: his family.

Apparently, Alice in Wonderland is one of his son’s favorite books. The mere fact that he had a son was already a surprise but what is more unexpected is that later in the show, it was revealed that his son has already died due to a reason yet to be revealed.

When Dolores asks about his son, he declines to share more details about him, though he appears to be curious as to why the Westworld host queried in the first place.

Speaking of Dolores, the show then proceeds to her usual routine for a new day with some minor alterations: she sees the gun she dug up in last week’s episode.

The sight of the gun then propels Dolores into a flashback to a situation where the Man in Black was dragging her by the hair to a barn—a scene showcased in Westworld’s pilot episode.

After the flashback has passed, the gun suddenly disappears and she proceeds on with her day as programmed.

From there, the show continues with the usual Wild West ruckus which, in this case, involved William (Jimmy Simpsons) whose fate appears to be tied with Dolores as depicted in last week’s Episode 2.

Long story short, the episode appears to have developed more characters who might get the “infection” that is plaguing the hosts in Westworld since Dolores’s previous father, Peter Abernathy (Louis Herthum) got hold of a photograph left by one of the guests.

After whispering the words, “These violent delights have violent ends” to Dolores, which she whispered to a couple of other hosts, a series of hallucinations plagued the androids of Westworld, which brings in the million-dollar question: What will happen next?

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Fan Theories Explained

Several fans already formulated theories about the Westworld characters even if HBO has just aired three episodes of the show.

While this means the show is becoming more popular every week, it also delivers a message to showrunners who might consider adding the ideas to incoming episodes.

One theory featured in an article by Vanity Fair revealed that the series may actually be portraying two timelines involving Ed Harris’ Man in Black and Jimmi Simpson’s character, William.

According to the theory, William might actually be the younger version of Harris’ character, who repeatedly claims to have visited Westworld for over 30 years.

Another one pitches the idea that Bernard is actually an android who has been secretly added to the mix with his recently revealed information about his family background as a clue.

Apparently, this fan theory pits Bernard to be an android with very rich and detailed back stories, which serve as an “anchor” between the host and the “cornerstone” of the illusion of their humanity, as Elsie (Shannon Woodward) explains to Stubbs (Luke Hemsworth).

All these could probably make the show a lot more colorful, though it is still up to Jonathan Nolan and other showrunners to decide which makes the cut – if they even consider fan theories as a substantial addition to content.

For now, enjoy the preview of the next episode of Westworld titled “Dissonance Theory” featured at the top of this article.

[Featured Image by HBO]

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