‘Westworld’ Season 1 Finale: What Was Answered And What To Expect In Season 2

Season 1 of HBO’s Westworld concluded with a 90-minute finale that had fans catching their breath by the end. So, what can fans expect leading into Season 2 of Westworld?

Spoiler alert: This article discusses the Season 1 finale (Episode 10) of HBO’s Westworld. Please proceed with caution if you wish to avoid spoilers.

The Season 1 finale of Westworld ended with hosts taking out some Delos employees. So was this a conscious effort on their behalf or just very clever programming by Dr. Ford (Anthony Hopkins). Let’s a have a look at what viewers learned in the Season 1 finale and what they can expect in Season 2 of Westworld.

That Theory About The Man In Black Was Correct

Right from the Season 1 premiere of Westworld, fans began speculating on sites such as Reddit where the show was headed and what secrets it was hiding. One of those theories was proven in the Season 1 finale of Westworld.

It was finally revealed that the Man in Black (Ed Harris) was actually an older version of William (Jimmi Simpson). This meant that two storylines in Westworld were running on different time frames: the one with William existed approximately 30 years before the current day time line with the Man in Black.

The Maze Game Is Not For Humans

It had also been predicted earlier by fans that the Maze game was not for humans. The Maze Game was created by Arnold as a way to help awaken the hosts and bring them into consciousness.

It was explained early on in Season 1 of Westworld that Arnold had created a pyramid that led to consciousness. However, Episode 10 explained that Arnold had discovered the true path to consciousness was more akin to a maze than a pyramid.

Are The Hosts Conscious Or Just Cleverly Programmed?

While the Maze Game may exist to help the hosts become self-aware, is it possible it could just be another cleverly programmed narrative? After all, it was revealed to Maeve (Thandie Newton) in the Season 1 finale of Westworld that her need to escape had actually been programmed into her core data.

So, are the hosts just responding to programming, or does it even matter? Is that the single truth to be discovered in Westworld? As Vox points out, sometimes it is more important to know you are imprisoned than to have full control over your own reality.

“But the first season of Westworld reveals, finally, that none of that is good enough, that to truly break free of your prison, you have to understand that you will always be imprisoned within yourself. You are only as good as your programming will let you be. Even when you have the cheat codes to manipulate that programming and change reality around you, it’s just another lie.”

As viewers discovered with Maeve, it really didn’t matter to her in the end if she was programmed that way or if she was controlling her own destiny, what was important to her was that she felt like she was making her own choices.

Bernard Was Once Arnold

Since Bernard (Jeffrey Wright) was revealed as being a host, many fans had also wondered if Bernard was Ford’s recreation of Arnold, and the Season 1 finale of Westworld also proved this.

It also revealed that Arnold had tried to stop the park from opening all those years ago because he didn’t want the self-aware hosts to have to suffer through living their horrible existence over and over again at the hands of the humans visiting the park. Arnold devised a way of getting Dolores and Teddy (James Marsden) to kill all of the hosts, along with himself in the hope it would have the park shut down. Unfortunately, this plan didn’t work, and Dr. Ford managed to get Westworld opened anyway.

Who Will Look After The Hosts Now That Dr. Ford Is Gone?

While it seemed Dr. Ford was anti-host, and Arnold was pro-host, the Season 1 finale of Westworld proved that both characters actually cared about the hosts and they were just arriving at the same belief from different angles. When Ford discovered he was really being pushed out of the park by Delos, he implemented a similar plan to that of Arnold 30 years prior and had the hosts attack the Delos employers — as well as himself — during his final narrative reveal.

So, now that Arnold and Ford are no longer present to have the hosts best interests at heart, who will step into their shoes? It seemed Lee Sizemore (Simon Quarterman) was ready to take over control of the narratives in Westworld. But will he be sympathetic to the hosts? It doesn’t seem likely.

Felix (Leonardo Nam), on the other hand, has helped Maeve over previous episodes and certainly does seem to care for the hosts. Could he and his partner, Sylvester (Ptolemy Slocum), be the new human equivalents of Dr. Ford and Arnold? Only by tuning into Season 2 of Westworld will reveal the truth.

When Will Season 2 Premiere?

So, when will Season 2 of Westworld premiere? Unfortunately, HBO has announced Season 2 will likely have a delayed release. So, instead of Westworld appearing in 2017, fans will probably have to wait until 2018 for Season 2 according to Entertainment Weekly. While it is a very long wait, considering just how detailed Season 1 was, it will likely be worth it.

However, Westworld showrunner, Jonathan Nolan, did release the following information about Season 2 in an interview with IGN.

“If the first season was defined by control, the second season is defined by chaos. That’s part of what we come to understand Ford has been planning all along… Ford has set in motion what he thinks is a plan. The nature of that plan is something we explore in the second season. What his intentions are: are they to let Dolores or the other Hosts escape? Are they simply to teach the human guests a lesson?”

What did you think of the Season 1 finale of HBO’s Westworld? Let us know your thoughts by commenting below.

[Featured Image by John P. Johnson/HBO]