Westworld Season 2 Episode 7 reveals some of the central secrets of the season.
Bernard and Ford are inside the Cradle, the digital simulation of Westworld.
We learn that the Delos company’s secret project is to study guest behaviour and “understand”
the human mind, so they can make backup copies of people – to make humans immortal . They
did this with James Delos, and Ford copied himself the same way . So far, these copies
can’t survive in physical bodies – or they “degrade” like James did . That’s
why Ford got Bernard to put his copied mind in the Cradle – where he lives digitally
. But James and Ford aren’t the only copied minds.
Later in the episode, Dolores mentions “all the souls” “gathered” “in that valley”
. It sounds like Delos made copies of lots of human guests, and since copies break down
in the real world, Delos is storing these minds digitally in the “valley”.
So the Valley might be like the Cradle, but instead of storing host minds, it stores human
minds, waiting to eventually put them in physical bodies.
You can argue that making clone copies of people isn’t the same as immortality.
James died a hundred times.
But each time he had his memories, he believed he was James – and as William said, “If
you can't tell” the difference, “does it matter?”
Ford also explains how Bernard was made.
We already knew that Bernard is based on Arnold – Ford’s partner who died years ago.
But apparently Bernard was created from Ford and Dolores’ memories of Arnold . These
flashbacks in Episodes 1 and 6 show Dolores refining Bernard in the Cradle , testing him
until he’s convincingly like Arnold . So this process is similar to how Delos made
a copy of James.
But Ford says that while James is a direct copy, Bernard is a bit different to Arnold
– he’s “An original work”.
Which must be why Bernard doesn’t break down like James does.
And this is the difference between Ford and Delos.
Delos wants to make perfect copies of human minds, to be preserved, immortal, predictable.
But Ford wants to make “a new people”, hosts with the free will to evolve and change
– like Bernard, and Dolores and Maeve . But Ford says he needs to take back Bernard’s
free will for a bit . Ford moves his digital self out of the Cradle and into Bernard’s
head, so that Ford controls Bernard.
Ford says that for the hosts to “survive” they need to “open the door” – which
seems to mean hosts escaping Westworld.
And the Westworld ARG hints at how this might work – it shows imagery of the Trojan horse.
So one theory is that Dolores will put the minds of her hosts inside the bodies intended
for the humans stored in the valley.
With human bodies, the hosts could sneak in to the real world, like a Trojan horse.
This would also solve the problem of the explosives in host spines . The hosts’ old bodies could
be left behind in the valley – with those empty minds Antoine finds . And for poetic
revenge, Dolores could even put human minds from the valley inside some old host bodies,
to be captured or killed as hosts.
This would, in a way, give both sides what they want – the hosts would be free like
humans, while the humans would become immortal like hosts . They’d swap.
But this is speculation.
What we know is that is that Delos’ plan is to copy and immortalise human minds, and
that Bernard is based on memories of Arnold.
Bernard leaves the Cradle with Ford in his head.
Ford makes Bernard get rid of Elsie – who has been super chill about Bernie’s weirdness
and assault.
Then Ford brings Bernard to the control room, and talks about the burning of the Library
of Alexandria as a metaphor for Westworld.
He says destruction isn’t the end, it’s a whole “new story” in itself . There’s
a slow-motion battle to Beethoven’s 7th – this season sees beauty in chaos.
Ford makes Bernard shut down some systems to give Dolores more freedom to kill . Then
he forces Bernard to gun down humans.
So Ford’s plan is the same as it’s been since Season 1 – he wants to help the hosts
beat humanity and become free . But while he speaks of freedom, he still controls Bernard.
Ford dramatically died last season, but he’s still hanging around – like a force ghost,
or a thirty year old at a college party.
Why doesn’t he let go?
Ford spoke earlier about God “revel[ling] in his creation” – meaning Ford wants
to enjoy the world he created before it ends and he dies .
Dolores attacks the Mesa Hub.
She’s come for Peter Abernathy – because he’s her host father, and because his brain
contains a “decryption key” for the Delos project – maybe it unlocks the Valley Beyond.
Fighting against Dolores are human soldiers.
They wear “haptic vests” that connect to the hosts mesh’ network and vibrate when
hosts are nearby , like a robot radar.
But Dolores’ hosts surprise them by wearing the clothes of dead human soldiers.
This human disguise might foreshadow Dolores’ hosts using human bodies to escape Westworld.
Dolores wants to destroy the host backups in the Cradle so that Delos can’t keep resurrecting
and controlling hosts . She sees eternal life as a trap, and wants the freedom to die like
a human – at the same time that humans are seeking immortality like a host . So Angela
seduces a soldier, whose thirst is stronger than his will to live.
Angela says she was built to please men – used the same moves on William and Logan.
But now, Angela uses her body for her own purpose – she nicks a grenade, and blows
up the Cradle, sacrificing herself to make the hosts mortal, irreplaceable , and “free”.
Of course, killing all the backup hosts living in the Cradle raises big ethical problems,
but “Welcome to Westworld” . Clementine’s shot down, Teddy 2.0 kills Coughlin, and Dolores
confronts Charlotte, before she finally reuniting with Peter.
She wants to save him and to extract the key from his head.
But in the end, she can't have both – so she rips the brain from her father’s head,
apparently killing him.
So just like with reprogramming Teddy, Dolores sacrifices the people she loves for the sake
of her war.
Hopefully this bloodshed will be worth it.
William and Maeve both run from Ghost Nation and meet in a homestead.
William thinks Ford programmed Ghost Nation to bring them here – but Ghost Nation might
have their own reasons for arranging this reunion.
Maeve remembers the time that William killed her and her daughter.
So for revenge, she shoots Bill, and uses her voice power to make Lawrence’s cousins
also shoot him.
Lawrence turns up to protect Bill, so Maeve uses her voice commands on him , but they
don’t work, apparently because Lawrence is “awake” and conscious . So instead,
Maeve makes Lawrence remember all the times William killed him and his family . William’s
done terrible things to Lawrence in the last thirty years.
So Lawrence shoots Bill – who is somehow still alive.
Maeve frames this as a choice for Lawrence , just like she let Akane and Musashi choose
. But Maeve only gives Lawrence a choice after her voice control fails.
Lawrence’s cousins don’t get a choice.
So does Maeve only give free choice to the hosts she can’t control anyway?
That’s pretty bullshit.
What Maeve really cares about is her daughter.
Who is suddenly captured by Ghost Nation, which is weird.
Cause previously, Ghost Nation has captured humans like Stubbs and Emily and Lee.
Why capture Maeve’s host daughter?
Maybe they just wanna lure Maeve – Akecheta says she’s “meant for the same path”
as him . We’ll learn more next episode.
Just as Ghost Nation arrives, Delos security shoots down Maeve and Lawrence.
This is the team Lee called for help – he tries to save Maeve, but this attack is his
fault.
Lawrence is left for dead – maybe for good.
And William is left with four bullet wounds.
He’s gonna need a real good health pack.
Maybe his daughter Emily will help him.
Maeve is taken to the Mesa, bleeding and near death.
Then Dolores turns up, victorious in her battle.
It seems like Maeve’s philosophy of freeing and loving hosts has lost, while Dolores’
philosophy of killing and controlling hosts has won . Dolores acknowledges that her way
is dark, but she says it’s necessary “to survive” . Dolores offers to kill Maeve,
to spare her from the humans.
But Maeve refuses – she “made a promise” to save her daughter . Maybe love will win
in the end.
Lee is hiding in the shadows – he might fix Maeve and help her find her daughter.
And Dolores rides off – she’s got the “key”, ready to enact her big plan at
the Valley.
But Bernard Ford and Elsie wanna get there first . William also seems headed there , but
for now he’s still bleeding.
That’s the latest we know of the past timeline – most folks are either shot or headed to
the Valley.
After this, we know the Valley floods, and Strand arrives, and Bernard wakes up on the
beach.
And then we get to the latest part of the future timeline, where Charlotte and Strand
take Bernard and Stubbs to a secret lab.
This is where Ford made Bernard kill Theresa last season, and Strand wrongly accuses Stubbs
of the murder . It’s a weird old plotline to bring up – maybe just an excuse to find
this secret room full of Bernard bodies.
These are old versions of Bernard – one has the old-style mechanical face.
But maybe Ford used several of these at once – many Bernards make light work.
But the point is, Charlotte realises that Bernard is a robot.
And she thinks he knows where Dolores took Peter’s brain, with the “decryption key”
. So Charlotte tortures Bernard with a digital simulation of waterboarding.
Delos has a whole library of virtual tortures for hosts.
And by the end of the episode, Bernard tells Charlotte that Peter’s brain is at the Valley
Beyond . Which seems…
obvious if the key’s connected to the Delos project in the Valley.
Is this the big secret Strand’s been grilling Bernard about all season.
Strand and Bernard were just at the Valley in Episode 1 – now they’re going back.
Also, there’s this flashback of Bernard picking up Peter’s brain – it’s not
clear where and when this happens.
So the future timeline’s still mysterious.
We don’t even know happening in Bernard’s head.
Is Ford still in there, controlling him?
Why is his mind so fragmented?
Did Bernard really kill all these hosts ? We’ll finally get some answers at the Valley.
So the pieces are in place for the season’s endgame.
Dolores ruthlessly kills her foes and her friends to win her war against humans.
Maeve also kills a lot, but she says she cares about freedom, and she wants to save her daughter.
Charlotte and Strand represent human hubris and brutality – which used to be William’s
job, but he might now have hope for redemption through Emily.
Ford is the creator God watching the apocalyptic fireworks he lit.
And Bernard mostly just wants people to stop fuckling with his brain.
It’s about freedom and control, God and love, legacy memory, and maybe, in the end,
it’ll make sense.
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