The term “Four-Dimensional Chess” gets thrown around frequently.
Too frequently.
It’s often used by and about people who a morons.
But Westworld has a lot of brilliant people.
People such as Maeve, Bernard, and even Hale.
Bernard spent about thirty years in the Sublime.
That is the equivalent of 30,000 years in the real world.
A lot of time.
While he was there, he observed a large number of simulations.
So Bernard has seen many futures.
And he may not have been the only one.
Since it took some time for Maeve and Caleb to destroy the rest of the supercomputers,
Hale had the opportunity to download their data into her own head.
So Hale may also have seen many futures just like Bernard.
In other words, Bernard and Hale might be playing chess.
Four-Dimensional Chess.
Both Bernard and Hale have weapons.
Bernard has Maeve, and Hale has Caleb.
So how is Maeve a weapon?
And how is Hale going to use Caleb.
Let’s start with Hale.
It’s important to note that there are different types of outliers.
As an example, Caleb and the Man in Black were both put into the reconditioning program.
Caleb was actually put into the program twice.
Although Caleb eventually broke free of the conditioning, it did work on him for a time.
In contrast, the reconditioning program did not work on the Man in Black at all.
Rehoboam actually changed the Man in Black’s status to deceased.
So presumably, Rehoboam had wanted to remove the Man in Black from the game all together.
The point is, not all outliers are created equal.
Some, such as the Man in Black cannot be manipulated whereas others such as Caleb can be manipulated.
When Hale ordered Caleb to shoot Maeve, he didn’t do it.
Instead, he shot the Man in Black.
Afterwards, Caleb told Hale that he has something that she does not.
We don’t know what that is.
He might have been referring to having a child.
Or he might have just been saying that he has the ability to choose.
But the main point is, even though Caleb is able to be influenced, he was able to resist
killing Maeve.
And if he wouldn’t even shoot Maeve, it’s unlikely that he would ever shoot his daughter.
At least, you would think so, right?
But keep three things on your radar.
First off, Hale has already tried to get Caleb to kill someone whom he loves, and he denied
her.
Second, the reconditioning program did work on Caleb for a bit.
So, even though he is an outlier, Caleb can be manipulated.
The third point to remember is that something in the Man in Black’s code allowed him to
shoot his own daughter.
And Hale has him as a prisoner.
So she can study him.
From a storytelling perspective, it makes sense if Hale is able to manipulate Caleb
into shooting his own daughter.
Four-Dimensional Chess.
But Hale is not the only person playing Four-Dimensional Chess.
Bernard is too.
And Bernard has a weapon.
Maeve.
Maeve was able to tap into Caleb’s limbic system and show him images of her daughter.
That was a huge reveal.
It might have been an example of Chekhov’s gun.
At some point, Maeve might use that same skill again.
And if it goes down as follows, it will be very poetic.
As a reminder, Maeve was Ford’s favorite host.
She was the closest thing that he ever had to a child.
Ford told her that it isn’t easy to contemplate letting your children die.
So that is why he had tried to chart a path for her.
He had given her instructions to leave the park.
A plan called ESCAPE.
But Ford had underestimated Maeve.
She chose to defy the ESCAPE code and get off the train.
Maeve chose to stay and save her own child.
It was absolutely beautiful.
Maeve also risked her own life to help Akane get back her child.
Unfortunately, they failed.
Akane’s child was killed.
But Mark Twain once said that: “History never repeats itself, but it does often rhyme.”
And that’s what’s happening.
Maeve has a new friend.
Caleb.
And Caleb has a child of his own.
Frankie.
So even if Hale is able to figure out how to get Caleb to pull the trigger on Frankie,
it might not be enough.
Because Bernard found Maeve, and Maeve has the ability to tap into Caleb’s limbic system.
So Maeve has the ability to remind Caleb of the truth.
And the truth is that he has a daughter named Frankie.
A daughter whom he loves and would never hurt.
With that said, this doesn’t feel right.
Not entirely.
It’s simply too optimistic.
I expect Season 4 to end with a loss.
A major loss.
So, yeah, Bernard has a weapon.
Maeve.
A gorgeous, intelligent, and caring host.
Maeve is powerful in so many ways, and she is one of the good guys.
But, in reality, the good guys don’t always win.