HBO's "Westworld", starring Anthony Hopkins/produced by J.J. Abrams

Dialogue from "The Bicameral Mind" hints at Westworld being located on an island, since Felix specifically references Maeve making it to the "mainland".

BTW, here's what we currently know about Season 2:

Spoiler

- The season will start with a 'time jump' of sorts from where we left off
- We'll get to see more of the "guest experience", even with Ford having 'touched off' a "sentient robot rebellion" with his death and machinations
- We'll be seeing other parks
- Most of Season 1's main cast has been confirmed to return (with Anthony Hopkins being the only Series Regular who appeared in The Bicameral Mind not to have been explicitly confirmed to return), with Louis Hertham, Tallulah Riley, and newcomers Katja Herberts, Gustaf Skarsgard, and Fares Fares joining them
- New recurring cast members for the season will be Jonathan Tucker, Neil Jackson, Betty Gabriel, and Hiroyuki Sanada

 

Spoiler

Does that include Shannon Woodward? What's your source on that claim?

I'm excited to see Gustaf Skarsgard (will I recognize him with out the head tattoos and massive beard?) and Hiroyuki Sanada (hopefully this means Samurai World!).

 

Yes, it does, and my source is comments from Jonathan and Lisa, who have said that we'll find out about Elsie and Stubbs' fate in Season 2 and strongly hinted at the former still being alive (as has HBO's official tie-in website for the series).

 

Good to know my faith in Elsie's survival was not misplaced.

 

^ There's a chance that I'm wrong about Shannon Woodward coming back, but, as I noted, the presumption that she will be back is based on comments from the Nolans regarding Season 2 and Elsie and Stubbs' storylines going unresolved.

 

Just because the actor that plays a person comes back doesn't necessarily mean the character is alive. Not in this show.

 

Lalalalalalala...I can't hear you! Elsie is alive! Lalalalalalala...

 

I'm re-watching S1 and I'm realizing there are some unanswered questions. Like who was Bernard talking to in Ep. 3 when he made a video/phone call to his wife? If Bernard's memories of his son are false b/c he's an android, then who was the woman?

 

Another Host, presumably.

 

It turns out the Japan themed park will be ShogunWorld rather than SamuraiWorld like most people assumed it would be.

 

It probably rings through to an AI program (no need for a body) made by Ford with Bernard's wife's image and voice, and Ford can listen in at will.

 

I just finished watching the whole season in about a week. Amazing, I think it's one of my top favorite shows of all time!

I didn't read this thread at all until I finished watching. It's funny to go back and read the debates and theories. It made me feel a little proud of myself for figuring out the timeline and Man in Black identity a couple episodes before it was revealed, even without having read any fan theories or commentary online. What really finally gave it away for me was the photo that Abernathy had found, and that Logan was showing William.

Speaking of the photo, the one unanswered question that I'm still wondering about is what kicked off Abernathy's realizations. He was the one who said the "these violent delights have violent ends" line to Dolores, which seemed to spark everything for her. We didn't see him in the town with Dolores and Arnold back in the day when Arnold originally said it, so where did he hear it from? And why did that particular photo disturb him, when it doesn't appear that he knew William or Logan? I guess we're just supposed to assume that Ford programmed him to start awakening, but it seemed to be more than that.

 

They showed off some new footage and talked a bit about the new season at SXSW.
Sounds good. I wonder what they're "controversial" new way of interacting with the fans will be.
I'm very curious how they're going to handle Bernard and William now that we know the truth about them.

 

Something I found interesting that I forgot to mention in my previous post was how, reading back through this thread, many felt that the season was leading toward Maeve being the "villain" and Dolores being the "hero" of two factions that were both fighting for freedom. Interestingly, it seems like it's more like the opposite that has happened - Dolores has gone full-on Wyatt, and Maeve decides that her daughter is more important to her than escaping. I'm interested to see how their stories interact in the second season.

 

Any bets on for whom Ford was printing the new body in his lab? Himself?

 

With regards to Maeve and Dolores, they were both being used/groomed by Ford in Season 1, albeit in different ways, and both made choices for the first time since being brought online at the conclusion of Season 1; however, it seems as oifonly one of said choices (Dolores') was anticipated by Ford and factored into his "endgame".

 

Sorry for double-posting, but I finally had a chance to start my Season 1 rewatch, and it was an interesting experience revisiting The Original knowing all the secrets, particularly in the scene where Ford questions Abernathy, since I spent the entire scene wondering what was going through his head as he realized that his "mistakes" had actually worked as planned and the door had been opened to start his "new narrative".

It was also interesting - and kind of sad - watching The Man in Black abuse Dolores and torture and kill Kissy knowing his "real" identity and the ultimate end of his "Maze quest".

 

I wonder if Maeve is really deciding anything, or just following her new program. I was anticipating what would happen when she ran into the Man in Black, but it now seems as though that won't happen. And if it does, she already knows the truth about her daughter not being her daughter, so will she really care to get vengeance on him?

 

Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy have explicitly said that Maeve was bucking her new programming when she got off that train.

Knowing what we now know about Ford's activities casts what happens to Maeve in the episode in a completely different light and begs the question of "when":
- When did Ford reprogram Maeve to give her access to both her previous memories and the "backstage" areas of Delos?

- When did he decide to use her, specifically, as a player in his "new narrative"?

- When did he decide on the parameters of her new programming?

The question of "when" also comes up in regards to The Man in Black and his actions in this episode, because Ford clearly tried to tell him to back off as forcefully as he was able, but what is less clear is when exactly he became aware of what the Man in Black was doing and when he sent his message in relation to the rest of his own actions during the episode.

The one thing that I didn't quite get rewatching the episode is the motivation behind structuring William and Logan's part in the story the way that they did, because when you know the truth about what's going on with them, the seams start to show since the tactic of "hiding things in plain sight" with those characters doesn't have the element of surprise attached to it any longer.

 

New trailer:



Glimpses of Shogunworld, but no sign of Elsie (unless it was a blink-and-you-miss-it moment).