Fill in the blanks.
Westworld Season 2 is finally here, as the premiere episode, “Journey Into Night,” has aired on HBO. And while Season 1 left us with plenty of questions, Season 2 has already begun filling in some of the blanks.
If you’ve already watched the episode, check out our Westworld Season 2, Episode 1 review. Then click through to find out all the new things we learned in the Season 2 premiere.
With all this new information, there are bound to be plenty of new Westworld Season 2 theories as well, so let us know in the comments below what you think is coming. Will Dolores escape the park? Will Delos regain control? Could Bernard possibly be a less reliable narrator? Tell us what you think.
1. Stubbs is fine.
This should surprise nobody, but Luke Hemsworth’s character, the security head Stubbs, seems just fine. Given how we last saw him in Season 1–getting jumped by the Ghost Nation warriors–there’s some backstory that needs to be filled in here.
2. Some time has passed.
Somehow, almost two weeks have gone by between the Season 1 finale and Bernard waking up on the beach. No doubt we’re going to spend big chunks of Season 2 catching up.
3. The hosts have physical, synthetic “brains.”
This is a massive change from Season 1: The modern hosts apparently have these white plastic “brains” inside their skulls. They’re hidden underneath skin, bone, and a layer of brain-like tissue, likely so guests are more convinced when they blow a host’s brains out. But they’re in there, even though we somehow never caught a glimpse of one during Season 1.
4. The hosts need their brain fluid to function.
This goes hand in hand with the brains revelation: The milky, coconut water-like fluid in the hosts’ heads is apparently some kind of vital conductor, based on Bernard’s reaction as his continuously leaks out.
5. Bernard now knows that he’s a host.
It’s often unclear on Westworld which version of a character we’re watching. For example, in the opening scene–the conversation with Dolores–was that Bernard or Arnold? However, one thing we know after this episode is that Bernard is now aware he’s a host, at least in the scenes that take place after the Season 1 finale.
6. Dolores is on a rampage.
Dolores shot Ford in the back of the head at the end of Season 1, but that didn’t necessarily mean that she was bound for a murderous rampage in Season 2. Of course, that’s exactly what happened. Does anyone feel bad for these Delos execs?
7. Westworld is on an island.
“Have them sign an NDA and then please escort them off my f***ing island.” We learn this in the conversation between the new character Karl Strand (played by Gustaf Skarsgård) and the military officials. Speaking of which…
8. The island is somewhere in Asia.
Based on the look of these uniforms, the island now owned by Delos was previously part of China.
9. There are more executives at Delos.
The bloodbath at the end of Westworld Season 1 didn’t spell the end of Delos entirely–although many delos higher-ups were in attendance, it seems Delos’s board and executives weren’t totally wiped out. Great–more targets for Dolores.
10. The Man in Black goes by “Bill” now.
This was a fun little nod. Westworld Season 1 expended lots of effort to ensure no character said the Man in Black’s name out loud. With that mystery wrapped up, we can just call him “Bill” now.
11. Charlotte has a secret lab.
When she and Bernard have nowhere else to go, Charlotte reveals that she knows the location of one of Westworld’s secret exits, complete with a manual override hidden under a rock. Whether this is just one of many, or Charlotte’s own personal getaway, is yet unclear.
12. The hosts are connected by an internal “mesh network.”
This was another big revelation: According to Bernard, all the hosts in the park(s) are connected by something he calls a “mesh network.” The network’s purpose is to allow hosts to subconsciously communicate so they can, for example, be aware of one another’s narratives and avoid crossing streams or creating plot holes. Bernard’s going to use the network to find Abernathy.
13. Ford appears to really be dead.
If seeing maggots crawling out of Ford’s face isn’t the show telling us “quit your theorizing, he’s not coming back,” I don’t know what would be.
14. There’s a new game for Bill to play.
Just in case you thought the Man in Black’s–err, Bill’s–fun would be over after he found the center of the maze, rest assured there’s a new game for him to play in Westworld Season 2. This time it’s Ford’s game, and the stakes are real–exactly how he wanted.
15. There are at least six parks.
And at least one of them has tigers. Rawr!
16. The hosts are all dead.
Time is weird in this episode, but this seems to be the latest point we glimpse–around two weeks after the events of Season 1, and all the hosts are floating dead in a lake. Wonder who put them there?
17. And Bernard apparently killed them.
“I–I killed them. All of them.” And with those words ends the first new episode of Westworld in almost two years. Can’t wait for next week!
