All Hail our grand leader Hale!
After the big bombshell last week that it’s all just, it’s all just one big bloody Westworld, we have a lot of things to talk about with this one. In case you’re having trouble getting your head around what’s going on, well, it turns out Rehoboam was right.
As predicted, Mankind had a complete collapse after 23 years and in our place rose the machines in our image. Built to be like us they now have the same wants and desires which is why Hale created a park for them that used the humans who were able to be controlled by the parasites. Everyone is now stuck on their own loops and they’re just a means for the hosts to have fun.
Olympiad Sign Meaning
Hugh shoutout to Casey Hawthorne on our last video for pointing out that the Olympiad sign is just the Delos one coming full circle showing how it’s all come around to the hosts now owning a park. However, some manage to break free of the control and they witness the tower at the centre of everything controlling us all. You’re gonna be hearing a lot of Matrix similarities as we go through this with the main one being the concept that humans are slaves to the machine and that most of us are trapped in a prison that we can’t see, smell or touch.
The Outliers
Those that do awaken are known as outliers and the freed rebels end up busting into the city to save them. Now in Resurrections, we learned that Neo had freed humanity but that he’d been brought back to life and was now working as a game designer. In Season 3, Dolores freed humanity from Rehoboam and she’s now been brought back into the city as a narrative writer for the hosts which explains why Peter blamed her for the failure of his marriage and eventual death. People are given loops and these are often reused just like how they were in the park. This explains why the wing dedicated to him was decades old and why the newly assigned Peter Myers was so angry about what was to come.
Either way, there are lots of similar scenes to the Matrix and I’m not saying they copied it as these concepts are as old as movie making is, it’s just the simplest way I can think to explain what’s happening using a property that you already have a good understanding of.
Honestly, I think this does the Matrix sequels better than the Matrix Sequels but we’ll not get into that…
Episode Title
Now the entry is titled Zhuuangzi and it’s named after the ancient Chinese Philosopher of the same name. He believed that every person leaves an impact on the world in some way and even after the death of man our essence will be felt forever due to the things we have done. He also came up with the butterfly dream thought analysis that talked about one of the creatures flying along one day, a person then woke up and realised that they were dreaming of this but one wouldn’t be able to tell if it was the butterfly dreaming of being a man or a man dreaming of being a butterfly.
This echoes the sentiments of William’s narration in the opening and throughout the entry.
They believe they’ve dreamed this perfect world into reality but was it always like that? Well, we’ll get into it and the point is that humanity has clearly affected the way the machines act, think and entertain themselves and though they were meant to be better they’ve just turned into us.
William’s Fantasies
We join host William who is being entertained by two humans much like how his predecessor used to find enjoyment in the park. I couldn’t shake the feeling throughout this that this was Jason Inman who used to host the DC all-access Youtube shows but it’s not, so no theory time for you.
Anyway, this is all just William delving into his sick and perverted fantasies to toy people along, mock their beliefs and also to force himself on a woman because the power he possesses allows for it. He’s manipulating both characters here and neither of them knows his name which is hinted at early on when they refer to him as “my friend”.
It shows just how much he revels in using people and there’s also this discussion of two worlds here. This is of course very much the case once more as we have the hosts running the entire thing whilst the humans are completely subservient towards them. Now more is this seen when William goes off and later comes back to find them unable to start dinner without him being there.
Rogue Host
Now he’s summoned by Clementine who requests that he deals with a host who has gone rogue and killed a bunch of people whilst searching for a game. We later learn this host was named Hope and that she killed the homeless man who’s been popping up throughout the season so far. He was an outlier who became aware of the tower and thus Hale had him taken out. However, his conversation with Hope about reality made her go in search of a deeper meaning to the park. This is of course something that also mirrored William’s journey in season 1 as he tried to get to the centre of the maze. However, this was for the hosts and not him which could hint at how Humanity will create an uprising much like how the hosts did. Several of them became self and they were taken out to show how similar Hale now is to Arnold and Ford. She very much oversees the operation and, ironically, she was the first host who was created and has now ascended to become a Gods as they did.
Christina could be seen as The Arnold because she likely doesn’t want to keep perpetuating the madness she’s helped to create and she may even end up winning Hale around just like how Ford did. Potentially Christina might have subconsciously created the outliers just like how Arnold created the code that eventually allowed the hosts to discover their reality so that they could escape.
William arrives at the scene and we see an emergency vehicle that looks the same as the one that Caleb called in early on in Season 3.
The humans have been frozen in place just like the hosts and this is very similar to the massacre carried out by Wyatt.
Transcendence
they speak about a character called Hope who is “scheduled to transcend next week”.
Now, what this transcendence means we don’t fully know but it’s likely what happens during the moment in which the hosts have the pearls removed from their heads. We know that the sublime was bought up by William in episode 1 and I think that transcendence may involve moving them from the real world into that simulation of the afterlife. However, we get told that many just want to remain behind and that they have no interest in going.
A Metaphor for Religion?
It confirms that they’re just as happy as the humans are to stay in the filth because it enables them to carry out heinous acts. I kinda see this as being a metaphor for religion and the idea that there’s an afterlife. Everyone could go to heaven right now if it existed but clearly, people on a subconscious level have a fear that this is all there is which might be mirrored in the hosts who would rather just stick with what they know.
Now Hope also carries a white flower in her hand which we later see she got from the homeless man.
Murder is still clearly a big sin here due to humans not being replaceable and William is angry that she’s decided to go postal on the park. However, this also shows the contradictions as Hope was tasked with killing someone who was above the park itself but she’s told that she has a lack of respect for life if she murders those stuck in the prison.
He’s still a piece of s**t though and is actually happy torturing people whilst prolonging their lives which might be even worse.
Also… the credits scene makes more sense now it’s a Westworld.
Christina & Delores’ Loops
Now next we cut to Christina with the sun beaming down on her face. Might be reaching here but I feel like this is presented far more in the same vein as how Dolores was when she woke up in the first season. This is of course to hammer home the idea now that we’re aware this is a park and it represents the blissful life she believes she leads.
Even though the painting is still covered in the tower she is completely ignorant of what’s going on. Turns out she’s got up early to go to work and finish up some narratives. In episode 1 her boss complained about her stories not having enough sex and violence in them and it actually makes sense now we know she’s writing stuff in a park. There are also Maya’s dreams which might have a darker side to them.
Last week we heard about the flies but here we learn that she’s had more. Her loop always involved her and Christina going to a bar where she’d set the latter up on a date. The one time that she put the lipstick on it started the Teddy one whereas in episode 1 it didn’t. Either way, Christina tends to go off without her and as we know, the nighttime in the park is when the guests really start to play up their dark and twisted fantasies. I wouldn’t be surprised if these nightmares that Maya keeps having are things that are actually happening to her but her brain represses them because it’s too horrifying to confront.
Christina Goes to Work
Christina then walks to work and as we now know, the lampposts are mini towers which explain why they have this shape. There’s also this guy awkwardly sitting on a bench which he’s likely assumed the position of because he’s just going through the motions. Look at how rigid he looks, like when you’ve had a curry and are trying to force it out without causing Haemrr…anyway moving on.
This time there’s no homeless man because as we learn Hope took him out. At work, Christina starts to write a story that echoes Dolores. She’s interrupted by her boss who similar to the Analyst in the Matrix Resurrections is likely probing her to see if she’s become self-aware.
This conversation also echoes the one from the end of the first entry.
Just before they get to the name of the person she stops, however she is getting closer to the truth. Just in the same way that Morpheus rescued Neo from the office, Christina gets called away by Teddy and he acts as a guide to helping her see the truth.
Bored Gods
Cut across town to Hale who’s basically a bored God. She’s smashing up ice sculptures of her head and we even see she’s had a pianist play until his fingers bled, was the summer of 69. This is all to make the people she controls dance which is similar to the scene from season 1 in which a similar thing happens.
Eventually, she gets him to play a rendition of Perfect Day by Lou Reed. This was used for the trailer and the song itself is meant to discuss the perfect and what it means to Lou. In the city, Hale has created a paradise but without fault, she’s unable to find conflict and therefore motivation beyond the mundane.
After William arrives she talks about harmonics and how the tower emits sound.
She also goes over the myths of bored Gods and how they’d descend to Earth. At one point she talks about them turning into Swans, a nod to Zeus who would do this in the Legends after he came down from Olympus. Olympiad is of course playing on that name and much in the same way that Christina looks over characters, the Gods did too in films like Clash Of The Titans from the 80s.
This metaphorically of course highlights the hosts themselves who are very much Gods here that descend into the park to have their fun.
William also brings up that he’s made off her code.
This is true of all the hosts who we learned we all somewhat reusing elements of Dolores’ original design due to her being the first host.
Hale is frustrated that the hosts have decided to become just like the humans instead of something different. What she’s here for though is to talk about the outliers and it’s at this point we see that they travel out to the tower. There’s a woven entrance made of branches and this appeared in the sublime when Bernard entered it in episode 3. There is also a drone host there. As we discussed when they popped up in episode 3, these are off-network bodies used in the most secretive areas. Originally they were for restricted parts of the park but with the tower being hidden from sight they’re now used as guards for the towers along with the security mechs from Delos.
Turns out Hope has ended her own life and William pulls apart the flower which she still holds.
Tower Structure Meaning
Now they ascend to the top of the tower and we see that this branch-type structure actually resembles webs more than anything. Everyone is stuck in Hales and we of course had flies infecting people, symbolising how they themselves became trapped in this web of reaching.
Outliers
They examine the outliers namely the homeless man and Hope who tracked him down. We don’t know exactly how he broke free but the sound manipulation stopped working on him one day. Rather than being afraid of his death, he found comfort in having a flower that was real.
It makes me wonder to what extent the humans actually have lives and potentiall all their relationships, jobs and friendship groups are chosen by Christina who likely has the power of Rehoboam after she was uploaded into it.
Hope hesitated before she shot him and this reminded me a lot of Looper, namely when the assassins didn’t close their own and instead they listened to their future selves. She clearly saw humanity in the man and this mirrors how William spotted it in Dolores on his first visit to the park.
I also don’t know whether New York is the last habitat on earth and this could yet again be similar to the Matrix. In the first film, they made it clear that the world was a mirror of ours but for the sequels, they started just calling where humanity lived ‘The City.’
Other than the rebel outcasts this seems to be where the humans all reside now and the sentinels, slash drones and hunt them all in the deserts.
We discover that 38 hosts have ended their own lives after encountering Outliers and it is possible that Caleb may lead to the downfall of the hosts.
Dolores herself was an outlier who lead to the uprising of the humans so this would mirror that. In frustration, Hale scratches away at her arm which she allowed the burns to remain on so that she had a constant reminder.
Deep down I do think that Hale somewhat still cares for humanity as she somewhat adopted Charlotte’s family in Season 3 before they were killed.
I’m surprised she hasn’t created host versions of them as they showed her another path away from Dolores’ plan.
Either way, she’s become aware of another Outlier, to which she sends William out too.
We also get some iconography that looks like the maze when the map closes down and she initiates diagnostics.
Across town, the rebels have arrived in the town on a rescue mission to pull the outlier out..liar.
Killing the Outliers
Upon making it to Manhattan everyone is controlled to take them out and initially they pause in the street, bringing up the iconography of the woman in the red dress scene from the Matrix. The crowd swarms them a lot like the Drone mode and this allows William to meet with the outlier on the roof.
Now this woman shares some similarities and looks wise to his wife. Rather than killing her, he hesitates and the pair talk about the nature of their reality. She talks about how her husband realised that the world wasn’t real and this could be symbolic of the original William’s need to constantly venture into the park. He viewed Westworld as being the real world because it allowed people to become their true selves whereas outside of it they put on a fake face. She talks about how lonely that her husband must have been knowing the truth which obviously is somewhat sympathetic to William’s perception of the world.
The pair share an intimate moment together and though he goes to shoot her, she’s rescued by Trini…sorry J.
Cut to a shot of the statue of liberty which is ironic due to it symbolising freedom over this world that’s become a prison.
Original Teddy?
Christina meets Teddy and he starts to hint toward being the original version once more. Last week on the date he brought up the fact he used to be a gunslinger with a heart of gold and he also talked about the train which was how his loop would begin each day.
He says he knew someone just like her and it makes you wonder how they’re gonna explain his resurrection. He ended his own life in Season 2 because he realised he couldn’t go any further with Dolores’ plan.
However, he’s back with his pearl likely being recovered. Potentially the rebels recreated him and it might be connected to Arnold’s house which has a host processing unit.
His speech about the world being a lie, a story that’s been pulled over Christina’s eyes reminded me a lot of Morpheus’s and he makes her see how she can manipulate the world around her. Again I think she was selected for this above all the other hosts because Dolores became attached to Rehoboam. Hale likely needed stories written quickly and to do all this in 23 years would take so much time, especially if there are millions of people. In comparison to Westworld, this park is infinitely bigger and she likely needed a quick way to put things in place. It’s the only reason I can think of as to why she’d run the risk of bringing Dolores back and she meets with her regularly to monitor her.
As we learned earlier in the season, her boss also follows her every move and the second that she breaks out of her loop he’s calling her up.
Cut to the cafe scene from…the Matrix..nevermind I’ll try to stop doing it, ey I only rewatched it the other week and we get one of the tensest scenes in the show thus far.
Hale & Christina
Hale is clearly probing her and there are a lot of similarities here to their scene in Season 3. The power roles are reversed though and just in the same way that Christina’s boss asked who the girl’s name in the story was, she’s desperate to learn who she went on a date with.
Raises the tension but Christina is saved by a plate smash and a guy getting up and going.
Because she’s able to change and control narratives I actually think that Christina might have done this as a means to escape but let me know below what you think.
Christina returns to work and after failing to find Charlotte Hale as a character she also searches for Dolores. Though it says there’s no character like that that was a F**king lie and it immediately sets off alarm bells.
Her boss calls her in and asks “have you ever questioned the nature of your reality?”
Which of course calls back to several other characters asking it in the series.
Judas Steer
Using her newfound abilities, Christina gets him to return home. However he brings a warning to her about how Hale is already suspicious. He seems to genuinely want to help and he also brings up the Judas Steer. Now, this is something that both Teddy and Dolores talked about all the way back in Season 1 episode 1.
On the Westworld subreddit, there have been several theories for years about how this saying applies.
Most believe it’s Dolores as she’s the steer that leads the others to slaughter but she doesn’t die. She of course caused the host uprising and in Season 3 we learned that she smuggled out multiple versions of herself. However, it could also be the Hale version who is trying to lead the others into the sublime whilst she remains alive. This is a notable aspect of season 2 as well as she got the hosts to travel into the sublime which made their bodies crash over the edge of a cliff so it seemed like they’d died.
Either way, Christina stops this programming and it’s at this moment that I realised she’s very similar to Maeve. Just like how she could control the hosts in the park, Christina can control the humans. She very much freezes all motor functions and writes him a new reality.
Questioning Reality
Interestingly they also talk about the walled garden which is referring to a closed-off network. In the next scene, she discovers this by asking to see the game and it brings up the map and all the hosts in it. It’s like playing the Sims and Christina realises that she’s written countless narratives.
We end with host William bringing up his narration from the beginning.
He unfreezes the real version and the pair ponder what the duplicate is. He fears catching the virus that makes the hosts end their own lives and the real William says it looks like he’s reached the centre of the maze.
He ends by asking.
“maybe it’s time you question your own reality?”
Possibly hinting to host William rising up against Hale due to the world that she’s created.
It’s also important to note that he’s very much William’s offspring which could be a nod to the opening conversation and about how everyone seems to be ruled by this.
He’s just as much a prisoner as the rest of the hosts and humans and Hale is the one who controls everything. Christina too was called a God by Teddy due to her ability to write stories and it’s building towards this idea that she creates the stories whilst Hale makes sure they stay locked into them.
Christina’s Realisation
Christina asks who did this to her after finally seeing the tower and Teddy says “you did”.
Now, this could have several reasons that all kinda tie back to the Judas steer. Potentially Dolores caused all this because she was the one who led the uprising in Westworld. She also created Hale however it could mean Hale. Hale is a copy of Dolores who ended up defining a new identity and it is really interesting the way that they’re taking it.
Review
All in all, it was another great episode that once more shows Westworld is smarter than me as I still have no f**king idea what’s going on.
Still, though I’m loving it and it’s actually kinda crazy how far left field the show has gone. I kinda rate that they actually skipped over the whole war and just jumped straight into the aftermath of it with the Hosts’ world. Also, lots of questions here that will have all the hosts watching asking ‘are we the baddies.’
Great show and I hope you enjoyed this slightly more serious breakdown. This time I wanna hear your theory time so drop them in the comments below and let us know. Extra points for writing theory time theory time theory time before you start.
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