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Professor Shark
May 22, 2012

Welcome to Westworld! Season 2 Thread
:siren:WARNING! SPOILERS FOR SEASON 1 BELOW!:siren:



In the fine tradition of me making a thread wayyy before the actual show comes out because I don't keep up on release dates, I decided to make this thread since everything else I watch is off air and I'm planning on starting a rewatch this weekend.


Overview:

Westworld is set in the near future. The first season, as revealed in the finale, took place during two time periods, both set in the same place: Westworld, the amusement park of the future. Westworld is a place where all your wild-west fantasies are possible, populated by robots known as "hosts" that are so human that it's almost impossible to tell the difference. In Westworld you can play the noble, white-hatted hero who saves the damsel in distress, or you can play the evil black hat, robbing banks and stage coaches.

Or you can just head on over to the saloon and join in on the orgy. Or cut up a hooker. Or shoot your way up and down the boardwalk, killing everyone in sight.

The Westworld series is adapted from the original Westworld movie, written and directed by Michael Crichton of Jurassic Park fame. While Westworld draws the majority of its inspiration from the original movie, the first season also borrows significantly from the Jurassic Park novel, in my opinion. From the pilot episode there is a sense of foreboding, with small issues found in the park slowly compounding while the arrogant park creators and administrators dismiss them. Another central issue is that the newest upgrades to the parks robots to make them more human are causing unexpected issues and may require a downgrade. This is similar to how the latest generation of animals in the Jurassic Park novel are too lifelike and not suitable as slow moving, lazy zoo animals and also have unanticipated genetic problems that eventually contribute to the incident at the park.

The first season of this show primarily dealt with the quests of three characters: William and the host he's fallen in love with, Dolores, as well as The Man in Black. At the conclusion of the season we discover that the scenes with Will and Dolores had taken place 30 years before the current setting, and that William and The Man in Black are one and the same person. The Man in Black, hereafter referred to as Older William, has become a cynical, violent, possibly insane man obsessed with unlocking the secrets of the park and the hosts who populate it. At the end of the season he and Dolores confront one another and do battle, which eventually leads Dolores to discover the truth of a voice she'd been hearing all season and break her programming. The last we see of Dolores is her assassination of Robert Ford, the "god" of Westworld, who's death he put in motion in order to free his creations.

Things do not look good for those guests left in the park:



Alongside this storyline is Maeve , a madam at the local whorehouse who began to doubt her reality. Eventually Maeve awoke and manipulated a couple techs into revealing the horrible truth of her existence. She was able to set in motion a plan to escape the park, only to back out at the last moment in order to rescue a daughter she was assigned in a previous character "life".

At the seasons conclusion, the park has just begun to fail, with the hosts turning on the human guests, eager to seek their revenge for the inhuman treatment inflicted upon them for decades.

:fork:This summary is a quick recap drawing upon my memories from last season and can be updated if anyone has a better write-up!:fork:

Let's look at some characters:

quote:



Dolores, played by Evan Rachel Wood

Dolores is one of the oldest hosts in Westworld. Dolores is designed to be the wholesome, beautiful damsel to be saved by visitors to the park. During the first season we find out that Dolores has a tendency to wander off on quests, which she does with William in the past and alone in the present day. These quests turn out to be part of what makes Dolores special, and ultimately end with her discovering the source of the voices she hears throughout the first season: herself, guiding her to real sentience. Dolores had a special connection with Arnold, Ford's partner, and it is revealed that he reprogrammed her as "Wyatt" and used her to commit mass murder of as many hosts as possible as well as himself in a failed attempt to keep the park from opening. Fully aware of her nature at the end of the season, Dolores trades painting scenic landscapes for painting crowds with blood and brains when she shoots Ford in the back of the head, the start of the host rebellion against their human creators.

quote:



Wyatt, played by Sorin Brouwers

Wyatt is a violent leader who leads a massacre of a village and convinces Teddy to help him. At the end of the season we discover that Wyatt is actually a personality uploaded to Dolores by Arnold.

quote:




William, played by Jimmi Simpson (Young William) and Ed Harris (Old William).

William spent most of last season traveling with Dolores, convinced that she was different from the other hosts, which his friend/ soon-to-be brother-in-law Logan attempted to dissuade him of by disemboweling Dolores, revealing her robotic inner workings. This event changes William and he slaughters an entire camp of hosts, assaults Logan then strands him in the desert, and creates a drive in him that leads him to succeed in his work. Eventually William becomes the jaded Older William, who returns to the park every year to play out the seemingly endless narratives, becoming an expert super player. His quest over the season was to find the Maze, which turns out to be not a physical place, but an event that allows the parks host to overcome their programming and achieve true sentience. The last we see William he is winged by a very real bullet from a very angry host mob, and he couldn't be happier!



Things are looking up for William, and all signs point to him finally having reached his goal of a challenge in Westworld!




quote:



Robert Ford, played by Anthony Hopkins

Ford is one of the original creators of Westworld. A pioneer and genius, Ford dismisses the idea that the hosts are anything more than machines for most of the first season. At its close it is revealed that Ford's ultimate goal is the emergence of the hosts as an independent species, fulfilling the vision of his late friend and partner, Arnold. Ford is a megalomaniac and is not above committing murder in order to maintain his hold on the park, which the owners seek to remove from him. He orchestrates the events that lead to the breakdown of the park. Ford is last seen getting his head blown off by Dolores (Or is he? See Theories and Speculation!) in front of a large group of people at a party celebrating his latest narrative.

quote:



Bernard/ Arnold, played by Jeffery Wright

Bernard is a colleague of Ford's, his right hand man when it comes to Host design and updating. Bernard is one of the oldest, most respected experts working at Westworld and serves as a mentor for Elsie. Bernard is haunted by the memories of his young son's death and his inability to help him, which leads to him completely devoting himself to his work. He speaks infrequently to his wife. During the first season the viewer discovers that Bernard is actually a host, a perverse recreation of Ford's partner and friend Arnold. Arnold was a firm believer in the ability of his hosts to achieve sentience. He truly loved his creations, and died in an attempt to protect them decades before the main events of the first season. At the end of the season Bernard is now aware of the fact he is a host and the late son he loves was never his, as well as his unwilling participation in the murder of his lover, Theresa. Though it's implied that Bernard has come to this realization several times before, only to have his memories wiped by Ford, following the death of Ford in the finale it appears that Bernard will retain his knowledge of his origins.

quote:



Maeve , played by Thandie Newton

Maeve is an intelligent host who most recently has played the madam at a brothel. Maeve has recurring nightmares that haunt her, which are flashbacks to previous story lines that she was a part of. Maeve uses a technique to "wake up" from these nightmares that leads to her awakening from her shut-down mode while routine maintenance is being performed on her. Due to her settings, Maeve is especially manipulative, and uses her skills to convince two workers to teach her about her existence as well as "max her stats" in order to overcome her programmed restrictions and become dangerously intelligent/ persuasive/ dexterous/ etc. Eventually Maeve stages an escape, using Hector and Armistice to violently work her way to the railstation. Right before the train leaves, Maeve has another flashback to her previous character, who had a daughter. Maeve gets off the train, set on rescuing her "daughter" and taking her with her.

quote:



James Marsden as Teddy Flood

Teddy is the good looking hero in Westworld, who ironically is the perpetual loser who lives a terrible life. He joins Older William for part of the first season in order to find Dolores, who he has a special connection with that goes beyond their narrative. By the end of the season we discover that Teddy helped Dolores and Arnold eliminate most of the hosts of Westworld in the past before Dolores turned her gun on him. The last we see Teddy is at the party, right before Dolores kills Ford. Teddy appears set to be Dolores's right hand man in the host uprising.

quote:



Sidse Babett Knudsen as Theresa Cullen

Cullen was the operations leader of Westworld. She was a hard lady with a biting tongue and loved smoking cigarettes. Cullen spent most of her time in the first season taking steps to remove Ford from power. She was involved in a romantic relationship with Bernard, which tragically ended when she was lured to a remote area of the park. Bernard's nature was revealed by Ford, who then ordered Bernard to bash her head in.

quote:



Elsie Hughes, played by Shannon Woodward

Hughes is the inquisitive, intelligent programmer tasked with dealing with host behavior. Hughes shows genuine concern for the plight of the hosts, and even affection for Clementine. Hughes was last seen being attacked by persons unknown, going missing before the events that cause the breakdown of the park.

quote:



Ashley Stubbs, played by Luke Hemsworth

Stubbs is the security head in Westworld. He is cautious, always carrying a gun, and is good friends with Elsie Hughes. Stubbs was last seen being ambushed by members of the Ghost Nation as he searched for Hughes in a manner that imitated the death of Muldoon in Jurassic Park (it was very cool).

quote:



Clifton Collins Jr. as Lawrence

Lawerence is a host that travels with William in both the past and the present. He is a good hearted criminal who's wife is murdered by Older William in an attempt to get more information about the Maze.

quote:



Rodrigo Santoro as Hector Escaton

Hector is a dashing bandit given to violence and dressing in black. He and Maeve form a special connection and he helps her to escape the park, only to find that he's been programmed to be unable to take the last step towards freedom by Maeve. Not one to hold a grudge, Hector turns and engages security forces to give Maeve more time to reach the train.

quote:



Ingrid Bolsø Berdal as Armistice

Armistice is one of the oldest hosts in the park. She is a ruthless host capable of great violence, as seen during the escape with Maeve. She was last seen cutting off her own arm in order to continue fighting the Westworld security forces.

quote:



Tessa Thompson as Charlotte Hale

Hale is an executive director that visits the park in order to try to take control away from Ford. Her efforts were not successful. She was last seen at the party for Ford's new narrative.

quote:



Lee Sizemore, played by Simon Quarterman

Sizemore is the head of narrative for Westworld. An unappreciated genius (according to him), his narratives are often foiled by Ford and guests, which he does not hesitate to complain about.

quote:



Clementine, played by Angela Sarafyan

Clementine is a host that works at a saloon/ brothel in Westworld. Clementine is a very popular and has a kind nature, completely unaware of her hellish existence. In the first season Clementine spends most of her time at the saloon, where she interacts with her friend Maeve, however she is used in a very disturbing demonstration by Hale to show that the latest host update makes them too dangerous. Clementine is robo-lobotomized, leaving her without personality and only capable of following the simplest of commands. The last we see Clementine she is part of the host army. She is the host that takes the shot at William, wounding him.

quote:



Louis Herthum as Peter Abernathy

Abernathy was a host that played Dolores's father. He was replaced after he found a photograph that he dwelled upon and made him question the nature of his existence. He was robo-lobotomized and put in the basement, only to be recovered by Sizemore and Hale in an attempt to shuttle information about the park out of Westworld. Herthum did a very good scene in the pilot episode and quickly became a goon favorite, though he spent most of the season standing naked in the basement. In Season 2, Abernathy is upgraded from Recurring to Regular Cast.

quote:



Talulah Riley as Angela

Angela is a host in the park. Young William meets her as a host that greets visitors to the park, however in the present it appears that she is an awoken host. Angela was a Recurring character in the first season and is upgraded to Regular for the second.

quote:



Logan, played by Ben Barnes

Logan was William's friend and future brother-in-law. He and William were very different in terms of personality. Logan revels in the hedonistic nature of Westworld, engaging in group sex and casual violence. He and William conflict often, especially about Dolores. Logan became antagonistic and fought against Dolores and William, ultimately "killing" Dolores and seemingly driving William off the edge. He was last seen tied to a horse and sent off into the desert by William. I'm not sure if Logan will feature in the second season

Other characters:

quote:



Leonardo Nam as Felix Lutz

Felix is a low ranking worker at Westworld tasked with repairing hosts. He falls in love with Maeve, who uses him to affect her escape.

quote:



Ptolemy Slocum as Sylvester

Sylvester is Felix's partner, who much less willingly helps Maeve to escape.

quote:



The Ghost Nation

This tribe shows signs of knowing more about the park than they should, such as their belief in an afterlife connected with the suits the maintenance workers wear. They are apparently largely ignored but very dangerous.

New Characters for Season 2:
Taken from Wikipedia

quote:



Katja Herbers as Grace, a guest in Westworld.

quote:



Neil Jackson as Nicholas, a charming, resourceful man who finds himself in uncharted territory.

quote:



Gustaf Skarsgård as Karl Strand

quote:



Fares Fares as Antoine Costa, a tech expert

quote:



Jonathan Tucker as Major Craddock, a commanding military officer.

quote:



Betty Gabriel as Maling, who is trying to restore order to the park from the inside

quote:



Hiroyuki Sanada as Musashi

quote:



Zahn McClarnon as ??? Zahn was hurt recently and it pushed production back by a few weeks.

:siren: Westworld is due to return in the Spring of 2018:siren:

:coolfish:General Cool Stuff Store:coolfish:

Here's a link to some YOPOS thread that people seem to like! Travel at your own peril, pardner!

Here's a link to the making of the Control Room 3D Map, which is a practical effect it turns out!

Professor Shark fucked around with this message at 19:12 on Dec 31, 2017

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Professor Shark
May 22, 2012

FAQ

How do the guns work?

They have special bullets that do not hurt human guests (much, they can knock the wind out of you) but cause realistic damage to hosts.

Alternatively,



What is with the multiple milk references?

In the first season there is a scene where a host pours milk into the dead mouths of hosts he just killed. He also drinks milk himself, which spurts from his body from the multiple gunshots he has suffered. This was a flaw in his programming, where the host seemed to have some concept that milk (which resembles to fluid injected into the hosts to make them function, like blood) could bring them back to life and was just one of the many signs that things were quickly becoming destabilized.

Jimmi Simpson also plays a weird character in Always Sunny in Philadelphia who creepily drinks milk.

Where is Westworld located? This place is huge!

They haven't said specifically where it takes place, possible locations are Australia or a terra-formed Mars

How do the hosts work?

While the older hosts were actual robots made of metal and gears, the newer models are organic. They can get diseases and infections, similar to the Cylons in BSG.

Theories and Speculation

Ford isn't dead

It's possible that Ford faked his death. This is based on a single line mentioned that older hosts could be given away with a handshake. Before allowing his execution, Ford shakes hands with Bernard. Bernard looks confusingly at their hands before Ford leaves. There is also the mysterious host that Ford was building in his secret lab.

Ford is a host

I remember this one coming up in the last thread. I'm not sure if it's put to bed or not, but some goons were speculating that Ford was one of the first hosts. This appears unlikely, as Arnold recreated Ford's family and childhood home as a present.

:siren:Timeline as of S2E2:siren:

Professor Shark fucked around with this message at 10:31 on May 4, 2018

kloa
Feb 14, 2007


Can’t wait to rewatch season one in 4K :allears:

I AM GRANDO
Aug 20, 2006

Another Skarsgard? Or is this an Adam Baldwin situation?

Collateral
Feb 17, 2010

business hammocks posted:

Another Skarsgard? Or is this an Adam Baldwin situation?

I fear some of them are host clones. It is almost like WW is intentionally using knock-off brothers for their parts.

Proteus Jones
Feb 28, 2013



Didn't Maeve also have Felix max out her stats? I feel like that's a pretty important plot point there.

I AM GRANDO
Aug 20, 2006

Collateral posted:

I fear some of them are host clones. It is almost like WW is intentionally using knock-off brothers for their parts.

Rumor has it Shannon Woodward’s birth name was Ellen Page Jr.

Professor Shark
May 22, 2012

Proteus Jones posted:

Didn't Maeve also have Felix max out her stats? I feel like that's a pretty important plot point there.

Yes you're right- I wrote this all based on what I remember from when it was originally on, please feel free to remind me of important stuff

ShakeZula
Jun 17, 2003

Nobody move and nobody gets hurt.

I will watch and probably greatly enjoy S2, even though the supreme stupidity of the Maeve plotline really damaged my enjoyment of the first.

Professor Shark
May 22, 2012

I'm pretty excited by the new additions. Hiroyuki Sanada is great in everything, I wonder if Samurai World is going to bleed into Westworld like in the movie

The guy from Revolution being in the military makes me wonder if governments are going to try and storm the park.

Edit: drat, Skarsgard is the son of a famous actor and two of his brothers are also famous actors.

Professor Shark fucked around with this message at 21:58 on Nov 18, 2017

Johnny Truant
Jul 22, 2008




Samurai World, coming Spring 2018.

Macdeo Lurjtux
Jul 5, 2011

BRRREADSTOOORRM!

Professor Shark posted:

I'm pretty excited by the new additions. Hiroyuki Sanada is great in everything, I wonder if Samurai World is going to bleed into Westworld like in the movie

The guy from Revolution being in the military makes me wonder if governments are going to try and storm the park.

Edit: drat, Skarsgard is the son of a famous actor and two of his brothers are also famous actors.

He's a decently popular actor himself, considering he's spent the last five years featuring on a popular tv show.

Professor Shark
May 22, 2012

Based on what I've read it sounds like they're introducing a completely new group of characters, and we're going to see the park from their perspective before and after the fall.

SpaceAceJase
Nov 8, 2008

and you
have proved
to be...

a real shitty poster,
and a real james
See also: the discount Hemsworth brother who can't pull off an American accent.

I AM GRANDO
Aug 20, 2006

I kind of feel like Shannon Woodward is going for an off-the-rack Ellen Page sort of performance too.

SpaceAceJase
Nov 8, 2008

and you
have proved
to be...

a real shitty poster,
and a real james
I need to do a re-watch. I thought her character died by the hand of Bernard in manual override.

Professor Shark
May 22, 2012

I think that's the current theory, only not killed. IIRC she sent Stubbs a text or something? That's how he got ambushed.

Happy Thread
Jul 10, 2005

by Fluffdaddy
Plaster Town Cop
Is the final sentence of William's character description incomplete? Also I'd love to see more in Bernard's.

Professor Shark
May 22, 2012

Dumb Lowtax posted:

Is the final sentence of William's character description incomplete? Also I'd love to see more in Bernard's.

Yeah I ended up having to go out before I finished it. I'll fix it up and add more to Bernard's later. I'm not 100% sure who the audience is for them, I'd imagine most wouldn't pick up the show starting with Season 2, but I'll make them as complete as possible for those who do!

Happy Thread
Jul 10, 2005

by Fluffdaddy
Plaster Town Cop

Professor Shark posted:

Yeah I ended up having to go out before I finished it. I'll fix it up and add more to Bernard's later. I'm not 100% sure who the audience is for them, I'd imagine most wouldn't pick up the show starting with Season 2, but I'll make them as complete as possible for those who do!

I'll tell you who the audience is, everyone who watched Season 1. After the season ended I had so many questions, but was too intimidated by the previous thread's hundreds of new posts per day to keep up with new theories. It is really helpful to see these post-Season-1 summaries of events, especially considering how much I've forgotten since it ended a long time ago. Thanks and keep up the great work, especially with the excellent overall synopsis up top.

fridge corn
Apr 2, 2003

NO MERCY, ONLY PAIN :black101:
Hype

double nine
Aug 8, 2013

this thread doesn't look like anything to me...? Until the new season starts, I will go back to a deep and dreamless slumber.


bookmarked

double nine fucked around with this message at 00:24 on Nov 19, 2017

Solkanar512
Dec 28, 2006

by the sex ghost
I can’t loving wait!

Elephanthead
Sep 11, 2008


Toilet Rascal
Man I thought this thread meant it was only a couple week away. Please delete my self awareness until then.

Regy Rusty
Apr 26, 2010

Elephanthead posted:

Man I thought this thread meant it was only a couple week away. Please delete my self awareness until then.

At least it's not the season 1 thread which went up over a year in advance. :v:

kimbo305
Jun 9, 2007

actually, yeah, I am a little mad
So fascinated was I by the Kachina dolls the natives dropped in front of Maeve that I tried to get one while touring through Utah. Didn't find a good one, but got a beaut in eBay:

StashAugustine
Mar 24, 2013

Do not trust in hope- it will betray you! Only faith and hatred sustain.

rewatching the series two things jump out at me:
-how the gently caress did dolores get dressed in the exact same gunslinger outfit she had thirty years ago?
-the guy who is initially assumed to be arnold in the photo ford shows to bernard is ford's host dad right? did anyone catch that when it first aired?
also the maeve plotline is kinda less dumb when you know that they're going to gently caress up from the start

SpiderHyphenMan
Apr 1, 2010

by Fluffdaddy
This is the most beautifully shot and produced show on television, and it is utter loving schlock that thinks it's asking way smarter questions than it is.

That said, I'm totally down riding this derailed train all the way to the bottom of the cliff.

SweetMercifulCrap!
Jan 28, 2012
Lipstick Apathy
Ehh, you might not want to have a huge season 1 spoiler in the thread title.

Happy Thread
Jul 10, 2005

by Fluffdaddy
Plaster Town Cop

sweetmercifulcrap posted:

Ehh, you might not want to have a huge season 1 spoiler in the thread title.

Oh, for people who are avoiding the Season 2 thread / spoilers but see the title pop up from outside the thread anyway

Eiba
Jul 26, 2007


I mean, my aunt who knew nothing else about anything to do with this saw "Michael Crichton" in the credits of the first episode and immediately knew where this premise was going.

So yeah, it is a spoiler that the robots go crazy and kill everyone, but it's the most obvious spoiler in the world that doesn't ruin anything because we all knew it was coming and it's the journey that's the real fun of it. And it was a good journey even knowing the destination, as I'm sure we all did.

Who really thought the robots wouldn't start killing everyone eventually?

SweetMercifulCrap!
Jan 28, 2012
Lipstick Apathy
Well yeah, I mean I know it's relatively obvious, but it still confirms the conclusion of season 1, ruining the anticipation of "when will they start killing the guests?"

Carbon dioxide
Oct 9, 2012

Just a note, the OP says "one in the same", but the actual phrase is "one and the same". I kinda want the op of a thread that will hit hundreds of pages before this is over to not have typos.

Professor Shark
May 22, 2012

Carbon dioxide posted:

Just a note, the OP says "one in the same", but the actual phrase is "one and the same". I kinda want the op of a thread that will hit hundreds of pages before this is over to not have typos.

There's definitely more than just that one typo in there, I was in a writing frenzy yesterday, but thanks! I changed that one, worked on the William and Bernard bios, and will type out one for Clementine today.

sweetmercifulcrap posted:

Ehh, you might not want to have a huge season 1 spoiler in the thread title.

I was just eager to get Jeff Goldblum's Pirates of the Caribbean line from JP in there for some reason

StashAugustine posted:

rewatching the series two things jump out at me:

-the guy who is initially assumed to be arnold in the photo ford shows to bernard is ford's host dad right? did anyone catch that when it first aired?

IIRC the thread did catch onto it

LividLiquid
Apr 13, 2002

The movie Westworld was over thirty years ago and the thread title was the premise of the thing.

They even got playful with a line of dialog in the show that was like, "we haven't had an incident in over thirty years."

kimbo305
Jun 9, 2007

actually, yeah, I am a little mad

LividLiquid posted:

The movie Westworld was over thirty years ago and the thread title was the premise of the thing.

44 years, to be exact.

LividLiquid
Apr 13, 2002

Christ, I'm getting up there in years.

muscles like this!
Jan 17, 2005


Regy Rusty posted:

At least it's not the season 1 thread which went up over a year in advance. :v:

To be fair, season 1 didn't exactly have a set start date. So it was hard to know when exactly it would be coming out.

blue squares
Sep 28, 2007

smh tryhard OPs are so pre-2017

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kimbo305
Jun 9, 2007

actually, yeah, I am a little mad

blue squares posted:

smh tryhard OPs are so pre-2017

There's supposed to be robots to do this for us <:mad:>

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