village wrote:
Wyatt is indeed Ford's new creation, which makes it likely that all the dangerous/rebellious hosts like Amanda in Wyatt's gang are also under Ford's control.
My two cents:
Arnold believed some of the hosts could obtain sentience through the memories and repetitions of their existence and he developed a test (the maze) for such an outcome. When we see the memory of Dolores descending into the lab and meeting Arnold, we are seeing the first instance of a fully sentient host completing this test. At this point, Westworld is not a sprawling theme park but a small laboratory experiment dedicated to the creation of intelligence.
Ford does not want sentient hosts. He wants obedient, pliable beings he can control like a God. 35 years ago he purges the park of sentient hosts via the massacre we have seen in Dolores and Teddy flashbacks. During this massacre, Arnold is killed (and possibly the other techs).
The park opens as a commercial venture, run by Ford shortly afterwards. William and Logan visit the park. Dolores begins to break her coding (i.e. complete the maze for a second time and gain consciousness). I expect Logan will die in the park, probably at the hands of Dolores. The scandal would doom the park given who Logan is but William helps Ford out by using his increasing influence at Delos to take it over and cover up Logan's death - perhaps the reason his wife / Logan's sister thinks he is a monster.
Delos have their own plans for what artificial intelligence might do beyond entertain gusts. Ford wants to keep his little kingdom for himself and keep the hosts in their controlled loops. To do this he creates Teddy to ensure Dolores does not repeat her awakening. Teddy is her jailer and he designs him to be something of a facsimile of William.
William comes back to the park after the death of his wife. The incident with Maeve reminds him of the incident with Dolores all those years past- of the capacity of the hosts for sentient life. He sets off in his quest for the maze essentially to gain a better understanding of Arnold's work and perhaps unlock the hosts potential. Given who William is, Ford can't just stop him. So Ford, knowing what William is up to, begins his new narrative, which is essentially his first narrative and will culminate in a massacre of all sentient hosts. He adds the reverie code, knowing it will induce sentience in some of the hosts. I think the reverie code is Arnold's from 35 years ago, like a missing ingredient that has allowed smooth running for three decades. Ford has Teddy be William's guide with the backstory of Wyatt so he can keep tabs on William. In diverting Teddy from the loop he sets Dolores free from her purgatory to again begin retracing her steps to the maze.
The end game for Ford is to lure those hosts who achieve sentience out into the open, led by a Judas steer (Dolores, Teddy) to a point and place where they can be de-activated and Ford's control can be reasserted. I would guess Ford sees William as another Arnold (a robot sympathizer who believes the hosts have a right to sentient life if they can develop it) and he wants to repeat the same victory over Delos / William as he did over Arnold.
I think the wrinkle this time is Maeve. I'm guessing her awakening is outside of Ford's control (remember it began with the phrase "these violent delights..." and seems somehow linked originally to the picture of Logan's sister) and that ultimately history will not exactly repeat and that a significant group of sentient hosts will escape Westworld, allowing season 2 to be more like Bladerunner. Androids loose in a futuristic society and hunted down by concerned authorities.
Interesting thoughts. I read an article the other day with Jeffrey Wright where he states that this season is essentially a 'prequel' to the overall series. If that's the case, then your suggestion that there are breakouts could well be where the story goes next.
I think it'll lose something if it leaves the park though. There's a timeless quality to proceedings at the moment (as in, we don't know where we are in the future, and that sort of adds to the mystery). There's also the western story lines that are finally starting to make an impact. When they are out in the big bad world, Ford's storylines are going to feel tame by comparison.
However, once the maze has been complete, I don't see where else the story can go within the park.