Dolores - So the diagram suggests she is one of Ford's privately made robots but she's also clearly an official host too.

What happened 30 years ago that almost destroyed the park? I'm guessing it was robot safety malfunction, leading to the death of a guest (Logan, perhaps killed by Dolores) and that William helps cover it up - both allowing him to become the powerful corporate man and gaining the eternal special park privileges that the MIB enjoys. There's also something of an allegorical "fall" if the white hat William loses his innocence and becomes the black hat.

What I don't like about the Willie = Man in Black is that it requires you to believe that a man that fell in love with a women will eventually be happy brutilising her 30 years later (obvious mitigating factors notwithstanding). Shades of Iain M Banks' Use of Weapons, which had similar themes that I also had a hard time believing.

All we actually saw was him dragging her into the barn, we don't know what happened then. And given that she's apparently then had something of a re-awakening (slapping the fly, regaining her ability to shoot) afterwards, it's entirely possible he was attempting to trigger her sentience rather than brutalizing her.

Fair point. I couldn't quite remember the scene. I knew he dragged her in there.

What happened to Elsie? The fact Bernard (and therefore perhaps Ford) are looking for her suggests it wasn't them that took her. Is there someone else in the Park, not from the Delos or Ford sides?

All we actually saw was him dragging her into the barn, we don't know what happened then. And given that she's apparently then had something of a re-awakening (slapping the fly, regaining her ability to shoot) afterwards, it's entirely possible he was attempting to trigger her sentience rather than brutalizing her.

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It's a good theory that MIB is searching for the center of the maze to trigger Dolores's sentience once more. Also if Teddy is essentially the robot version of William then having him be MIB's partner on that search is quite nice too.

I have a theory that Teddy is the host version of William and is essentially there to keep Dolores in her loop.

And why is Dolores special enough to warrant a robot minder? I guess the answer would be that she has wandered from her loop before in ways other bots have not and yet is not decommissioned for one reason or another (because someone wants to grow robot sentience or because someone like William has the power to compel the park to keep her).

Assuming two time lines, all the Dolores scenes since she arrived at William's campfire have been in the past. We don't know what has been happening with modern Dolores since she broke programming and shot GTA Trevor, other than she is not in her loop with Teddy (because he is off with MIB). Is she the person who grabbed Elsie?

1) We know she was present when Arnold died. Ford may keep her around for this reason.

Do we?

Ford asked her about it in an interrogation thing.

Great thread - useful to pull some thoughts together.

Anyone got any ideas about how Maeve's flashbacks fit in? Other than triggering her current escape plans, I mean. I was initially surprised to see "Injuns" pop up and attack in the William/Dolores thread, as Ford's reaction to the proposed new narrative from the art guy was so negative about having them in the park, plus we know from Maeve's flashbacks they're part of an old narrative.

Uh...I thought Meave's storyline was in the present.

We don't really know enough to tell whether her flashbacks are significant or whether they're just showing her accessing old memories. Probably will be something significant though.

On the subject of those memories, we saw Teddy remembering slaughtering innocents with Wyatt (I think that's his name, the cult leader guy) which I don't think ever actually happened, it's just part of his new backstory. I don't think we'd ever seen invented memories depicted before, though in retrospect Bernard's dream and perhaps even his conversation with his wife may have been similar.

Let us assume that the first time sentience 'self-evolved' in Westworld was when Dolores completed the maze thirty years ago. This was the first time that sentience had 'self-evolved' in an electro-mechanical host.

Let us assume that the second time that sentience will 'self-evolve' will be when Maeve completes the maze, thirty years later. This will be the first time that sentience will have 'self-evolved' in an organic host.

During Dolores's 'maze run' she met William, who fell in love with her. See [Theory] Westworld is love story: https://www.reddit.com/r/westworld/comm ... h=43ffff5d

Dolores then succeeded, and reached the centre of the maze. Dolores was then fully sentient, but sadly that did not last for long. Dolores' sentience was then turned off, most probably by Robert Ford, not because he is inherently evil but because it did not fit in with his plans. See [Theory] Westworld is different things to different people: https://www.reddit.com/r/westworld/comm ... h=422f835a

The 'loss' of his Dolores (eventually) turned William into the Man in Black (MIB).

The MIB is now on a 'quest' to find his Dolores, who is now held/stored at the centre of the maze, and this quest is very likely to conflict with Maeve's 'maze run'.

The ultimate purpose of the maze is to evolve a better AI, which will then replace the previous best AI. So if Maeve completes the maze her AI will replace Dolores. Dolores will be erased in the process and the MIB will not allow this to happen.

So if the MIB saves his Dolores then Maeve will fail and probably be reset or erased, and if Maeve succeeds then Dolores will be erased and the MIB will have failed.

The MIB must stop Maeve, or at the very least somehow save his Dolores before Maeve reaches the centre of the maze.
9.1 There is a possibility that the MIB and MAeve may 'team up' to get to the centre of the maze but once they arrive then it will everyone for themselves!

I must admit, I didn't key on to Bernard being a host until he said 'what door'

It's a great show, but bummed to hear season 2 might not be until 2018. How many episodes left of this season?

For example, Teddy was always with Dolores when she was returning home to find her parents murdered. He wasn't with her only after he went to look for Wyatt - and that is when she escaped and subsequently joined William. At the same time Teddy was rescued be the MiB and then joined him. It just wouldnt make much sense to me if the events described in last two sentences were 30 years apart

I must admit, I didn't key on to Bernard being a host until he said 'what door'

It's a great show, but bummed to hear season 2 might not be until 2018. How many episodes left of this season?

Anyone remember (I think it was episode 5) when Ford and Dolores talked and at the end she says 'He doesn't know, I didn't tell him anything'?

Who's she talking to there? Is Arnold still alive? If so, what's his endgame, to destroy the park as he had previously attempted? How does Dolores help him in that?

Surely a problem with the different timelines theory is that if Bernard is constant across the two of them, tech for the park has basically remained the same for 30 years whilst dealing with exponentially complex programming?

It'd be an incredibly bold narrative device to try and pull off if that's what they're doing, mind.

That's my problem with it to. How have none of thr staff noticed their colleague named Bernard failing to age for 35 years?

That's my problem with it to. How have none of thr staff noticed their colleague named Bernard failing to age for 35 years?

How many of the staff have been there for a long time? They all look fairly young...

TV shows are a form of commitment beyond that one sitting so therefore it is no different to watching Brookside.