Can we touch base on all of the characters' current motivations? It's a little hard to keep track of them with the constantly evolving storyline, so want to make sure I still have a good grasp of them.

Dolores:
To awaken humanity in the same way the hosts were. This mission has succeeded.
To keep the host data / Valley Beyond outside of Serac's reach.
Any further motivations beyond these?

Serac:
To obtain all of Delos' data
To stop Dolores (Printing new hosts to help Maeve)

Maeve:
To stop Dolores (For now...)

Bernard:
To stop Dolores (Also for now.)
Anything beyond this? Also, I forget Dolores' reasoning for bringing him back. Was it ever explained concretely?

Caleb:
To help Dolores in bringing down Incite. This has mostly succeeded.
(His loyalty to Dolores seems to be waning a bit after the death of Liam...)

William:
As of episode 6, he seems to want to be the "good guy" as a way to rebel against his own "path"

Halores:
Probably irrelevant now

I miss anyone?

mathguy86 said:

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There is a holographic projector in the Board Room. He's clearly on site.

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Except that they also show Serac outside Delos HQ walking up with his goons in black and Charlores prior to the board meeting.

I'm not sure Bernard really wants to stop Dolores anymore, I think his main motivation is to protect people. Basically Dolores' plan for him seems to be to put the pieces back together after she breaks the system, and he now seems content with that since he understands her plan? It doesn't really seem like he's trying to stop anything anymore.

Brian Earl Spilner said:

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Halores:
Probably irrelevant now

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Charredelores is going to burn the place to the ground. She's going to be the star attraction at Medieval World.

I think Charredlores' plan now is basically revenge.

That makes sense.

I think Serac wanted Delos guests data, but his main motivation now is destroying all the hosts and all the data on the hosts.

They can't be predicted by his algorithms, so every trace of them needs to be destroyed. That's why he needs the key to the valley beyond, and that's why he's not nuking LA to kill Delores.

This might have already been covered elsewhere, anyone notice the light fixture over the board room table? Looked like some weird chemical strucure.

Any ideas on what that is?

Also we did definitely see people digitally attending a conference in that room earlier this season so there's a projector in there. Remember when Charlores muted someone in that meeting in the first episode?

Robert C. Christian said:

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This might have already been covered elsewhere, anyone notice the light fixture over the board room table? Looked like some weird chemical strucure.

Any ideas on what that is?

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From the top comment on reddit:

Quote:

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It's nothing. Without any markers for oxygen and nitrogen groups, it's just a hydrocarbon. It might be a low res silhouette of something, but it's missing branches in the hex and penta rings.

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Well that isn't nearly as fun. With the soy sauce factory name having a hidden meaning I assumed there had to be a deeper reason behind the shape.

I guess I was assuming Halores was gonna die, but hadn't figured she'd stick around as a barbecued host..

So what are the motivations for the various hosts at this point?

https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/a32208334/westworld-season-3-theory-clementine-lawrence-return/

Brian Earl Spilner said:

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I guess I was assuming Halores was gonna die, but hadn't figured she'd stick around as a barbecued host..

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I bet she somehow reprints herself. Either way, she's pissed and out for revenge now...

amercer said:

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I think Serac wanted Delos guests data, but his main motivation now is destroying all the hosts and all the data on the hosts.

They can't be predicted by his algorithms, so every trace of them needs to be destroyed. That's why he needs the key to the valley beyond, and that's why he's not nuking LA to kill Delores.

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Agreed, but the Delos data is likely more valuable than ever now. He needs to understand human behavior like never before in order to truly get the system back under his control.

Brian Earl Spilner said:

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Can we touch base on all of the characters' current motivations? It's a little hard to keep track of them with the constantly evolving storyline, so want to make sure I still have a good grasp of them.

Dolores:
To awaken humanity in the same way the hosts were. This mission has succeeded.
To keep the host data / Valley Beyond outside of Serac's reach.
Any further motivations beyond these?
And ultimately, to build a new host world in the real world. Whether that's in harmony with humanity or not, it's too early the tell.

Serac:
To obtain all of Delos' data
To stop Dolores (Printing new hosts to help Maeve)

Maeve:
To stop Dolores (For now...)
More than that, she's trying to get to The Valley Beyond. Stopping Dolores is simply a means to get there. That said, I'd wager that Maeve's motivations change altogether when she realizes, with Serac out of the way, that she can be part of the real world. Especially since it's becoming increasingly clear that he likely won't honor her "contract."

Bernard:
To stop Dolores (Also for now.)
Anything beyond this? Also, I forget Dolores' reasoning for bringing him back. Was it ever explained concretely?
Dolores set herself above humanity by giving Bernard the gift of "choice." Humans would have killed him, so she didn't. She also knows that he can serve as a check on her of sorts; the angel on her shoulder, pulling her back from the brink if necessary. Though, I imagine she still has a more specific strategic/planned need for him in the next two episodes.

Caleb:
To help Dolores in bringing down Incite. This has mostly succeeded.
(His loyalty to Dolores seems to be waning a bit after the death of Liam...)

William:
As of episode 6, he seems to want to be the "good guy" as a way to rebel against his own "path"

Halores:
Probably irrelevant now

I miss anyone?

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TCTTS said:

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amercer said:

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I think Serac wanted Delos guests data, but his main motivation now is destroying all the hosts and all the data on the hosts.

They can't be predicted by his algorithms, so every trace of them needs to be destroyed. That's why he needs the key to the valley beyond, and that's why he's not nuking LA to kill Delores.

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Agreed, but the Delos data is likely more valuable than ever now. He needs to understand human behavior like never before in order to truly get the system back under his control.

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So, this is a plot point that I have an issue with. It made sense when he didn't own Delos, but now he does. So he can do whatever he wants with the hosts.

Wouldn't it be better to just kill the handful of hosts that are the problems, and then keep the others? You could infiltrate them into society to gather even better data on the population.

All of the ones that are self-aware were either set free by other self aware ones or were original Ford creations. Just kill off all the old ones and then use the news to help make your data even better.

My take is that if the hosts can become sentient on their own, then they will never fit into his algorithms. So they will always be a threat.

We know a lot more about how the hosts gained sentience than Serac does.

Or he's the host embodiment of the AI Rehoboam, and is taking the Highlander approach to things...

Yeah, but they can't is what I'm saying. They only hosts that can become sentient on their own are Ford's OG hosts. So like... kill all of those and then profit right?

That's a good point that maybe he doesn't know that.

TCTTS said:

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amercer said:

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Also, I don't see how that do a season 4, unless they just leave this season unresolved.

If they wrap up the current plot lines I think we're done. Unless season 4 is 200 years in the future and on Mars

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According to Thandie Newton, Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy have a five-season plan. I could see four and five being combined into one, final season - if only because Nolan and Joy signed a deal with Amazon and they'll need to start servicing that more and more - but I'd say we're definitely getting at least one more season. Besides, no way things are wrapped with Serac by the end of this season. There's way too much ground cover with only two episodes left. I'd bet anything they end on a pretty big cliffhanger.

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Great, we know what happenedn to the show quality the last time the showrunners from HBO's flagship show signed a deal with a streaming company.

Ha, very true.

TCTTS said:

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Ha, very true.

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Maybe Jonathan can get his brother involved to help out with the workload.

Could you imagine WW, season 4 with Christopher Nolan co-producing?

A lot of good/needed clarifications in this episode...

https://www.theringer.com/2020/4/19/21227512/westworld-s3e6-decoherence

Teddy Perkins said:

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So good. Between this and the latest Racappables pod, I think it's time for a rewatch of last night's episode tonight.

If ever an episode benefitted from a second viewing, this was it. I liked it the first go around, loved it the second go around, and appreciated it so much more. The juggling, editing, and interweaving of the various storylines is just impeccable, and I caught so much I missed before. The William scenes, in particular, played incredibly well, knowing exactly what was happening, both technically and thematically. Once you can fully make out what James Delos is saying in those scenes, it's not only hilarious at times, but some of the best material of the season all around. And then the way the Charlotte and Maeve storylines ultimately meet is subtly great as well. I definitely recommend giving this one another view, if only for the clarity, even if you enjoyed it the first time.

The one thing that's still bugging me this episode is the inconsistency as to who knows William's current location.

In episode four, Charlotte and Dolores Prime's secret plan is to have William committed to "a private mental health hospital." Charlotte even has an aerial vehicle waiting to transport William, with two representatives she claims are from the facility. So one would assume that Charlotte and Dolores Prime know where William is being sent. I can't imagine them arranging for transportation to and representation from a facility, but NOT know the facility's location. Maybe I'm wrong, and they have no control over which facility he's sent to, but that seems weird.

Either way, just before sending him to the institution, Charlotte pokes William's neck with what we now know is a synthetic protein that pings William's location in episode six...



Just before poking William in the neck, however, Charlotte says to him, "I promised I'd let you destroy yourself one day. Here we are. At last." And then what does William do in episode six? Destroys himself. Or, rather, "destroys" his past selves, becoming a new man with a new purpose, presumably of his own choosing. Though, it's becoming more and more likely that Dolores planned for William to "destroy himself," so does that mean he still has no free will, only the illusion of free will?

Cut to episode five, and Connells shows Bernard a tablet with two images of the Inner Journeys Recovery facility where William is being held...



However, Connells never tells Bernard that William is there. Connells simply says, "There's something you have to see... This is where he puts them, the ones who don't belong. You thought we were the enemy? We're the only family you have left."

So Charlotte and Dolores have William sent to *a* facility, then, in the next episode, Connells (who is obviously Dolores, and thus knows her plan) tips off Bernard to the existence of the exact same facility where William is being held, without telling him that William is there.

All of which checks out.

But then in the first half of episode six, William's blood is uploaded to the Inner Journey Recovery facility's server, where the unknown synthetic protein is detected...



... and transmits the facility's location (Sonora, Mexico) to the "recipient server"...



... which we discover, in the second half of the episode, is Charlotte's server at Delos...



... where she receives the location of the facility.

At that point, Charlotte calls (who we presume is) Dolores Prime and leaves a message saying, "The tracker in our friend's blood paid off. I've got the location you're looking for. But we have a ******* problem. They recovered Connell's pearl."

Huh?

Why would Charlotte and Dolores Prime be looking for William's location, when they're the ones who not only sent him there, but sent Bernard there as well (via Connells)?

The only thing I can think of is that Charlotte isn't leaving a message for Dolores Prime, but someone else. Maybe she's already double-crossed Dolores Prime?. But that doesn't make sense either, because A) again, Charlotte would have presumably already known William's location, and B) Charlotte had literally just uploaded all of the "host making data" Dolores Prime requested, thus aiding Dolores Prime.

So what's going on?

Also, I was half-joking about my Westworld-goes-to-space comment on Sunday, but I really do think they're hinting at something...

First, in the season two finale, Charlores changes the coordinates of where she beams The Valley Beyond data, presumably to some kind of satellite in space (as real Charlotte's original plan was to beam the data to one of "15 or so satellites near Delos headquarters")...



Then, in episode one of this season, there's not only the aforementioned shots of the rockets landing and launching, which Bernard curiously watches and we linger on way too long to just be something cool in the background...




... but then Stubbs is wearing this t-shirt in the very next scene...



Yes, it's likely meant to be more of a joke than anything, but the rockets AND the "Fly to the Stars!" mention on the shirt (even if referring to Hollywood stars), back-to-back, feels like more than a wink.

Then, of course, there's the actual space shot I mentioned Sunday, from the episode seven preview...



... which looks to be a missile being launched. Maybe it's a flashback/the nuke that wipes out Paris in 2025, or has something to do with Caleb's war flashbacks, but what if it's present day?

All I know is that even just the lingering shots of the rockets in episode one of this season seem to hint that they're doing something in space at some point. It might not be this season, but I'd bet money we're going there sooner or later.

Oh, and re: Charredlores - random, but I'm thinking one of two things happens... Charredlores is charred for the rest of the season, and sports a somewhat Sith-looking vibe; like she's this creepy figure cloaked under a hood or something - OR - I totally forgot about her original reprinted body, the one Bernard printed at the park for Dolores to escape in. We saw in episode three's flashback this season that, for some reason, after she escaped, Dolores had yet another Charlotte body printed for one of Dolores' pearl copies, which never really made sense. After Charlores escaped the park and printed a new Dolores Prime body, why couldn't Dolores Prime then simply put a Dolores pearl copy in the Charlotte body she escaped in? Why did she have to create a second Charlotte body? Whatever the reason, maybe that initial body is stored somewhere, and Charredlores can use it again.

There may be wholes in this theory but:

Perhaps they didn't know where William would be sent, and its why they sent him there. They could be looking for the re-education center for variants. So they committed him to track him.

Bernard got sent there from the Delores in Incite. Perhaps he was sent to that facility for another purpose and the fact that they are one and the same means something?

IDK