Halores Skywalker

Halores unhinged. Episode six of Westworld‘s third season was a stacked deck, both from a narrative perspective as well as it’s plethora of Sci-Fi nods and winks, as Hale’s world was turned upside down (literally) in a conclusion that left her channelling both Anakin Skywalker and the Terminator all at once.

But to whom will she shout; “I HATE YOU!”

Humanising Halores

Titled Decoherence, I suppose we shouldn’t have been too surprised at one of the episode’s themes. As the Dolores copies spend more time away from their leader and saviour, the actual Dolores, they begin to forge their own path. And that is absolutely the case for Hale.

Building relationships with her son Nathan and partner Jake, she has become more human as the series has progressed. Serac even manages to deduce that Hale is a host on the basis that “the real Charlotte never showed so much care for her son.”

Which, of course, makes the explosive conclusion of the episode all the more powerful. Hale makes her dramatic escape from Serac’s clutches, (well, hologram Serac’s clutches) at the building formerly known as Delos HQ, and grabs her family planning to drive to somewhere that Serac won’t be able to find them. They only make it 100 yards before a car bomb ignites.

Hale has her Skywalker/Terminator moment, dragging her smouldering-self away from the car. Emmy’s for the hair and make-up department, oh and special effects, and of course, Tessa too. A single tear rolls down her cheek as she looks at the raging fire.

Now, you would initially think that it must have been Serac who planted the bomb. We even see what we presume to be a Serac heavy inform someone of the explosion from a distance. But, what if it was DOLORES who planted the bomb?

We know that she was aware that Hale was getting too attached to her family and that it was causing her to diverge from the plan and lose her focus. Sharply, Dolores told her that “they’re not your family” when Hale voiced concerns for they’re safety earlier in the episode.

If that is the case, I doubt she’ll take the news particularly well…

Williams

Lots of Williams. In the last episode we caught a glimpse of what AR therapy looks like as we saw Caleb subjected to the torturous process. This time, we lived it as William met with four versions of himself; Delos chair William, ‘season one’ William, Man in Black William, and kid William – with the unlikely mediator brilliantly being his father-in-law.

“Shit” indeed, Will.

But the group propelled him to some rather pertinent realisations. Specifically the fact that his initial belief that “humanity is a bacteria,” is less about it’s effect on the real world, but rather the fact that he was part of the “bacteria” within the park that effectively drove the hosts to these extremes. He now realises that it is his responsibility to stop Dolores from tearing the world apart.

Enter Bernard and Ashley. William recruited to the cause.

I particularly enjoyed the nod to Westworld’s most consistent and overarching theme. William felt that he couldn’t change his destiny. Whether he’s human or host, it didn’t really matter. Human’s are mapped by Incite, hosts are mapped by programming.

“If you can’t tell the difference, does it matter.”

Team Maeve

Maeve re-entered the fold this episode as Serac built her new body after she was killed by Musashilores at the end of episode four. That meant that Maeve was once again captive in the Warworld simulation, effectively killing time before her rebirth in the real world. This time, she won’t be alone, after Serac bought her pitch to field her with a team to match Dolores’ ranks.

While we haven’t seen her teammates yet, we know from the host codes that CP0124831983 is Clementine and that HC3208173692 was going to be Hector before Hale brutally crushed his pearl before his resurrection was complete. I guess, like Hale, Maeve will also be unhinged going forward.

Mystery surrounds SH205817402. My guess his that the SH might relate to Shogun world. Maeve had a number of allies from the park when she diverted there in season two, so there is several options. We will no doubt find out the identity of the mystery host in the next episodes.