‘Westworld’ ends with a bang

Dolores reaches centre of maze, Ford’s plan is unveiled and more

“An old friend once told me something that gave me great comfort. Something he had read. He said Mozart, Beethoven and Chopin never died. They simply became music.” Wise words to be sure — and final ones as well.

The season one finale of Westworld pulled very few punches, if any, as it brought many of the HBO drama’s most mystifying mysteries to an end, reported The Hollywood Reporter. It brought several characters to an end too. This included the one person who was holding all of the cards all season long, Robert Ford (Anthony Hopkins), assassinated by Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood) and satisfying the show’s initial promise: “These violent delights will have violent ends.”

Beyond Ford’s assassination in the final episode of the season, The Bicameral Mind, confirmed the biggest theory in Westworld fan circles: William (Jimmi Simpson) and the Man in Black (Ed Harris) are indeed the same person. The reveal comes as Old Man William smacks Dolores around, hoping to wake the information about the maze out of her. William remembers the old times, how meeting Dolores changed him forever and inspired him to buy out Westworld.

As for the maze, we learnt that it really was never meant for the Man or man in general. It turns out that it is nothing more than a thought exercise designed by Arnold (Jeffrey Wright) to activate consciousness within the hosts. Several decades ago, Arnold comes close to bringing Dolores to the center of the maze — the realisation of consciousness — and decides that he and Ford must shut down the park because the hosts are “alive.”

But Ford disagrees, leading Arnold to drastic measures. He decides to euthanise all the hosts and forces Dolores to kill him as well, in order to end the park’s program for good but it doesn’t work. All it does is rob Ford of his lifelong partner and leave the park reeling financially. It’s thanks to William that the park remains in business; his adventures with Dolores and subsequent murder rampages throughout the land, convinced him to buy a controlling stake in the company.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 6^th, 2016.

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