When Did William First Learn About The Maze?

Alarm: Spoilers for all of Westworld Season 1 below.

Ah, the Maze. Though we had guessed most everything else about Westworld 'due south showtime season (that Bernard was made in the image of Arnold, that in that location were 2 timelines, that immature white-chapeau William ultimately becomes The Homo in Black), the Maze remained a tantalizing mystery box. The Homo in Black spent the unabridged first season working hard to figure out what was at its centre. Later on thirty years of scheming and searching, he presumed that this sacred object he would uncover would bring meaning to his life. Did we not feel the aforementioned?

What was surprising about William and the MIB was that their stories were much more interesting when they were presumed to be ii separate people. The suggestion that William becomes to MIB had its intrigue, though, when the theory was first bandied about: how does someone as meek and caring as William turn into such a cold-hearted killer? But when the MIB revealed some of his backstory, it vicious apartment: he was such a bastard that his wife killed herself, and and then he came back to the park to come across if he could commit a truly evil act. Turns out, he could. Great story!

westworld-finale-the-bicameral-mind-image-2 — Image via HBO

Westworld did an uncommonly good job of laying the background for its many twists, and while careful viewers constitute clues along the fashion, information technology'south also the kind of storytelling that works fifty-fifty meliorate through re-watching. When looking back, I would debate that the MIB, non the Maze, was the cherry herring. He thought this was his story, and so did nosotros. But after he told a lifeless tale nigh his evil nature, we should have gotten the clue -- it wasn't about him at all.

It makes sense that we would put our faith in a human in the story to lead united states through Westworld, only the show was never prepare that mode. The premiere focused on Dolores and the other hosts -- it was about her loop, and an power to kill that was locked within her (those pesky flies!) The second episode, which sort of acted like a second premiere, was guest-centric, but that structure betrays it all: the hosts come first. This is their world, and their story. William goes with Dolores to try and save her, and says he "finds" himself during the journey. But practice nosotros intendance? That revelation is a bloody i, as is Dolores' own enkindling. Full circle: fierce delights, tearing ends and so forth.

So here'due south where the Maze comes in. The MIB thought it was for guests, despite being repeatedly told it was not. Every bit nosotros saw in "The Bicameral Mind," it was always meant for the hosts. It was when Arnold realized that the central to opening consciousness wasn't a pyramid of building blocks, information technology's a circumvolve into 1's mind. In the natural world, a recognition of oneself in a mirror is a mark of the chapters to have self-awareness. Information technology'due south a unique trait among living things on this Earth. Similarly, the hosts cannot see images of themselves until they have awakened.

Arnold created a literal maze for Dolores that ended at her (false) grave with his child's toy buried there -- a symbol of Dolores becoming similar another kid to Arnold, just also that she must leave sweet Dolores Abernathy backside to become her existent self. Yet every bit we saw throughout this flavor in the most compelling storyline, Maeve found the middle of her maze on her ain. Yes, Ford did engineer her actions, but twice (both relating to her daughter) nosotros saw that it wasn't the insurrection confronting the makers that drove Maeve to self-awareness, it was a search for her daughter and to revive that connection. The seeds of coup, somewhat surprisingly, came from Dolores (in a kind of parallel to young William and Dolores' innocence turning into violence by the end of Season 1).

westworld-tessa-thompson-ed-harris — Image via HBO

Then back to the Maze and why it matters for united states of america: Cracking open Westworld's mysteries was fun, only it wasn't the goal the serial wanted to achieve. There are a myriad of unanswered questions after the finale, which Season 2 may or may non address. Yet the point of Season one was to prepare up the revolution we all saw coming, because we needed to connect with on a deeper level. Arnold wanted the hosts to be free -- Ford wanted to expect until they were truly equipped to make their ain decisions through retentivity and experience, like children having to grow up. He believed that could but happen through suffering, and perhaps that is true in this case. If the show had kicked off with humans versus androids, well, we would have been unlikely to empathize with the killer robots. But once we've spent an entire flavor seeing the hellish loops and unending abuse they suffered at the easily of guests and staff members, one tends to see their side.

In that mode, the Maze was as well meant for us. If it was always almost robots finding consciousness, then within the story it does make sense that it was a journey just for them. Merely every bit viewers, information technology'south of import that we recognize it was always the eye of the show. No matter what else happened or was answered (or wasn't), the point was to go u.s.a. to the start of the revolution with divide loyalties in lodge to create a far more dramatic story. That's a very, very bold move to make your first season essentially one long prelude, but I would argue that while the MIB looking for meaning the Maze might have gone off form (along with us), the prove never did. Ford'due south reasoning and changeabout regarding robot consciousness all the same has a lot to be explored, as does the fate of the MIB, and I'm not suggesting that this was a perfect season of television receiver. But Westworld's commitment to its ain Maze should brand fans excited, not disappointed. Information technology knew where it wanted to become, and it got in that location.

"The Bicameral Mind" ended with a stand-off between thawed-out hosts and guests (or at to the lowest degree, Delos board members), as well as behind-the-scenes carnage in the labs. There was likewise a tantalizing hint at Samurai Earth and other parks within the Westworld construction. We nonetheless don't know what life is like outside of Westworld, but after the events of the finale, it seems to matter less and less. Ultimately, life on the exterior will be decided by the fate of those inside the park.