Well, that packed an emotional punch. Taking a break from last episode's revelation deluge, this latest episode goes in-depth on Ghost Nation – the mysterious group of painted warriors that had always lurked just on the edge of Westworld.
If you haven't got a clue what's going on, you can read our recaps of thoughts on episodes one, two, three, four, five, six and seven. Now you're up to speed, WIRED's Andy Vandervell and Matt Reynolds will get to grips with Ghost Nation and episode eight.
Be warned, this article contains significant spoilers for all the episodes of Westworld
Matt Reynolds: This episode was a bit of a change of pace, wasn't it?
Andy Vandervell: It was the most personal. It still had the traditional Westworld mindfuck moments as you try to piece together the strands of clues, but most of all it was about relationships, including (to a lesser degree) Lee's relationship with Maeve and his guilt.
MR: And we also finally found out what makes Ghost Nation tick. The group had always been lurking on the margins of Westworld, but this was the first episode they – and specifically Akecheta – were fleshed out into fully-formed characters. And his backstory told us some interesting things about how sentience emerges in hosts...
AV: Yes, and it's really interesting. We now see that Akecheta achieved his sentience simply through living. He never died, so he never had himself updated and he retained his memories. Over time, those memories led him to question his reality. Or, to put it another way, hosts can achieve sentience through experience rather than due to some kind of update, like the reveries which led to Maeve and Dolores achieving their independence.
MR: And Akecheta's journey to sentience started when he stumbled across the carving of the maze just after the first Westworld massacre that killed Arnold. Like you say, this is the first time we've found out that hosts can acquire sentience all by themselves.
What did you make of Akecheta's run-in with Ford?
AV: It was interesting because, for once, Ford seemed somewhat surprised by what Akecheta had achieved. Normally, Ford has that all-knowing god like vibe, but he was surprised and impressed by Akecheta. What interested me most, though, was Dolores' title of 'Deathbringer'. When the name fits...
MR: Yeah, Ford says to Akecheta "when the Deathbringer returns for me, you will know to gather your people." So he's teeing up a massive battle between Dolores on one side, and Ghost Nation on the other. But why would Ford pit Ghost Nation against Dolores, when he's the one that set her on this path of destruction in the first place?
AV: I don't really see it like that. I think it's more a warning to escape when they can. He's not saying "it's time to fight Dolores" but "it's time to get out of her way". That's my perception, anyway.
MR: Ahh, that makes a lot of sense. So Ford's warning him that shit is about to go down, and hinting that this might finally be their opportunity to escape the park. I wish he would be a bit less cryptic...
AV: It's the Westworld way.
Something else I'm curious about was the structure Akecheta saw, which I'm assuming is the same one a young William showed Dolores. He saw a door, I saw the portal from Stargate. Is this in fact a really ambitious franchise crossover?
MR: I think that we both know that it's only a matter of time before the first episode of WestGate hits our screens.
But seriously, I hope they have a good explanation for all of those weird spires – I don't have a clue how they relate to anything that Delos is up to. Speaking of things we don't have a clue about – where does that door lead to?
AV: Well, here's a thing. Akecheta thinks it's a door to the real world, or the 'correct' world, but he has no basis to believe that unless he remembers something we haven't seen. We know, at least, that he's been to the outside world because he was the guy that pitche Westworld to Logan in the bar. He, like Delores, is a very old model.
MR: But there's also a train to the real world, and there's always the possibility of constructing a boat. If the hosts just want to escape Westworld, why don't they go for one of those options?
AV: Because they have no conception of what or where the real world is. All they know is this isn't it. To make a boat to get off the island, first you need to know you're an island, that there's a sea, that there's something on the other side of the sea and that boats exist. That's quite a few hurdles.
Anyway, what about Maeve in this episode. She appear helplessly injured in this episode, but she's by no means passive. For a while I was convinced the child was a young Maeve until I twigged what was actually going on.
MR: Essentially, Maeve is using the mesh network to talk to her daughter through Akecheta. It's pretty lucky that Maeve and Akecheta have found each other – they're probably the two most emotionally sophisticated hosts in the whole park. I'm guessing that Maeve will be happy that her daughter is with Akecheta now – but what do you think her new goal is? To get him to take her daughter out of the park altogether?
AV: Sure, but I don't think we can count her out just yet. I'm secretly hoping Lee Sizemore grows a spine and helps her escape as well. Westworld would be a boring place without her.
MR: It was pretty touching when he defended her against Delos' engineers. I still don't trust him to put anyone else before himself, though. Give him half a chance and he's on the first boat off the island.
AV: Probably. It'll be interesting, actually. The conventional thing would be for Lee to finally do the right thing, but perhaps that's not the point the writers want to make with him? If anything, Westworld as about how we almost never do the right thing.
Speaking of which, William and his daughter are reunited at the end. It seems she has plans...
MR: William: AKA the man who Will Not Die. I'm sticking with my story that William is actually part-host because how can anyone take that many bullets and keep breathing?
But yeah, it seems like William's daughter has some emotional torture prepared for her dad. Knowing William and seemingly endless ability to endure, and even enjoy, all kinds of suffering, what could his idea of hell be? I think he'll be forced to listen to the Frozen soundtrack on repeat while trapped inside M&M World.
AV: On a more serious note, I wonder if she's connected to some kind of anti-Delos group. It seems improbable there wouldn't be one and as a member of the Delos clan she's well placed to work against it.
MR: Ahh, that would make sense. Do you remember in the episode she was introduced, Emily has a journal with all kinds of markers in it? That would suggest some kind of inside knowledge of the park's working, which is what you might expect from someone determined to bring it down from the inside.
AV: Sounds like an intriguing point to deal with in the next, penultimate episode of season two. Bring it on!
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
