Actor Simon Quarterman, who plays Delos lead narrator Lee Sizemore on Westworld, recently spoke to Entertainment Weekly Radio and revealed that a presumed-dead character from the first season of the show is returning very soon. SPOILERS for Westworld season 2 follow.
Okay, so which character is making a big return? It’s Delos programmer Elsie Hughes (Shannon Woodward)! Have a listen to Quarterman’s interview below:
In season 1, Elsie Hughes worked closely with Bernard (Jeffrey Wright), the park’s lead programmer and, as it turns out, a robotic host himself, although even he didn’t know it at first. When last we saw Elise, she was investigating the source of a signal that was sending proprietary Delos code out of the park to an orbiting satellite. As we now know, Charlotte Hale (Tessa Thompson) and the Delos board of directors were hoping to used the code as leverage to force Westworld founder Dr. Robert Ford (Anthony Hopkins) out of the company.
However, Ford knew of the plan to oust him, and was working on his own way to get back at the board: a robot uprising, the same one currently raging through the park(s). He didn’t want any interference with that, so he sent his robot lackey Bernard to intercept Elsie after she tracked the source of the signal to an old building in the park. In a flashback, Bernard sees himself sneak up behind Elsie and put her in a chokehold. The assumption at the time was that Bernard had killed Elsie at Ford’s command, but the truth may be more complicated.
Fast forward to the Westworld season 2 premiere in Hollywood, where Woodward caused a commotion when she walked down the red carpet with the rest of the cast. Soon after, the actress spoke to Elite Daily and confirmed her character was, in fact, returning to the show.
"I am somewhere in the park, I can tell you that… It’s confirmed that I’m back and I’m somewhere in the park."
However, Woodward did not say if her character was actually alive in the “now” or if she’d appear in scenes set in a part timeline — this show plays all kinds of game with time. But Quarterman uses the word “alive” when talking about Elsie, so we can see her having survived Bernard’s attack, assuming that’s what it was.
Even before the interviews, the Westworld subreddit began to dig up and sort through code from the Delos Destinations website and found an Easter Egg that hinted at a return for Elsie: a recording of her saying “Hello.”
And how would Elise feel if she found out that Bernard, a man with whom she’s worked closely, is actually a robotic host? In a word: surprised. “I mean she trusted him implicitly, totally,” Woodward said. “Bernard is trustworthy. It’s just that Ford took over his brain. It’s not that Bernard was ever duplicitous. He was just used as a pawn.”
We’re looking forward to the Bernard and Elsie reunion. The next episode, “Riddle of the Sphinx,” airs this Sunday at 8:00 p.m. CST.
Next: HBO releases advance photos from Westworld Episode 204, “The Riddle of the Sphinx”
To stay up to date on everything Game of Thrones, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and sign up for our exclusive newsletter.
Watch Game of Thrones for FREE with a no-risk, 7-day free trial of Amazon Channel