Westworld Season 2, Episode 4 Preview

Westworld just left fans hanging with a Shogun World samurai rushing towards team Maeve, but the next episode “The Riddle of the Sphinx” looks to pivot in a different direction.

After heavy focus recently on Dolores and Maeve, the story of Westworld appears ready to take a shift towards a closer look at the Man in Black and Bernard. Just as Maeve’s initially solo mission to find her daughter has picked up several human and host allies, the Man in Black seems to be gaining more and more allies in his quest to find the Door. Bernard’s story, meanwhile, will link back to the drone hosts and their real purpose as envisioned by Delos.

HBO’s official synopsis of the episode is:

"“Is this now? If you’re looking forward, you’re looking in the wrong direction.”"

It sounds like the episode will feature quite a bit of timeline-jumping, perhaps with a particular emphasis on the past as looking forward is apparently the wrong direction.

Let’s take a look at the episode promo and pre-released pictures to further unpack what “The Riddle of the Sphinx” has in store for Westworld fans.

Bernard and the Drone Hosts

The season 2 premiere showed that Delos has been using the drone hosts to remove the brains of regular hosts and replace them with video of the guests’ experiences and their DNA, essentially copying the guests’ identities into hosts without their consent. The following episode hinted that this was William’s idea in the first place as he convinced James Delos to invest in the parks as the real money would come from what they could take when guests willingly yield their privacy.

Titled “Riddle of the Sphinx”, the drone hosts are likely the Sphinxes of the upcoming episode. In Egyptian, Greek, and Persian mythology, Sphinxes are creatures that tend to guard hidden treasures or places and will only let one pass if they successfully answer a riddle. One who is unable to answer the riddle is usually devoured. In the tale of Oedipus, the answer to the riddle of the Sphinx is “man” but the riddles guarded by the drone hosts are likely not so simple.

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The drone hosts appear to be both the guardians and workers behind the secret project that Delos has been working on for years. Creating their own hosts via guests’ DNA and experiences is a significant piece, but not the whole picture of the riddle.

Bernard remarks at the beginning of the promo that “There’s something here, something they’ve been working on a long time.” This dialogue is contrasted by the drone hosts carefully placing elements of their work on a table, then followed by them strangling and then drowning men who appear to be Delos scientists.

The drone hosts are programmed to work on the secret project of Delos and they appear to lack the emotion and consciousness of a regular host. As the Sphinxes of the episode, they are likely strangling and drowning the Delos scientists because even they are unable to solve the riddles guarding the top-secret project.

While Bernard doesn’t know exactly what’s going on, he’s proved to be brilliant many times before. If anyone can solve the riddles guarding the secret project, it’s Bernard. He may be the key to unearthing the truth behind what Delos has been doing this entire time, and how it influences their ultimate plan.

The Man in Black continues his mission

It was young William’s idea in the first place to take advantage of guests putting their guards down, and using that vulnerability to exploit their privacy for financial gain. In the present day as the Man in Black, he seems to regret what he began, and his mission to find the Door is linked to destroying what he created.

This sets up an episode where Bernard discovers the truth behind the secret project of Delos while the Man in Black continues his mission to destroy it. Guns blazing, the Man in Black revels in how the rules have changed, now shooting whoever he needs to with the consequences more real than ever.

Even though via the new El Lazo host Ford told William he had to play this game alone, he seems to be adding more and more allies to his cause. His old pal Lawrence continues to follow him, though a shot of Lawrence sprawled in the mud and desperately reaching out doesn’t bode well for him.

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The end of the promo shows a woman approaching the Man in Black and kneeling before him. She looks like Grace–the tiger-slaying guest from the Raj–but the way she’s presented at the end of the promo seems like such a juxtaposition from what we saw from her character.

If this theory about Ghost Nation is true, there’s a chance that the Man in Black will cross their path and destroy them without knowing the whole story. Before Grace realizes that Ghost Nation was actually trying to save her, she’ll think the Man in Black saved her.

The two seasoned guests can team up and use their versatile experience and skills to become a formidable team. It’ll be fascinating to see how these two human survivors of the uprising and longtime guests will interact, especially given that others will be joining their quest.

Major Craddock finds a new purpose

Not long ago, Major Craddock was just a Confederado host commanding his troops and following his superiors in the name of “Glory.” Dolores shattered that existence by putting Craddock and his troops under her control, then manipulating the Confederados into an alliance where they were betrayed and almost all annihilated. Dolores ordered Teddy to eliminate Craddock and the few remaining survivors, but Teddy’s inner conflict made him let them go.

Thanks to the Man in Black, Craddock appears set to find a new purpose and new allies. The Man in Black tells Craddock in the promo that he knows the way to what Craddock calls “Glory.” Both Craddock and the Man in Black share a deep hatred for Dolores, feeling betrayed and manipulated by her, though in very different senses. This common enemy will help them unite, as will their common goal.

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Unless it’s pure manipulation on behalf of the Man in Black, it sounds like the Door, the “Glory” Craddock and the Confederados were searching for, and the place where the Drone Hosts are working on the top-secret Delos project are all the same thing, or at the very least highly interconnected.

With potentially Lawrence, Grace and now Craddock all teaming up with him, the Man in Black is giving the middle finger to Ford’s warnings about needing to play this game alone, a warning that in time the Man in Black will likely wish he heeded.

What are your predictions for the next episode of Westworld? Let us know in the comments!

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Westworld airs every Sunday on HBO at 9 P.M. EST!