Westworld: Season 2, episode 6 photo analysis
Fresh off a thrilling introduction to Shogun World, the upcoming episode “Phase Space” looks to continue the momentum of Westworld‘s second season.
Westworld Episode 4 “The Riddle of the Sphinx” focused heavily on William and Bernard while episode 5 “Akane No Mai” brought the focus back to Maeve, Dolores, and Teddy. “Phase Space” is set to bring the focus back to all the major players.
Halfway through season 2, it’s time for all their storylines to intersect further as the stakes are raised like never before.
Let’s take a look at the episode’s pre-released photos to dive into what’s in store for all these major players as their stories begin to further connect.
Warning: Spoilers from the first half of Westworld season two will follow.
Daddy-daughter reunion
Like father, like daughter, both William and Emily–or Grace as she goes by when in the parks–are formidable guests. They’re experienced, ruthless when they need to be, and two of the only guests to survive the hosts’ uprising so far.
William is on his quest to find the Door and right the greatest mistake from his past. Grace’s motives are less clear, though she’s established that her aim isn’t to escape the parks right now.
Around a toasty campfire, it looks like father and daughter will cautiously talk, gleaning each other’s true purposes at this point. Grace likely still blames her father for her mother’s death, so the reunion should be a frosty one, though it appears civil enough in this campfire moment.
If the two of them can team up they could help both their missions be accomplished. They have some serious baggage to work through first, though.
Teddy’s rewrite
Fans know quite a bit about Dolores at this point, but they don’t quite know the extent of her imagination. That should become clearer as it’s revealed what Dolores imagined would make a superior Teddy, uploaded with a narrative rewrite that will make him a better fit in this new world.
The rewrite makes Teddy look more hardened, ready to take orders and follow them without question, no matter how cruel they might be.
Teddy 2.0 can’t be all that Dolores hopes, though, as the future timeline with Bernard has already shown Teddy’s corpse. Perhaps the rewrite will not do what Dolores intended and Teddy will retaliate against her in this episode, or he could die following her questionable orders.
Whether death comes knocking or not for him this episode, it’s clear there’s a new Teddy in town.
A musical Dolores
Music is famously linked to memory. It has the power to evoke memories like nothing else. It’s, therefore, possible that Dolores is using the piano’s music in this picture to test Teddy’s memory with his new rewrite.
The songs she plays could be designed to assess what Teddy does and does not remember with his new self. What he does and does not remember will be crucial to determining whether or not he’s the man Dolores wants him to become in this new, cutthroat world.
More Shogun World
Shogun World fans can rejoice as there’s plenty more to come from the park, including the katana-wielding Musashi. He has plenty of reason to fight against the Shogun’s soldiers given his backstory with the sadistic leader. The chaos left in the wake of the Shogun’s death will give Musashi the opportunity to fight his former allies–and now enemies.
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Musashi’s actions will likely stray farther from his narrative, though. In the episode promo, Elsie mentions that something is improvising, immediately afterwards cutting to a shot of Musashi dueling another Shogun World host. With the help of Maeve, Musashi, and the others, Shogun World hosts will probably take further steps to break out of their loops.
Despite the host uprising that occurred in Shogun World, other than Akane, the hosts there still seem fairly stuck in their old loops. The death of the Shogun and help from Maeve looks to help Musashi and the others take significant steps to breaking free from those loops.
Maeve’s quest continues
Maeve looks like she’s going to be quite busy this episode. She has the Shogun’s bloodthirsty, furious army to deal with and looks to be helping hosts like Musashi break out of their loops.
As fascinating as Shogun World is, it’s important to remember it was never a part of her plan. The quest to find her daughter continues and that journey looks to be taking Maeve away from Shogun World in this episode, despite all the important things happening there.
Back in her pre-Shogun World clothes, Maeve looks to have returned to Westworld, sitting on the porch of her old home, the one where she lived with her daughter in a previous narrative. Her distressed look certainly suggests that her daughter isn’t there, which makes it uncertain what the next steps in her quest will be.
Between Maeve, Hector, Armistice, Lee, Felix, Sylvester and possibly some Shogun World hosts joining their quest, they’ll definitely figure something out.
Bernard, Elsie, and the Cradle
“The Riddle of the Sphinx” brought Bernard and Elsie back together as a team. Memories of Bernard programming drone hosts to murder Delos scientists and then have the drone hosts snap their own necks doesn’t bode well for Elsie, but they’re working together for now.
In the episode promo, Elsie mentions that the Cradle is fighting back. The Cradle has only been mentioned a couple times this season by the Delos team, in the future timeline with Bernard. Members of the Delos team mention that the Cradle has been taken out and destroyed.
Online marketing for season 2 revealed the following about the Cradle:
"“Learn about the simulation technology that stores and tests all of our storylines: the Cradle. Delos’ time capsule that ensures you get the immersive and dynamic experience you deserve.”"
Bernard tells Elsie in the episode promo that the Cradle can only be accessed in person, not remotely. It looks like Bernard and Elsie will be figuring out what exactly is going on with the Cradle at this point, and how it all ties to the mysterious plans of both Ford and Delos.
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They both look curious, but Bernard is also armed, ready for any trouble that comes their way. Hopefully, he doesn’t see that trouble coming in the form of Elsie.
Regardless, scenes with Bernard and Elsie should provide much more insight into what the Cradle is, and how it is taken out by the time the Delos team arrives.
What are you hoping to see in the next episode of Westworld? Let us know in the comments!
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