Westworld: All about the Forge and the secrets within it
By Tia Fabi
Westworld season two introduced us to a lot of new places; the Cradle, the Valley Beyond, and the Forge. It’s a little confusing to keep track of all these new locations and what they all meant to the plot of HBO’s hit show’s second season.
Caution: Westworld season two spoilers ahead!
In Westworld season two, the one that was most interesting to me was the Forge, the hidden location where all data and memories from park guests were stored. Every bit of information is collected through the hats each person wears, which is certainly a creative way to extract data.
Delos Corporation is kind of evil, right? I mean, it’s the feeling I get. If anything, they’re definitely information thieves. Due to William’s “little project”, which was to collect information to try to make people immortal by putting their consciousness into hosts, their mission with Westworld is not to provide guests with a great time. Rather, it’s a way to sneakily steal their memories and store it in the Forge, which would make a hell of a substantial amount of blackmail considering what most people do within the park.
Beyond just the physical appearance of the Forge, is the digital world it contains. We have Ben Barnes aka Logan as a manifestation of the Forge, acting as a guide when Dolores and Berard enter its domain. To be clear, this is not the actual Logan.
In “The Passenger”, Dolores explains the real Logan had never returned to Westworld after the events with William, so the fact that the system took form as Logan Delos could be attributed entirely to James Delos’ memories. How could anyone forget the heartbreaking scene where we see the last interaction between James and his son?
I absolutely love the little details in the Forge. From the scenes from season one playing in the background as Logan escorts Dolores and Benard around, to what the Forge actually is–a library. Books and books of all the guests who have ever stepped foot on the island, everything that is them, inside of this massive library. Inside these books, the information looks to be stored as the perforated music paper that we see the pianola play in various scenes throughout the series. I love that detail.
What’s really interesting in these rows of books is the section Dolores chooses to pluck from. If you take a look at the GIF above, the blue book she touches momentarily has Charlotte Hale’s name on it, portrayed by Tessa Thompson. Dolores would go on to inhabit a host version of Charlotte and make her way off the island in the season two finale.
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Ultimately, the book she decides to pull out is Karl Strand’s. Played by Gustaf Skarsgard, Strand was the Head of Operations sent to get the island in order after Dolores killed Dr. Ford. Was Dolores picking him out to learn how to trick him while in Charlotte’s body, or is a host version of Karl showing up in the third season? My Gustaf Skarsgard loving self surely hopes so!
What other goodies can you find from the Forge? Do you hope we explore more of it in season three and will we see Ben Barnes return? Share your comments below!