Maeve is easily one of the standout characters from season 2 of Westworld. We’ve gathered a compilation of Maeve’s most celebrated moments to show our appreciation and love for the character.
Westworld fashioned an immensely complicated story for its second season to top all of the mind-blowing reveals that made its premiere season such a successful breakthrough. Maeve’s story, however, was less complicated than the rest and instead followed the straightforward course of strong character growth.
Her arc is one that explores a host deciding to follow her intuition to save the little girl that was once programmed to be her daughter. The second season follows Maeve as she gathers her band of hooligans to fight her way to Homestead and rescue her daughter. Throughout that journey, Maeve has some memorable scenes that highlight why she is so unique.
The greatest thing of all as you flip through Maeve’s most significant moments is realizing that she will only get better with season 3!
Maeve humbles Lee Sizemore
After two whole seasons of naked androids on stools, you have to figure it’s time for the tables to turn. Maeve did just that when she made Lee Sizemore undress and stand around with nothing on but his birthday suit.
Lee got to experience how humiliating it is for humans to continue to degrade hosts by leaving them naked, instead of allowing them to remain in clothing like everyone else. Sizemore learned the lesson, and I think Maeve brought it home with her snide remark about his unimpressive part.
Dolores and Maeve meet again
It was the most anticipated meet up of the second season of Westworld, and it didn’t turn out the way most would have wanted. There was no love between Dolores and Maeve but a confrontation on two opposing views of what was important in life now that the hosts were able to think on their own.
Dolores was on a mission to not only defeat the humans that enslaved the hosts to the park but to conquer them. Maeve’s quest to rescue her daughter was personal, but it looked like she wouldn’t have joined Dolores even if her daughter wasn’t a factor.
As scary as Dolores appeared with her menacing call to war, Maeve stood her ground and told Dolores that she would not take part in destroying people just because Dolores said so.
Dolores did not put an ounce of fear in Maeve’s mechanical heart and moved out the way and let her pass. Either Dolores had enough respect to step aside for Maeve or she recognized she didn’t want to throw down with someone that badass.
Maeve’s powers
By far, Maeve’s Neo moment was right up there for the best moment of the season. Going through Shogun World meant discovering new people and figuring out how to help the residents while on their way out. But Maeve honing her ability to control other hosts was a massive development for the “Akane No Mai” episode.
Maeve controlled the Shogun warriors without uttering a single command. And this proved to be miraculous when she forces the Shogun’s men to fight each other to the death, and no one has to lift a finger to help.
Man in Black vs. Maeve
Maeve’s most traumatic experience that haunted her at every corner was the memories of her death from a past life at the hands of the Man in Black. Actually, it was watching her daughter killed by the Man in Black that impacted her from that experience. The problem was that the Man in Black was out to kill and Maeve was a host that could not harm a human even though she had a loaded shotgun.
When Maeve ends up in Homestead with her daughter face to face with the Man in Black for the second time, it was an opportunity for her to control the outcome. Ironically, the Man in Black didn’t end up in Homestead looking for murder–he was trying to find his way around Ford’s new game. But karma has a funny way of working because Maeve took no chances and the Man in Black was not able to believably explain himself.
Maeve unleashed her powers on the Man in Black causing random hosts to shoot and attack him continuously. In this simple act of courage, Maeve was able to renounce a narrative in which she was initially a victim.
Maeve’s first sacrifice
Maeve may have been a victor when she came across the Man in Black, but she was no match for the advanced weapons of the Delos Corporation. After defeating the Man in Black, the Delos team shot at Maeve stopping her from being able to save her daughter.
And while even the strongest of hosts react to the pain of bullets (except for Dolores), Maeve was barely concerned with what was going on with her body as she watched in horror as the Ghost Nation took her daughter. We later find out that the Ghost Nation had nothing but good intentions but the fear she felt in that moment is tragic.
Maeve protects her daughter via the mesh network
Maeve may have been laying on a metal hospital bed with half her neck tissue hanging out, but she still hadn’t given up on her daughter. “Kiksuya” was an eye-opening episode that traveled through the lesser known history of the protagonist, Akecheta, who had discovered the Maze way before Dolores or any of the others were on the path to sentience.
Maeve’s daughter had saved Akecheta when he had thought he was on the brink of death and he had never forgotten. He owed the young girl his life and did everything he could to save her, even though Maeve has always assumed the Ghost Nation were villains.
Akecheta started out telling the young girl his history, but he was also recounting the story for Maeve who had used the mesh network to check up on her daughter. What’s impressive is that Maeve was near death and was still trying to protect her little girl from many miles away.
Maeve becomes a Shero for herself
With very little hope, Maeve spent quite some time on the metal bed awaiting Charlotte Hale’s final verdict. Ford, who had already latched on to Bernard’s control unit, dropped a message for Maeve that unlocked all of her core functioning that had been disabled by the Delos operatives working under Hale.
Instead of waiting for the cavalry, in this case, Hector and his band of merry hosts, Maeve unplugged herself from all of the wirings and walked right out of the Mesa. She covered the ghastly wound on her neck and called the mechanical bulls to unleash an attack on the Delos minions at guard. When Hector and the others finally make it to the Mesa, Maeve has already defeated the enemy and saved herself.
Maeve’s ultimate sacrifice at the Valley Beyond
Maeve was one of the first to make it to the Valley Beyond and anxiously stand before the jagged door open to all hosts willing to jump over a cliff to achieve eternal digital peace. But Maeve didn’t make any strides towards the door until she was sure of her daughter’s whereabouts.
It was the unfortunate complication of the virus that Clementine helps spread that rapidly consumes the hosts’ minds to fight each other to the death, that stops Maeve from running to safety accompanied by her daughter.
To guarantee that her daughter makes the great escape into the safety of the Valley Beyond, Maeve sacrifices herself once more. Maeve extends her hand with her mesh powers and stops the fighting hosts from ascending into the Valley Beyond.
Once the digital door of the Valley Beyond has been closed, Maeve lets go of her hold and resigns herself to a peaceful death knowing that she accomplished saving her daughter.
What was your favorite Maeve moment from season 2 of Westworld? Share your thoughts below in the comments or on our Twitter, @BeyondWestworld.