Now that the season is over let’s look back this Throwback Thursday at the biggest twist of Westworld season 2–when Dolores became Charlotte Hale’s host.
No one saw the Westworld final revelation coming. Even those that came close to guessing that Dolores would break out of Westworld inside of a Charlotte host still weren’t sure if they had nailed it.
Since Westworld folds their stories within multiple timelines, it got a little confusing to see how it made sense that Dolores became Charlotte. It seemed like such out of this world news, and yet, all of the groundwork was sprinkled within the season like glitter.
The best way to differentiate when the Halores timeline begins is by referencing Karl Strand. Strand is the Delos Board executive that appears after the 11 days of the hosts ruling Westworld.
These 11 days include the Delos vs. Host war, the Mesa train crash, the destruction of the Cradle, and everything that happened at the Valley Beyond. Any of the Charlotte appearances within those 11 days were genuinely Charlotte Hale.
Charlotte Hale dies at Dolores’ hands at the Mesa shortly after Delos defused the Valley Beyond situation. It is Dolores in Charlotte form who takes part in any scenes after that, and if you spot Strand in a scene with what looks like Charlotte, it is most definitely Halores.
To protect the Halores secret, Bernard jumbles his memory. It was the smart thing to do since any human could verbally command him to confess. This is why when Strand finds Bernard on the beach and asks him what happened, Bernard doesn’t have a clue on how to answer.
The present timeline starts right after Bernard and Strand meet. Strand takes Bernard to the body of water that has materialized in the middle of the desert and on their way Bernard witnesses the Delos clean-up crew shooting hosts to deactivate them. It is here they discover the dead tiger from Raj World that had gone rogue.
Strand then circles back to the Mesa and meets with Charlotte who is really Halores. As I mentioned, Strand can serve as a compass to the present time. The only scenes from the present that don’t feature Strand are the ones where Halores is interrogating Bernard at the Mesa and trying to torture Peter Abernathy’s control unit location out of him.
Bernard spends time with Stubbs at the Mesa while Strand suspiciously tries to figure out if either one of them has been up to some underhanded business. Strand then escorts them to the outpost where Teresa died and tells them that they discovered that the account of Teresa’s death was a cover-up due to her DNA showing up on the wall. They open up a hidden door in the back and find themselves in a room full of Bernards.
Halores is present for the Bernard room reveal, so the real Charlotte never got to find out that Bernard was actually a robot. They return to the Mesa after that and Halores is the one that interrogates Bernard to find out where Abernathy’s unit is.
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Once she tells Strand that Bernard has provided the coordinates, they all head to the Forge. At the Forge, Halores kills Strand and his men, transfers the Valley Beyond to a safe location, and kills Bernard to remove his unit and take him with her out of the park.
Actress Tessa Thompson took great pains to differentiate her acting for Halores from her usual Charlotte behavior. Thompson spoke with Evan Rachel Wood to get a feel for how her acting should change to portray the Wyatt version of Dolores.
According to THR, Thompson says of her conversation with Wood:
"“You know when I do Dolores, if I’m gonna look at someone who’s not in my eye line, I look first with my eyes, and then I move my head.” She does really subtle things that still make her feel human, but they just feel the tiniest hint of her [being a] host, these tiny little markers other than entirely human. It was small things, like when I’m walking, I try not to move my hands too much. There are other things that I won’t say, but yeah, she gave me some specific physical things to think about."
I’ve compiled a short list of some of the Halores hints throughout season 2:
- When Halores walks into the room full of Bernards she looks emotional. The same way Dolores would react in a room full of Arnolds. The real Charlotte would have just been surprised.
- Halores puts her face within centimeters of Bernard’s when questioning him like Wyatt does when she’s being menacing.
- When Bernard gives up the Abernathy location, the camera is outside of the room and the audience can’t hear what is being said. We can’t know for sure but Halores and Bernard could have made an agreement. I say an agreement because I doubt Halores revealed her identity since Bernard doesn’t realize Charlotte is Dolores until they end up in the Forge.
- When Halores questions Bernard she seems condescending, but she’s playing with her words trying to jog Bernard’s memory.
- Halores also enunciates her words slowly. It’s a take on how Dolores speaks as Wyatt.
- At the Forge, Halores addresses humans as another species as if she isn’t one. There are a few lines delivered by Halores where she speaks like she is detached from humanity.
Thompson did an amazing job mimicking Wood’s Wyatt character and this awesome reveal will be remembered for seasons to come. Halores has set up a whole new world for season 3 of Westworld. We may never see Dolores in Charlotte’s skin again, but someone else will be wearing the Charlotte suit as we witnessed during the season premiere.