Westworld: Best theories to know before season 3

Westworld season 3 may feel like a distant dream–but we can always discuss theories, right?

Westworld left fans confused and scratching their heads at the end of season 2. And now so many of us are waiting for the series to return, and for it to hopefully answer some of our burning questions. Like, what does that post-credit scene with the Man in Black mean? And is he a host? Is human? Is he both?

There are quite a few theories as to what is going on, and where the story will progress from this point forward. One of the biggest questions/theories is regarding the host consciousness’ that Dolores took with her to the mainland. And honestly, fans’ minds are racing with just who could be in those pearls.

We’ve gathered a list of theories that Westworld fans should know before season 3 (thank you, Cosmopolitan), and if we’ve missed any or you have any of your own to add–don’t be shy, share them! This series paves a path for the best of the best to connect the dots and walk us through the maze (pun absolutely intended) that is the series. So let’s get right into it, shall we?

Delos wants hosts to take over the world

It comes as no surprise that Delos is an extremely shady company, and over the course of two seasons, their intentions have become unclear and dishonest. It’s becoming less and less about Westworld as a park, and more the technology that exists within it.

In the second season, we learned a lot more about what Delos is trying to do aka achieve immortality. Basically, park visitors’ personalities would be collected and stored and could live on in hosts long after their deaths. During the season, many thought that perhaps Delos was creating robotic doppelgangers out in the real world for each visitor.

While this theory wasn’t proven to be correct, by the end of the season, Halores and Bernard left the park and went into the mainland. So, perhaps this could be a reality that surfaces in the third season. And perhaps we may find ourselves amidst a host civil war.

The location of Westworld and the safe house will be a big plot point

Honestly, we haven’t seen much of the world outside of the park, but we did glimpses of the past in the second season. As far as we know, visitors are brought into the park and taken out of the park through a shuttle of some sorts. People talk about the mainland, so we can make some assumptions about the location.

Some Westworld theorists have suggested that the park is on the moon (that’d be something, wouldn’t it?). We haven’t ever seen a scene where the shot pulls out and gives us any sort of indication as to what the real world looks like. The closest we’ve ever gotten is in the flashback scenes, or in the season 2 finale when Bernard and Halores leave the park and go to the safehouse.

What if the real world isn’t the world we currently live in and know? The assumption is that it is, but maybe the real world is completely different than our expectations. Perhaps in season 3, we’ll learn more about where the safehouse is and what it means in the context of where everything is actually located.

William is resurrected

Wouldn’t that be something!? Now, there are a couple of ways we can try to understand this theory. First, perhaps Dolores brings back William so she could see just how badass she is and how she’s taken over the world and exact revenge on him by doing so. She has told him before that she wants him to suffer, so it’s not out of the realm of possibilities.

The second way of looking at this is a bit extreme, but again with Westworld, you never know where the story is going to go. Maybe, just maybe, William was brought back in order to stop Dolores. What if there is a group out there that are hoping to learn something from William that will help them take down Dolores?

It’s a bit out there, we know, but if hosts have taken over the world in this future, then whose to say this couldn’t happen? In fact, it could be the plan of a resistance group, as stated by Cosmopolitan, that is hoping to stop the robots or end their reign.

It’s hard to say which way this could all go and if the post-credits scene is even implying all of this. But it was a rather cryptic scene to place in the post-credits so there has to be some importance to it, right?

What if season 2 was all a simulation?

Can you imagine if everything that happened in season 2 of Westworld was all just a simulation? What if everything we saw takes place was taking place in something like the Cradle or the Forge? Since fans learned about what the Cradle is and what it means, this theory started to gain popularity.

Of course, if this all turned out to be a simulation it would take away from the appeal of the show and it would essentially mean nothing actually happened, and we wasted our time. Fans wouldn’t be too happy if everything happening was fake, and it would mean that any big surprises weren’t actually that cool.

As Cosmopolitan said, viewers would have to know that it’s all a simulation for it to be well received, otherwise, you’re just asking for millions of angry fans–and that wouldn’t be very pleasant.

Do you have any theories you’ve come up with or any that we may have missed completely? If so, share your best Westworld theories in the comments below or on our Twitter, @BeyondWestworld.