Yesterday, HBO released the official trailer for the third season of Westworld, the show where lifelike robots — called “hosts” — gain sentience and rise up to fight back against their selfish human masters. Do we have it coming? Are we supposed to watch this show and root for our own extinction? Maybe I should just not overthink it and enjoy the sight of Maeve Millay (Thandie Newton) facing down Dolores Abernathy (Evan Rachel Wood) with a samurai sword? You decide:
One thing Westworld has become famous for during its run is tricking the audience. It loves playing with timelines, leaving clues for astute fans to pick up, and even using the power of big data to freak out people who attend it CES presentation. It’s continuing to give big meta energy going into season, with HBO mocking up a whole website for Incite, an in-universe technology company that’s competing with Delos, the company behind Westworld and all the other advanced theme parks we’ve visited.
“The world can feel chaotic: big problems, no solutions, no one to lead the way,” reads Incite’s website. “Global issues may seem so complex that untangling the answers feels impossible. Here at Incite, we want to make “impossible” a thing of the past. Chaos is merely a pattern waiting to be uncovered. You can help us chart a better future.”
"Powered by our revolutionary strategy engine, we are able to calculate sophisticated solutions to problems large and small, from global climate change to personal career growth. We believe we have a personal responsibility to make the world a better place, starting at home. Here at Incite, your data doesn’t work for us — we work for you."
Sounds like corporate dystopia disguised as execu-speak; move it along, nothing new to see here.
Anyway, buried in the website is a different, hidden trailer for Westworld season 3, found by Redditor u/MTC_Chickpea. Check it out:
“Escape is not freedom. Reality is not optimizable. Desire is not power. Independence is not negotiable. Destiny is not digital. Disruption is not change. Chaos is not revolution. Death is not dissent. Free will is not free.”
We’ve got Vincent Cassel’s character holding a gun to Caleb’s (Aaron Paul) head, Dolores hooked up to some tubes and screaming, Maeve tearing kissing someone, Charlotte Hale (or the host who looks like Charlotte Hale) looking forlorn, Bernard (Jeffrey Wright) choking someone out, and the Man in Black (Ed Harris) in a water-logged house and apparently getting tortured. There’s also a quick appearance by Katja Herbers as Grace, the Man in Black’s daughter. Now, he literally killed her in season 2, so clearly something’s going on there. Maybe William is having a fever dream, maybe it’s part of whatever Black Mirror-esque sci-fi torture he’s undergoing, maybe she’s brought back as a host, or maybe it’s just a flashback.
TheWrap says that there could be more trailers waiting to be uncovered. What’s a few more mysteries to solve between now and when season 3 premieres on March 15?
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