Goatherd

I'm curious, is the alphabetical naming a typical Mike White thing? This can't be random, can it? Staff starts at A: Armond, Belinda, (not sure the others as I haven't tracked staff names all that well Guests start at M and are grouped by family: Mark, Nicole, Olivia, Paula, Quinn. Rachel, Shane. Tanya

Why are all those northern lords still gathered at Winterfell? Don't they have their own houses to manage? Or is that some bi-weekly council meeting? Count me in for thinking the Wight-on-a-leash plan is ill-conceived. Which of those brilliant strategists really thinks that evidence and logic are the ways to sway Cersei into unselfish actions?

The unreality and unanswered questions are pulling me out of the story as well. Like, what's going on in the other sections of the prison? Max? Psych Ward? Are those sections functioning normally? If not, can we get a visit from Lolly, please?

Why did the one of the Greek chorus say something about how this never would have happened, if not for Jane helping Madeline when she fell, on orientation day? I assume they mean "if those two had never become friends," but even then, how would that have changed the course of a fight that was primarily between Perry and Celeste? I realize we were given some reasons as to why Jane had never met Perry (e.g. he wasn't able to attend orientation), but wouldn't it have seemed odd at some point that Jane had never met her friend's husband? Maybe I need to re-watch to see if this was ever mentioned. I really liked the show, and I would wish for a Season 2 just because I will miss spending time with these actors and characters, but I understand the sense that the story has been told.

So, if Carleigh had chugged down a couple pints of water when she heard the med boat coming, she might have won? That's...frustrating.

I can't help comparing this show to Pure Genius -- same idea, different industry. I'll give this one a chance, but so far I like Pure Genius better, and even that one is on thin ice. I haven't heard the term "disposable" before, but it's a good fit.

Since the show did play the anagram game after all, with Arnold Weber / Bernard Lowe... should we make anything of the fact that Dolores Abernathy spells things like "Obey Arnold, haters" or "Arnold, a byte's hero" or "Bear ye Arnold, host"...?

I feel the need to mention my favorite part of this episode: Logan's grammatically correct use of the word "whom." Bravo, Logan! You may be a bad boy, but you got a good education along the way.

Something I think I noticed -- please correct me if I don't have this right. Maeve, with Hector in tow, is planning to try to leave the park. Presumably this means she wants to get on the train that guests use. Charlotte is planning to have Peter Abernathy leave the park, to smuggle out the data he's holding. Maybe on the same train...? So...what happens when those three meet up? Does Maeve "wake up" Abernathy? Would be funny if she "violent delights" him, thus completing a short loop of that phrase (Peter --> Dolores --> Maeve --> Peter).

For what it's worth, I'm assuming her "re-awakening" has to do with the recent addition of Reveries, which is giving her access to memories of what happened 30/35 years ago.

It does seem like you're not enjoying it. As for me, I'm delighted by a show that rewards careful watching, re-watching, freeze-framing, and note-taking. (Yep, I've done all those things.) I like that the clues that have been left suit different types of watching. For example, I am the sort to notice the changing logo and the different WANTED posters seen by different guests, but I'd be less likely to notice the costume changes that others have kept track of. This feels like a very modern show -- one that knows we're watching via DVR or through HBO GO, and expects us to share our crazy theories on discussion boards. From my friends who enjoy the show but are not obsessed with it, I hear that it's also enjoyable to watch in a "just let the story be told" way. So while I felt a shiver in my skin at "What door?", they got the same feeling a few minutes later at "It doesn't look like anything to me." I'm seriously impressed at what they've crafted in this show. The revelations are exciting, but so are the way they are revealed. Netfoot, if you still have questions about how it all fits together, I'm sure you can get your answers here. For example, they've shown us that Dolores IS traveling out of her loop in the present -- she's re-tracing the entire voyage she took with William. So that explains the scene where Stubbs was informed she was off her loop. No handwaving required. Yes, we were all fooled (at first at least) by the edit that then showed her approached by the sheriff back in the time of her William trip. Just like we were fooled in episode 1, thinking that Teddy was a guest. And we were fooled into thinking that Bernard was a human. But that's part of the game that makes this show special -- it invites participation, speculation, and active involvement. That's what I came to the show for, since I know what Nolan can do. And if you just don't like what they've created, and want to keep expressing that here, that's cool, too.

So what happens when "dead" Bernard is found? Everyone discovers he's a host, and then what? Surely they'll guess that Ford created him and has been fooling them all this time.

FYI the author of that article also has a podcast called Decoding Westworld. It's a good complement to this site for theories and deep dive speculations about the show.

I considered this a few episodes ago, but: Logan's sister "rode a few cowboys" when she visited the park. And Theresa said she had visited the park once, as a child. So....eww. Also, Theresa is referred to as Danish, and Logan doesn't seem to be, so that would be a bit of a stretch to explain. As for the "welcome" video, I don't see it as odd that it uses the greeter host who has been repurposed for an in-park role (likely very recently), any more than it's still showing Maeve as a farmer when she hasn't been in that role for a year.

LOL arc. Although I do believe in the two timelines, your last ditch effort is a good one! What amuses me is the thought that the showrunners maybe had no idea the viewers would figure this twist out so early. They gave us Host Bernard as the big mid-season reveal, and maybe seeing Dressing Room Host this week is supposed to be our first real "Whuh???" moment that makes us scramble back through all the preceding episodes to make sense of it. Then the giant timeline "reveal" will come in the final episodes. And to be fair, there's zero chance I'd have come up with the theory on my own. But the Internets are pretty clever...maybe more so than the writers expected.