S03.E04: The Mother of Exiles

[formerlyfreedom]

Quote

The truth doesn’t always set you free.

Airing Sunday, April 5, 2020.

 

[paigow]

Somebody is the Statue Of Liberty...Hope this is not a Planet Of The Apes version...

[AimingforYoko]

So the best team that Dolores could put together is....Dolores. That is some top-level narcissism. OTOH, top-level plan. So far.

Edited April 6, 2020 by AimingforYoko

[nilyank]

She made copies of herself. Like I couldn't hate her more.

Is there at least one not horrible person/robot in this world?

[LoveLeigh]

I am finding this season unbearable. I can't stand that they took the hosts and put them into the real world. I can hardly even follow the plot because it is so convoluted. There are doubles of the characters and it is hard to follow for me. 

Who are real and who are hosts? I thought Stubbs was dead. This is so convoluted I do not even know what is going on and don't even care. This Westworld is  a different show. 

[Growsonwalls]

Ok I might have mentioned this on the other thread but I recently binge-watched this, caught up on all the episodes, and this was the first episode I watched "live."

I think it was pretty exciting that Dolores replicated herself into all the hosts' bodies. However after having watched her entire character arc in two weeks of self-isolation I feel like the writers are making her Dany v. 2.0.  Someone defined by who she kills/conquers over who she is. First season host Dolores had a heart and soul, and this vengeful take-over-the-world Dolores might be more exciting but it's so cold and clinical that I can't get behind it. In GoT the writers finally ran out of people for Dany to kill/conquer. I think that will happen with Dolores too.

A reminder of how much the character arc has deteriorated was the brief scene of prairie dress Dolores with William near the end. Ed Harris's character no matter how evil is always a real, flesh and blood person. When he's dealing with the delusions of his daughter or talking to Charlotte-bot/Dolores or finally talking to Dolores herself you believe that this is a human story of a might man who has been reduced to nothing. "End of the game," as Dolores said.

Evan Rachel Wood and Ed Harris/Jimmi Simpson have such amazing chemistry that for a moment we remembered season one Dolores. Of course the arc is now that Dolores is merciless and cold so Dolores left William alone with his own demons. But it was a reminder of the heart and humanity that season one had.

By the way if that was Ed Harris's last episode he did an amazing job making us care about William/MiB/ManinWhite. Great acting.

Bernard, Maeve, Caleb, and Stubbs all chart the world between robot and human to varying degrees but their characters are all still redeemable. Hell, even Charlotte-bot/Dolores emotes more and seems more human than actual Dolores. 

I wonder what will happen to Maeve though. As much as I love Thandie Newton I don't see how she fits into this Dolores-conquers-the-world narrative. I can see Bernard and Stubbs putting up a strong fight because Bernard knows what Dolores is doing. But Maeve just found out and she's dead again. Who will revive her?

Anyway I really hope the writers have something more planned for Dolores other than her killing her way through the real world with the help of her bots. Because we saw that in Season 2 in the park and I don't want to see it again in Season 3. I mean at this point how is Dolores any better than Serac?

Edited April 6, 2020 by Growsonwalls

[Quilt Fairy]

How can Stubbs be a host and still need snacks and beer?  No wonder he looks so bloated.

[TobinAlbers]

Maeve was lucky. Dolores was about to slice her head open and pop out that pearl out. She’ll be restored to fight another day.

I do love that Maeve’s guess was Dolores bringing Teddy. She knows how loyal he was to Dolores and that he also been upgraded. I hate we never got more of their interaction/dynamic that we saw in S1 where he was exposed to Maeve’s POV for a bit and see his evolution. If Serrac is to be believed, the world Teddy is in can be reopened. It’d be a hell of a thing if Dolores didn’t merely lock and upload the host world to a random satellite but instead uploaded the hosts and their world to Reobohem somehow. The other possibility is that if Serrac gets the key from Dolores he’ll use it as leverage against Dolores and find the hosts world and destroy it as he sees it as a threat. He may be sending Maeve on an errand that ultimately would kill her daughter.

Is Stubb’s shoulder issue due to the actor’s issue with his shoulder? Or a running joke playing into that? Hemsworth had to ease up on some stunts due to his shoulder so his swing wasn’t always convincing. He supposedly had surgery after S2 but maybe it’s acting up again.

[Ottis]

It feels like this ep is trying to make us feel Big Moments. But the goals of the side are so unclear, I don't care. Is Maeve the good side? Is Dolores the bad side? What do we really know? Does it matter?

None of this matters to me, anymore.

[mac123x]

I enjoyed this episode.  Everything is coming up Dolores!  Everything and everyone, apparently.

I was caught off guard when Stubbs and Bernard showed up at the masquerade.  That's some good writing -- they telegraphed it earlier but intervening scenes with Charlotte / MIB and Dolores / Caleb were so good that I forgot about it until they popped up to kidnap moron.  I mean Liam.  No, wait, I was right the first time.  Signing a blank check...

The reveal of the Yakuza boss  was a logic bomb for me.  Presumably Mr. Yakuza Boss was a pre-existing human being.  Therefore Dolores would have replaced him with a host that looked like HIM, not Musashi from Shogun World.  Didn't make sense to me. other than for script convenience so Maeve would have someone to recognize.

When Dolores and Caleb were at the "bank" (which looked like a convention center), and she told him that the faster his heart beat the faster then blood magic would fade, I noticed the background music had a subtle heartbeat rhythm to it.  Very nice,

I don't like that Dolores holds the key to the Area 16 project data on all the guests (a.k.a the Forge), AND the key to The Valley Beyond where Teddy, Akecheta, etc., are living now.  Too many keys, unless the writers are conflating the Forge and the Valley Beyond.

31 minutes ago, Growsonwalls said:

But Maeve just found out and she's dead again. Who will revive her?

Musashi's henchmen said there were armed people out front.  Musashi said "they must have been tracking her".  Presumably it's Serac's people.  They can make her a new body or patch up this one.

 

[Ms.Moon]

I don’t trust Serac or Delores.  I am interested in seeing where this goes especially since Liam’s friends saw her and saw her beat Stubbs like a disco drum.  I am not surprised that Delores made copies of herself, she trusts no one but herself.  She never had friends or relationships with others except Teddy and her dad.  Maeve had friends and allies in Hector, Armistice, Constance even their counterparts in Shogunworld.  

[mjc570]

I was glad to see that Maeve fell into a puddle of host-making goo (and I guess Serac could use the equipment at Bernard's house to replicate her if necessary), since she is by far my favorite character since Delores turned into a soulless killing machine.  I just love her accent, and complete indifference to being impressed (sorry, not said very well). 

I do feel that this season has abandoned character development and plot in favor of cool scenary.

[Growsonwalls]

5 minutes ago, Ms.Moon said:

I don’t trust Serac or Delores.  I am interested in seeing where this goes especially since Liam’s friends saw her and saw her beat Stubbs like a disco drum.  I am not surprised that Delores made copies of herself, she trusts no one but herself.  She never had friends or relationships with others except Teddy and her dad.  Maeve had friends and allies in Hector, Armistice, Constance even their counterparts in Shogunworld.  

She had Arnold/Bernard. If she's so determined to overtake the world that she's sent out clones of herself to do her deeds by proxy, why did she let Bernard out of the park? That part I never got. 

I can only conclude that Jeffrey Wright's character is so popular that they wanted some way to continue his story.

[HC87]

So what are we supposed to make of the MiB's last scene from last season? His delusion?

[thuganomics85]

So, it turns out that all of those other robots are actually just copies of Dolores, and not other characters from the past.  Actually makes sense from a character perspective.  Dolores would only trust herself to get the job done.  Classic Dolores!  Confused over how one of them was Musashi and he's apparently the head of the Yakuza now (was his model in Samuraiworld based off the real person?), but I'm all for more Hiroyuki Sanada!

Not surprised William has pretty much cracked after killing Grace last season.  Although, don't worry, buddy!  She's actually not dead, but has gone to star in a hit CBS show with Luke Cage and Harold Finch/Ben Linus instead!  But his return was basically to be manipulated by Hale Dolores, get thrown in a psych ward, and now she's running the show.  Not sure how he's going to fit into all of this, but Ed Harris was great as always.

Impressive fight between Dolores and Ashley, although it was obvious going to go to the former.  I do wonder if all of the drinking and snacking earlier was to explain why Luke Hemsworth admittedly is looking a bit hefty compared to past seasons.

I suspect there will be more reasons why Dolores brought back Bernard, besides having a connection with him (that and the show wisely knowing that losing Jeffery Wright would be a big mistake, dammit!)

Caleb's got good instincts, I'll give him that.  I do wonder what his reaction will be if/when he really finds out that is going on.

Looks like Maeve is going to do Serac's bidding for now and is already making good progress.  Well, getting impaled with a sword by Musashi Dolores is just a wee bit of a setback, but I'm sure she'll walk it off!

 

[AimingforYoko]

10 minutes ago, HC87 said:

So what are we supposed to make of the MiB's last scene from last season? His delusion?

I think Dolores gave him a little going-away present. Charlotte-Dolores stuck him with something.

[scrb]

I guess our minds are suppose to be blown, there's an army of Doloreses!

Why bother to recruit Caleb then?

She can scale herself up to as many killer bots as possible.

At least they didn't try to drag out the dumb shell game the whole season.

She kept the farmer's daughter copy of herself to taunt MIB in the asylum.  It's a special kind of sadism.

She is like humans after all!

 

 

[AimingforYoko]

12 minutes ago, scrb said:

She can scale herself up to as many killer bots as possible.

No, she has a limited number of pearls.

[MrWhyt]

Of course they're all Dolores, should have seen that coming. I don't get the complaints that this is too convoluted, this is the most straightforward season yet IMO.

edit: I still think the copies have been tweaked in some manner. That there is only 1 true original flavor Dolores. Charlotte-Dolores has some elements of the real Charlotte Hale in her, hence her freak out last episode.

Edited April 6, 2020 by MrWhyt

[showme]

2 hours ago, AimingforYoko said:

So the best team that Dolores could put together is....Dolores. That is some top-level narcissism. OTOH, top-level plan. So far.

I actually think it is brilliant. If you want something done right, do it yourself.  I hope she kills that arrogant Serac and replace him with a host too! 🙂

Too bad she didn't cut off Maeve's head and get her pearl too.

 

Edited April 6, 2020 by showme

[Growsonwalls]

I really hope they give Evan Rachel Wood storylines which allow her to express more emotions other than cold glee at killing people and/or stealing money. This is not an issue with an actor's limited emotional palette. In S1 ERW was way more convincing as the tragic, lovesick farm-girl. 

I'm also confused about Charlotte-bot. Last week Charlotte was given a backstory that she has a loving relationship with her son. It kind of fleshed out the home life of a Delos character that was annoyingly one note. And we saw Charlotte-bot crying real tears about Nathan. Now that we know Charlotte-bot is really a copy of Dolores, is there a possibility that the Dolores-bots will malfunction and veer off Dolores' grand scheme? 

[scrb]

21 minutes ago, AimingforYoko said:

No, she has a limited number of pearls.

You don't think she could find a way to get more manufactured?

She controls Delos so she can have them made and transfer her restores over to them like people transfer all the stuff they had on their old iPhones to a new one.

In any event, this is sci fi so it would be strange to impose such a constraint.

 

[Cigale]

How about the sound?  In some sequences, voices were heard with a kind of echo.

And in others, the voices had a kind of reverberation...

[enchantingmonkey]

2 hours ago, Quilt Fairy said:

How can Stubbs be a host and still need snacks and beer?  No wonder he looks so bloated.

It's funny that Dolores explained in the last episode that the hosts don't have a problem with impulse control, unlike humans, and we see Stubbs drinking and snacking here.  Does that mean Dolores is an unreliable narrator?  

[arc]

5 hours ago, AimingforYoko said:

No, she has a limited number of pearls.

She has the yakuza-controlled brewing company (or is it a distillery?) stashing way more host goo than five pearls could ever need.

I said in the last episode thread that Dolores duplicating herself would be hypocritical given her efforts to bring about permadeath for hosts last season, but I guess either I was wrong or she’s willing to be hypocritical here.

Serac is basically evil Hari Seldon. I don’t buy his claim that the secret Delos data will help his prediction engine get more precise. For one thing, it’s already quite precise and a chaotic system needs tremendously more data to get incrementally better predictions. For another, this isn’t just a prediction system but a system that influences the world it attempts to predict. How much of Caleb’s life is because he won’t amount to much vs him not being allowed to amount to much because Rehoboam has stashed him into a small box in life?

Also, Serac has given Maeve every possible reason to double cross him ASAP. Murdering the identity broker guy because he was (unwittingly) a traitor to humanity is not exactly going to make a host like Maeve think she can expect fair dealings with him.

If I were a 0.1%er taking psychotropic digital drugs at an orgy, I feel like I’d want an electronic recording of events so I could analyze them later when sober. Even if I didn’t anticipate a high chance of random murders breaking out.

Edited April 6, 2020 by arc

[dr pepper]

This week on Lifestyles of the Rich and Stupid, it turns out that not only do people with high powered implants not secure them very well, they deliberately hack them with cyber party drugs, trusting that the effect will be as advertised, and not say draining your bank account or turning you into a zombie.

We also learn that

Maeve's universal remote power can affect more primitive AI than herself.

The yakusa uses hackable smartguns, and keeps stacks of swords conveniently at hand. The yakusa also has its own supply of robot plastigoop. Oh wait, it's not the real yakuza, it's another robot, maybe even the same one as the body used would indicate. Or maybe not.

Rich people don't just have implants, they use coded protein strings in their blood for passwords, which can be extracted and used by others.

Paris is no more, or at least in one of the levels of reality that we are operating in. Apparently it was wiped out and then plowed under. That's Serac's claimed motivation: he was a child there, and having seen what humans do to each other he wants robotic help in fixing that. The flip side of that is that if Serac is really AI, as i still suspect, then being orphaned of your entire city is a great backstory and persona builder.

Speaking of levels of reality, which one is William in? We're supposed to believe it's the material one, augmented by hallucinations, but who knows?

And then there's Charlotte. She's suggesting that she's really Dolores. But Dolores is Dolores, right? Well, who says you can't copy a brain marble and put the copies in two different bodies? Or three or more even? Frankly, it makes sense for Dolores to use an all Dolores army if she can't have Maeve.

Which she can't because Maeve is with Serac. He's offered her the one thing that would motivate her, transport to Robot Nirvana to join her daughter. All she has to do is rip a code out of Dolores's brain. Which leads to the question, why couldn't she just ask? Dolores has no reason to refuse her, and every reason to want her off the battlefield.

Yup, i was right, Dolores's henchlings are all Dolores.

Bernard's faction is the discount one, and it shows.

Maeve is dead again. But she never stays dead longer than the average superhero, so i'm not upset by it.

William's next simulation will be thorazine based. But i think, somehow his daughter will get him out of it.

Dumb yakuza-Dolores. It would have taken just 5 seconds more to saw Maeve's head off. But no, he leaves her with a lab and a supply of plastigoop to make it easy to repair her.

William wants to know if he's still a bio human. A maybe-Dolores gives him an incomplete answer.

[Notwisconsin]

6 hours ago, Growsonwalls said:

Now that we know Charlotte-bot is really a copy of Dolores,

No we don't. She could be the real thing. After all, she was Charlotte when she left the island.

[AimingforYoko]

3 hours ago, arc said:

She has the yakuza-controlled brewing company (or is it a distillery?) stashing way more host goo than five pearls could ever need.

The goo was for bodies. She needs Delos for the pearls. That's what her whole plan is all about.

[Tachi Rocinante]

2 hours ago, Notwisconsin said:

No we don't. She could be the real thing. After all, she was Charlotte when she left the island.

I guess it depends on how many timelines we are seeing. The Charlotte in the hotel room is most likely a bot because Dolores had her shut off her emotion filter or whatever.

[Lokiberry]

9 hours ago, scrb said:

Why bother to recruit Caleb then?

She wanted another Teddy. She missed having somebody follow her around adoringly, no matter how many insane things she did. All those copies of herself just aren't the same.

They'll never convince me that it was part of a convoluted plan that caused him to find her after she'd been shot. 

[CarpeFelis]

Called it last week! 

 

[HunterHunted]

On 4/5/2020 at 11:24 PM, Growsonwalls said:

She had Arnold/Bernard. If she's so determined to overtake the world that she's sent out clones of herself to do her deeds by proxy, why did she let Bernard out of the park? That part I never got.

She said that she needed someone who was going to try to stop her. Dolores was pretty callous in her treatment and attitudes towards other hosts. She was willing to alter Teddy against his consent. It's only because his core character pushed back against what she did to him that he killed himself. She was willing to destroy the Forge rather than allow other hosts to have a human-free life of their own choosing. She's also willing to kill hosts (awake and not awake) to get what she wants. I think the slightly empathetic part of Dolores recognizes that she needs someone who will try to stop her from going too far.

The irony of Sato-Dolores accusing Maeve of abandoning the other hosts is that's exactly what Dolores actually did. Whereas Maeve immediately tried to escape with Hector. When she realized he wasn't awake, she tried to find the Forge. When she realized something was off, she helped simulation-Sizemore wake up. 

Quote

I can only conclude that Jeffrey Wright's character is so popular that they wanted some way to continue his story.

There is probably some element of this too.

14 hours ago, CarpeFelis said:

Called it last week! 

 

I wasn't as certain as you, but given that Teddy killed himself and Peter Abernathy and Clementine's programming were corrupted messes, that didn't leave too many allies for Dolores to bring with her. Additionally, Halores and Dolores both really seemed and sounded like Dolores in previous episodes. I was leaning in the direction that they were all Dolores, but I wasn't exactly certain.

On 4/5/2020 at 11:51 PM, scrb said:

Why bother to recruit Caleb then?

Because she couldn't honey-pot Liam any longer AND a host body doesn't operate like a human's does so things like the protein-marker authorization wouldn't work in a host. The ambulance ride was the hint; she has no blood cells. Who knows how atypical her cells and organs are?

Edited April 7, 2020 by HunterHunted

[Tachi Rocinante]

Did I miss (or misinterpret) something that indicated Dolores (as Liam's mystery girlfriend) committed suicide? Or was that someone else? She made a point of saying "hello" at the party and he seemed surprised.

[terrymct]

12 hours ago, Growsonwalls said:

I think it was pretty exciting that Dolores replicated herself into all the hosts' bodies. However after having watched her entire character arc in two weeks of self-isolation I feel like the writers are making her Dany v. 2.0. 

 

The sweet little Dolores of season 1 morphed into Wyatt in season 2, through no choice of her own.  She's continuing that arc.    She's not Dany in that she's not self absorbed.  Dany was even thinking of herself when she was freeing others.   Dolores, by contrast, is a hurricane that's been unleashed.

[Head-Full-Of-Thi]

Not a fan of this episode. The Dolores reveal would've been a wow moment if people hadn't already guessed it last week, and even so it doesn't have any emotional effect.

I wish we got more inside Dolores's head. We never know what she's planning and it's hard to root for her like that. I guess that's why they gave us Caleb, to be the confused foil for Dolores to explain stuff to, but even then she does something badass out of nowhere first then explains to him later and that trick gets old fast.

Sidenote about Halores - it must be a real suckish feeling to have the memories of deciding to clone yourself and then wake up and find out you're the clone.

11 hours ago, Growsonwalls said:

I'm also confused about Charlotte-bot. Last week Charlotte was given a backstory that she has a loving relationship with her son. It kind of fleshed out the home life of a Delos character that was annoyingly one note. And we saw Charlotte-bot crying real tears about Nathan. Now that we know Charlotte-bot is really a copy of Dolores, is there a possibility that the Dolores-bots will malfunction and veer off Dolores' grand scheme? 

I really want this to happen. And I also got the feeling from last ep that things are going to this direction

Edited April 6, 2020 by Head-Full-Of-Thi

[clack]

There are strong hints that William committed suicide by cutting his wrists in the same bath that his wife killed herself in.

Which means that William, like his father-in-law, has had his consciousness downloaded into a host.

I'm wondering if the same has happened to Caleb, who while a soldier had been shot in the head. Maybe that is why Delores has taken such an interest in him?

[MrWhyt]

45 minutes ago, Tachi Rocinante said:

Did I miss (or misinterpret) something that indicated Dolores (as Liam's mystery girlfriend) committed suicide?

The cover story of her disappearance from Liam's life was that she overdosed, as opposed to "my security guy murdered her"

[paigow]

William is eventually loaded into a host body that continues to fail testing 50 years from now at the old park...unless that was fake too??

11 hours ago, Tachi Rocinante said:

She made a point of saying "hello" at the party and he seemed surprised.

He never saw her after Human!Connells knocked her out and explained the overdose cover story...so his surprise is genuine...

[ShadowHunter]

I am no fan of Delores so more of her is no fun for me lol. 

I don't know why Bernard is around? He just feels like he is around. Same with Stubbs. I hope they can eventually get the upper hand.

Maeve is still the best. 

Caleb just feels like a pet of Delores which I guess is the point. 

[Tachi Rocinante]

24 minutes ago, paigow said:

He never saw her after Human!Connells knocked her out and explained the overdose cover story...so his surprise is genuine...

That's what I forgot . . . 🙃

[Growsonwalls]

It's DOLORES. Not Delores.

[paigow]

7 hours ago, ShadowHunter said:

I don't know why Bernard is around?

He was kept alive to be a patsy..he would be blamed for Liam getting ripped off & killed in addition to the park massacre...Stubbs was an unexpected complication to her plan...

ETA: Bernard is like Neo - a super radical variable created by Dolores - The Architect - to stabilize the Matrix until it must be rebooted / destroyed.

Edited April 7, 2020 by paigow

[Quilt Fairy]

4 hours ago, terrymct said:

 

The sweet little Dolores of season 1 morphed into Wyatt in season 2, through no choice of her own.  She's continuing that arc.    She's not Dany in that she's not self absorbed.  Dany was even thinking of herself when she was freeing others.   Dolores, by contrast, is a hurricane that's been unleashed.

I'm sorry, who the heck (or what combo) is Dany?  

If Charlotte is Dolores and Dolores is Dolores, then that whole cuddling scene last week is all sorts of creepy. 

Thanks to those who realized that Musashi was trying to get Maeve's pearl.  To me it looked like he was trying to cut her hair, and I couldn't figure out why. 

 

[mac123x]

4 minutes ago, Quilt Fairy said:

I'm sorry, who the heck (or what combo) is Dany?

Danerys Stormborn from Game of Thrones.

11 minutes ago, Quilt Fairy said:

If Charlotte is Dolores and Dolores is Dolores, then that whole cuddling scene last week is all sorts of creepy. 

Confirms her narcissism.  

If she indeed has the Original (heh, season 1 reference) and 4 duplicate Dolorii, did she do something to her copies to make them recognize her as the leader?  Is it just because she looks like Dolores and therefore doesn't have to cope with the "round peg in a square hole" issues that the other's have to deal with by being in a body that doesn't match their identity?

[LoveLeigh]

16 hours ago, MrWhyt said:

 I don't get the complaints that this is too convoluted, this is the most straightforward season yet IMO.

I find it hard to follow with all the doubles and copies and trying to determine who is a host or real. I do not like that they moved the hosts out of the original setting for some vindictive revenge. I think all of the action should be inside the theme parks with the hosts interacting with the newcomers in interesting stories. 

I think when they changed the direction of the show to be about revenge in some high tech world, it was no longer the same show. Dolores as a character out of Mad Max or La Femme Nikita is to me absurd. 

Edited April 6, 2020 by DakotaLavender

[Growsonwalls]

37 minutes ago, Quilt Fairy said:

I'm sorry, who the heck (or what combo) is Dany?  

If Charlotte is Dolores and Dolores is Dolores, then that whole cuddling scene last week is all sorts of creepy. 

Thanks to those who realized that Musashi was trying to get Maeve's pearl.  To me it looked like he was trying to cut her hair, and I couldn't figure out why. 

 

Well Charlotte-lores is also cutting herself ... So either the bot is malfunctioning or the Dolores-bots are gaining consciousness and decided that they don't like being Dolores?

[scrb]

5 hours ago, terrymct said:

 

The sweet little Dolores of season 1 morphed into Wyatt in season 2, through no choice of her own.  She's continuing that arc.    She's not Dany in that she's not self absorbed.  Dany was even thinking of herself when she was freeing others.   Dolores, by contrast, is a hurricane that's been unleashed.

Yup, seems to be mostly rage and nihilism at the moment.

Maybe she might have felt empathy when she found how oppressed humans are.

Will she liberate them or destroy the big giant orb in order to trigger an extinction event?

[MrWhyt]

1 hour ago, DakotaLavender said:

I find it hard to follow with all the doubles and copies and trying to determine who is a host or real.

all the doubles? there's been 1 person doubled so far. 

hosts: Maeve, Dolores, Stubbs, Bernard, Conells, Charlotte, Musashi

I mean, unlike past season we're only watching 1 timeline (or so it currently appears).

[enchantingmonkey]

This probably won't help viewers who are hate-watching but it may provide some insight into the ideas the show runners are exploring this season.  

From The Hollywood Reporter...

Quote

"We very carefully avoided the idea of clones and copies of hosts in the first couple of seasons," Nolan tells The Hollywood Reporter. "When you apply the idea that digital information wants to be free to your characters, it's a very dangerous idea. If Dolores is infinitely copiable, then is she still Dolores? One of the ideas we're most fascinated with is identity, agency. Is Dolores a computer program? Or is Dolores a collection of her experiences? It's one of the questions that's the origin of the series: nature versus nurture. If we indulge in the idea of copies of the hosts too early, then the rules get threatened, and your affinity for and investment in Dolores — this Dolores — is threatened."

Quote

"Now, in our third season, a fascinating thing for us to explore is this other way of approaching the question of identity," says Nolan. "If you take two copies of the same person but set them on slightly different trajectories but with the same goals, would they remain the same person? Would they maintain the same goals? Or would some part of the character — the version of Dolores who has been forced to pretend to be Hale (Thompson) — in pretending to be Hale, has she absorbed any of her methods of thinking? Is she absorbing any of who Hale was? Or could a natural consequence of being in a different circumstance than the original Dolores be that they may not remain the same person anymore — that they may not even be allies? It's a larger question that we think is a lot of fun to play with."

Quote

"Maybe it's the ultimate act of hubris to say, 'I'm going to make and populate the new world with me,'" says Joy. "On the other hand, if you're about to engage in something very dangerous, there's something quite selfless in saying, 'Nobody gets hurt anymore except me.' There are so many ways to interpret the action. We won't understand Dolores' motivations fully until later on."

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/westworld-season-3-episode-4-mother-exiles-explained-1288618

[paigow]

Maybe the copies of Dolores are inherently unstable because the assimilated human target memories and habits trigger RAM overflow...

Bernard should have increased combat skills for Stubbs, not just alter core objective...

Edited April 7, 2020 by paigow