Top 10 Westworld Questions We Want Answers To

Last Updated on August 3, 2021

Westworld has become a fan obsession for many with the Internet ablaze with theorizing and discussion over the last couple of months. With the first season finale airing this Sunday, there are a lot of questions fans have been clamoring to get answers for. Some of these may get resolved while others may be saved for future seasons, but here is our top ten burning questions that we want answers to. Keep in mind this list will contain POTENTIAL SPOILERS for anyone who is not caught up with the first season of the show, so proceed with caution.

#1 – What will happen in Season Two?

Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy have stated there is a five season plan for Westworld, which means storylines introduced this year may not be resolved for some time to come. They also have said that each season will serve as a self-contained chapter in an overall narrative, so Season Two could be very different from Season One. Plus, with the current debut of new episodes not expected until 2018, we may have a long time to ponder this question. Sunday’s finale may end with one doozy of a cliffhanger to add to that. Get thinking, fanboys!

#2 – Who is The Man in Black?

Another popular fan theory that ties into the multiple timeline hypothesis, many have deduced that William (Jimmi Simpson) is actually a younger version of The Man in Black (Ed Harris). New theories have Logan (Ben Barnes) as The Man in Black. Whether either of these proves to be true, we know that he is a human and on the Delos board, but he has a long history with the park and with Dr. Ford. What is his true motivation in coming to Westworld and why does he so badly want to crack the mystery of The Maze?

#3 – Why did Dolores kill Arnold?

We learned in the ninth episode that not only is Bernard a Host copy of Arnold, but that Arnold was who we have seen Dolores speaking to all season. She also revealed that he is dead because she killed him. What we don’t know is why she would do such a thing. Did she kill him out of mercy or in her bloodlust seen fleetingly in flashbacks? This may be a much deeper question that relates to the over-arching narrative of the series.

#4 – Are there multiple timelines?

One of the few remaining fan theories that has not been confirmed by the show is that this season exists in multiple timelines. Each week there are new clues that could prove this true or completely denounce it, but we have yet to get a formal confirmation. There is a lot of proof (different characters in different loops, the photo Dolores’ father finds, #2 on this list, etc) but it would be nice if fans were actually wrong for once and the showrunners have a surprise up their sleeve that we didn’t see coming.

#5 – Will Maeve lead a war between the Hosts and the Humans?

Towards the beginning of the season, I was content to watch Thandie Newton as a supporting character and just enjoy her many, many nude scenes. But, about halfway through the season she became the driving force on this show and seems to be falling under everyone’s radar. While Teddy and Dolores have both gone on killing sprees in the past, they have been reset and fallen back into their place in Westworld. Is Maeve’s uprising doomed to failure? Or, are her recent upgrades going to finally make her the thorn in Dr. Ford’s side?

#6 – Is Bernard really dead?

Jeffrey Wright has been one of the highlights of Westworld. His nuanced performance as the nebbish Bernard has evolved from a sympathetic human connection to this fictional world to an artificial creation himself. The Arnold clone came to an unceremonious end by killing himself in the penultimate hour of the first season, but is he really dead? Could that Host that Ford has been building in his hidden lab actually be a new Bernard? He did say that Bernard has figured out his true identity many times before. Maybe this isn’t the only time he has died.

#7 – What kind of company is Delos?

The company that oversees Dr. Ford’s resort seems to have little to no control over what actually goes on in the park. There is a board of directors headed by Tessa Thompson’s Charlotte and features The Man in Black as a board member, but they seem to be trying to sneak out the technology that gives the Hosts life rather than having any control over it. What exactly is the purpose of Delos? What do they do?

#8 – Does the series exist in the same world as the original movie?

There have been a few hints related to the classic feature film that the series is based on, including the retro font for the resort as well as Yul Brynner’s costume as the original Man in Black in the lower levels of the operations building. This begs the question…does the HBO series exist in the same universe as the movie? Seems like a long shot, but it would be really cool.

#9 – Are there any other worlds at the park?

Over the last couple of episodes, we have seen odd Viking-like warriors that appear to be from some other resort world setting. In the original WESTWORLD film, the Old West setting was one of multiple worlds you could visit including FutureWorld and MedievalWorld. Could Dr. Ford’s resort also feature other such themed vacation spots? Or are these bizarre warriors cast-offs from failed attempts to expands the narratives?

#10 – Is there more to The Maze?

“Where the Mountains Meet the Sea” and “The City Swallowed By Sand” have been used in conjunction with The Maze that several characters have been hunting for all season. In the ninth episode, it seemed that this mysterious labyrinth was nothing more than a metaphor for the location of Arnold’s lab where the sentient Hosts became self-aware. But, is there more to the maze than that? It seems like there should be or maybe that was just a red herring as we head into the big finale.

Source: JoBlo.com

About the Author

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Alex Maidy has been a JoBlo.com editor, columnist, and critic since 2012. A Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic and a member of Chicago Indie Critics, Alex has been JoBlo.com's primary TV critic and ran columns including Top Ten and The UnPopular Opinion. When not riling up fans with his hot takes, Alex is an avid reader and aspiring novelist.