Return to Westworld: Odds and Predictions for Season 2
- HBO’s hit show Westworld returns Sunday, April 22nd, for its second season
- Trailers hint at the world outside the park; will the hosts find freedom?
- Will fans uncover the season’s twists before they are revealed, as they did for Season 1?
After a year-long hiatus, Westworld is about to make its glorious return to HBO, and fans have wasted absolutely no time in getting right down to the nitty-gritty work of trying to figure out what the heck Season 2 has in store for us.
Now, with little more than a trailer to go off of, they are at it again.
If you’re unfamiliar with how things went down last season, Reddit users basically solved every single plot twist during the show’s debut season. They are the ones who figured out that Bernard was actually a host, way before the big reveal later on in the season. They are also the ones who put two-and-two together, with the whole sweet-William-is-actually-the-god-awful-Man-in-Black scenario.
Now, with little more than a trailer to go off of, they’re at it again.
There is beauty in what we are. #Westworld pic.twitter.com/UyhMpER20R
— Westworld (@WestworldHBO) April 16, 2018
You can imagine, can’t you, the pressure being felt going into this sophomore season — not just by the writing staff, but by the fans determined to crack that code once again. “We love to f— with Reddit,” co-creator Jonathan Nolan told a SXSW panel, as he explained how his show has concrete plans to throw fans off their search.
Will Nolan and his team be successful in pulling off their twists and turns this season? Or, will fans get to the bottom of what’s yet to come, once again? We’re looking at some of the strongest theories out there, and the odds that these fans are actually onto something.
Will Fan Theories Uncover All of Season 2’s Secrets?
Ford’s Return…as a Robot
Season 1 ended with Ford shot dead, by one of his most beloved hosts — our damsel-in-distress-no-more Dolores. But, people are just not quite convinced he’s actually dead. Or, maybe more accurately, people are wondering whether the Ford who was shot down was ever actually the living Ford (but, what constitutes living in this show, am I right?) — or was he actually a host version of a Ford from the past?
Or, was Ford ever a human? Was he always a host, and is there a second host version of himself yet to be revealed?
It gets a bit convoluted, but keep with us.
| PROP | ODDS |
|---|---|
| Season 1’s Dead Ford revealed as a host in Season 2 | 5/4 |
| Human Ford died, but made a Host Ford prior to death, yet to be revealed | 2/1 |
| Ford was never actually a human, but the first host Bernard created | 6/1 |
| Ford returning to the park in Season 2 (present timeline) | 15/1 |
The theory that Season 1 Ford was actually a host is a pretty solid one, with some photographic evidence to back it up — maybe. In the scene where Ford says goodbye to Bernard it looks as though one of Ford’s knuckles is out of place, a possible nod towards the original Westworld movie, where the only way to tell the difference between host and human was to look at their hands.
Don’t be quick to think Anthony Hopkins time with Westworld is entirely finished. Ford had a plan, and that plan likely had a contingency plan. Our bet is that the death of human Ford was not part of that plan.
All the Worlds Yet to Come
We already know that at some point Thandie Newton’s character, Maeve, is going to spend some time in Shogun World — a park similar to Westworld, modelled after Japan’s Edo period. But, if DelosDestinations.com is any clue, there could be upwards of six more themed parks on the horizon.
| Other Parks To be Revealed in Season 2 | ODDS |
|---|---|
| Futureworld | 3/2 |
| Romanworld | 4/1 |
| Medievalworld | 4/1 |
| Spaworld | 9/1 |
| Marineworld | 16/1 |
| Other | 24/1 |
With a clip of Dolores in modern clothing, staring out what seems to be a high-rise window, in the trailer, we can assume that should more worlds be revealed, Futureworld is the next likely destination.
And yes, Spaworld could very much be a real thing. Would you rather bathe, quite literally, in luxury or spend a week surviving the Wild West? To each their own, I suppose.
Odds that Maeve finds her daughter in Season 2: 6/1
It can be expected she will stop at little else before she does.
Maeve is on a mission, and that is to find the daughter she began to remember having in Season 1. And, if she is any bit as ferocious as an autonomous being as she was a programmed host, then it can be expected she will stop at little else before she does. It just might not be this season.
Most Likely to Leave the Park
| Which host will leave Westworld first? | ODDS |
|---|---|
| Maeve | 2/3 |
| Bernard | 3/1 |
| Dolores | 9/1 |
| Other | 20/1 |
Maeve was so, so close, but for some reason decided against it right at the last second. But, she is the only host — that we know of — who has the driving force of maternal love behind her…or, something really similar. Not to mention, she’s a total bad-ass, who has literally eliminated fear from her being.
O/U episodes until we enter the real world: 2.5
Nolan has said that the aim of this season is to move outward, to see what else is in the park and what is beyond it. It seems pretty clear at some point we will get to move outside Westworld and into the great unknown. It’s just a matter of when, and you can expect it to be sooner rather than later.
If you’ve got a theory or think we’ve missed something important, let us know in the comments below or give us a shout @BettingDime on Twitter.
An unabashed interest in the lives of other people and all things pop culture makes analyzing the world of entertainment an easy fit for Kaela. With a degree in Intercultural Communication, she has contributed to SBD since 2017.
