HBO’s Westworld VI- This Game Is Meant For You...[SPOILERS]

[Ramsay B.]

2 hours ago, Nictarion said:

James Delos had good taste in music. 

Play with Fire has been in my head since I watched. 

 

[Nictarion]

28 minutes ago, Ramsay B. said:

Play with Fire has been in my head since I watched. 

 

Same here. 

I remember Wes Anderson also using it in The Darjeeling Limited. Great song. 

[Cas Stark]

I see a new theory is that Ed Harris is already a host and the last game is like his Turing test, I hope not.  I still think he's going to get the Hollywood redemption story, which I hate...but him being a host would be a little too crazy.

Anyone have any theories on who the other human controller is for that Bernard took?  Ford?  Maybe original Arnold? Who else in the story would make an impact unless it's the above Ed Harris? 

While I love play with fire, I thought it was a little too on the nose here...but since that whole segment with James Delos was fantastic, I won't complain.

[Relic]

7 minutes ago, Cas Stark said:

I see a new theory is that Ed Harris is already a host and the last game is like his Turing test, I hope not. 

If that's true they might as well go with the "everyone is a host and the whole world is a game" thing.

[Mark Antony]

Good episode. Seen a lot of “ best episode of the series” comments which surprises me. Guess I like Dolores and Maeve more than most cause I really felt their absence. Idk I’m more invested in them (plus Teddy) than William and Bernard I think. 

So the Elsie is controlling Ghost Nation theory was off the mark. Interested to find out how Stubbs gets free. 

1 hour ago, Cas Stark said:

I see a new theory is that Ed Harris is already a host and the last game is like his Turing test, I hope not.  I still think he's going to get the Hollywood redemption story, which I hate...but him being a host would be a little too crazy.

William being a host would be awful

[Cas Stark]

15 minutes ago, Mark Antony said:

Good episode. Seen a lot of “ best episode of the series” comments which surprises me. Guess I like Dolores and Maeve more than most cause I really felt their absence. Idk I’m more invested in them (plus Teddy) than William and Bernard I think. 

So the Elsie is controlling Ghost Nation theory was off the mark. Interested to find out how Stubbs gets free. 

William being a host would be awful

I thought it was one of the best episodes, definitely the best of the season, but I am over Dolores/Wyatt and her revenge trip, I can't tell if I am still supposed to be sympathetic to all this murdering of her fellow hosts or not, but I'm not.  The James Delos segments were truly spectacular, and kudos to Lisa Joy, that was a hella first time directing effort. 

ETA I fucking hate William more than ever now after seeing what he did to his father in law, and the rest of the Delos family, I want him dead, not redeemed.

[Mark Antony]

9 minutes ago, Cas Stark said:

 I am over Dolores/Wyatt and her revenge trip, .

That’s fair and you’re not the only one who is sick of Dolores. Personally I am finding the Bernard stuff much more annoying this season. Kinda sick of him not knowing when he is or what he’s done. It feels almost needlessly confusing to me. 

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

I have not seen the episode yet, but spoilers are unavoidable and I’m bummed that Grace is Emily. That feels like a lame way to introduce her. I get it if it played out over the course of the season, but after one episode? What’s the point of the misdirection?

Also, old William is NOT a host!

[Fragile Bird]

I wondered about the bottle of whiskey William brings to his FiL. I wondered because of the cat-that-ate-the-cream look on his face when he speaks to Delos. My thoughts the first time were, he has bad news and that enigmatic smile is like a friend who came to tell you you lost the job and wants to be cheerful about it. The second time around I was very suspicious, and of course the final time William really showed his colours.

But if it's the whiskey that screws things up, why hasn't he been prevented from bringing in the bottle? And why would the technician be so stupid as to go into the room with him?

[Cas Stark]

I thought all three Williams looked smug as hell.  But him bringing poisoned booze seems wrong for the show dynamic.  Delos is already dead and as far as the rest of the world knows William is in control, he has no need to poison him if he wants to prevent re entry.

[DMC]

1 hour ago, Cas Stark said:

Anyone have any theories on who the other human controller is for that Bernard took?  Ford?  Maybe original Arnold? Who else in the story would make an impact unless it's the above Ed Harris?

Well, I think it's fair to say we should assume Ford is controlling Bernard, right?  The only other possibility that makes any sense is William.  And, as you said, I think any William --> host theory is really stupid.  So, if it's for Ford, yeah it'd basically have to be for Ford or original Arnold, although Ford has demonstrated enough megalomania to assume it's for himself.  Plus we don't get much added value with a host Arnold considering it's barely different than Bernard.  I don't really see, or at least like, any other alternatives.

47 minutes ago, Mark Antony said:

Guess I like Dolores and Maeve more than most cause I really felt their absence.

I prefer them too - and I don't think this was the best episode of the series (I think that'd probably be the penultimate ep of season 1) - but the best episodes often don't end up with my favorite characters.  Examples:  The Constant is my favorite Lost episode, and while I love Desmond other than that barely any character plays a major role; Pine Barrens is probably the best Sopranos episode and it features Paulie and Chris - the latter of which isn't close to one of my favorite characters.  Ozymandias is the oft cited and well-deserved best episode of Breaking Bad, but The Fly is also one of the best and is basically just Walt and Jesse - no Gus, no Mike, no Badger or Skinny Pete!  Oh, the last one reminds me - The Fly is an example of a great bottle episode, just like The Riddle of the Sphinx (name of the Westworld ep).

35 minutes ago, Cas Stark said:

I can't tell if I am still supposed to be sympathetic to all this murdering of her fellow hosts or not, but I'm not.

As someone mentioned last week, I think keeping in mind the Confederados basically gang-raped her to death in season 1 helps gain some perspective of her actions there.  Also, talking about episode titles, I think that one's nod to Machiavelli should be noted.

22 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

What’s the point of the misdirection?

I don't know if I'd really even call it misdirection.  Just waiting an episode to clarify who she is.

22 minutes ago, Fragile Bird said:

But if it's the whiskey that screws things up, why hasn't he been prevented from bringing in the bottle? And why would the technician be so stupid as to go into the room with him?

Not a big fan of the William is poisoning Delos theory (perfectly happy with William fucking him up by telling him the truth about his family, which is kinda a form of sabotage anyway...plus, what poison would actually be effective on a robot?), but I don't really get these questions.  Who would prevent William from bringing in the bottle?  And when did the technician go into the room with him?

[Fragile Bird]

4 minutes ago, dmc515 said:

Not a big fan of the William is poisoning Delos theory (perfectly happy with William fucking him up by telling him the truth about his family, which is kinda a form of sabotage anyway...plus, what poison would actually be effective on a robot?), but I don't really get these questions.  Who would prevent William from bringing in the bottle?  And when did the technician go into the room with him?

Ah, not being clear again. :p

I don't think William poisoned him, but if the whiskey had an effect on Delos why would the technicians let him give it to him? Surely someone, anyone, running the project would go to him and say, "sir, we noticed that when you allow him alcohol it affects his functions negatively." Although since the hosts drink all the time without the alcohol affecting them in the way Delos is affected, I don't see it. Nor do I see poison affecting him any way.

The last technician who advised Delos he had a visitor is lying dead in the rom. Bernard goes and looks at his body. Why the hell would anyone be so stupid and go into a room with a malfunctioning host? Oh well, maybe he ran into the room trying to hide from the drones?

[Mexal]

13 hours ago, dooog said:

Good episode and it threw up a rake of new possibilities.

One thing that has me feeling a bit jaded this season is the fact that practically none of the S1 character deaths were binding and a few too many have miraculously reappeared, Elsie being the latest edition. The only one I really hoped would come back was Ford and last night's episode just paved the way for that.

Elsie was never killed in S1, just choked out. The human deaths are all still dead and the host deaths... well they're hosts. 

37 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

I have not seen the episode yet, but spoilers are unavoidable and I’m bummed that Grace is Emily. That feels like a lame way to introduce her. I get it if it played out over the course of the season, but after one episode? What’s the point of the misdirection?

Also, old William is NOT a host!

I don't see the issue with Grace being Emily. It wasn't meant as misdirection or some big reveal. Their editing choices made it obvious throughout this episode and I think that's fine. If it took the course of the season and then she met up with Papa Harris, then I'd get your point but over the course of two episodes and like 15 minutes of screen time, not a big deal for me.

[DMC]

10 minutes ago, Fragile Bird said:

I don't think William poisoned him, but if the whiskey had an effect on Delos why would the technicians let him give it to him? Surely someone, anyone, running the project would go to him and say, "sir, we noticed that when you allow him alcohol it affects his functions negatively." Although since the hosts drink all the time without the alcohol affecting them in the way Delos is affected, I don't see it. Nor do I see poison affecting him any way.

Gotcha.  And agreed.

10 minutes ago, Fragile Bird said:

The last technician who advised Delos he had a visitor is lying dead in the rom. Bernard goes and looks at his body. Why the hell would anyone be so stupid and go into a room with a malfunctioning host? Oh well, maybe he ran into the room trying to hide from the drones?

Let's assume he went into the room to check on Delos when the latter started cutting his face with mirror-shards.

[Cas Stark]

I think  Delos melt down occurred right at the time of the last Ford narrative which disabled the host controls, though they may not have had them on Delos, it could be as simple as he went inside in an attempt to calm him down....since he is still a top secret/top priority program as far as the tech knows.   Plus if the many Delos hosts have not harmed anyone all these decades, he presumably would have felt safe.  

I don't see the whisky as having anything to do with the breakdowns.     

[the hound of sansa]

Didn't Ed Harris drink from the whiskey the 3rd time he visited his father-in-law? So the poison theory seems to be wrong.

[RumHam]

14 hours ago, dooog said:

Good episode and it threw up a rake of new possibilities.

 

One thing that has me feeling a bit jaded this season is the fact that practically none of the S1 character deaths were binding and a few too many have miraculously reappeared, Elsie being the latest edition. The only one I really hoped would come back was Ford and last night's episode just paved the way for that.

Remind me, other than Elsie (who people involved in the show hinted wasn't dead last season) who else has died and then came back? (not counting hosts of course.) 

[Fragile Bird]

If you want something to chew on, the riddle of the sphinx was what walks on four legs in the morning, two legs in the afternoon, and three legs at night. The answer, of course. is man, crawling as a babe, walking on two legs as an adult and with a cane as a senior.

So...did that refer to Delos? To the hosts, who will be crippled some how as time passes? To William? Is William Oedipus, exploring the world and being faced with riddles?

(I don't think he's going to sleep with his mom at this point.)

.........................................

And Emily. She appears to be an only child, presumably she has been brought into the family business? William surely would have known she was in the park, yet didn't mention her. But maybe thinking she was in the park and had possibly been killed led him to be a 'white hat' and save Lawrence's village.

eta: and I need to get back to my re-watch thread, but I've been cat sitting. But if we have to look to the past....

I lol'd when they replayed Ford talking about Lazarus and the cave, considering I picked that as a highlight of the first episode. And the cave, guys! Someone had a sense of humour, putting the Lazarus project in a cave. Ford told us last season he knows everything going on in the park. Was it him, or did he talk about Lazarus and the cave because he knew it was there?

[Corvinus85]

10 minutes ago, Fragile Bird said:

If you want something to chew on, the riddle of the sphinx was what walks on four legs in the morning, two legs in the afternoon, and three legs at night. The answer, of course. is man, crawling as a babe, walking on two legs as an adult and with a cane as a senior.

So...did that refer to Delos? To the hosts, who will be crippled some how as time passes? To William? Is William Oedipus, exploring the world and being faced with riddles?

(I don't think he's going to sleep with his mom at this point.)

I would hope any true ASoIaF fan shouted at the TV that the Sphinx is the riddle. 

[Fragile Bird]

6 minutes ago, Corvinus said:

I would hope any true ASoIaF fan shouted at the TV that the Sphinx is the riddle. 

Lol!