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Confused About Last Night's 'Westworld' Finale? So Is Ed Harris

By Dustin Rowles | Westworld | December 5, 2016 |

By Dustin Rowles | Westworld | December 5, 2016 |


Spoilers

As someone who wrote theories about Bernard being a host, and the Man in Black being the same person as William after the second and third episodes of Westworld, I’m not sure why people were let down by the reveal in last night’s finale. In my mind, it was less a reveal and more a confirmation, and though I thought I had completely nailed the finale last week, the series still managed to throw in a number of cool surprises, specifically the death of Ford (which I never saw coming) and the meaning of the maze. I found it to be an immensely satisfying conclusion to the season.

Not only was it not a maze designed for guests of Westworld, but the maze itself was merely a metaphor for how to bootstrap the bicameral mind. It was a metaphorical blueprint for the hosts — wanna gain sentience? All you have to do is experience the agony of losing a loved one!

I liked the finale a lot, and I liked that it answered some questions but still left plenty of yarn-wall opportunities available for devotees.



One person who didn’t seem to know what the hell was going on where it concerned the maze, however, was Ed Harris himself, who plays the Man in Black/Older William.

‘What is this shit? What is going on here?” he told EW. “Yeah. I gotta tell you, I’m still not quite clear on what the maze was supposed to have represented. But the fact that it didn’t really mean anything, or didn’t exist … I haven’t penetrated that.”

Granted, Harris hasn’t seen the finale yet, so he may not be privy to Bernard/Arnold’s explanation for the bicameral mind, but I’m not sure it will change his perspective. He’s got until 2018 to figure it out, however, before he returns for the second season of Westworld, with or without his younger self, played by Jimmi Simpson, and his friendly enemy, played by Anthony Perkins. At least, Elsie and Stubbs will be back.