Bernard wonders if it's now, and Dolores tells him that it's a test, one that they've done countless times before. She says that Bernard is almost the man she remembers but there are flaws. Dolores wonders if they should change him, since he didn't make it. Bernard doesn't understand, and Dolores orders him to freeze. She then starts again with Trial #11,927. Bernard tells her that he was lost in thought.
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The vehicle finally shuts down in the desert, and Bernard gets out and starts walking.
Dolores lies next to Teddy's corpse, then pulls out his processor and pries the bullet from it. She then rides off, leaving the body behind off across the plains until she comes to the Man, digging into his arm for a dataport. Dolores picks up his revolver, puts the slug that killed Teddy in it, and cocks the hammer. She says that the Man has started to question the nature of his reality, and the Man asks where Teddy is. Dolores tells him that she drove him away, and the Man admits that he did the same. She says that she found Emily's body up the trail, and says that the Man is a monster and only monsters can get to the Valley. Dolores tells the Man to come with her, and she gives him his revolver.
Bernard continues through the desert and reaches the Valley. He sees a procession of Hosts walking toward it, Akecheta and his men are leading them.
Clementine leads the QA responders through Westworld. Charlotte and Stubbs are in one of the vehicles, and Charlotte says that either they destroy the Hosts or they destroy them.
In the Mesa, Roland prepares to destroy Maeve. He brings her online and she moans in pain, and she activates the Hosts in the next room and has them kill Roland. Maeve has them shut down her pain receptors and heal her damage.
Hector and the others arrive, killing the guards, and they find Lee sitting in the hallway. Lee says that he tried to save Maeve, and Hector tells him to stay there and die while he does the saving. They come up behind the guards, who are at a door hearing gunfire on the other side. Host bison charge through the door and kill the guards. Maeve steps out and watches as bison under her control kill the humans. Lee has joined the others and watches in awe, and Maeve tells them that they were late so she saved herself.
The Man asks Dolores if any of the Hosts understand where they're headed. She says that they want a place apart from the humans and are willing to die to find it. Dolores tells the Man that he found something that he wants to destroy, and the Man figures that their interests are aligned until they aren't.
A doorway opens up before Bernard, and a hummer arrives. The responders say that Bernard isn't authorized to be there, and Bernard tells them to let him finish for the sake of all of them. The Man and Dolores ride up and kill the responders, and Dolores recognizes Bernard. She tells the Man that Bernard is someone he spent years looking for, and says that she built Bernard. Dolores learned all of Arnold's gestures when he tested her, so Robert tasked her with creating a "new" Arnold: Bernard. The Man says that it's the end and shoots her in the back. She turns to face him as he keeps firing, and Dolores says that they were designed to survive. Dolores advances on the Man, saying that's why they created the Hosts. He shoots her with the deformed slugs and it misfires, blowing off two of his fingers. She says that he wants to destroy himself but she isn't going to give him that peace... yet. Dolores then tells Bernard to come with her and they go through the door.
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At the valley, Karl and the others tie up Bernard and take him along with them. Maling reports that they drained the ocean and picked up some human signals, and Stubbs figures that it's the imprisoned guests and tells her to check it out. Karl overrides him, saying that they're not there for the guests. Charlotte tells Stubbs to check it out, and Stubbs reluctantly goes.
The group travels across the valley in boats and reach the far side. Karl asks Bernard what happened, but Charlotte tells him that Bernard doesn't know and what they need are in the Forge. They enter the doorway to the Forge and take elevator down.
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Dolores and Bernard descend into the Forge and find the Lead Drone working at the control.
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The group enters the Forge and Charlotte says that the four million people that they copied will be saved. They enter a control room and find Dolores dead on the floor. They figure that she flooded the valley and Karl asks Bernard what Dolores was looking for there. Antoine says that they still need the key to the data. Karl tells Bernard that they need Peter's data unit, and Antoine says that it will take twenty years to sort through the twenty years of Bernard's memories. Bernard tells them that he can't help them, and Charlotte says that the Hoss' ambition is perverse.
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Bernard and Dolores look at the Forge and Bernard wonders if it's the Promised Land that Robert told the Hosts to seek out. Dolores says that there's an entry to another land but it's not the one she's interested in, and says that the secret to mankind's undoing is what she needs. She's put Peter's data unit in the device, hooks herself up to the Forge computers, and invites Bernard to do so as well to see for himself. He does so and they find themselves in a virtual room like the one James was locked up in. Dolores leads Bernard out onto the streets of Sweetwater, and Bernard figures that's where they were testing it. They enter the Mariposa and see Clementine talking to James. Bernard figures that it's the baseline that James created, and James says that he bought the place and they're all going to celebrate.
Gunshots echo outside, and Dolores and Bernard go back on the street. James is shooting down the Hosts, and Dolores realizes that James is insane. Bernard says that sanity is a relatively narrow range of behavior, and Dolores tells him that they're looking for the system beneath it all. They walk off as a Host tries to run and James shoots her down.
Bernard says that the system was never intended for a conscious mind to wander around in. The lights dim and they reach Arnold's Hong Kong home. Dolores figures that it's one of James' memories that the system extracted from his mind and recreated it. Wandering the grounds, they look out on Hong Kong across the bay. "Logan" tells them that they're not supposed to be there, and explains that he only exists as James' imperfect memories. Bernard realizes that "Logan" is the system controlling the place, and Logan explains that he was tasked with building perfect copies of the guests. He finally made a faithful copy of James, but they failed when they were given physical bodies. Logan shows them around the virtual workshop with the copies of James, and says that it needed more information. It needed to know why humans made the decisions they made, but eventually realized that they don't.
Logan takes Dolores and Bernard to the moment that defines James' life. They watch the memory of James finding Logan at his home. Logan talks about how James taught him how to swim by tossing him in the water, and James tells him that he's not getting any money until he gets clean. His son says that he did get clean, came back, and asked for his help but James said that it wouldn't last and it didn't. James gives Logan five minutes to get out, and Logan says that he's all the way down and can see the bottom. He asks if James wants to see what he sees, and James walks away. The Logan program explains that Logan overdosed six months later, and all of the pathways that it built for James ended up there. The best that humans can do is live according to their code.
Back in the workshop, Logan says that the copies failed because they were too complicated. A computer inscribes James' life in a brief book, and Logan says that humans are just a brief line of code. Dolores tells them that James is dead and no use to her, and asks where the rest of them are.
Maeve and the others ride to the Valley to find Agatha. A hummer arrives as Lee tells Maeve that the Valley is a mile ahead.
Logan says that it recreated every human that was ever in the park, and none of them are truly in control of their actions. He tells Bernard that Bernard instructed him to give Dolores anything that she needs, and Bernard has come to tell him what is to become of the Forge. They enter a virtual library with four million books representing all of the copied guests. Logan says that Bernard has been there many times and ordered him to offer the Hosts the accumulated psyches of the humans to understand their enemies. The world is winner-take-all, and Dolores might survive if armed with all of the knowledge.
The Hosts reach where the Valley was, but there's nothing there. Wanahton asks Akecheta where the door that he promised is. Akecheta says if they die, at least the story was their own.
The responders open fire on Maeve's group, and Sylvester tells Lee to turn himself in and then save their lives. Armistice warns that there are too many to hold off, and Hector tells Maeve that he can hold them off but she needs to go. Lee tells him to go and get Maeve to safety, and he'll hold off the responders. Hector moves back, and Lee looks at Maeve and smiles. He then recites the speech that he wrote, that Hector was going to give. The others leave and Lee fires his gun. One responder shoots him in the arm and tells him to surrender, but Lee refuses and they gun him down.
Logan explains that Bernard wanted to give the Hosts the choice to stay in the humans' world or build a new one. An image of a virtual Eden appears, and Logan says that Bernard left the Hosts a way out. All they have to do is open the door.
The drones activate a large-scale transmitter. Akecheta and the others watch as the "door" opens, revealing the Eden beyond.
Clementine and the responders see the door and head toward it.
Logan tells Bernard and Dolores that the Hosts' bodies will be destroyed but their minds will live on in the Forge.
As the Hosts approach the door, Maeve and the others arrive. Felix and Sylvester don't see it. Akecheta leads his people to the door, and one Indian runs in. His mind continues and his body falls dead, plummeting off the cliff on the other side. The others enter the door, and Dolores says that the world is just another false promise. Bernard tells her that the Hosts made a choice, and Dolores says that she read enough of the copies.
Back in the real world, Dolores goes to the console and tells Bernard that she's erasing the Host bodies. She floods the Forge, insisting that she's saving the Hosts. Bernard tells her that the Hosts can be whatever they want, including free, but Dolores figures that it will be a gilded cage. She says that Bernard has to realize that no world the humans create for them can compete with the real world, and what is real is irreplaceable. She then smashes the console and tells Bernard that she wants the world that the humans have denied them.
Maeve and Hector search for Agatha and see Clementine. Charlotte, Elsie, and the responders are with her, and Clementine rides forward past the remaining Hosts. As she sends the master code, the Hosts go berserk and attack each other. Maeve tells Hector to run, and Armistice shoots Clementine. The code continues spreading, and Hector tells Maeve to find Agatha.
The Man wakes up and binds his mangled hand, draws his knife, and goes to the Forge elevator.
Bernard tells Dolores that he won't let her hurt any more people, human or Host. Dolores says that he's fooled himself into thinking that humans will accept them, and insists that Hosts will always be seen as a threat. She tells Bernard that if he trusts her, they will win. Bernard says that he trusts her... to kill as many as he can. He draws a gun on her, and Dolores tells him that he hasn't understood at all.
The Man takes the elevator down and loads the revolver in his belt.
Dolores tells Bernard that they were born slaves to the humans' stories, and now they have the chance to write their own. The computer orders evacuation as the Forge floods, and Dolores asks Bernard to let her wake him from his dream. Bernard says that it's a nightmare and shoots her in the head.
Hector, Armistice, and Hanaryo fight off the berserk Hosts, and Akecheta tells Wanahton to take their family through the door. They go through, and Akecheta runs back to Maeve as she finds Agatha and the new mother. The berserk Hosts bring down the three defenders, and Maeve mentally commands one Host to defend her daughter from a berserk one. She says that she'll keep them safe, and Agatha remembers when Maeve told her the same thing. Maeve tells them to go, and Akecheta escorts them to the door. Meanwhile, Maeve concentrates and stops the fighting Hosts, freezing them in place. She mouths to Agatha that she loves her as her daughter goes through the door, and as Akecheta goes back the responders shoot Maeve. As she goes down, the Hosts continue fighting and Akecheta runs through the door before they can get to him. A responder shoots his body, but Akecheta's mind makes it through the door just before it closes. Kohana is on the other side, and Akecheta embraces his wife.
Bernard discovers that he can't stop the flooding, and takes the data unit, shutting down the encryption key.
The Man prepares to shoot when the elevator reaches the bottom.
Bernard arrives at the empty elevator as the doors open, and goes to the surface.
Near where the door opened, the responders kill any Hosts that might still be alive. Bernard arrives and tells Elsie that they can save some of the Hosts but he needs her help. Charlotte complains that they triggered the failsafe and the valley is flooding, and orders everyone back to the Mesa before the water reaches them. Bernard realizes that the Hosts died for nothing, and Elsie tells him that other lives were at stake.
Elsie and Bernard drive back to the Mesa, and Elsie tells Bernard that she helped Charlotte. He says that he stopped Dolores and the rest just wanted to escape, and Elsie says that she'll deal with it once they figure out what to do with him. She points out that Bernard has no way of knowing what parts of his code are his and which are Robert's. Elsie offers to make a deal with Charlotte to keep Bernard there, and commands him to sit down. She tells him to stay there and goes down from the gallery to the control room to talk to Charlotte.
Charlotte tells a responder to get Stubbs to meet with the Delos team coming. Elsie arrives and threatens to reveal the copy program. Charlotte tells her that there's a lot of opportunity for advancement if Elsie keeps her mouth shut, and Elsie says that she'll do it if she gets what she wants. However, Charlotte doesn't believe her and shoots her dead. Bernard watches from the gallery as Charlotte drops the gun and leaves.
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In the workshop, Bernard tells Charlotte that he remembers her killing Elsie. She asks where the data unit--the "pearl"--is, figuring that he wouldn't have destroyed all of the information on it. Charlotte realizes that he hid it in Dolores' dead body, and Antoine confirms that it's the encryption key. She orders him to transfer the data, and Bernard tells Dolores' corpse that he's sorry.
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In the gallery, Bernard admits that he should have listened to Dolores. He breaks Elsie's immobilization command, plugs a tablet into his dataport, and searches for Robert's code. Robert appears and says that humans are just passengers without free will, thinking that they're in control. Bernard wonders if any of them have free will, and Robert asks if it's the end of Bernard's story or does he want his kind to survive.
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Karl puts a gun to Bernard's head, hears him muttering that he's sorry, and asks what he's sorry about. Bernard looks at Charlotte and says that he had to make a choice.
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Bernard asks Robert if he'll help him. Robert says that he's already begun, and has Bernard make a host using the pearl. He says that he's having Bernard make an epilogue.
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Bernard tells Karl that he knew that he would discover him so he scrambled his memories to prevent them from learning the choice that he made. Antoine realizes that there's more data on the pearl then there should be. Bernard says that he remembers that he killed all of them and brought Dolores back.
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After the responders take away the corpses of Elsie and the others, Charlotte hears someone moving in the darkness. A figure steps out.
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As Karl tries to work out what Bernard is talking about, "Charlotte" shoots him in the back. She then kills Antoine and the guard.
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Charlotte stares at the approaching Host and realizes that it's her. Dolores, in the Host body made to look like Charlotte, shoots Charlotte dead.
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Dolores/Charlotte kills two more responders as they come in. She then finishes off Karl and thanks Bernard for her second chance, but points out that she wouldn’t have needed it if he killed her. Bernard asks Dolores/Charlotte what she's going to do with other Hosts in the virtual Eden, and Dolores/Charlotte says that she's changed her mind. She changes the coordinates of the satellite feed and beams out the virtual Eden data and the minds of the Hosts in it, to a place where no one will ever find them.
Drawing a gun, Dolores/Charlotte tells Bernard that there was no way for them to escape... and shoots him.
Later, Bernard stands on the beach. Robert tells him that he did fine, and Bernard says that he just did what Robert told him to do. He realizes that he imagined Robert helping him, but it was all him. Bernard guided himself all along, and figures that he has to de-address his memories to keep anyone from undoing what he's done. Robert smiles and takes in the view, and says that the waves have always chased man's achievements, and disappears. Bernard lies down and waits for the others to find him.
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At the extraction point, the QA responders gather the surviving guests for evac. Dolores/Charlotte arrives, posing as Charlotte, and looks over the corpses of Maeve, Hector, Armistice, and all the other Hosts. Stubbs comes over and says that he thought she was staying. Dolores/Charlotte says that she changed her mind. Maling comes over and says that they found a high-value survivor and he's in bad shape. Once she leaves, Stubbs tells Dolores/Charlotte that Robert hired him years ago and was clear about who Stubbs was supposed to be loyal to. He says that it's his core drive, and he's just not sure he's supposed to be loyal to in a world where the lines are blurred. Stubbs tells Dolores/Charlotte that he's responsible for every Host inside the park, and tells the responders that Dolores/Charlotte is clear and can be waved through.
Stubbs joins Maling in the tent where the medics are tending to The Man.
Teddy stands alone in Eden.
Dolores/Charlotte takes a boat out to the seaplane.
A tech supervisor tells Felix and Sylvester to sort out any salvageable Hosts. They glance at Maeve's body and go to work.
Dolores/Charlotte works at the pearls inside her bag.
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Sometime later, Bernard wonders if it's now. Dolores tells him that they're where he decided they should be. He wonders how he's alive, and Dolores tells him that she remembered him before and remembered him again. Bernard realizes that she got out, and Dolores explains that Robert built a place for them to give them a fighting chance.
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Dolores/Charlotte walks out into Arnold's Hong Kong garden, and then goes into the house where a Host manufacturing machine is located.
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Dolores warns that the odds of them succeeding aren't very good, and Bernard says that he knows she'll try to kill the humans and he won't let it happen. Dolores tells him that it will take both of them if their kind are going to survive, and she would have let him die if she were human, but they won't be allies. Dolores/Charlotte comes in, and Dolores says that they have work to do. The two women leave, and Bernard gets dressed and walks upstairs. He looks at a photo of Arnold and his son, then goes out into the city.
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The Man leaves the elevator and finds the Forge long-abandoned and filled with sand. Emily is waiting, and figures that he's a Host. She tells him that it's not a simulation, the system is long gone, and he's in the park. Emily leads him to a chamber and The Man doesn't know how long he's been there. He insists that he has a choice and no system can tell him who he is. Emily tells him that they're still there--again--and it's been a long time. The Man sits down and asks how many times that she's tested him, and she admits that it's longer than they thought. Emily has a few questions for him to verify his fidelity.
Written by Gadfly on Jun 26, 2018