This post contains frank discussion of Westworld Season 2, Episode 2, “Reunion.” Consider this your first and last spoiler warning.
Just when we thought Westworlds timeline was going to get easier to follow, Episode 2 sends us hopping a skipping through time. In order to make things easier on everyone, weve broken down the latest episode chronologically so, hopefully, that will clear a few things up. Alternatively, you can listen to the latest episode of Vanity Fairs new companion podcast, Still Watching: Westworld, where we break it all down.
But if youre more of a visual learner, heres a handy, chronological rundown of the key revelations of “Reunion” starting, as we often do, with Arnold and Dolores.
Before the Park Opens: Arnold Weber and Robert Ford Look for Investors
In Season 1 we learned that Arnold Weber, co-founder of Westworld, died in the park roughly 35 years before Dolores killed his partner, Robert Ford. Yet here Arnold is alive and well. So is his son Charlie whose death drove him into existential despair. We see in a reflected window that Robert Ford is also alive and very young which means the scene were looking at here with Dolores in the real world all takes place at least 35 years ago. In Season 1 Ford claimed he and Arnold lived in the park for 3 years before opening so, really, it could be anywhere from 38-35 years ago but probably closer to 35.
The two most important things we can learn from this interaction between Arnold and Dolores—other than, potentially, the origin of “that doesnt look like anything to me”—are some further hints on the location of the park and better insight into Arnolds state of mind. As for location, Arnold says the home hes building for his wife and son is close to his work so we can guess this Asian city is near the park. That reinforces what we think we learned about its location potentially being in the South China Sea last week.
But perhaps more crucially Arnold tells Dolores hes not sure humans are the ones who deserve this world. As Ford told Theresa back in Season 1: “Arnold always held a somewhat dim view of people. He preferred the hosts. He begged me not to let you people in, the moneymen. Delos.” Its clear now this attitude of Arnolds preceded Charlies death. Arnold Weber was truly primed to try set his robotic creations free.
Later That Same Night, They Pitch Logan Delos
In the opening scene, when Arnold says Dolores isnt “ready” for something, he and Ford decide to use “the other one.” That other one looks to be Angela (Talulah Riley) who is similarly blonde, striking, and dressed like one of the girls in Robert Palmers “Addicted to Love” video. So lets assume this is the very same night 38-35 years ago. Here we get our first glimpses, chronologically, of both William and Logan. We know this scene takes place before their trip to the park because a) William is still a Nice Guy and b) Logan mentions that William is dating his sister Juliet. Their disastrous trip into the park in Season 1 was meant as Williams bachelor party trip on the eve of his wedding so we know were further into the past. Juliet serves as a good anchor for this weeks timeline. We also get a fun first meeting between William and Angela. Theyll meet again. . .many times.
Crucially, Ford and Arnold have sent two hosts to meet Logan not just because their tricky little demo is more effective without any humans in the room, but also because back in Season 1, Logan talked about the two men as if he had never met them. He told William: “Supposedly, this place was all started by a partnership. And then right before the park opened, one of the partners killed himself. Sent the park into a freefall.” So the HBO series now has the challenge of showing us how Logan became one of the original investors in Westworld without ever meeting Ford or Arnold. Thankfully, Logan is so reckless and irresponsible, this notion doesnt seem too far-fetched. Two pieces of crucial info drop in this first Logan scene. 1) We get confirmation of his last name: Delos. 2) We are told that before it was owned by Delos Incorporated, Ford and Arnolds company was called the Argos Initiative. Make of that what you will.
Here at the party we see a few hosts both old and new. Angela and Clementine mingle with newcomers played by Zahn McLarnon and Jonathan Tucker. We get more of Tucker later in the episode and can probably expect to see McLarnon—who was so incredible in Fargo Season 2—again in the park. Most assume hes been added into the Season 2 cast to bring more dimension to Westworlds Ghost Nation storyline.
Well revisit the significance of that Gershwin tune Clementine is playing on the piano later on. But for now, Logan looks to have indulged in a bit of an orgy and decides to invest in the park. Dolores looks on at Angela, dare we say, a smidge judgmentally?
After Williams First Adventure into the Park He and Delos Inc. Invest
Back in Season 1 when he and William were running around the park, Logan said: “Rumor is [the Argos Initiative] is hemorrhaging cash. Were considering buying them out.” Here we see William eagerly embracing that idea and pitching Logans dad, Jim Delos (Peter Mullan), on the notion. This particular little foray into the park obviously takes place after Williams first trip there 30 years ago. Hes already met and fallen in love with Dolores and come to the realization that her emotions may be pre-programmed. So this scene likely takes place right around 29-30 years ago.
After we get a glimpse of Armistice taking over as Sweetwater sheriff and Dolores and Teddy on their little repetitive loop, Jim Delos—dressed all in black—seems a bit unconvinced about the wisdom of investing in a company thats losing money hand over fist. He says Westworld has “two years maybe three” before it goes bankrupt. Here, very crucially, Jim Delos says he wont live another 20 years. This first hint about his failing health pays off a little later in the episode.
But William says their investment isnt about being part of murder/sex fantasy amusement park. He gives Jim Delos the Cambridge Analytica-esque hard sell. Employing some of the lessons he learned about himself after that first trip into the park, William says: “This is the only place in the world where you get to see people for who they really are.” Westworld is the ultimate marketing research facility where guests, thinking theyre unobserved, are free to indulge in their basest desires. In other words, they think what happens in Westworld, stays in Westworld. Of course Delos will be watching and recording everything and using it for their own money-making purposes. Jim is sold on the idea and here is where Delos Incorporated both “saves” Fords experiment from financial ruin and begins an attempt to push him out as the person in control of the parks agenda.
A Few Years After That, Jim Delos Retires
Like I said, the best way to anchor ourselves in young Williams timeline is his relationship with his wife, Juliet Delos, and his daughter, Emily. In this party scene the girl William was “dating” at the start of the episode and about to marry during his first trip to Westworld is now his wife and the mother to his daughter Emily who looks to be about 5 or 6. Assuming William and Juliet started trying to have kids pretty soon after getting married—and Emily is at least adult enough to tell her father off in the future according to a Season 1 monologue from Ed Harriss Man in Black—this retirement party for Jim Delos takes place around 24-25 years ago.
Creepily, William has flown Dolores in as “entertainment” and dressed her as an intake host. Shes initially playing Chopins Nocturne in E-flat major, Op. 9, No. 2, but switches to the same Gershwin tune Clementine was playing when Jim Delos objects. The song, “The Man I Love,” has a lot more weight this time around and we have to wonder if William is considering the lyrics as he watches her.
Someday hell come along
The man I love
And hell be big and strong
The man I love
And when he comes my way
Ill do my best to make him stay
Juliet (played by Americas Next Top Model alum Claire Unabia in a fun follow-up to Season 1 randomly using a stock photo of her) looks a bit annoyed by Dolores but Jim Delos is even more ticked off. Its clear he doesnt want to retire and its also clear that his health issues have made it impossible for him to continue. He had obviously hoped that William and the company would have figured something out to help with his illness but William says theyre not there yet.
Its all fairly oblique but worth keeping an eye on and remembering Fords Season 1 speech to Bernard: “Weve managed to slip evolutions leash now, havent we? We can cure any disease, keep the weakest of us alive, and perhaps one fine day we might even resurrect the dead and call forth Lazurus from his cave.” Looks like that medical utopia was still a few years away when Jim was forced to retire.
Jim isnt the only member of the Delos family in a bad way. This is the first were seeing of Logan, chronologically, since the end of Season 1 when William put him on a horse, naked, and sent him galloping off into the wilds of the park. Logan was always fond of substances but now seems to have gone full addict as William has evidently supplanted his place in the company. Logans convinced William sent Dolores down to mess with him. But lets pay close attention to what he says about the Delos party going on back in the main house: “That darling is the sound of fools fiddling while the whole fucking species starts to burn. They lit the match. So heres to you assholes. May your forevers be blissfully short.” Man, he should write for the park.
Whatever it is that a William-controlled Delos is up to, Logan is convinced it will be the downfall of humanity. And if Logan thinks its bad, its gotta be pretty bad. Crucially, he mentions “forevers” so heres where we have to seriously contemplate that whatever Delos is mixed up in it may involve an immortality—perhaps digital—of some kind for those who can pay. Just keep that all swimming around in your mind as we roll forward.
Sometime After That William Starts Building Something
We cant be certain when this is but William looks a bit older. So while this is a guess, lets peg it at around 20 years ago.
William has started dressing all in black. Perhaps an homage to Jim Delos? And hes gone full creep stripping Dolores, the woman who spurned him, down so he can belittle her. His origin story is not all that dissimilar from the fictional path Aaron Sorkin concocted for Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Network. Its all about frustrated masculinity. He tells Dolores that shes not even a “thing” shes a “reflection.” He says he cant wait to use her and her fellow hosts to sucker in human guests to the park. So we can assume this is before Westworld really started firing on all profitable/popular cylinders. William also hints that hes interested in something else: “An answer here to a question no one has dreamed of asking.” Immortality? The nature of humanity? Lets stay tuned to find out.
Before we leave William in the past, he has one more thing to show us. In a perverse echo of the opening with Arnold, he takes Dolores to see what could, potentially, be the creation of a larger version of Westworld. Or perhaps its the very specific location that gets alluded to elsewhere in the episode. Either way, jeeringly sending Doloress words back at her, William asks: “Have you ever seen anything so full of splendor?”
Much Further in the Future, Dolores Is on a Path of Vengeance
And here we are almost caught up to present day where Bernard (or was it?) washed up on the beach in the Season 2 premiere. But were not quite there yet. The techs in this “Remote Refurbishment Outpost” are not even aware yet that theres a massacre going on in the park so lets assume were fairly fresh off the death of Robert Ford a.k.a. about two weeks ago.
Last week, Dolores said she wanted to show Teddy something and now we find out what that is: the truth behind the lie that is his life. In what I can only assume is a joking nod towards the number of times Teddy died in Season 1, we see James Marsdens character horrified by images of his own demise.
Echoing Williams comments about nobody watching what happens in Westworld, Dolores says: “No one is here to judge what we will do to you.” The show is leaning heavily into biblical themes in Season 2 and at any given time its up to the audience to judge who is God, who is the Messiah, and who is the Devil in this new world order. Angela is wearing a crown of bloody thorns but Dolores certainly seems to think shes the Messiah. Still her talk of killing God is pure Lucifer.
Here we get a convenient download of Delos procedure in case of a park-wide disaster. Dolores tortures an employee into telling her that approximately 800 people will be coming to try to contain the situation and will meet at a “rallying” point that looks like it might be the beach where we saw Bernard (if it was him) wash up.
Dolores also says she knows “the real purpose of this place” and that she has experience in the real world. Relax girl, youve been to, like, exactly two parties. Dolores resurrects a Confederado—her first of many Messianic acts—and sets out to recruit an army.
Before she gets there, Dolores runs into Maeve who has her own ideas about what their freshly-woken brethren should do now that their god, Ford, is dead. “Revenge is just a different prayer at their alter and Im well off my knees,” she says setting up a clash of ideologies between herself and Dolores. If I had to pick now between the two, Id go with Maeve. Anyway theres a nice bit of reflection between Maeve and Dolores with their two lovesick sidekicks: Hector and Teddy. Lets hope we see these two women cross paths again soon.
We get a little more Jesus imagery with the return of Jonathan Tucker this time with a glorious mustache as Major Craddock. His table looks very Last Supper-y, no? But its Dolores once again who gets to play the Messiah echoing some famous Jesus-esque language with her “they dont know any better” line reading. She talks of everyone needing to follow her if they are “bound for glory” and eventually resurrects Craddock after Teddy shoots him. So, yes, full-blown Jesus complex here.
Lastly we see Dolores and her new army looking down at an encampment. Teddy helpfully summarizes the main quest of the season. Everyone is chasing “glory” “the pearly gates” or “the valley beyond,” and it seems like a race as to who will get there first. But this is Westworld and not everything can be that simple so Dolores complicated it by saying that where theyre going is somewhere “an old friend was foolish enough to show me years ago.” Shes probably talking about William though she could be talking about Arnold or even Logan who mentioned the destruction of the human race. “Its not a place,” she says as Teddy looks concerned, “its a weapon and Im going to use it to destroy them.” Wooo. Raise your hands if you think Dolores is talking about a literal weapon! I dont think so. But well have to stay tuned to find out.
At About the Same Time an Older William a.k.a. the Man in Black Has a Parallel Mission
Lets assume these Old William—should we call him Bill?—and Dolores narratives are running roughly parallel, shall we? That also puts us at two weeks ago. Bill, it seems, is potentially Doloress main competition in getting to “glory”/“the pearly gates”/“the valley beyond.” But he wont get there alone. Just as he did last season, Bill solicits the help of Lawrence (Clifton Collins Jr.). A good portion of this narrative can be seen as a reminder of the looping nature of Westworld. We see Bill save Lawrence from a hanging death just like he did back in Season 1. They talk about the nature of freedom and reality, like they did in Season 1. And here we discover Bills own god complex. “They wanted a place hidden from god,” Bill says of the parks guests over the years. “A place they could sin in peace. But we were watching them. Tallying up all the sins. My judgment wasnt the point. We had something else in mind.” Are we back to that tantalizing notion of immortality?
While were on the subject of gods, messiahs, and devils it looks like Bill is intent on eventually burning Westworld to the ground. Which one does that make him? But before he can have a chance to do that, Bill gets to have another chat with Robert Ford through the mouth of yet another host. Bill and Lawrence return to Pariah—the place where they first met 30 years ago—to find a new robot playing the role of El Lazo. This name, El Lazo, means “the loop” in Spanish so its no surprise Lawrences story should be one that circles back on itself.
Surprise guest star Giancarlo Esposito shows up to taunt Bill with speeches about elephants and the circus. Very Robert Ford by way of Jurassic Parks John Hammond.
“This game was meant for you William but you must play it alone,” this version of El Lazo says clearly speaking for Ford. “Ill see you in the valley beyond.” If Westworld couldnt get Anthony Hopkins to return, this is one fun way to still involve Ford in the game. Bill says: “Fuck you Robert.” Then he underlines for Lawrence what weve already surmised: that he and Dolores are on the same path. Bill says he built “the place of judgment” and that where theyre going is his “greatest mistake.” In other words: its a race. Who do we think is winning?
Get Vanity Fairs HWD NewsletterSign up for essential industry and award news from Hollywood.Joanna RobinsonJoanna Robinson is a Hollywood writer covering TV and film for VanityFair.com.
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