Okay, first of all, this is Dolores. Shes a robot. Photo: HBO

Its been almost two years since the second season of Westworld ended, so if you barely remember what the heck has happened in this show, then youre not alone. It certainly doesnt help that Westworld season three looks distinctly different than what weve come to expect from HBOs sci-fi epic: Gone is the theme park with robots concept of the first season and most of the second, replaced by something that looks closer to A.I. or Blade Runner than the original source material by Michael Crichton. But many of the characters are the same. Sorta?

How did we get here? Let us guide the way.

The second season of Westworld revealed the true purpose of the park: Its not just a place for rich people to get their rocks off in fake saloons, but the home of a massive data collection site called The Forge, which gathers and stores personal information about every single guest. (Yes, the dopey cowboy hats were secretly scanning every guests brain.) Delos, the company that created Westworld, essentially wanted to use all that data as a means to unlock immortality imagine a world where a humans consciousness could be uploaded into a host but the original hosts, led by Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood), revolted against their puppet masters. In the season finale, after a ton of carnage erupts in the park, Dolores escapes after seemingly uploading the Forges data to a location that only she can find.

Once a victim of her creators and anyone else willing to pay the price to visit Westworld, Dolores is now the leader of the robo-revolution. Before leading her team to the Forge, it seemed like she wanted to destroy Westworld by wiping out all of the data stolen from the guests, but she had much grander plans in mind. After helping a handful of hosts escape to the Valley Beyond a virtual nirvana stored in the Forge where hosts can live free from their human persecutors she changed the coordinates of the upload, sending the Valley Beyond and all that data to a different location that couldnt be found. She then transplanted her own consciousness into a host body built as an exact replica of Charlotte Hale (Tessa Thompson), and after gunning down the real Charlotte, she left the park with five hosts brain balls in her possession. (Theyre called pearls or control units in the world of the show, but lets be honest, theyre brain balls.) Which hosts did she take with her? Where is she taking them? And what does she plan to do with them in season three? We dont know yet.

The arc of Old William (Ed Harris), a.k.a. The Man in Black, was arguably the most divisive of season two, and it didnt even end until after the finale credits. We learned in season two that the Williams wife committed suicide, possibly because of what a monster William became at the park. His daughter Emily came after him and he killed her, thinking it was still just a part of Fords game for his best contestant. Then things got even weirder: William tried to kill Dolores and then was rescued by Delos before everything went haywire. However, the post-credits scene featured William alive in a flooded Forge where he sees a host version of his daughter, and hes ushered into a room much like the one that was used to train the host version of company founder James Delos. Emily assures him that this is the real world, but how do we know for sure? When does this scene even take place? William appears in the previews for season three out in the real world, so its possible that Delos got William out of Westworld after all. But is he the real thing or a host?

If you saw Maeve (Thandie Newton) in the season three trailer and thought, Hey, didnt she die in the finale? dont worry, youre not misremembering. A lot of characters died. Season two revealed that Maeve had a glitch that basically allowed her to control nearby hosts. She escaped captivity and torture, traveling with Hectors gang and Westworlds pompous narrative writer Lee Sizemore to the showdown in the season finale. But she was then gunned down after watching her daughter escape to the Valley Beyond. However, her body remained. And we saw Felix and Sylvester, the two dopey park technicians who joined Maeves revolution earlier in the season, being told to retrieve important bodies from the scene. They shared a look that makes it clear theyre going for Maeve, and Newton is prominent in the season three trailers, so you can connect the dots. But will she start the season under Delos control, or finally free?

Much of season two was aboutBernards struggle, as he was torn between being a puppet master and a puppet. After all, he was modeled after one of the creators of Westworld and worked for years alongside Ford to control it, never knowing he was actually a host. In season two, despite a tense relationship with Dolores, he helped her spark a revolution and she chose to save him in the finale. The last image before the post-credits tag is of Bernard, no longer in the park and opening a door to the real world. (He also joins Dolores in a safe house left to them by Ford, where he creates a copy of her original host body in case you were wondering how Evan Rachel Wood is still on this show.) We also learned in the finale that Bernards flashback conversations with Dolores were meant to test his fidelity. What role he will play in season three is really up in the air, but Wrights presence is an essential one to Westworld, so were sure Dolores will find something for him to do.

Its remarkably easy for dead characters to return on Westworld, so dont be surprised if some old faces of the deceased show up. The Ghost Nation leader Akecheta (Zahn McClarnon) traveled with Maeves daughter to the Valley Beyond at the end of season two, abandoning the physical world for life in the cloud, but his voice can be heard in the season three trailer. How will he come back? Teddy (James Marsden) shot himself in the head after learning Dolores true endgame, but could his data have been offloaded or even smuggled out of Westworld in Dolores/Charlottes purse? Clementine became a tool of Delos in season two, forcing the hosts to kill each other, but even her body may have been recovered from the scene, so she might returntoo. Dont forget: After Dolores escaped Westworld, she got a new version of her old host body, which means theres an unused sleeve of Charlotte Hale that could be used by one of the hosts that Dolores smuggled out of the park. Its anybodys guess who itll be.

Ashley Stubbs (Luke Hemsworth), the guy who ran Westworld security, didnt have too major of a role in season two. But he got a key scene in the finale: Hes the one who allows Dolores to leave the park in Charlottes host body, although hes tasked with specifically stopping any hosts who attempt to sneak out, and even implies that he has been a host all along too. Will he return as a Dolores ally in the war against the humans? Theres only one way to find out.

Continue reading here:

A Very Quick Recap of Westworld Season Two - Vulture