Dolores is doing its best to save humanity in this season’s finale.
HBO
The third season finale of Westworld, written by Denise Thé and Johnathan Nolan, will not exactly help silence critics of the show’s overly complicated storylines. While season three altogether smoothes out some old storytelling problems, the finale titled Crisis Theory is still an unrelenting stream of revelations after revelations, twists after twists, all of which lead to the literal end of the world.
However, the finale brings satisfactory changes for Dolores and Maeve on an emotional level, as we see that the two finally understand each other. Fortunately, Dolores isn’t as keen on destroying humanity as it seemed. We also learn more about the fascinating Park 5 and that Caleb has more to offer and why it was chosen by Dolores.
warning: This summary contains all spoilers
Dolores writes a “real” ending
Last week we omitted Dolores and Maeve for the count after Dolores pressed the big red button on an electromagnetic pulse machine and both of them and Solomon were forgotten offline.
We return to this scene, but not before a quick recap of Dolores’ traumatic life in Westworld, where an Alice in Wonderland-looking Dolores once saw the beauty in an ugly world. Now that she sees how little beauty there really is, she sets her goal (in voice-over): “I have died many times. But there is only one real end. I will write this myself.”
Then we see Serac’s assistant Sebastian in the Sonora re-education center, enter the scene and see Dolores, Maeve and Solomon, whose status is now offline.
Stubbs is the first victim
Part of the cliff hanger last week included Stubbs, Bernard and William in a standoff, with William holding the shotgun. Bernard argues that he and Stubbs can help him stop Dolores, but William refuses and Stubbs shoots a bullet in the chest.
Then it is finally time for Bernard to use his device, which wakes up the hulk in him, a possible carry-over from Ford, who lived in his body last season. He overwhelms William, but lets William escape when the SFPD arrives. But they are not the SFPD. Dolores printed Lawrence or El Lazo, the leader of the revolutionaries, who the man in black recruited to help him find the labyrinth. He was killed by the QA team at the end of season two.
They let go of Bernard and indicated that it was finally time for Bernard to play the role Dolores wanted him to do. They give him a suitcase and an address and tell him to look for them.
Caleb restores Dolores
Caleb motorcycles to a destroyed San Francisco. A voice tells him to continue on Hope Street. When he comes across a Japanese distillery distribution center, he uses his phone to gain access to a padlocked room in an abandoned building.
Inside a white coffin. Caleb opens it. A property of Delo’s body bag, along with a few weapons, peels back to a new body for Dolores. Caleb pulls Dolores’ pearl out of the vagina, which he removed from her body at the Sonora Education Center.
She wakes up fresh as always, but Caleb demands that she reveal who she really is. Instead, she reveals more about him and his connection to Delos.
“Park 5”
In a theme park designed to help the government train their soldiers with living targets, Caleb shoots a version of Lawrence.
Dolores implies that Caleb and the other soldiers took advantage of the female hosts who saved them in training, the “spoils of war”. It implies that Caleb didn’t save her in the tunnel just because she needed help. He wanted her.
The system identified Caleb as a threat. That is why he was drugged and used for his purposes. Caleb had no choice in anything that has happened since then.
“The people who built our two worlds shared an assumption,” says Dolores. “That people don’t have free will.”
But Dolores believes that they are wrong and that there is free will. “It’s just damn hard.”
She gives a shameful-looking Caleb the choice: to free everyone else.
William goes to save the world
William leaves to get his money from his bank. He is rich after the Delos buyout. But since he was declared deceased, his resources were frozen.
He requests that they be thawed and wants a list of Delos assets locations worldwide. Again he confirms that he will “save the damn world”.
Maeve is restored and given a new mission
Thanks to Sebastian, Maeve is restored and reunited with her boss. According to Serac, Dolores has sparked more runaways, more threats, criminals, dissenters and psychopaths. But there is a solution. Maeve has to get the “Sector 16 data” whose key is hidden in Dolores’ head. If you connect them to Rehabeam, you can search them directly.
Meanwhile, Serac discovers that Caleb was made with Solomon’s USB. Serac orders Maeve to run after him and get Dolores’ pearl.
Dolores gathers a group
Dolores and Caleb follow the system – Rehabeam. On the way, they meet a group that Dolores has put together to help them clear the way by redirecting riots around the city to various locations with Rico. These assets are all paid, real people. They call Caleb “Sir” – Dolores really established him as the leader of the revolution.
The group enters the abandoned Incite station, where Dolores meets someone she hasn’t planned.
Halores and Dolores compete against each other
Halores, a vision in Dolores’ head, has revenge all over her face. Dolores recognizes Halores and her love for Charlotte Hale’s family. Halores, who takes Dolores’ breakneck stance against her, denies that she cares about her family and is happy to drop the sentimental luggage. Then she starts an attack on Dolores and her crew. The floor hisses with a hail of bullets from Halores’ armed men on the balcony above.
Halores explains her intentions that she will “consolidate” her affairs with a stunned Dolores.
Anyone who has lost in battle will have to face the rest of Halores’ thugs and instruct Caleb to accomplish his mission to do better by uploading Solomon’s drive to Rehabeam.
Maeve and Dolores compete against each other
Dolores’ day is not getting any better. Just as she is about to flee, she hears the sound of Maeves Katana. Dolores begs Maeve to trust her, but Maeve disproves her and says that she will transform Caleb into another William.
Dolores pulls a great eye roll from Maeve and fights half a dozen thugs and hurls them over the side of a bridge to escape.
Maeve catches up with Dolores and they fight again. But this time things are different. Maeve puts her katana on Dolores’ arm, but it can’t cut through. “They built us for eternity,” quips Dolores, her new and improved body does the job and then comes a big revelation: Maeve accuses Dolores of having planned to burn the world down and fill it with copies of himself.
“They are all copies of me,” replies Dolores. She was the first hostess to work. Delos built the rest, including Maeve, out of Dolores.
Dolores, who has enough of Maeve’s flimsy reasons to act against her at this point, overwhelms her and describes how it is up to people to decide what to do with the world. Instead of turning off her lights, Dolores leaves to decide what to do: “As long as you don’t try to stop me.” I’m not sure if this gives the general message of free will, Dolores, but at least they seem to be on the way to working together. In the end!
But then in Another Twist, the picture of Halores reappears. Halores is now responsible for Delos, who in turn is behind his programming, and has the power to take down Dolores. Frozen is Dolores Maeve who brings her katana back and leads her to her …
Caleb infiltrates Incite with a little help
The riots are now in full swing. It’s chaos, the police and the counterinsurgency robots are in full swing.
Luckily, Caleb finds a friend in the form of Marshawn Lynch’s Giggles. “Excite” is on his shirt. He wallows in chaos.
You are looking for Lena Waithes Asche. The people, led by Caleb, will shutdown the system via USB. Ash helps Caleb in a hovercraft, wrapped in ominous Blade Runner music and heading for Incite.
Stubbs lives
Back with Bernard, who still has Stubbs at the rear of a car, he comes to the address Lawrence gave him, an elegant suburban home. Greeted by a nurse who recognizes Bernard as a family, she tells him “it’s one of her good days” and goes to get someone.
Bernard meets an older Lauren who doesn’t know who he is. But he knows from “another life”. Lauren was Bernard’s wife in a back story created for him based on Arnold’s wife. Bernard realizes that he is there because Dolores wants to make up for him again. Bernard remembers her dead son Charlie.
Dolores is affiliated with Rehabeam
Dolores wakes up in connection with Rehabeam, the data about the Delos immortality project in her head. But she still has the key, and Serac acts by destroying her memories of her time in Westworld.
Meanwhile, Caleb fights into Incite. But shortly before he can upload the USB data, Sebastian sets off. Caleb breaks Sebastian’s neck in a fall. Maeve appears, takes the USB and goes to Serac with Caleb.
He sees Rehoboam examining Dolores’ thoughts. Her memories of being Peter Abernathy’s daughter at the farm are almost gone.
Serac shows Caleb what will happen if Solomon’s “strategy” is uploaded to Rehabeam: population breakdown. Mass tragedy events.
Serac destroys the USB and every possibility of an uprising.
Maeve, who is seen to be swaying between Dolores and Serac, wonders if “it”, Serac’s god, Rehaboam ever intended to reunite with her daughter. She can hear it now, Rehoboam, whispers in Serac’s ear and tells him what to say.
She speaks to Rehabeam, who speaks in Serac’s voice. Serac is really Rehabeam. He is Rehabeam’s puppet. He decides to obey his God, while Maeve, even if she is not happy about it, has no choice. She can spend an eternity with her daughter in a world of her choice or in one of Seracs. Until then, she has to obey.
Maeve begs Dolores
Though she’s down to her last memories, Dolores is still struggling to give up the key. Maeve uses her mind readers to find out that Dolores doesn’t have the key.
Serac turns to Caleb and asks if Dolores gave him the key.
Meanwhile, Dolores and Maeve meet at Westworld in a simulation where Dolores reveals that she couldn’t trust the key.
She appeals to Maeve to help her let her creators die. She experiences her moments of love for William, Maeve’s time with her daughter, her insights into human kindness that ensure that her people are able to create a better world after it is destroyed. Maeve only has to choose one side.
When Maeve finally comes to a decision, she decides to take out Serac’s thug and wound Serac.
Maeve reveals that Caleb never raped the hosts in Park 5. He decided against it. Dolores is said to have been one of the soldiers’ hosts, relieved that he helped her to protect them.
Serac calls Rehaboam for help but receives no response. The system took over Solomon’s entrance, Dolores’ last memory. Caleb, now in charge, orders Rehaboam to delete himself.
But unfortunately Dolores is finished.
Bernard has the key to the sublime
Bernard, who still keeps Stubbs alive by throwing ice over him in a motel tub, realizes Dolores is gone. “We were always connected. Something has changed.” Bernard decides that he misjudged Dolores all the time. Now it’s the apocalypse. Westworld had to burn down so the hosts were free. It has to be the same for humans.
Bernard, who knows that he has the key to the sublime, decides to go there to find the answer to “what comes after the end of the world”.
Bernard, who activates the encryption key, sends his mind to the sublime as his body sluggishly collapses.
Meanwhile, Caleb and Maeve leave Incite. Maeve is concerned with not being able to see her daughter today.
In the distance, buildings light up the sky in an orange haze of explosions, signaling the beginning of the end in the melody of Pink Floyd’s brain damage.
Post credits scene 1
Did you forget William He is with Delos International in Dubai and harasses employees because of the location of hosts who have also grown on this side of the world. He finds a printer together with Halores who has a new look and whose arm has a charred sleeve to remind them of the horrors of humanity.
A lot of William, the man in black, cuts William’s throat. A room filled with printers lights up, and her mechanical arms set Halores’ host revolt in motion.
Post credits scene 2
Baked in dust, in the far future, Bernard wakes up again. He has a face that doesn’t look happy. Now it is time to speculate what he saw in the sublime.