'Westworld' Season 3 Episode 6 promo shows Dolores and Maeve face each other but it is a simulation
‘Westworld’ Season 3 has only three episodes left and things are heating up. Episode 5 of the season saw Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood) put into motion her revolution. She hacked into Incite using Liam’s (John Gallagher Jr.) credentials and transferred the personal data of every person in the world to the respective persons.
The result of this action was visible in the Rehoboam monitor being observed by Serac (Vincent Cassel) -- there were divergences everywhere. The smooth edges of the eclipse-like circle now had angry waves. The episode also cast a little more light on the mysterious past of Caleb (Aaron Paul), hinting at the possibility that he wasn’t just an ordinary human with no potential; in fact, he was in all probability an outlier who had the potential to disrupt everything Serac had worked to build.
So, what lies ahead? Episode 6 of ‘Westworld’ Season 3 is titled ‘Decoherence’. It’s a term used in quantum mechanics that refers to interactions between a system and its environment that lead to suppression of interference. It is a process in which a system's behavior changes from that which can be explained by quantum mechanics to that which can be explained by classical mechanics.
It’s difficult to assume how this phenomenon is relevant to the episode (and that was true for the title of the previous episode as well -- ‘Genre’ being the name of a designer drug is hardly the first thing that pops into anyone’s head), but what is known is that quantum computing plays a big part in the real world of ‘Westworld’. How else could an idea like Rehoboam have been actualized? Examples of this can also be cited to another mind-bending, philosophical science fiction series, Alex Garland’s ‘Devs’, that too has, at its core, a deterministic philosophy, and technology similar to Rehoboam.
Coming back to episode 6, the promo reveals both, a lot, and just shy of enough. It begins with a mighty moment. Dolores and Maeve (Thandie Newton) meet again. The setting is that of what looks like a Delos lab. Dolores is on a stool, naked, just like all Hosts would be when being examined by a technician. And Maeve, for some reason, was standing in the same attire that she was in when she (or rather her mind) was locked inside War World.
There’s a subtle clue in that very tiny scene in the promo that fans of ‘Westworld’ should be able to spot immediately. When things take place inside the minds of Hosts and the Hosts realize it to be so, the aspect ratio changes on the screen. “We talked about that aspect-ratio change for a long time and how important it was to signal the truth about where Maeve was and how she was actually in a simulation,” Lisa Joy told Insider in an interview. “We wanted the camera to move to mirror and bring that realization to life.”
In this scene in the promo, little black bars appear at the top and bottom of the screen. This signals that Maeve is not physically present there. Rather, the situation was a simulation. “We thought it would be fun to use the dolly to do the aspect ratio change, which I have not quite seen before,” Jonathan Nolan told Insider. “We wanted to subtly touch on the idea of the distinction between reality and virtual reality in a show that is already pretty damn complicated. Trying to give one concrete visual reminder of where you are in the hierarchy of things.”
So, Maeve and Dolores meet inside her head. That much is clear. The last time we saw Meave, she was killed by Dolores, but in the form of Musashi (Hiroyuki Sanada). The Dolores-Maeve conversation continues even as the promo shows Tessa Thompson’s Charlotte Hale, who we now know is also Dolores. Maeve tells Dolores, “It’s not fair for one person to have all that power,” to which the latter responds, “Says the woman who can control us with her mind.”
The promo also sees glimpses of War World -- perhaps this is where Maeve has been reprogrammed to enter when she dies in real life. We also catch a couple of glimpses of Serac. One scene especially is quite intriguing where Serac can be seen holding a gun to Caleb’s head. Ther promo also features glimpses of William (Ed Harris), now locked inside a mental health facility. He can be seen resisting, but to no avail.
Finally, one of the most bizarre parts of the promo is Maeve back in Westworld, with her old look. The aspect ratio change signifies this too is a simulation. But one wonders if she’s back in the park or if she’s now inside “The Valley Beyond”. The promo ends with Dolores’ voice: “I’ve had to make some difficult choices… We’re survivors.”
The next episode of 'Westworld' airs on April 19 on HBO.