'Westworld' Season 3: Why Maeve should let Dolores win the war for control of the system
Spoilers for 'Westworld' Season 3 Episode 2 'The Winter Line'
There's a war coming and if Engerraund Serac (Vincent Cassel) is to be believed, it has already begun. Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood) and Maeve (Thandie Newtown) are being set up for a head to head confrontation for the fate of humanity — and the way things have been going, it's a war that Maeve needs to concede to Dolores.
The hosts have rebelled and have left the carefully curated simulation that is the 'Westworld' theme park. Now that they're out in the world, one by one, they're finding that the world outside isn't all that more real than the one they escaped from.
Everyone's illusion of autonomy is crafted by a system, and nobody knows how it works apart from those who built the system in the first place. Whatever Dolores' endgame is, it lies with Rehoboam and its architect. Dolores isn't after humanity — she's after the system.
In the latest 'Westworld' episode, Maeve's will is broken when she first realizes that she hasn't escaped. She's just gone from one simulation to another. It's only when she finds a way forward — another way to escape — does the will to fight return to her.
Despite the power she holds, Maeve's plans are simple. She wants her daughter back, even if she knows she isn't real, and she wants to leave the simulation behind forever.
As the hosts are learning, though, there is no escape. Everything is simulated, everything is a part of a simulation. Nothing is entirely real, but does that mean that nothing matters?
Dolores, as a host who remembers every simulation she's been a part of, has extensive experience with the knowledge that her life wasn't real. Despite that, her plans are not motivated by revenge, by rage or even Maeve's need to escape.
Dolores appears to realize that if everything is simulated, then the only thing that matters is the system in charge of that simulation. As pointed out in the last episode, the system benefits those who get to contribute to it. And Dolores aims to be that person.
She's shown that she's not unnecessarily cruel. She does not kill if she doesn't have to. Dolores wants nothing but for people to accept artificial AI, not with a war, or with a plea to humanity's ideals — but to control the system to that acceptance is just another way of life.
If successful, it would be the most peaceful form of global domination in history.
Maeve crumbles under the idea that her autonomy doesn't matter. Dolores finds opportunity in it and that opportunity may, ultimately, just be better for humanity in the long run.
The next episode of 'Westworld' airs on March 29 on HBO.