Episode Three of Westworld, “Virtue E Fortuna” opened up the worlds of Westworld in a big way. The opening of the episode introduced us to Raj world, which was a nice surprise for those of us expecting to see Shogun World as the next park. The surprise intro of this new world wasn’t the only reveal of this episode, here are all the things we learned:
A new human character
One of the biggest complains about this season is the lack of a lovable human character. So far humanity hasn’t been the best, and this is most likely the show’s way of getting us to sympathize with conscious AI. Yet the fact that there are zero likable humans to root for seems like a one-dimensional miss. It may be too early to speculate, or too naive of me to hope, that the introduction of Grace may be the answer to that question.
We meet Grace in a smart, efficiently engaging character intro that both introduces a likable human character and explains a few things about the way the parks work. Grace is strong, competent, and doesn’t give into the base temptations of the park. She doesn’t like the easy things and goes to great lengths (read: shooting Nicholas) to make sure he’s human. Later, she figures out the revolt pretty darn quick and goes toe-to-toe with a tiger, so that’s pretty badass. I’m looking forward to seeing more of her this season since she somehow miraculously survived being tackled by a tiger off of a cliff.
The revolt isn’t exclusive to Westworld
During the cold open, a Host of Raj World kills multiple guests with the phrase, “these violent delights have violent ends” which was a shocking revelation that perhaps Ford’s new narrative didn’t just apply to Westworld.
The parks border each other
The fact that Grace washes up in Westworld from Raj World means that the parks border each other. We also get an insightful glimpse of the security restraints at the borders of the park, and how useless they become after the hosts revolt.
This episode’s storyline with Maeve, Hector and Sizemore get lost in the park, which gave us a few more hints as to the geography of “the Island of Delos,” which we would assume includes all the parks.
The trio starts above ground on their way to find Maeve’s daughter until the Ghost Nation forces them underground. They wander through underground tunnels and cross paths with an even more badass Armistice, who is alive, well, and still being awesome. Sylvester and Lutz are also alive, but not well, having been in the hands of Armistice for awhile. Still lost, the new gang makes their way above ground where they assume they are in the cold of the mountains not the border of Westworld. But when a Samurai runs out of the woods ready to strike, we realize they have wandered all the way to Shogun world.
All of these revelations broaden the world, even more, connecting the parks not just above the ground, but through the tunnels below.
Ghost Nation is on a different mesh network and only wants guests
In a particularly compelling scene, Maeve, Hector, and Sizemore have a confrontation with members of the Ghost Nation. Maeve immediately recognizes the leader as the same man who killed her and her daughter in previous narratives. Apparently aware of the Mesh Network (a fancy WiFi that connects all the host brains, essentially giving them subconscious telepathy), Maeve attempts to subdue the members of the Ghost Nation. However, this proves futile as the men don’t do what she asks. They allow Maeve and Hector to go free but demand to take Sizemore with them. This tells us two things:
First, that the members of the Ghost Nation are not on the same network as regular hosts. Second, they seem to have some sort of agenda only for human guests. Some have theorized that they are an additional failsafe added by Ford to keep humans safe in the park. Others wonder if they are taking guests for Delos’ DNA collection. Time will tell…
What did you think of Epsiode 3? What was your favorite revelation?
Instinct Culture 