What Actually Happened in the Westworld Season One Finale, and What We Want From Season Two

The most exciting new show of 2016 went out with a bang as the first season of Westworld closed with the brewing of a robot rebellion. After a season of big questions, eager viewers got a whole lot of answers when HBO finally revealed the meaning of the maze, the origins of the Man in Black, and the twisted reality of life as a host. Though not every question was answered in the finale, we got more than enough insight into the inner workings of the Delos Corporation and their maniacal attempt to breathe life into a new species. If you found yourself scratching your head when the credits rolled, or you simply can’t wait for the second planned season, then here are a few things to consider while we all wait for the park to reopen. SPOILERS AHEAD.

1. What Was the Deal With the Maze, Exactly?

As Ford and Arnold worked with their humanoid robots, like all obsessed scientists they pushed the limits of the available technology and devised new ways for their projects to mimic humanity. Namely, they built a foundation of fake memories and then added stock behaviors. The two began to act on each other and influence the hosts’ behavior. It was around this time that Arnold began to notice odd behaviors in the hosts. They seemed to be inching closer and closer to their own thoughts and motivations. Arnold, sympathetic to these machines grasping for humanity, created the maze as a means of leading hosts (metaphorically) to a kind of spiritual awakening, that would teach them to rely on their own intuition, thus making them essentially human.