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Dolores's 'Grave' Mistake: Unravelling Religion In 'Westworld'

"Dissonance Theory" gave us a real insight to the religion of Westworld, where it looks like Dolores is digging up trouble.

By Tom ChapmanPublished 6 years ago 4 min read
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Image: HBO

HBO's robo-romp #Westworld continued to mystify in its fourth episode and it looks like the ghosts of the past could be about to rear their heads for our sentient hosts. The park itself has been used as an analogy for the Garden of Eden, with our titular Dolores being the eve of the world, and Anthony Hopkins's Ford is God, battling with Ed Harris's Man in Black/The Devil. It is all speculation at this stage, however, "Dissonance Theory" gave us a real insight to the religion of Westworld, where it looks like Dolores is digging up trouble.

Here's the church and here's the steeple.

Image: HBO

Open the doors and see all the people. The mysterious location of Westworld's amazing maze has had us scratching our heads for the past few weeks, but perhaps the entrance can't be found because it is (quite literally) dead and buried.

The season's second episode gave us Ford's vision quest out into the desert and we came across a mysterious cross. When he first entered the park there was the awkward shot of him shuffling his feet on the ground, as if something was beneath it. What if that something was in fact an entire town? If you remember, he spoke to the creepy robot boy and asked:

"Can you not see it? The town with the white church?"

This week we saw Dolores's flashback to an unknown church, with a very similar looking cross — coincidence? I think not. We have already seen the sub levels of cold storage that look like they used to be in action, so what else is Ford hiding beneath us?

However, it isn't only Dolores who is having flashbacks and seeing strange men in suits. Ol' Maeve starts seeing ghosts of her encounter with the Westworld doctors, who are strangely worshipped as a religion.

Image: HBO

Dead and Buried

Image: HBO

One of the most poignant moments of the episode came during Dolores's flashbacks with creepy girl No.1. In a gruesome twist of fate, eagle-eyed viewers may spot that the grave that Dolores is digging up is actually her own. It all sounds very A Christmas Carol, but what are the implications moving forward?

Image HBO

Putting on the tin foil, could Dolores have actually been a real woman in the days of old, and tragically lost her life some time in Westworld? Having a graveyard in the park makes sense for aesthetic reasons, but to have actual names relating to people on the gravestones just seems a detail too far. We know that there was a critical failure 30 years ago, which we assume cost Ford's partner Arnold his life, but he may not have been the only one.

If we are going with the buried church theory, then at some point, and for some reason, the church has been buried pretty deep. We also saw Anthony Hopkins's digging work, so we know that large scale creation/destruction is nothing new in Westworld. Whatever significance the church had needed to be hidden away, say for example being the entrance to the maze.

Image: HBO

Jeffrey Wright's Bernard even asked Dolores if she would like to go to the maze, however if the entrance is the church it looks like she has been there before. Flashback or flash forward, the fact that Dolores is in the same dress during every interaction seems to confirm the theory that we are working in separate timelines. We already have the theory that perhaps Dolores's new BFF William could be the sinister Man in Black, and this week we move another step closer to finding out if they are connected.

Gods Amongst Men

Image: HBO

Sticking with the religious theme of this week, we also get an insight to the "religion" of the hazmat suit men — aka the world's most inept doctors. Worshipped by the natives, the hazmat men have become brothel madam Maeve's latest obsession and that Thandie Newton sure is a nosy cow. She employed the help of rugged outlaw Hector Escaton. Before they go down in a Bonnie and Clyde of bullets he reveals:

"The man walks between worlds, he was sent from hell to oversee our world."

Image: HBO

Clearly the hell they refer to is the medical bay that we have previously seen, but how would anyone know that that exists? So far Maeve just has a few fragmented memories of what has been. The "savages" worship the doctors (known as Shades) as a religion, even creating idols to them, which would suggest that Dolores and Maeve aren't the only ones who can see behind the curtain of Westworld. Although with Maeve riddled with bullets once more, are we back to square one?

If Maeve has retained memories of her encounter with the Shades, then other hosts forgetting to forget will soon be on the increase. We may have seen Maeve and Dolores butt heads on their ideals, but the two of them are now transfixed on the image of the hazmat hunnies. Chances are they could become a Thelma and Louise of conspiracy and journey to the church maze together.

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About the Creator

Tom Chapman

Tom is a Manchester-based writer with square eyes and the love of a good pun. Raised on a diet of Jurassic Park, this ’90s boy has VHS flowing in his blood. No topic is too big for this freelancer by day, crime-fighting vigilante by night.

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