Let's Break Down Everything 'Westworld' Fans Know About That Dolores Twist
Ever since the Season 2 finale of Westworld, fans have been trying to figure out who left the Delos park. The only two hosts anyone had conclusive proof escaped were Dolores (inside the Charlotte Hale replica) and Bernard. There were four other "pearls" Dolores took with her to implant as needed, but no one was certain who. Guesses have ranged from loyal lieutenants like Clementine and Angela, to family members like Teddy and Peter. But it turns out Dolores didn't take anyone but copies of herself. So how did Dolores clone herself? Warning: Spoilers for Westworld Season 3 follow.
After 18 months of guessing, fans finally found out who the four black pearls were in Dolores' purse at the end of Season 2. The red speckled one was Bernard; fans knew this due to the episode's closing moments, where she remakes him. But why were the black ones were a different color? Did it represent something?
It turns out it was because all four pearls were the same. Dolores didn't take Clementine Pennyfeather, or Angela, or even Teddy to help her build the new world fo hosts outside the park. In the end, she decided she couldn't trust any of them. She could only trust herself to be tough enough to handle the task.
Some fans had already guessed Dolores might be running the Charlotte replica. But the discovery she's also the one running her own body, plus Connells and Musashi, was a genuine shock. Up until now, Westworld had indicated that these pearls weren't able to be copied. Each was a singular unit, which contained the only version of any host.
For instance, there were many copies of Bernard bodies stored beneath the replica of Ford's childhood home, but only one Bernard at a time. The same goes for someone like James Delos, where the lab was trying to replicate the former CEO of the company. In the scene where multiple Delos are being tested, each is a slight variation on the pearl, no two alike.
Fans already know the Dolores placed inside Hale went into meltdown at being implanted, and had to be talked back up by "Dolores Prime." That's not the character fans know. It suggests these copies are not quite as perfect or stable as Dolores is pretending they are. How long until Dolores' insistence on doing everything "herself" blows up in her face?
Moreover, does this discovery also mess with Rehoboam? Serac already stated Dolores (and her implant versions) are something Rehoboam had not accounted for when they appeared. Can the computer program track four of the same person? Or three copies, which may or may not be degrading? Was Dolores' decision also to confuse and throw her enemy off course?
But the biggest question is what does Serac do with this knowledge? Does this mean all four hosts are a key to the Forge? Or is that a property only held by the one inside Dolores Prime?
