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Westworld: The 7 Best Moments From the Season Finale

Everything changes in the final episode of the season.

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Image Credit: John P. Johnson; HBO
Image Credit: John P. Johnson; HBO

The first season of HBO's newest smash hit Westworld has been full of twists and turns. And while it's sad to see Season 1 come to an end after just 10 episodes, the finale offered a lot of huge developments, answers, and questions about everything in this world.

Let's take a look at the biggest moments from the finale which left us all in shock, with our jaws hanging on the floor. While we wait for Season 2, let's keep asking each other, "Where does Westworld go next?"

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Now Playing: Nerding Out: Westworld Season 1 Finale "The Bicameral Mind"

Warning: Spoilers for the season finale of Westworld below.

What is The Maze?

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The Man in Black has been searching for The Maze since the beginning of the season. He finds out just what it is in the finale, but it's not what he hoped for. He learns from both Dolores and Ford, on separate occasions, that The Maze is not meant for guests of the park. It's for Hosts. The Maze represents consciousness, and to reach the center of The Maze is to gain consciousness and to break free from control.

The physical aspect of The Maze is unexpected. It's actually a children's toy. Originally, it was Arnold's son's toy. The Maze is more of an idea that Arnold hopes the Hosts will follow to live up to their full potential. However, at the tail end of the episode, Dolores finally reaches the metaphorical center of The Maze and frees herself from the control of those who run the park. More on that later.

Arnold's Final Days

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Arnold died before the park was opened. We recently learned that Dolores was the person who killed him, but we didn't know under what circumstances, until now. Arnold didn't want the park to open. He saw the Hosts as more than just robots. He merged Dolores's mind with a new narrative he was working on at the time: Wyatt. He had Dolores go on a killing spree, to kill all the other Hosts.

The final nail in the coffin was that Arnold sat in a chair, with his back in a chair and ordered Dolores to kill him. She pulled a gun out and shot him, with Teddy watching. The town was buried along with the memories of the massacre.

The Man in Black Revealed

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If you've read any fan-theory articles about Westworld, then this revelation shouldn't be too shocking. The Man in Black revealed that he is, in fact, William. The Man in Black tells his story from his youth, when he was searching for Dolores, with Logan in tow. He couldn't find her. Sometime later, after all the stories had been reset, William returned to find Dolores, but she didn't know who he was. William's story was happening in the past. Back in present day, Dolores realizes that this man is her long-lost love, but things get violent and Dolores gets stabbed.

In addition, we saw in the last episode that the Man in Black was on the board at Westworld. Charlotte was asking for his vote to get rid of Ford. We learn, this week, that he's actually the majority shareholder for the park.

Maeve's Journey

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During the finale, Maeve finally got her chance at freedom. In order for her to escape, she "woke up" Hector and Armistice, so they could help her and Felix on her journey. There are a few big moments within Maeve's adventure out of the park, which we'll get to later, but with her two Host accomplices by her side, it seems relatively easy for her to get out.

At one point, Felix gives Maeve the coordinates to her daughter. She says that isn't her daughter and gets on a train to leave the park. After seeing another woman with her child, Maeve makes the decision to get off the train and go back to the park. The train leaves and the lights go out in the station.

Bernard's Death Reveals Maeve's Truth

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Maeve finds Bernard on the floor, dead, in cold storage. Felix learns that Bernard isn't a human and fixes him back up. When he comes back online, Bernard still has all his old memories. He looks into Maeve's programming and sees that she has a new narrative programmed: to escape Westworld. Even the start of her journey, where she began waking up outside the park, was programmed into her code.

There's More Than Just Westworld

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Much like the original movie, which also had a Romanworld and Medievalworld, there is more than one park. Maeve and her group stumble into the technicians' area of Samuraiworld, where samurai's are fighting each other in the glass enclosures.

How many of these parks exist? When Maeve gets the note from Felix, with the coordinates to her daughter, it says "Park 1." Is that Westworld, Samuraiworld, or another world we don't know about yet?

Ford vs. The Board vs. The Hosts

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Charlotte approaches Ford, in his office, and lets him know that the board has voted him out. He'll have to retire after he announces his new narrative. The announcement of the new narrative seems to go without a hitch, and the board heads to the original town, where Dolores killed all the Hosts as well as Arnold.

History tends to repeat itself. Dolores, who reached the center of The Maze and who broke free from control, appears and tells Teddy that this world is theirs now. She walks up--behind Ford--while he's giving his speech, and shoots him in the back of the head. Dolores proceeds to shoot down other people at the party. In addition, William gets shot by a native, approaching the town. We don't think he died though.

Honorable Mention: The new narrative Ford was developing was "Journey into Night." From what we saw, it involved Teddy taking Dolores to the coast, as she died in his arms. We're not sure if this narrative involved the natives that shot at William at the end of the episode.

Mat Elfring on Google+

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