Sumith Prasad
The fourth season of HBO’s science-fiction series ‘Westworld’ begins seven years after the events of the third season finale. Maeve Millay and Caleb Nichols separate after destroying Rehoboam and lead individual lives. Christina, a game writer, gets confronted by Peter, who blames her for affecting and predicting his life through her writing. The ambiguous actions of William AKA the Man in Black harm several lives and result in the reunion of Maeve and Caleb. The enthralling first episode of the season, titled ‘The Auguries,’ leaves behind several unanswered questions, including two startling ones in the end. Let us decode the same for you! SPOILERS AHEAD.
Westworld Season 4 Episode 1 Recap
‘The Auguries’ begins with William visiting an industrial plant to buy the establishment. The official of the planet declines his lucrative offer, only to encounter a large number of flies in his home later the same day. The next day, he kills his boss, transfers the ownership of the plant to William, and kills himself. Christina’s career gets threatened when her storylines and characters do not align with her company Olympiad Entertainment’s commercial interests. Her roommate sets her up for an unappealing date. She also complains about an anonymous caller, who talks to her about incomprehensible things, to her roommate.
Caleb, after destroying Rehoboam, marries Uwade and eventually becomes the father of Frankie. Even though seven years have passed since Dolores Abernathy’s death, he is still cautious and doubtful about people from his past trying to harm his family. Maeve, on the other hand, is living alone in a little house, reminiscing about her daughter. One day, a group of men tries to kill her. After killing most of the men, she confronts their leader Colonel Brigham, who refuses to tell her who had sent the group. She kills him, opens his head, connects his memory to her head, and sees William instructing Brigham.
Christina unexpectedly meets an individual named Peter, who is revealed as the anonymous caller. He asks her how she knows about his and his group’s fates to incorporate the same in her storylines. Peter eventually kills himself by falling from a building after asking Christina whether he is dying in her storyline by falling from such a building. A hitman arrives at Caleb’s house to kill him but Maeve kills the man and saves her friend. She lets him know that William is after them and a senator in California. To solve the mystery, they leave for meeting the senator.
Westworld Season 4 Episode 1 Ending: Is Teddy Flood Alive? Is the Hiding Man Teddy or Someone Else?
In Westworld, Teddy is a host who shares love and deep bonding with Dolores. When the latter starts her battle against humans, she changes Teddy to a “monster” to fight with her. However, Teddy realizes that he is not the same individual anymore and kills himself to not lead a life of barbarity. When Peter follows Christina, an anonymous man helps her by handling him. He hides around Christina’s apartment and looks at her at night. At the end of the episode, it is revealed that the hiding man resembles Teddy Flood like Christina resembles Dolores.
It is unlikely that Teddy is alive, especially after he has killed himself. Even though Dolores sends his soul to the Sublime after the death of his mortal form, she isn’t alive to use the soul to give him a rebirth. Bernard, who possesses the key to the Sublime, doesn’t have any reason to specifically recreate Teddy. Thus, the man most likely is a different individual than Dolores’ dead lover. However, the man and Christina resembling Teddy and Dolores respectively cannot be a coincidence.
The maze symbol that appears in Christina’s apartment indicates that she is somehow connected to Westworld. The man can be connected to Westworld in the same way as well. Like Dr. Robert Ford created Bernard to fill the absence of Arnold Weber, he might have created Christina and the hiding man in the appearance of Dolores and Teddy.
Why Does William Try to Kill Maeve and Caleb?
When Maeve informs Caleb that William is after them, he gets stunned. After living seven years off the grid, Maeve and Caleb do not know why William wants them dead without any particular reason they are aware. The Man in Black must be acting according to the orders of the host version of Charlotte Hale. In the third season finale, Hale runs a facility in Dubai to create a large number of hosts and seemingly kills William after creating his host version. Hale must be trying to eliminate her potential enemies by likely ordering the Man in Black to kill the duo.
Hale must be intending to introduce a new world order of the Hosts. Seemingly killing the human version of William, who had sworn to destroy every existing host, can be seen as her first step. As far as Maeve is concerned, she has never believed in the supremacy of her species as a host. She only cares about reuniting with her daughter and the same has prevented her from joining the forces of the Hosts even when Dolores wanted her to. Hale must be believing that Maeve will never be her ally. Maeve’s willingness to help Caleb to destroy Rehoboam further makes her an ally of the dead Dolores, who had abandoned Hale.
Caleb, on the other hand, is someone who has expressed his willingness to sacrifice his own life for Dolores. He is also the one who fulfilled Dolores’ wish to destroy Engerraund Serac’s AI system. Hale must be fearing his intervention again when she possibly controls the world as Rehoboam did. Considering these possibilities, Hale has all the reasons to put an end to the existence of the duo. Hale wants a world where she can introduce her authority without any opposition. William’s presumed death shows us how far she will go to achieve her ambitions as well.
The wait of seven years can be the time Hale has taken to create a “Host army.” Since Maeve and Caleb aren’t immediate threats, she may have focused on her priorities, which likely include William’s acquisition of the plant. Hale’s apparent “precautionary measures” may backfire since Maeve and Caleb are determined to fight against William rather than hide from him. As a father, Caleb wants his enemies annihilated rather than having them lurking around his family.
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