Monkeys Fighting Robots

Last night’s episode of Westworld, “Virtù e Fortuna”, gave us a glimpse of some of the other Delos parks waiting to be explored, questions about free will, and showed us how much fun you can have with a flame-thrower.  Caution: SPOILERS roll through these hills, so take heed before moving on.

There Are Other Worlds Than These

Katja Herbers as Grace in Westworld

Things kick off in another park, but unfortunately not Shogun World (we have to get there eventually, right?).  The Raj, as it’s called on this Delos website, is based on colonial India, where guests can ride elephants, hunt tigers, and smoke what appear to be very loosely-rolled cigarettes.  An intuitive and well-armed woman (unnamed in the episode, but called Grace according to IMDB) embarks on a hunting expedition but quickly realizes something is wrong.  She narrowly escapes being killed by an out-of-control host, then is chased out of the “guest experience area” by the same Bengal tiger that Bernard and crew found washed up on shore in “Journey Into Night”.  After the attack, she washes up on the very same shore, at the feet of a few members of the Ghost Nation.

Monkeys Fighting Robots Youtube

“She Has a Dragon”

Maeve, along with Hector and a humiliated Lee, encounter their own band of Ghost Nation warriors while hauling ass across a stream.  Maeve is unable to control the warriors as she has other hosts, so they are forced to flee.  They find a conveniently placed elevator and take it underground.  Here Lee watches Maeve and Hector share a tender moment and becomes incensed that this affection is outside the narrative he wrote for them (I guess this is a bigger issue for him than the kidnapping, murder, etc.).  Hector tells Lee that he is no longer controlled by the narrative, but while saying it, Lee speaks the words Hector was about to use, so Hector’s level of self-determination is very much up for debate.

Maeve and Crew

In the underground halls, they find Armistice, complete with a new arm and new armaments (grenades and a flame-thrower or, if you prefer, dragon), gleefully lighting a man on fire.  She leads them to Maeve’s former lackey Felix and his partner Sylvester.  Heading back outside to find Maeve’s daughter, they find an abandoned campsite, a decapitated head, and an angry samurai.

The Battle of the Three Armies

Bernard and Charlotte finally find Peter Abernathy (and the cache of guest information hidden within him).  Peter is being held hostage (along with some board members) by Rebus and his magnificent sideburns.  Steven Ogg as Rebus in Westworld Virtù e Fortuna

Charlotte lures the outlaw into the woods and, after a quick rock to the head and a digital attitude adjustment, he goes from the Rebus the Maleficent to Rebus the Virtuous, killing his crew and freeing the hostages.   Charlotte and Bernard try to extract Peter, but the hasty programming job Charlotte previously had Lee install causes some issues and the Confederados capture Peter and Bernard while she rides off.

Dolores/Wyatt and her army (including Clementine!) reach Fort Forlorn Hope and convince the rest of the Confederados to join them for the coming battle with Delos.  Before the clash ensues, Dolores is reunited with Peter Abernathy, her father from a previous loop.  The reunion quickly turns sad, as Dolores sees her father torn by his conflicting programming.  Part of him is still her father and wants to return to their home, but the other part (only a shell of a whole person) is driven to get to the train out of the park.  Dolores asks Bernard to fix Peter.  He tells her about Peter’s conflicting programming and the large, unknown files he’s housing.

While he’s working to break the encryption, a visually-impressive but confusing battle occurs.  Delos and QA storm the heavily-manned front of the fort, but I guess no one thought to close the back door, because Charlotte manages to have her men sneak in and retrieve Peter while most of the fighting is happening out front.  Dolores, after having her own forces retreat into the fort, stranding her new “comrades” the Confederados outside, notices the men kidnapping her father and sets off into a hail of bullets after them, but is unable to stop Charlotte from escaping with him.  Angela blows up the invading force and Dolores tells Teddy to execute Craddock and the remaining Confederados.  Teddy, who has never been fully on-board with Dolores and her violent crusade, spares Craddock and his men.  He may think he’s doing to the right thing, but the look on Dolores’s face says Teddy is probably no longer on her list of “those who deserve to get to Glory”.

What’s Next?

Who is Grace, and how does she and The Raj fit into the rest of the storyline?  Will Teddy end up as one of the hosts floating in the sea, or make it to Glory?  Can the new version of Clementine talk, or just drag people around by the arm?  We’ll have to tune in to the upcoming episodes to find out.

 

 

 

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Joshua Versalle
Josh is a writer and a lover of The Simpsons, Monty Python, The State, Breaking Bad, Arrested Development, and Preacher. He spends probably too much time reading and has lately been attempting to eat the occasional vegetable, with limited success.
westworld-review-heading-east-of-westworld-in-virtu-e-fortunaThis episode is filled with action and more humor than we're used to seeing from Westworld, which goes some way towards making up for a few plot holes.