From the outside, Westworld looks a lot like the 1973 film that inspired it: Theme park robots rise up against their human masters and chaos ensues. Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy’s HBO series, however, is using its vessel as an extended series to explore the global implications of artificial intelligence gaining true consciousness. This latter point was emphasized in last night’s episode, the second of its second season, when we saw a flashback of Evan Rachel Wood’s Dolores existing in the world outside of Westworld. There, she has an offhand encounter with d-bag Delos flunky Logan, who, after consuming a half-dozen whiskey sours, remarks that this entire project will mark the end of the human species. It’s easy to think he’s simply predicting a robot uprising, but the truth is likely much more complicated than that.
Last week, we explored some theories that there were multiple versions of Jeffrey Wright’s Bernard peppered throughout the park. It’s very likely that he’s not the only one getting cloned out here—in season two’s first episode, it was revealed that Delos was in the process of collecting its users’ DNA. And, in last night’s episode, it was heavily implied that Jim Delos, the head honcho of his namesake corporation, is at death’s door and that William is urging him to be patient as “the process” is moving forward. Could this mean that there’s efforts being made to transmit Delos’ consciousness to a clone before the man himself dies? If so, what kind of power does that give those running the park?
One user on Reddit elaborates on this theory:
After S02E01, it was made clear that Delos is collecting DNA & experiences from their guests. My belief is that the purpose of the park is to become the next phase in human evolution – to move all of humanity beyond their “human” bodies.