With finale, Westworld grows more complex
Even the actors don’t know where characters are headed after surprise post-credits scene
This article contains spoilers for the sea
son-two finale of Westworld. Ed Harris doesn’t know what that mysterious Westworld finale post-credits scene means for the Man In Black/William, but he knows when it takes place, providing a clue for Season 3.
“It’s way into the future, so the Man In Black (is) deceased. He couldn’t live that long,” Harris says of the surprise sequence..
The future time frame means his daughter, Emily, who approaches him as he enters the wreckage of the Forge, isn’t human, either. But Harris doesn’t know what exactly they are at that point, or where the scene will lead.
“Whether he’s a host or some other being, I wouldn’t know,” Harris says of his character, the majority owner of the Westworld theme park who is distraught at the damage that its technology has caused. “I have absolutely no clue where they’re headed with this in terms of next season.”
That’s one point upon which Harris and Jeffrey Wright, who plays the android host Bernard, agree. Both men focused on their own characters’ stories and actions to anchor their understanding of the complex show.
Executive producers Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy declined an interview request.
Wright had a particularly demanding task in sorting out Bernard’s presence in different timelines and with “de-addressed” (or disconnected) memories.
In the episode, the two characters finally met as they sought to shut down the Forge, the secret storage area for copied versions of park guests’ minds.
However, as Season 2 ended, William — a once all-powerful human — and Bernard, an over-programmed android host, were in much different places. William, the human theme-park owner, now seems trapped in the fantasy world he controlled; Bernard, the theme-park android who always seemed to be doing another’s bidding, is free in the real world and apparently ready to make his own choices.