“Westworld” creators Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan have made good on their promise to reveal everything about Season 2 of the HBO series, and now no mystery about the show remains.
PSYCH. We all just got WestRolled. In a massive fakeout, they released what quickly turned out to be a video of Evan Rachel Wood singing a surprisingly good ballady-version of Rick Astley’s 1987 hit song “Never Gonna Give You Up.” That’s followed by 20 minutes of black-and-white footage of a dog sitting in front of a piano.
This all started during the married duo’s Reddit AMA Monday when Nolan told the “Westworld” subreddit that if the post got 1,000 upvotes, they would release a super-spoilery video explaining season 2, with hopes that those who know the plot can protect others from getting spoiled.
Obviously, enough people upvoted the post to get the video posted. But you didn’t think they were actually going to reveal actual spoilers, did you?
Not that Nolan and Joy didn’t go the full mile to make it look like the real deal. The Rickroll was preceded by dreamy footage purported to be from the upcoming season, narrated by co-star Jeffrey Wright.
“Our season begins with Bernard waking up on a beach,” Wright says. “He can’t remember what happened, or how he got there.”
What follows are scenes in which Bernard is supposedly captured and questioned by Delos security. We see hosts being summarily executed. We see scenes of dusty, Old West towns. “Can he remember Dolores?” asks Wright. “Can he remember the choice he made?”
Then cue Wood and her Rickroll. Song concluded, we’re shown a black screen and the following message: “Dear Reddit, from all of us here at “Westworld,” thank you for watching. We hope you enjoy season 2.”
Honestly, we’re extremely impressed. Well played, you magnificent bastards.
Jennifer Maas contributed to this post
“Westworld” Season 2 premieres on April 22 at 9/8 c on HBO..
New 'Westworld' Season 2 Pics Are Out to Make You Question the Nature of Your Reality (Photos)
"Westworld" returns for its second season on April 22. But before it officially comes back online, the show decided to tease you with a series of new pics from the sophomore installment. Of course, all they really do is give you more questions than answers, but TheWrap is going to do its best to at least help you figure out the questions you should be asking. Click through this gallery to see the pics, and our analysis of what the hell is going on here.
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Dolores' got a gun -- or at least some bullets
Oh, look, it's Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood) with a bullet belt. That's new and different. Probably meant to make her look like the most badass host in Sweetwater, as she leads the uprising that was started when she shot and killed Dr. Ford (Anthony Hopkins) at the end of Season 1. It's working.
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The new guy
In this shot, Antoine Costa (Fares Fares), is seen at a makeshift campsite. He's a new character, a tech expert brought in to try to restore order for Delos Destinations amid the chaos of the robot uprising.
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Whose side are you on?
And at that same makeshift camp is Bernard (Jeffrey Wright), your favorite host -- next to Dolores, of course -- who didn't actually know he was a host until well into Season 1. He appears to be cooperating with the group here, so does that mean he is on Team Human in all this? He did work for the park until he discovered the true nature of his reality, so it's a possibility.
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Yup, definitely Team Human
Here's more proof that Bernard is siding with the non-AI crew in this war, as we see him with Stubbs (Luke Hemsworth) -- yup, he's alive -- and some "Westworld" newcomers, control team members Karl Strand (Gustaf Skarsgard) and Maling (Betty Gabriel).
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Bernard, you traitor
Here is yet another picture showing Bernard in cahoots with Delos, as he appears to be consulting with Charlotte Hale (Tessa Thompson), Delos' executive director of the board overseeing Westworld, who was working to oust Ford -- till Dolores took care of that little problem for her. Of course she started a whole other problem then too.
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New look, who dis?
Now here is a pic of new series regular Talulah Riley, in a very different mode than we're used to seeing this host. In Season 1, she played the greeter Angela who welcomed William (Jimmi Simpson) to the park all dressed in white. She was later discovered by Teddy (James Marsden) and The Man in Black (Ed Harris) as a prisoner. Here she is looking pretty seductive. No clue.
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The other leader of the pack
While Dolores spent the entire first season traveling through her own maze to become self-aware and ultimately start the robopocalypse, Maeve (Thandie Newton) came to that realization as well, albeit with a little manipulation to her programming at first. But come the finale, she went off track and decided to go in search of her daughter inside the park, rather than continue on her set path to escape Westworld. In this pic, it appears she's taking charge, just like Dolores. Wonder if they are working together, or there are multiple factions inside Team Host. Gah, we already need to get out a white board.
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Where the hell are we?
This season, creators Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy have said we are definitely going to travel outside of Sweetwater, and Westworld itself. We just didn't know one of those new locations would be so blindingly bathed in red light. Oh and there it's Lee Sizemore (Simon Quarterman). Looks like he's still alive and working with (for?) Maeve.
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Back in black
Ed Harris is returning as the Man in Black. All you need to know here at the moment is that the park's most loyal customer clearly survived the fight that ensued between the hosts and employees at the end of Season 1 when Ford was shot (but did you really think he wouldn't?) and is still playing the game.
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Hanging tough
Hector (Rodrigo Santoro) is also looking pretty good after going through a rough shoot out with Delos employees to help fellow host Maeve try and escape at the end of Season 1. Of course, she wouldn't let him come with her and ultimately decided not to leave herself. That may not lead to a happy reunion in Season 2.
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We'll see what all this really means (or doesn't) when Season 2 of "Westworld" premieres on April 22 on HBO.
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These don’t look like anything to us
"Westworld" returns for its second season on April 22. But before it officially comes back online, the show decided to tease you with a series of new pics from the sophomore installment. Of course, all they really do is give you more questions than answers, but TheWrap is going to do its best to at least help you figure out the questions you should be asking. Click through this gallery to see the pics, and our analysis of what the hell is going on here.
HBO
HBO
