Editor's note: The below contains spoilers for Westworld Season 4.The end of Westworld’s Season 4 finale, “Que Será, Será,” concludes with Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood) delivering a monologue, where she explains her plans to bring back the original “Westworld” park. This new test promises “one last loop,” and will fundamentally determine whether the hosts are capable of creating a better world than their creators. Dolores has infinite capabilities within the digital afterlife called The Sublime. However, it seems like she’s comfortable sticking with the same setting that the show keeps coming back to.
Unfortunately, Dolores’ sentiments are shared by Westworld’s actual creators, Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan. While the first season of HBO’s reimagining of the Michael Crichton novel felt like the best sci-fi mystery since Lost, Westworld got trapped within its own loop. The show continued to complicate its worldbuilding, but it became harder to follow what was going on. Humans were being turned into hosts, entire scenes were revealed to be illusions, and events took place at unclear points in the timeline; watching Westworld felt like analyzing a scattered collection of attractions.
In an interview given after the Season 4 finale aired, Joy stated that the show was always intended to conclude after a five-season arc. While there are times it may have seemed as if Westworld has been making things up as it goes along, as of now everything has been going to plan. The stage is set for a fifth and final season to return to the show’s original setting. However, HBO has yet to renew the series, and perhaps that is for the best. Even if it wasn’t intended to serve as the series’ end, “Que Será, Será” does a great job at wrapping up all the major character arcs of the show.
Humanity has turned in on itself. After Charlotte Hale (Tessa Thompson) released a virus that turned humans into mindless killing machines, the world was set into a disturbing apocalyptic future. Although Frankie (Aurora Perrineau) and a few of the other Outliers managed to escape from the chaos, they are among the few that have resisted the virus’ signal. The likelihood of their survival for much longer is slim; Westworld has already made up its mind about mankind. Perhaps, it's better if Frankie and her companions sail off to an unknown fate. Frankie was already able to bid farewell to her father, Caleb (Aaron Paul). Speaking of Caleb, his journey also reached its logical conclusion. Caleb has feared nothing more than someone determining his fate for him, and this season he was trapped in a robotic body at Hale’s behest. The one benefit to his torment was that he got to bid to see his daughter grow up. It doesn’t seem like Caleb will reach The Sublime, and it wouldn’t be fitting within his character arc if he did. Caleb needs a human death; even if we don’t see it on screen, it's easy to imagine that he will go out fighting.
If Westworld has ever had a definitive villain, it's been the Man in Black himself, William (Ed Harris). William’s consciousness is transferred to a host’s body, but the host version of William meets a grizzly end during his shootout with Hale at The Forge. It was a satisfying death for one of the most despicable characters in the series, and it made sense for William to die during one last version of the game. This is the game that William always wanted to play; he’s just not among the winners.
We also got to see some heroic sacrifices from the heroes. Stubbs (Luke Hemsworth) gives his life to protect Frankie, Bernard (Jeffrey Wright) guides Hale to choose the path of good, and Maeve is able to save the hosts that are living in The Sublime, including her daughter. We even got a brief stinger featuring the fan-favorite Akecheta (Zahn McClarnon), who now presides as one of the leaders within The Sublime. Seeing new or different versions of these heroes would feel cheap; they’ve served their purpose, and their actions will have lasting implications.
The one thread left hanging is what Dolores has in store with her new “test.” Dolores has chosen the side of good. The remnants of Wyatt, Hale, and her other evil personalities have faded away, and she has truly gone beyond what Ford (Sir Anthony Hopkins) ever imagined. She is a creation that has become the creator; that’s satisfying in its own right. Perhaps, the question of whether she will be successful is one that’s more powerful if it's left to our interpretation. We are just humans after all; it’s no longer our story.
The best parts of “Que Será, Será” (and arguably, the season in general) were the scenes between Dolores and her lifelong love interest, Teddy Flood (James Marsden). Even if he was just a figment of her illusion, Teddy returned to Dolores when she needed him most. Westworld doesn’t always get its emotional scenes right, but the moments where Teddy and Dolores refer to each other as their “cornerstones” are genuinely moving. Dolores promises to search for Teddy within The Sublime, which he entered at the end of Season 2. Will they find each other, and finally get the happily ever after that they deserve? Given both characters’ dedication to each other, there doesn’t seem to be any doubt. Dolores’ promise to Teddy was powerful. Confirming her fate would dilute the idea that these two will never stop searching for each other.
Dolores says that her new world will be one based on her memories. She is left to create a reality based on all of her experiences, turning her life into a story. These are stories that we’ve already seen, and faces that are all too familiar. Even if Nolan and Joy have something wildly ambitious in store for their proposed Season 5, Westworld is on a loop that seems to have reached its logical end.