Westworld 2.5: Telepathic Control

There were two big shockers in Westworld 2.5 tonight, at least one of them totally game-changing.

Let's start with that.  Maeve has the telepathic power to voicelessly command hosts - both individually and a whole army of them, as in an army of Samuri warriors.  This is an extraordinary power, that instantly ups the science fictional ante of the whole series.  Till now, that ante was to what extent androids could break free of their programming - wake up, to use the current parlance - and go their own way, which could and does include killing guests and programmers who get in their way.  But Maeve can do much more - she can get presumably order an unlimited number of hosts to do her bidding.

Do other woke hosts like Delores have that ability, yet to awaken?  Remains to be seen. But even if Maeve is the only host who has this, it certainly evens the odds against the human armies that will surely descend upon the sundry parks if order isn't restored.   What it means is that every host can be be mustered to the task of fighting the humans.

Which gets us to the other shocker, not so much game-changing as revelatory.  Delores loves Teddy.  But she's willing to lose him, by subjecting him to some kind of radical reprogramming, to make him more violent and/or compliant to her will, or who exactly knows.

But what's clear is the decent Teddy who was coming into his own as a liberated host who would not kill except in self-defense, or in defense of Delores, or in response to most of her commands, unless he thought the victim didn't deserve to die - that ethical Teddy will be gone (unless Delores has a change of heart between this week and next).

Westworld keeps getting deeper and deeper, raising the ante with every episode, as a good science fiction drama should do.

See also Westworld 2.1: Maeve's Daughter ... Westworld 2.2: "Narcissus Narcosis" ... Westworld 2.3: The Raj and Guns of the South ... Westworld 2.4: Questions Pertaining to Immortality

And see also Westworld 1.1: Isaac Asimov and Philip K. Dick Served Up by Jonathan Nolan, Lisa Joy, and J. J. Abrams ... Westworld 1.2: Who Is the Man in Black? ... Westworld 1.3: Julian Jaynes and Arnold ... Westworld 1.4: Vacation, Connie Francis, and Kurt Vonnegut ... Westworld 1.5: The Voice Inside Dolores ... Westworld 1.6: Programmed Unprogramming ... Westworld 1.7: The Story of the Story ... Westworld 1.8: Memories ... Westworld 1.9: Half-Truths and Old Friends ... Westworld Season 1 Finale: Answers and Questions