The Super Powered Fancast

Westworld

HBO

Season 2 Episode 4

The Riddle of the Sphinx

This episode gives us a break from the Dolores/Maeve drama/rebellion and takes us deeper down the rabbit hole to learn more about the true purpose of Delos’ investment in Westworld and William’s hand in the events. What makes this episode as dynamic as it is has to do with both pieces of the puzzle coming together from both William’s and Bernard’s perspective. What’s even more connective to both of them is Delos himself.

The episode opens with Delos in seclusion going through his routine when he gets notification that he has a visitor. Everything seems pretty mundane until he starts to experience the same kind of hand shaking Bernard has been dealing with. This is my first indication that something is not right with Delos and his interaction with William I (Jimmi Simpson) when he comes to visit the man. William lets him know that he can get out of the room after they finish a short interview. It’s a pretty tense scene and it occurs multiple times throughout the episode, each time opening up more of the story and adding additional details. It is a brilliant narrative choice for this episode and it definitely pays off.

Back in the park, William II (Ed Harris) comes upon a scene that is truly disturbing and shows what’s going on with some of the other hosts in the park. At the same time, Clementine drags Bernard to the entrance of a cave and leaves him there before walking away without a word. Bernard comes upon Elsie (Shannon Woodward), who has been kept alive in the park this whole time, chained to the inside of a cave. He doesn’t know what happened to her, but she remembers what he did to her and discovers what he is. After agreeing to help him, the two of them take a journey through Bernard’s fractured memory that is both disturbing and informative. His active flashes of memory are brilliant as well and we get a look at his fractured psyche in real time.

I don’t want to spoil anything in the episode, but both sides of this story come together at an amazing place at the end and some of the big questions in this season get answered while the game gets much more intense for William II. This is definitely one of the best episodes of the season and it’s bolstered by some awesome storytelling.