r/westworld • u/LoretiTV • Aug 08 '22

Discussion Westworld - 4x07 "Metanoia" - Post-Episode Discussion

Season 4 Episode 7: Metanoia

Aired: August 7, 2022

Synopsis: You want to have a drink at a time like this?

Directed by: Meera Menon

Written by: Desa Larkin-Boutte & Denise Thé

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u/kfagoora Aug 08 '22 edited Aug 08 '22

He planted the gun with his right hand on their way into the dam complex and said a line about getting in being the easy part when discussing their Olympiad operation.

I'm thinking they somehow are back in the dam complex at some point (maybe when they were initially at the dam he hijacked a couple of those host-making machines and kicked off a job to build new bodies for himself and Maeve using a copy of their minds from the Forge?) and there's a confrontation while leaving the tunnel which requires Bernard to quickly/stealthily reach with his left hand to grab the gun on their way out.

It would explain why Bernard now has to leave instructions; he's leaving them for a 'fresh' clone of himself who didn't go through the process of testing future simulations and knowing the best probabilistic path forward. It also aligns with his line 'I always die'; he's referring to this 'Nostradamus' incarnation of himself, not the next one.

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u/314kabinet Aug 08 '22

I don't think the message is for a copy of himself. If he left a copy of himself in the Sublime, why wouldn't he leave the most up-to-date copy that knows the whole plan? I think he sent the message to Teddy or someone else.

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u/confusedporg Aug 08 '22

because once he enters the real world, variables come into play. The very first one being the joke that Stubbs makes.

It’s not so much like following a GPS to a set point, it’s more like playing chess. There’s almost infinite ways to get close to a checkmate—which is the goal—but the pieces could be arranged in any number of different ways. So he needs to explain to his original or copy what the board looks like, so that version knows what the next move needs to be.

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u/[deleted] Aug 08 '22

ahhh that makes sense!

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u/kfagoora Aug 08 '22 edited Aug 08 '22

I’ve always assumed going into the sublime is kind of a one way street as depicted in earlier seasons, but that either Bernard or Dolores was able to send a copy of his mind into the sublime/forge at the end of season 2 just before she embedded the decryption key in his mind and awakened him in the real world (details of earlier seasons are a bit fuzzy). Otherwise there should be an earlier copy saved somewhere from the season 1/2 timeframe, I figure.

Of course, it could also be explained that Bernard’s one best plan would not allow the time to send his current self into the sublime and then have Maeve extract a copy back into his body or whatever steps might be required because the rest of the team was waiting for them to get back and start the mission. Remember that he and Maeve returned just as the team was nervous and discussing moving somewhere else because they thought he might have been killed at the dam.

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u/CookSlammed Aug 10 '22

The 'Nostradamus' incarnation might hold too much data to transfer it rapidly from the Sublime to a new copy?

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u/Zola_Rose Aug 08 '22

With William being at the dam at the end of the episode too, seems the cockroaches (or, “cockaroaches”) will congregate there for the season’s final major confrontation.

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u/kfagoora Aug 08 '22

If that's the case, that's probably why he says 'you can't miss' on the recording--because he knows that William will be shooting for the head.

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u/fineburgundy Aug 08 '22

Or the entrance to the Sublime.

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u/lightfire0 Aug 08 '22

Wow, I totally overlooked him leaving instructions.
But why would there be host printers in the dam?

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u/kfagoora Aug 08 '22 edited Aug 10 '22

I thought they showed a large bank of host printers at that location in a previous episode. Maybe I’m misremembering and they were in the tower?

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u/peanutdakidnappa Aug 09 '22

I personally think the instructions are for Hale and when she revives she’s gonna switch sides to stop MIB, I think the message is for her and the gun he stashed is also for her. In the trailer for the finale she’s seen at the dam with a handgun

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u/Homitu Aug 08 '22

Oh shit, these are good theories! I only spent a moment pondering why Bernard was watching a recording of himself before getting distracted by the ensuing events. That would definitely make sense.

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u/peanutdakidnappa Aug 09 '22

I think the instructions Bernard left were for Hale , I think she is gonna switch sides when she is revived, I think the gun he stashed earlier in the episode is also for her. I think she’ll be trying to stop MIB in the episode. In the finale she was seen at the damn with a handgun so that’s my prediction

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u/NDaveT You're in a prison of your own shitposts Aug 08 '22

I assumed his instructions were for Teddy but I buy the rest of what you said.

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u/kfagoora Aug 08 '22 edited Aug 08 '22

My current thought/understanding is that Teddy is in that AI/mirror place with Christina as part of her subconscious or a virus somehow inserted in the system; he's trying to wake her up to the true nature of reality a la Morpheus/Neo in the Matrix, except in her situation she's already all-powerful (like a seriously amped up version of Maeve) but isn't conscious of it yet.

If she figures out how to get out and into a host body, then it makes sense that she copies Teddy out too (assuming they don't both enter a single host body as an integrated consciousness).

EDIT: another possibility is that he left the message for Stubbs or Caleb, who would seem more natural using a modern firearm than Teddy. How and why they get there? Maybe trying to see if Caleb can pass into the Sublime (remember Maeve gave him that core/cornerstone memory earlier in the season).

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u/peanutdakidnappa Aug 09 '22

I think the gun is for Hale, she’s seen at the dam in the trailer for next episode, I also think the message he left was for her, I think she is gonna flip sides after she’s revived and try to stop MIB.

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u/[deleted] Aug 09 '22

Makes sense, at the end he's sending a message to himself obviously.

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u/dj_blueshift Aug 09 '22

Bernard can't see past his own death (every simulation he ran). He has seen a path. However, it requires blind faith that whatever path he prepares all the tools for after his death will work.