The ‘Westworld’ Finale Is Here So We Untangled The Pesky Timelines For You

 
Been watching Westworld, aye? Bit excited for the season finale today, aye? Pretty fkn confused, aye? 
Us too, but we’ve been doin’ some bloody research and we’re here to help you with with theory that’s swarming the internet because it’s pretty much fact now: the timeline theory. 
Before we continue: YES, THIS STORY WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS (of the season, not of the finale – we haven’t seen it yet either). If you haven’t watched it all up to the finale… why the fuck you here fam?
Pls click the [x] if you aren’t up-to-date, or if you don’t want to read confusing time-theories on what in the shitting hell is happening on this fantastic television show. We warned you. 

Alright, so: The Timeline Theory. 
The theory goes, that we’ve have been watching three different timelines, all at once. It’s weird, and the show’s intricate editing means that we actually think we’re watching present day, but in fact we’re probably jumped to 30 years prior, then more, then less. 
Hopefully this soothes your aching mind, so you can get back to your nice, normal, simple loop life. If not – sorry, we tried. 
TIMELINE #1: DOLORES AND ARNOLD 
34 – 37 YEARS AGO
Right from the beginning, we saw Dolores hanging out with Bernard in a private meeting room, having D&Ms that seemed reasonably sneaky. 
Since finding out that’s ACTUALLY Arnold (not Bernard), it’s pretty clear that Arnold was secretly programming Dolores to be able to achieve never-before-seen levels of sentience rather than just run on basic loops like other hosts.
We’ve also since learned that this secret meeting place was underneath the white church (or the burned bones of) that we repeatedly see throughout the season (in multiple timelines) – it triggers ‘memories’ for Dolores
We *also* know that Arnold didn’t die of natural causes, nor did he commit suicide: Dolores killed him.
Arnold is the one who tells her about ‘The Maze‘ that we’ve heard so bloody much about. And the centre of ‘The Maze‘ is the meeting room where they secretly meet, underneath the church. 
So, knowing what we know now, let’s think about this in terms of years. The park has been open for 34 years, plus Arnold and Robert Ford worked on the hosts for three years before the opening. Arnold died just before the opening of the park. Therefore, what we’re seeing is approximately 34 – 37 years ago. 
TIMELINE #2: DOLORES AND WILLIAM
30~ YEARS AGO
RIT-REOW! William and Dolores have now done smooches *AND* the horizontal tango. The question is not why did they, but when the fuck did they?
William and his jerk-ass brother-in-law Logan arrived at the park approximately 30 years ago, people reckon – mainly because of *The Logos, plus there’s a few hosts that are completely different characters from William‘s timeline to MiB‘s timeline (See: MiB‘s sidekick Lawrence, and William‘s introduction host, Angela). 
William meets Dolores and notices she’s different to the other hosts, and we’re thinkin’ it’s because these seeds of sentience planted by Arnold a handful of years ago are sprouting, and she’s wondering who she is and why the fuck she gets all these insanely life-like flashbacks to her committing a devastating massacre. (While we’re not 100% sure on this, it’d make the most sense that the massacre occurred in Timeline #1. Or it could be another year altogether, between timelines #1 and #2. We don’t know.)
So, Dolores is on a quest to find the centre of The Maze like Arnold told her to, and William‘s tagging along. 
TIMELINE #3: DOLORES AND THE MAN IN BLACK
PRESENT DAY
We watched the Man in Black commit horrendous sexual assault against Dolores at the beginning of the season (which makes this theory actually incredibly devastating), and the show’s editing makes us think we’re watching her find William while she’s fleeing her family farm and outrunning the Man in Black, but those two situations are actually 30 years apart. 
(It’s probably also worth mentioning that Teddy‘s storyline with the MiB, and Maeve‘s journey to terrifying sentience is also in this timeline.)
After her father went nuts over The Photo** of a woman in New York City and the MiB rampages her family’s farm, Dolores ends up on a solo mission to complete The Maze (again, not that she realises). 
Once she’s at the end of The Maze (at the church in the centre, which is apparently rebuilt?) she goes down into the meeting rooms, where she realises that she killed Arnold. When she comes back up, someone is waiting for her. 
OMGOMGOMGOMGOMG. WE KNEW IT; IT’S WILLIAM. ITS FUCKING WILLIAM
Considering he was hanging out with Dolores 30 years ago when she kept continually talking about The Maze, he knows she’s the only one that can lead her to the very end.

* The Logos:

Yup, one of the first things that made people cotton on to The Timeline Theory was the fact that there’s two separate Westworld company logos. The logo on the left only appears in Timeline #2, and the logo on the right only appears in Timeline #3. 

** The photo:


We recently learned that this was actually a photo of William’s IRL wife back home in Timeline #2. Dolores couldn’t see it in Timeline #3 because hosts are coded to not see/acknowledge certain things, in order to create seamless loops. It’d sure as hell explain why, 30 years on, she went all space-cadet, “doesn’t look like anything to me” when her Dad became fixated on that photo.

OKAY, EXHALE. YOU GOOD? OR YOU FEEL LIKE THIS?
Same. It’s okay; this shit is totally enough to make you short-circuit. 
Luckily, the finale of Westworld Season 1 came out today. So hopefully, fingers crossed, plsplsplsplsplsplsplsohgodpls, our questions will all receive answers. 
If not, we guess we’ll just have to ignore the ugliness, the disarray, and choose to see the beauty in this world…
Photos: HBO’s Westworld. 

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