Westworld Season 2 Trailer Breakdown

Westworld is preparing to open its doors to visitors once more! The hit HBO series concluded its first season in December 2016, and since then fans have clamored to find out what happens next in the futuristic theme park now overrun by its self-aware android Hosts.

At long last, fans received a full trailer offering a look at Westworld season 2. HBO purchased their first Super Bowl trailer in 20 years to officially announce the return to Westworld. Directed by series co-creator and showrunner Jonathan Nolan himself, the trailer contained tantalizing moments with the series core characters like Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood), Bernard (Jeffrey Wright), Maeve (Thandie Newton), and The Man In Black (Ed Harris) sure to ignite a new wave of fan theories.

What is your itinerary? To don your black or white hat and go deeper into the all-new maze of season 2.

This Page: Welcome back to Westworld

"This Beautiful World"

The trailer begins with gorgeous establishing shots of the vistas of Westworld, including a shot of a Ghost Nation warrior Host on horseback, with Dolores Abernathy delivering a voice-over narration. Dolores, of course, is the ideal vessel to speak with her new perspective on Westworld, as season one's crux was the oldest Host in the park unlocking her own self-awareness and becoming fully sentient. None of the hosts see Westworld as clearly as Dolores does now:

Look at this world. This beautiful world. We built this world together. A world where dreams come true. A world where you can be free. But this world is a lie...

Maeve's Daughter

We see a close-up shot of an adult hand holding a child's hand. This is Maeve and her daughter. Like Dolores, Maeve also gained sentience during season 1 and sought to escape the confines of the park and see the human world beyond. After a brutally violent escape from Westworld, Maeve received the coordinates of where the Host who was once programmed to be her daughter was located in the park. Maeve then left the train from Westworld and re-entered the park to find her daughter. It seems they are reunited in season 2, but under what circumstances - and whether the daughter remembers Maeve as her 'mother' - we've yet to learn.

Host Stampede

In Westworld, the androids aren't limited to the humanoid Hosts. All of the animals are also constructs. Shots of bulls stampeding in the park shift to unfinished bull androids charging at armed Westworld security. This seems to indicate the violence in Westworld won't be limited to the Hosts that walk on two legs. Perhaps all of the androids will rebel against their human creators. The park is clearly out of control and all of Westworld is bound for a revolution with the hosts taking over.

Bernard's Group

We see a shot of Bernard leading a group to a cliff overlooking a lake in the park, and later a close up of Bernard looking distressed with an unfinished Host skeleton behind him. Bernard was revealed to be a Host version of Arnold, the deceased original creator of Westworld's Hosts. Bernard gained knowledge of who and what he is at the end of season 1, and it was Arnold who created 'the maze' for Dolores to follow that would ultimately free her from the memory loop she was trapped in so she could gain self-awareness. Here, Bernard is with a group of Westworld security so it seems that Bernard's true nature is unknown to the humans who run the park - but for how long?

Peter Abernathy

We see a brief shot of a grey-haired man bound and gagged in a chair and surrounded by Westworld security. This is Peter Abernaty (Louis Herthum), the Host cast as Dolores father. Why is he being restrained? Meanwhile, the upper right corner, the head of what resembles the younger version of Robert Ford (Anthony Hopkins), Westworld's founder and chief creative force, is visible. Ford was murdered (by his own design) by Dolores at the end of season 1, but it's possible Dolores killed a Host and we haven't truly seen the last of Ford. As for this moment, the younger Ford seems to indicate this is a flashback - but to what?

A New Narrative?

There's a shot of a horse leaving a fort with a line of armed Civil War-costumed Host soldiers in formation. Could this be the start of a new narrative? After the massacre that occurred at the end of season 1, is the park even open to new visitors? Or are the Hosts creating their own narratives?

"These Violent Delights..."

We see fan favorite Host Clementine Pennyfeather (Angela Sarafyan) is back online, as the trailer gives us further shots of bulls goring Westworld security forces inside the labs. Then it's revealed Maeve herself is leading this bloodbath attack on Westworld. We also see more shots of the Ghost Nation holding torches. Plenty more destruction seems to take place in the map room of the Westworld corporate compound. There is also a shot of the morning after the attack on the Delos gala at the end of season 1, with tables and chairs upturned outside of the saloon. More violent delights and violent ends are imminent.

Logan is Back

Logan (Ben Barnes), the brother in law of William (Jimmi Simpson), who would become the Man in Black 30 years later, was last season riding naked on horseback. Simpson has indicated a return to Westworld for him was unclear, and there were reports that season 2 would not pursue the multiple timeline storytelling that helped define season 1. However, Barnes revealed he is returning to the series, and we're given a glimpse of Logan in black tie at a posh cocktail party, perhaps with members of his wealthy family who owns the Delos Corporation and Westworld in a flashback.

The Man in Black

Speaking of the Man in Black, we see him standing in the rain, bowing his head in a mournful fashion. Ed Harris' villain has spent decades playing the games in Westworld, even buying the majority share of the park. He sought to find the deepest level of the game - the maze - until he discovered "the maze wasn't for him" after all - it was for Dolores. Last we saw William, he was at the Delos gala watching a horde of Hosts charging at the unsuspecting investors after the murder of Robert Ford. It seems the Man in Black simply cannot extricate himself from Westworld, but what are his goals now?

Faceless Hosts

The mysteries mount with some intriguing glimpses we are shown of Host soldiers in uniform but with black shrouds covering their faces. There's also a blink-and-you'll-miss-it shot from the back of an unfinished Host shoving a man in a coat into some sort of circular device. It certainly seems that every manner of Host, no matter in what stage of development, will be coming for human blood.

"From The Ashes..."

The closing moments of the trailer center on Dolores herself, the true heroine of Westworld. The second half of her narration is the most powerful clue we have to what season 2 will be about and the evolved Dolores' ultimate role:

This world deserves to die. Because this is your world. We've lived by your rules long enough. We can save this world. We can burn it to the ground. From the ashes, build a new world. Our world.

We see shots of Dolores on horseback armed with a shotgun fiercely shooting down unseen, presumably human, victims fleeing her wrath. There is also a night time shot of a smiling Dolores with Bernard behind her - perhaps they become steadfast allies in this revolution to Westworld they are building. Ashes seem to fall from the sky, and into the hand of Maeve, who looks up above, perfectly in synch with Dolores' narration. The trailer ends with a close up of a smiling Dolores with Ghost Nation warriors beside her concluding the narration by saying, "Our world."

The trailer didn't include any clues to whereabouts of characters such as Charlotte Hale (Tessa Thompson) or reveal what happened to Elsie (Shannon Woodward), the fan-favorite programmer who has been missing since Bernard attacked her in the park in the latter stages of season 1. Nor did we get any indication of what's to come with the sister park Samurai World, which was teased in the season 1 finale. Also absent are glimpses of new characters in season 2, like Musashi (Hiroyuki Sanada), who will presumably one of Samurai World's new Hosts.

Nevertheless, the trailer is certainly a provocative peek at the second season that looks to be every bit as ambitious as the first season of Westworld - if not more

NEXT: Watch The Westworld Season 2 Superbowl Trailer

Westworld season 2 premieres on Sunday, April 22 @ 9 pm on HBO.