What happened in Westworld seasons one through three?
In season one, viewers learn that the amusement park isn’t just made for them to enjoy themselves. It’s also the setting for an experiment started by Delos co-founder Robert Ford, played by Anthony Hopkins. Ford wanted to see if Dolores (Evan) could become sentient on her own, and she does, but with horrific consequences: She kills Ford in front of everyone at a Delos party.
By season two, Dolores wants revenge on the humans who trapped her and the other hosts in a simulation. She begins teaching the other hosts how to become sentient and leads a rebellion against the guests and Delos, while the other sentient hosts, namely Maeve (Thandiwe) search for greater purpose to life. While Dolores realizes she was made to free the hosts from Delos’ control and rid the earth of humans, Maeve still sees the good in humans and seeks to save them.
Their mission continues in season three, in which Dolores is now in the real world and realizes that even humans are subjugated to poor treatment by corporations. With this new understanding of civilization, she and Maeve unite in their efforts, taking down Rehoboam, a form of AI that was essentially collecting information on everyone in the world. The only way to take Rehoboam down though, is for Dolores to sacrifice herself.
It’s all complicated, but that’s the point of the series—there’s no right or wrong in a world that is constantly evolving. There’s just shades of grey—at least, that’s what we think.