Read my posts since. I've changed my tune.

I do like the Dolores/Wyatt theory. Certainly explains the "you belong to me". But for some reason that also doesn't quite convince me 100%.

I would go with that #1, Teddy #2, and Abernathy #3.

How about the main hooker girl that worked for Maeve?

Clementine had her pearl destroyed and then Charlotte re-animated her into a host zombie. She's as good as dead.

I was finally able to rewatch the episode and it's just masterful. The first time around it felt a tad bit disjointed, and I was hoping for a little more plot development, but the second time around I was able to appreciate the rhythm of it, especially the act of all the Charlotte stuff, and man, it's such a subtly powerful hour of TV.

A couple of follow-up notes...

- At this point, I'm 99.9% certain Charlotte is Dolores. Or at least a version/copy of Dolores. Every interaction between her and the real Dolores, every line of dialogue between them, their wardrobe... it's so incredibly obvious now. I would bet just about anything.

- The closed captioned apparently confirmed it, but yeah, the Ramin Djawadi cover at the end is definitely a cover of "Doomed." So good. In fact, that whole sequence, from when Charlotte's car reroutes, to when the actual version of "Doomed" kicks in as we cut to the credits - musically - is one of my favorites of the entire series.

One other very minor detail I noticed was this quick flashback shot of Caleb on the pier, presumably contemplating suicide. His head is buzzed/shaved (there's another angle from the front where this is obvious), and check out the spot on the back left side of his head. That looks like more than just a shadow or the way his hair is set... it looks like hair growing on/around a scar of some sort. I keep thinking about his "already shot in the head" comment from episode one, and the fact that he had seemingly forgot that his mom left him, re: the flashback in this episode. There's something mysterious up with Caleb, and I'm curious to know what it is...

Another interesting idea, touched on in the latest Recappables episode...

https://www.theringer.com/2020/3/29/21199179/westworld-s3e3-the-absence-of-field

... is that Serac essentially "lives" in the "future." As in, the future beyond 2058. Whether he's an avatar of Rehoboam or an actual human, based on the reveal in this episode that Rehoboam is essentially running a mirror simulation of our world, they brought up the interesting point that the simulation would be running faster than the actual, real-world events, based on Maeve's observation in episode two when the real world appeared to her and Sizemore in slow motion. Something about that scene felt very purposeful in calling that out, and I think this basic notion will be the payoff in some way.

Granted, it's obvious that Serac/Rehoboam can "see" the future - Serac literally said as much to Maeve in episode two, and it "sees" Caleb committing suicide in 10-12 years in this episode. I just thought it was an interesting way of looking at it, and would also explain Serac's line about time being a luxury to Charlotte in the final scene.

(And by the way, the Recappable guys are convinced Charlotte is Dolores as well.)

Ok, I'm starting to subscribe to the two worlds theory - one simulated, one real. Notice the two videos of the real Charlotte Hale were different both times we saw it.

So all the Dolores/Caleb scenes are likely in the simulation, while the Dolores/Charlotte scenes are in the real world.

The Maeve conversation with Serac at the end of episode 2 was likely in the simulation as well, given that she didn't need glasses to see him. (And he's unlikely to be a real person.)

Which leads me to this, my own theory. I don't have it all worked out, but maybe Charlotte is Caleb, post-awakening from the simulation. Maybe that is how she needed his help in the revolution.

Man. I don't know that I fully subscribe to any of these theories, but I like where your head's at. This is all stuff I hadn't considered, and has my wheels turning. I think you might be in the ballpark, but I'm already thinking of holes/inconsistencies on a couple points. I just need to keep wrapping my head around it all.

I *do* agree that SOMETHING we think is real is likely a simulation. Three episodes into the season, and it definitely feels like they're training us for some kind of reveal along these lines. That said, I don't know how they'd do it without pissing people off, because I know I'd be pretty annoyed if the Caleb timeline, for instance, was all inside the simulation (though it *would* explain how he already got shot in the head and is a "dead man either way.").

Anyway, it's 6 AM my time and I've somehow been up writing until now. Gonna get a few hours of sleep and will post some additional thoughts later.

TCTTS said:

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One other very minor detail I noticed was this quick flashback shot of Caleb on the pier, presumably contemplating suicide. His head is buzzed/shaved (there's another angle from the front where this is obvious), and check out the spot on the back left side of his head. That looks like more than just a shadow or the way his hair is set... it looks like hair growing on/around a scar of some sort. I keep thinking about his "already shot in the head" comment from episode one, and the fact that he had seemingly forgot that his mom left him, re: the flashback in this episode. There's something mysterious up with Caleb, and I'm curious to know what it is...

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Interesting that you saw that as a flash back. I saw it as a flash forward that proved he was going to commit suicide on that pier one day if he hadn't made the choice he just did, and that scene was proof of what was potentially to come.

I also saw it as a flashback. Dolores asked him if he ever came to that spot to contemplate suicide, and I assumed that was him confirming by virtue of a memory that he had.

People are going to lose their **** if it's two timelines with one being a simulation

Excellent.

More supporting evidence for my theory that Caleb = Charlotte.

A reminder of what happened the last time we saw a human host...

Oh man. This is pretty good evidence for Caleb = Charlotte.

Delos had a copy of his mind in a host body and he cut himself up just like Charlotte was cutting herself on arm.

This is pretty compelling. I think the shape that Charlotte was cutting into herself is important to. It was like the circle thing that identifies anomalies that we have seen several times...and then the line was WAY off the circle, as if whoever is inside is a big anomaly.

Brian Earl Spilner said:

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More supporting evidence for my theory that Caleb = Charlotte.

A reminder of what happened the last time we saw a human host...

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I've been thinking about it, and while I like the *idea* of this theory, here's where it falls apart for me...

The scene after Dolores has been spooning Charlotte in the hotel bed, Dolores then gets up, closes the door to the bathroom, and calls/asks Connells to get information on Caleb Nichols. I just rewatched the scene, and there's no tricky editing or anything like that. It's all happening simultaneously, as Connells then sees the security footage of Caleb being taken at the hospital, and then Dolores of course shows up and saves Caleb. So the Caleb story and the Charlotte story are either both in the real world, or both in the simulation. They can't be separate.

veryfuller said:

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This is pretty compelling. I think the shape that Charlotte was cutting into herself is important to. It was like the circle thing that identifies anomalies that we have seen several times...and then the line was WAY off the circle, as if whoever is inside is a big anomaly.

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The thing is, this basic concept holds true whether it's Caleb's consciousness in Charlotte, or Dolores' consciousness in Charlotte. Either way, it's trying to fit a square peg into a round hole, so you'd likely get the same, glitchy results. The difference here is that the whole point of Charlotte's arc this episode was to conquer that glitch and embrace her in predator.

Damn. Haven't rewatched, so I guess that kills my theory in the water.

BenFiasco14 said:

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TCTTS said:

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One other very minor detail I noticed was this quick flashback shot of Caleb on the pier, presumably contemplating suicide. His head is buzzed/shaved (there's another angle from the front where this is obvious), and check out the spot on the back left side of his head. That looks like more than just a shadow or the way his hair is set... it looks like hair growing on/around a scar of some sort. I keep thinking about his "already shot in the head" comment from episode one, and the fact that he had seemingly forgot that his mom left him, re: the flashback in this episode. There's something mysterious up with Caleb, and I'm curious to know what it is...

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Interesting that you saw that as a flash back. I saw it as a flash forward that proved he was going to commit suicide on that pier one day if he hadn't made the choice he just did, and that scene was proof of what was potentially to come.

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I took it as Dolores calling Caleb out, in a "Don't tell me you haven't come here and contemplated suicided before" kind of way. That, and in some of the other flashbacks with Francis, we've seen Caleb with the same buzzed/shaved head. I could be wrong, but I'm 95% this was a flashback, post Francis dying, but pre present day events.

Brian Earl Spilner said:

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Damn. Haven't rewatched, so I guess that kills my theory in the water.

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If that one scene didn't exist, I think the theory would otherwise hold, or at least still be plausible. I can't think of any other contradicting elements. That said, again, I still think you're on to something being a simulation. I just don't know what.

TCTTS said:

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Brian Earl Spilner said:

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More supporting evidence for my theory that Caleb = Charlotte.

A reminder of what happened the last time we saw a human host...

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I've been thinking about it, and while I like the *idea* of this theory, here's where it falls apart for me...

The scene after Dolores has been spooning Charlotte in the hotel bed, Dolores then gets up, closes the door to the bathroom, and calls/asks Connells to get information on Caleb Nichols. I just rewatched the scene, and there's no tricky editing or anything like that. It's all happening simultaneously, as Connells then sees the security footage of Caleb being taken at the hospital, and then Dolores of course shows up and saves Caleb. So the Caleb story and the Charlotte story are either both in the real world, or both in the simulation. They can't be separate.

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The one weird thing from this scene that stood out to me on a second and third watch is Dolores putting the contact in her right eye, and then it lighting up. I assume it's the same basic tech as the augmented reality glasses we've seen, but the difference here is that, as best I can recall, we never see Dolores actually use the contact(s). There's a very blatant, purposeful close-up/beat of her putting it in her eye, but then it's never paid off in the rest of the episode. Not a big deal, but kind of curios.

(It's also weird that host eyes don't already have the AR feature standard, as we know they can already see what humans can't, re: the Door to The Valley Beyond. I get why Charlotte had to use the glasses - they think she's human - but I figured Dolores would have added whatever eye tech standard when she rebuilt her body.)

Teddy Perkins said:

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Brian Earl Spilner said:

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Ok, I'm starting to subscribe to the two worlds theory - one simulated, one real. Notice the two videos of the real Charlotte Hale were different both times we saw it.

So all the Dolores/Caleb scenes are likely in the simulation, while the Dolores/Charlotte scenes are in the real world.

The Maeve conversation with Serac at the end of episode 2 was likely in the simulation as well, given that she didn't need glasses to see him. (And he's unlikely to be a real person.)

Which leads me to this, my own theory. I don't have it all worked out, but maybe Charlotte is Caleb, post-awakening from the simulation. Maybe that is how she needed his help in the revolution.

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Man, I don't want this to be the case but then I ran across the below and those are some hella strong parallels.

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I can't tell if this is simply supposed to be a thematic parallel, or if it indeed is more "plot"-based somehow. Either way, it's a great catch.

Differences between the two videos from Charlotte to her son.

Right, but the glitches I'm referencing would be different. There's human-consciousness-inside-host glitches, and then there's what's happening with Charlotte - a host who is now not only in a new/different host body, but a body that just so happens to be a replica of a human, trying to mimic that human in the real world. There are bound to be glitches in that scenario as well, if only from the mental pressure of having to pretend to be someone else. In other words, "performing" as Charlotte 24/7 is starting to screw with her brain/programming. This is the explanation being given on-screen, and there's really no reason to question it at this point, especially considering its thematic resonance.