Before Westworld was canceled in August of last year, most viewers assumed that a fifth and final season was inevitable to conclude the show and tie up all of its loose ends. However, after the show faced a significant decline in viewership, the fifth season was canceled and the show was pulled from HBO max, though the cast and crew will still be paid for season five.

The finale of season four left Westworld’s remaining viewers with a somewhat decent conclusion, though many questions were still left unanswered. Some of these questions may even be considered plot holes – inconsistencies that will not only never be answered, but could never be answered reasonably in the first place without some major twisting. For example, what would Dolores’s last test have been, and how could it have feasibly saved humanity? Is there hope for the Outliers, even despite the wording of Dolores’s final monologue?

MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY

10 How Was Maeve the “Secret Weapon”?

     Westworld / HBO

One of the most beloved characters in the series – and one we may have seen again in season five despite her “death” in the second-to-last episode of season four – Maeve Millay had quite a bit of unanswered questions surrounding her. One of the biggest questions was about her role as the resistance’s “secret weapon.”

MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY

MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY

MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY

Throughout the series, we hear Bernard telling Stubbs over and over again that Maeve is a “secret weapon” of some kind which, in the end, turned out to be Maeve. However, Bernard got this information from the resistance and was likely using it as leverage to get the resistance to help him. Resistance rumors aren’t prophecies, however, and they could have just been wrong about her. It’s also possible that they were not wrong, and Maeve is some kind of weapon. Although we see Maeve’s dead body, we never see Maeve’s pearl get destroyed, so it’s likely that her story was not finished, and that she would have been revived in season five.

9 What Is Dolores/Christina’s Last Test?

     Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution

At the end of the series, we see that Dolores has created a new “test” within the Sublime, bringing viewers around full circle to the setting of season one. In fact, Dolores is even wearing the same outfit that she was first seen in at the beginning of the show. Dolores states that the real world is beyond saving, but that she may be able to save humanity’s spirit by “finding a way to make humans overcome their fatal flaws.” Many people believe that season five was going to depict Dolores performing a fidelity test on humanity and then repopulating the world with hybrids. Others believe that the tables are now turned, and that hosts will remain conscious while humans have their minds wiped repeatedly like a Westworld version of Groundhog Day. However, we cannot be sure of anything, including what this “last test” might entail. We also don’t know which characters would have appeared in this game, though anyone Dolores has ever met could be fair game, nor whether she succeeds in her endeavors.

8 Would We Have Seen Maeve, Bernard, Clementine, or Stubbs Again?

     HBO

The return of these characters – especially Maeve and Bernard – would have been not only possible, but likely. We do see their physical bodies die, but the majority of viewers did not think their deaths provided a satisfying enough conclusion to their stories. Some of these character deaths, if permanent, would create even bigger plot holes, such as the aforementioned case of Maeve being the “secret weapon.” Additionally, none of these characters had their pearls crushed, so they technically could be revived in the next season. Additionally, if they were to return, would they remain in the real world, or would they join the others in the Sublime for Dolores’s last test? Either way, any one of them could have some version of them re-created by Dolores in the final test, so we could have seen some version of them reappear in the end.

7 What Did Dolores/Christina Mean By “One Last Loop Around the Bend”?

     Warner Bros.

When Dolores/Christina set up her last test, she stated that she was going to take “one last loop around the bend” – as in, set up one final test for the humans and hosts that will take place within the Sublime (the virtual afterlife that allows Hosts to live free, away from humans). What did Dolores mean by this statement? Did she really mean one last, final attempt to save “the spirit of humanity” – or could there be an infinite number of “loops around the bend”? As Dolores is immortal, and time passes differently for her, she technically has an infinite amount of time to complete her task, so why stop at just one loop? The closing monologue of season four actually served to generate more questions than answers.

6 What Happens to the Outliers?

     HBO Max

The Outliers were Westworld’s rebellion group, and was composed of people who “existed outside the system of control.” Rehoboam, the AI who creates structured life paths for humans to follow based on data incurred from their behavior, cannot fully control Outliers because their behavior is truly unpredictable, just like any other data outlier. Because their intelligence is way higher than that of Rehoboam’s, they are considered to be a threat by those such as antagonist Charlotte Hale, and are considered by others to be the key to the ultimate survival of humanity, and the last hope for the human race.

One of the remaining questions viewers are left with is what happens to the surviving Outliers at the end of the show. Some of the closing scenes depict two such Outliers – Frankie and Odina – leaving to search for a place they claim exists where outliers can live away from hosts and outside of Hale’s reach. We never see if such a place exists, or if Frankie and Odina can even find it.

5 Will Maeve Ever See Her Daughter Again?

At the beginning of Maeve’s story as a host, she lived a peaceful, happy life with her daughter in the “family safe” part of Westworld known as “the Homestead.” Maeve’s daughter is her cornerstone – or, as Bernard calls it, “the thing her whole identity is organized around.” Maeve sacrifices herself at the end of season two so that her daughter could reach the Sublime, and this act was what ultimately projected Maeve onto the path towards sentience. However, after the events of season four, we are not sure if Maeve even made it to the Sublime. But because of the nature of hosts, who can be resurrected infinitely into replicas, it’s possible that Maeve could have been resurrected in season four and come to find her daughter again in the Sublime.

4 Will Dolores Ever Reunite with Teddy?

During Dolores’s time in the park, Teddy was her cornerstone. Much like Maeve’s daughter, Teddy did not follow Dolores into the real world, but instead ended up in the Sublime. Just like how Maeve held onto memories of her daughter in order to gain sentience, Dolores re-awakens herself as Christina because of her grip on her memories of Teddy, even though they were buried very deeply. Because the final episode of season four shows us that the events of season five were going to take place within the Sublime, where Teddy now is, it’s possible that Dolores would have been able to find him again (and, if nothing else, she could always create a replica of him for the final test).

3 Which Hosts Are Gone for Good—and Which Ones Could Be Brought Back?

Technically, because of the nature of the final test, any one of the hosts that Dolores has met could be brought back for season five. Unless you’re referring to the actual, un-replicated originals, of course.

Dolores could also potentially bring back the characters she created, such as Maya, even though they’re not “real.” Although, if Westworld accomplished nothing else, it certainly made you question what the word “real” actually means.

2 Is Humanity Really Doomed?

Although the remaining Outliers, such as Frankie and Odina, live on at the conclusion of the season and offer a ray of hope by claiming to be heading towards the colonies of surviving Outliers, Dolores’s closing monologue kind of nips this hope in the bud. She states that even though some remaining humans might live on a few more days, months, or even years, ultimately humankind has been extinguished and they’ll all die off eventually without repopulating. Does Dolores really know this for sure? The nature of the Outliers and their inability to be predicted by AI means that Dolores could actually be wrong about this claim. That being said, with the state that the real world is in, the chance of the Outliers’ survival is very much slim. This is, ultimately, one of the answers we will never really know for sure without a fifth and final season.

1 What Was the Meaning of the Season 2 Finale Scene?

     Warner Bros. Television

Most viewers consider the season two post-credits finale scene to be the biggest unresolved plot hole in the entire series. The scene, which depicted William (aka, the Man in Black) undergoing a fidelity test by his daughter, Emily. This reveals to viewers that there is now a host William, and they get to see far into the future, likely in the thick of the events of season five.

This scene was likely supposed to be explained in season five, so we never get to see a satisfactory conclusion to this thread. However, we can glean a couple of bits of information from it, the first being that it could possibly indicate that Dolores did succeed in her mission. The second potential indication is that some humans or hosts could have survived after season four, despite Dolores’s claims. They may have even been a part of her final game – who knows? This, like many others, will forever be counted as one of the many Westworld questions that will forever go unanswered.