The Cradle, The Valley Beyond, And Dolores’ Master Plan

Published May 31, 2018 · Updated July 6, 2022

Shat Crew,

In light of what we learned about the Cradle, I think we might be able to guess at what Dolores’ Weapon and William’s biggest mistake might have been. And, most importantly, we can discern what Dolores wants from it. This is a three-step analysis, so hang with me here.

1. The Cradle

First – the Cradle. From what we’ve seen, it’s a simulated world where Host backups are stored, running on their loops over and over. It can be used to test Host interactions and see how different scenarios might play out when trying out different storylines. For example, I can imagine Bernard and his team running a test on how Maeve would react as the Madame of the Mariposa when she was removed from her Homestead role. It probably played out nicely in the Cradle simulation, then was given a test run in real life, and it took. From what we can see on the Delos website and from what we saw briefly from Bernard’s point of view, that’s the intended use of the Cradle. We can also assume that the Cradle is not the Weapon, Glory, or the Valley Beyond because it’s accessed through the Mesa, not through that flooded valley we keep focusing on.

(Sidebar – how the Cradle works in terms of connectivity with the Hosts is still a matter of speculation. We can infer that Ford has been using his place in the Cradle to speak to William through the Hosts. But, whether Cradle-Host connectivity is part of the Cradle’s intend use or not is unclear. The Cradle is already connecting to other systems that it shouldn’t be able to affect, according to Elsie. So let’s table that.)

What we know, at the very least, is that the Cradle is a simulated world meant to test interactions of Host’s programming to make sure they don’t go haywire. In other words…it tests for Fidelity.

2. Daddy Delos

Now secondly, let’s jump to Daddy Delos. We know that he’s been through 149 iterations and, at the end of all of them except for 149, he’s brunt to ashes. This means his Human-Host Hybrid Mind Device is also destroyed in the fire. The obvious conclusion – there are multiple new Hybrid Minds built each time.

Here’s the final part – Delos doesn’t want to start from scratch every time it tests a Host’s programming. If I lost this email draft, I don’t want to rewrite it from the beginning. If Daddy Delos has been unable to master Fidelity and get over his Cognitive Plateau on the first try, Delos doesn’t want to make a new Hybrid Mind Device on the second attempt with none of the learning and improvement baked in – in fact, by attempt 149, I bet Daddy Delos’ brain has the growth and development of the last 148 attempts cooked right in. Which means…

3. THERE ARE HUMAN MIND BACK UPS STORED SOMEWHERE IN SOME PERVERSE MIROR TO THE CRADLE

Think about it – if the Hybrid Minds are based off of Host Mind technology, it would stand to reason that you would want and need backups. Further, if Delos made the Cradle to simulate Host interactions to make sure Hosts are keeping on script, wouldn’t it be that much more important to take similar precautions with the super secret immortality project? If you could tell in a simulated environment that a particular person is not achieving Fidelity, don’t bother making a new body and prepping a Fishbowl room. Daddy Delos’ 149 iterations over 30 some years might have been supplemented by thousands upon thousands of hours in the Human equivalent of the Cradle.

4. Dolores’ Master Plan

Let’s take this one step further. Because I think we can figure out Dolores’ master plan if this theory is true. Assuming that the different aspect ratio signifies “virtual reality” then we know that we saw Dolores (WOKE version) running a Fidelity test based on her past conversations with Arnold. We don’t know if it’s truly Arnold or if it’s Bernard and she’s trying to make Arnold. But my theory is that somewhere along the line, either William or Ford got ahold of some of Arnold’s DNA (not hard) and made a Hybrid Mind for him and it’s been in the Hybrid Cradle all this time. Dolores is trying to bring Arnold back.

Why?

We know that human-host hybrid technology is a few years behind. But we also know that Arnold – the brains of the already brilliant Arnold-Ford duo – was the master programmer who was able to make Host technology happen even when “we aren’t here yet!” So who better to make the Hybrid project come to fruition?! He can act as Ghost in the Machine in the Hybrid Cradle and develop the Immortality Project so that it gets past Cognitive Plateau.

Again, why?

Because what’s real is what’s irreplaceable. We know that the Cradle ends up being destroyed and, with it, the Host backups. Imagine that Arnold manages to solve the Cognitive Plateau problem – Humans and Hosts will have literally switched places. Dolores and her kind are real – irreplaceable – but human minds can be harvested and backed up and placed into programmed, enslaved bodies.

Dolores doesn’t just want to conquer humanity -she wants to enslave them and make them suffer how she did.

Cheers,

Ken

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