Westworld Episode 8 Instant Take: “Trace Decay”

Westworld Episode 8 Instant Take: "Trace Decay"
Westworld Episode 8 Instant Take: "Trace Decay"

Westworld Episode 8 Instant Take: “Trace Decay”

Forget theories, Westworld Episode 8 brought us an armored train of explosive facts. In this quick Instacast, we set aside the hypotheticals and focus on what fans know after viewing “Trace Decay.”

Among the findings: Bernard has hurt others before, there’s no hiding Theresa’s death and Peter Abernathy looks like the conduit for an attempt to ship data out of Westworld.

Be the smartest person at the watercooler Monday morning by hearing the Westworld Instacast tonight (or on the way to work, proud commuters).

Westworld Episode 8 Summary:
“Trace Decay” Ford has Bernard stage Theresa’s death to look like an accident. Then, Ford wipes Bernard’s memories after Bernard has a vision of himself attacking Elsie. Stubbs becomes suspicious of Bernard’s behavior. Hale recruits Sizemore for her cause. Maeve convinces Felix to give her the ability to control other hosts, and slits Sylvester’s throat for attempting to kill her; though she has Felix save him. Maeve then suffers more visions of her past life with her daughter and reflexively kills another host, prompting the park staff to retrieve her for a diagnostic. William and Dolores finally reach their destination, Ford’s church, where Dolores has more disturbing visions and realizes that Arnold wants her to remember something before they are captured by a band of Confederados led by Logan. Teddy receives a flashback of the Man in Black attacking Dolores and interrogates him. The Man in Black explains he started searching for the maze to find purpose after his wife’s suicide. Teddy is wounded by a female host before they are captured by Wyatt’s cultists.

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15 Responses

  1. m.tilford says:

    Rog got cut off for theorizing heading down a speculative road that intrigues me so I’ll continue the question.

    If Maeve’s MIB/daughter trauma was a little over a year back (whereupon she was moved to the Madam slot) and that was also the MIB’s initiating act in his exploration of evil, then he’s had very little time to perfect his Super Villain Act and become –even to Ford, who would know– an embodiment of some kind of peripatetic God of Suffering. Something seems wrong here. Would also seem to rule out blackmail/his wife finding out about years of his monstrous acts since, as Rog almost asked, was he a white hat those first 28 years of visiting Westworld or what?

    Or was his unnamed wife someone he brought out of the park, and so knew the him that’s about the horrible things I suspect he’s about to do?

    Look forward to the full show.

    • Markus Thomas says:

      I think the X factor in this theory is Logan. William and Logan clearly are not on peaceful terms anymore. William is supposed to marry Logan’s sister so this whole incident is just ammo for Logan to ruin William’s relationship. So, the story that MiB tells Teddy could be the end result of the William/Logan feud. William finally goes true “Black hat” and Logan is too eager to let his sister see the “real” side of William (MiB) in the park. I think William (MiB) killing Maeve and her daughter is what will take Williams’s wife over the edge. But, all of this will happen because somehow Logan will give his sister access to William’s (MiB) activities in the park.

      • Gene Lyons says:

        But MiB says he killed Maeve and her daughter after his wife committed suicide.

        • m.tilford says:

          Yes. I took away that guilt over his wife’s death triggered his decision to go Black Hat. I do think William neglecting Logan’s sister/his wife for the life he lived in WW led to her suicide and possibly to Logan (in the guise of Wyatt?) seeking revenge on the MIB.

  2. Markus Thomas says:

    I believe the William/Logan/Dolores timeline is building up to “The Incident”, which will be when a host kills a human guest. This will cause a domino effect of bad press, law suits and other legal issues that will put WW in financial trouble. Delos, and MiB’s company financially save the park giving the MiB free reign in the park. Not sure why the MiB is looking for The Maze as it’s already been said by the hosts that “It is not for him”. The Maze (IMO) is the literal journey the hosts must go thru to achieve consciousness. Think about all the things Dolores and Maeve are going thru.

    • Gene Lyons says:

      When you say “literal journey,” do you mean “traveling from one place to another”?

      • Markus Thomas says:

        Maeve and Dolores ( and just recently Teddy) are now all experiencing Trace Decay. They are literally getting lost in their memories. Confirmation of this comes when Dolores asks William at the river “When am I?” Both Dolores and Maeve end up acting out their memories. Dolores puts the gun to her head and Maeve (while dreaming of the MiB assault) cuts the new Clem. When they finally sift thru the maze of memories, they will find the center. Self Awareness. Go back and listen to how Felix explains memory to Maeve.

  3. Keith says:

    Hello guys! Love your podcasts! Here are my theories:
    William is not 30 years in the past. He sees the church steeple exactly as Ford & Bernard saw it when Ford decided to build his new narrative.
    Also, Who is the host being built in the basement? That is going to be the ultimate reveal. Is William? Nathan? Hale? I think it is the MIB.
    The word ‘host’ has a double meaning. it can be a host as in the of a party, or host as in one that carries a germ etc. There is a major play on the word going on in WW!

    • Gene Lyons says:

      Agreed. We don’t know when William is. He could be 30 years in the past, and the town that stood at the steeple was 32 years ago. Or he could be 10 years in the past, or 5!

      Great observation.

    • John G. says:

      The town with the white church was something that happened before the park was opened. It’s where Arnold hung out when he was losing himself with the hosts. After Arnold died, Ford buried that entire part of the park, and now, 30 years later, he’s put it back into his narrative, because this new narrative is based in part on a true story, as Ford said to Teddy when he gave him the Wyatt backstory.

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