The post contains frank discussion of Westworld up through Season 1, Episode 9 "The Well-Tempered Clavier." It also contains copious speculation. But there are no actual spoilers from the finale here. (This author hasn’t seen it yet.) Still, if you’re not in the mood for speculation, now is the time to scurry back to your little loop.

First, a very quick recap of some of the Westworld speculation we’ve been operating with all season, just to make sure everyone is on the same page. If you’re already all caught up with that discussion, now is the time to skip down the page.

Okay: many Westworld theorists believe that, unbeknownst to some, this season of the HBO series has been exploring multiple time periods in the history of the park. This very popular, Reddit-generated theory is laid out here.

They also believe that William (Jimmi Simpson) and the Man in Black (Ed Harris) are actually the same character ,and we’re watching them traverse the park 30 years apart in time. You can read all about that here and here.

You don’t have to agree with me on all of those points, but I just want to make sure we’re operating with the same information. Got it? Good.