And a second warning, just in case. This is a big episode, so be careful not to continue reading if you haven't seen the episode and are concerned about being spoiled to big reveals.

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Dolores sees Arnold's full name in "The Well-Tempered Clavier"

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So there it was, folks: the Westworld episode to answer -- or at least almost-but-not-quite confirm -- most of the biggest fan theories about the series so far. With all that heavy lifting out of the way, you should be even more excited for whatever comes next in the finale.This is a bit of a long review, so come down the rabbit hole with me...In an interview with IGN's Eric Goldman a couple weeks ago tied to the first big Bernard reveal (that he's actually a Host), Jeffrey Wright described Season 1 as "really a prequel to the beginning of the show," and in "The Well-Tempered Clavier" we see that idea play out fully. The bulk of the heavy lifting of the nature of Westworld, the Hosts and their creators is out of the way, and now the real fun can begin.The biggest reveal of the episode was confirming the long popular theory that Bernard is actually a Host version of Arnold. Though it was a bit of a slow, sentimental revelation, the confirmation was almost as satisfying as the twist that Bernard wasn't human. It was meticulously laid out, with Westworld almost explicitly revealing all the times it hinted at the reveal in the past by replaying key Bernard scenes from earlier in the series. Considering how confusing other aspects of the show have become, perhaps that was for the best.Especially coming off of the reveal Bernard is a Host, this theory became so popular that many (like myself, at a certain point) felt it was only a matter of time before the truth was revealed on the show. Westworld, like Game of Thrones and Lost, is a show that invites speculation and theorizing as it layers in its many mysteries, and people who take part in that speculating and theorizing then fall victim to "calling" a twist before it happens. Maybe that's why the Bernard reveal felt dragged a bit as it was pulled taut across the entirety of the episode; it became evident that the show was heading toward the reveal the moment Bernard picked up the photograph of Ford and Arnold in his memory early on in the episode, but we didn't get the kicker of the full reveal and confirmation until the end.Almost every speculated piece of proof proved to be true, from "Bernard's" differing wardrobe that seemed to hint it was really Arnold having secret conversations with Dolores to "Bernard Lowe" being an anagram for Arnold's full name, "Arnold Weber." (Though the first time we learned Arnold's last name was in this episode, fans have been speculating it's "Weber" since early on in the show's run .)(A couple asides: Bernard's traumatic cornerstone is an homage to Arnold's sad past, implying that the versions of Charlie and Bernard's wife who we see are modeled after Arnold's family. It could be that Ford actually has Bernard play old recorded conversations between Arnold and his wife instead of just having an actress recreate them. Also, after being very sure Elsie was dead in last week's episode, I'm now rescinding my declaration. That's been multiple times that we've seen Westworld hint at Bernard murdering her but not show it, which likely means there's more to that story. Stubbs' cliffhanger in this episode further supports that speculation.)More important than just confirming that Bernard is in fact Arnold, the reveal more subtly explored the crux of Ford and Arnold's differing views and what that means for the truth of the maze -- and Westworld as a show. The way Ford pulled a bait-and-switch at the end with having Bernard kill himself seemed to imply that these two have been through this before. Maybe Bernard has become sentient in the past and pushed Ford to this point, or maybe -- as is heavily implied -- the first time this narrative loop happened was when Ford triggered Dolores like he did Clem and forced her to kill Arnold. While Arnold wanted to create consciousness, Ford simply wanted the Hosts to be a more pure version of humans; as he told Bernard at the end, humans will consistently disappoint. It's the debate Westworld has been exploring throughout Season 1. Though there haven't been any real answers so far, Westworld is setting up a breaking point in the finale that will get past the theorizing by showrunners Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy and start getting to what their conclusions may be.As important is what we learn about Dolores's storyline so far in Season 1. When Ford tells Bernard that "a little trauma can be illuminating" for Hosts, suddenly her journey from the premiere to the present makes a lot more sense. Though not explicitly stated, "The Well-Tempered Clavier" showed how Dolores has been retracing her memories of William throughout the entire season, since the Man in Black seemingly assaulted her -- "a little trauma" -- at the end of the series premiere. The show seemed like it was jumping between multiple Dolores time frames (not timelines, as many of you corrected last week), but really we've been seeing her in the present retrace her journey that she went on with William, and her memories of her journey with him are layered over the present.If that proves to be true, it's a very satisfying resolution to one of the biggest issues with the multiple time frames theory. Dolores has grown so much since we've met her, that the idea of her time with William only being a flashback really undercuts the agency and strength she's earned as a character. This is a bit of a loophole for that problem, but Dolores finally getting to the center of the maze after attempting to do so all those years before is a great way of playing into the "prequel" aspect of this season. As Wright told IGN, "There are a lot of narratives and character structures to build this first year and at the end of the season I think we'll all have a full understanding of where we are and who we are." We now are very close to knowing who Dolores really is.There's a very good chance Westworld will explicitly confirm these reveals in next week's finale, but what makes the show so engaging and well-written is that they're there all along if you're willing to look. As much as I mildly criticized the episode for dragging out the Bernard/Arnold reveal earlier in this review, the strength of Westworld is that none of these twists feel unearned. You can trace these story threads back to the beginning of the series and find evidence of the twists there, and that's clever world building and satisfying storytelling.To unpack this concept a little bit more: the Man in Black assaulting Dolores in the series premiere was the traumatic moment that pushed Dolores toward enlightenment; since then, she's been retracing her memories with William, which took her the closest she'd ever gotten to the maze since she originally was there with Arnold. She's been remembering three time frames: when the Hosts were first introduced into the park in the town with the white church (and that's the same time frame Teddy has been remembering with Wyatt), when she and William traveled through looking for Arnold and the maze, and the present, when she retraced her steps thinking William was with her.Next episode, I believe we'll see the result of Logan's attack on Dolores in the second time frame left her lying dead in the river like she saw in last week's memory, meaning she never actually got to the town with the white church during her go-around with William. In fact, "The Well-Tempered Clavier" came about as close as it's ever been to confirming yet another major Season 1 theory in providing a mountain of hints that, yes, William really is the Man in Black -- the biggest piece being that his arrival at the church is the culmination of William's journey years before with Dolores. Here we see that Logan's sister, who William is intended to marry, is the woman in the photograph that Abernathy found in the field back in the season premiere. And then William picks up the same knife MiB has been carrying around all season.Like the multiple time frames reveal, the hints for the Man in Black being one and the same as William have been well-layered throughout the series -- we just didn't see most of the full picture until now, causing Eric and myself to be doubters as recently as three weeks ago . With these huge theories confirmed or all-but confirmed, there's a lot to be excited about looking forward. People might have puzzled out the shape of things to come back in the series premiere, but we're moving into the unknown after all of these revelations.That ties things nicely back to Maeve, who took a backseat to the other big events in this episode but still has an important role to play. She's an interesting counterpoint to Ford in that she has the same control that he has but is pushing the Hosts to come to their own revelations instead of deciding for them. She isn't forcing consciousness into those she hopes follow in her sentient footsteps. First with Bernard and then with Hector, she leads her fellow Hosts up to the point of truth and then lets them figure things out from there. Though not directly connected to Maeve, Teddy is an example of a Host not being able to embrace the truth. (Side note: Dolores is totally Wyatt and he won't allow himself to see it, right? Here's more evidence of the Wyatt = Dolores theory .) The real question is whether Dolores will prove to be an ally for Maeve, or whether they will have differing aims. Despite Dolores's quest for truth, she pointedly said she's not looking to get out of Westworld.In the finale, we're finally going to find out what Ford is planning for his new narrative -- something that likely will be his crowning achievement after standing in the shadow of Arnold's great accomplishments for so many years -- and see the outcome of Maeve's escape plan and Dolores's quest to get to the center of the maze. But as satisfying as seeing those events play out may be, the real element of Westworld to be excited about is traveling with the show out of its prologue and into the meat of the story. The show has done such a good job of laying the groundwork, it's exciting to finally be seeing the shape of the true story being told.