Warning: Spoilers ahead.

The highly anticipated series, Westworld, has closed its first season on HBO.

Here are some of my favorite moments from the finale.

William quickly became a character I didn't trust in the show. His obsession with Dolores gave me chills and reminded me all too vividly of moments from my past that I would rather forget. To see his character finally be proven wrong was really satisfying to me. Because, as we discover, the maze isn't a place, it's a metaphor. A metaphor for consciousness. Those who read my previous piece about theories of consciousness in Westworld will remember that in the bicameral mind theory, the ultimate test of consciousness is the ability to synthesize metaphor. The moment when William (The Man in Black) has the maze revealed to him, he is suddenly less conscious than the machines. For he was unable to understand the metaphor they had been using all along.

The reveal of Wyatt was another moment I thought was particularly well done. I had still been guessing up until the moment they revealed that Dolores had been the fabled villain all along. In episode 8, I thought maybe it had been Teddy, but episode 9 cast me back into doubt. As a folklorist, the reveal that Wyatt never truly existed but was an imaginary figure who had been, after years, woven into stories that resembled actual events that had once happened had me drooling. It was truly a clever little nod to folklore and cultural studies about storytelling. And of course, having folkloric figures is a cornerstone of every human culture. It gave a kind of depth and realness, not just to the main cast of Hosts in the park.

Ford's murder/suicide sequence was another big one from Sunday's finale. It was both beautiful and devastating.

"These violent delights have violent ends," Bernard murmurs as the realization of what is about to happen hits him. The lights twinkling around the stage cast a warm, happy glow as though to evoke joy from the audience. Or was it to mirror the joy Dolores feels at finally finding the key to her freedom?