The Season 2 premiere of Westworld is just a few weeks away, which means we're finally getting more insight into the new episodes, straight from HBO itself.
A new poster teases a Season 2 theme we already knew about—"Chaos takes control"—with some striking symbolism: a vulture host standing next to The Man in Black's famous hat, drops of blood spattered alongside it.
At first glance, the meaning is obvious: death is imminent for the humans associated with Westworld, and the ones unlucky enough to be in the park's vicinity at the time of the hosts' revolt—The Man in Black included.
But of course, nothing is ever what it seems with this show, and, as Vanity Fair reports, when cast members posted moving versions of the poster on Twitter, sleuthing fans quickly unscrambled a hidden code.
The message leads to the Discover Westworld website, an in-universe site meant to serve as the official Westworld booking site, but a new page, /findthedoor/. A young boy's voice greets fans as they arrive: "But now, you're in my game. In this game, you must find the door." After a fast-moving montage featuring clips from the show, a message flashes onscreen: "Aeden WE WILL FIND THE DOOR. But they will try to first." Aeden refers to the bot "Westworld host" you can chat with on the Discover Westworld site. Reddit says the clips appear to be a mix from Season 1 and 2; new footage includes Charlotte Hale (wearing the yellow dress she wore to the board gala) standing with Bernard and Maeve walking through Delos HQ in contemporary clothing.
It's unclear exactly what "door" we're supposed to be looking for, though I suspect it's not necessarily a physical one. The hosts are clearly on a path of retribution in Westworld Season 2, and after they conquer Westworld and the other Delos parks (there are six total), the next logical step is our human-inhabited world. The "door" to the real world could very well be the one the voice is referencing.
Vanity Fair theorizes the boy's voice comes from none other than the child host Ford created in his own likeness (we learned about his origins in Season 1 Episode 6.) I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if "Find the Door" turned out to be the next step in Roberts Ford's final story—the "Journey into Night." After all, as Ford himself said, "Mozart, Beethoven, and Chopin never died. They simply became music." Ford clearly set a plan in motion to continue after his death, and it wouldn't be surprising if, in his mind, the hosts took precedence over human life.
Much will surely be revealed when Westworld returns Sunday, April 22 at 9 PM EST on HBO. Until then, catch up on all of BAZAAR.com's Westworld coverage here.
