Westworld Season 4 Trailer Supports Evan Rachel Wood & Dolores Theories

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The Westworld season 4 trailer supports theories that Evan Rachel Wood’s Dolores could cheat death, but in true Westworld style, her return isn’t exactly straightforward. Once upon a time, Westworld operated under the relatively simple premise of “wild west plus robots,” but by season 3, those humble times had long since disappeared. Westworld season 3 departs the old frontier to reveal Delos’ robot-filled theme parks are just the tip of an iceberg that involves complete dystopian control of the human race via an AI algorithm.

Played by Evan Rachel Wood, Westworld season 1 introduces Dolores as a farm girl host at the WestWorld park, but by “following the maze” set by her creator, she attains full sentience before escaping into the real world. Though Dolores dies in season 3’s finale, the nature of Westworld means actors often play multiple characters… or multiple versions of characters… or multiple versions of multiple characters… Suffice to say, Dolores’ apparent death left room for maneuver, and theories immediately suggested that Evan Rachel Wood, Dolores, or both could somehow return in Westworld season 4.

Westworld‘s season 4 trailer has now been released by HBO, teasing Charlotte Hale (Tessa Thompson) and her Man In Black-bot sidekick (Ed Harris) executing their campaign to conquer mankind. Or perhaps they already have, since the post-apocalyptic world teased by Westworld season 3’s Fight Club-style ending is nowhere to be seen, replaced by what appears to be a normal human city. The trailer also teases a grand return for Dolores Abernathy… maybe.

What Happened To Dolores At The End Of Westworld Season 3

When Dolores left WestWorld at the end of season 2, she was not best pleased with the human race. Fans and characters alike naturally assumed Evan Rachel Wood’s sentient farm girl planned to wipe out her fleshy enemies and create a world exclusively for hosts, but as Westworld season 3 progressed, Dolores’ true intentions rose to the surface. Choosing to “see the beauty” in Earth’s imperfect population, Dolores actually wants to help mankind by liberating everyone from the oppressive control of Incite’s AI algorithm, Rehoboam. Meanwhile, Rehoboam wants the Sector 16 data collected on Delos’ guests to improve its predictive capability, and believes the key lies inside Dolores’ mind.

Dolores’ mission costs her life. Captured by Thandie Newton’s Maeve (who’s reluctantly working for Incite because the Sector 16 key also leads to her daughter), Dolores is hooked up to Rehoboam, which systematically deletes her memories hunting for the key. With her final burst of life, Dolores’ last remaining memory activates the Solomon program and switches control of Rehoboam to Caleb (Aaron Paul), who promptly shuts the thing down.

Although humanity is freed, Dolores has been utterly wiped. Every byte of data that comprised the “Dolores” personality was chipped away by Rehoboam in Westworld season 3’s finale, and for a host, that’s tantamount to death. While Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy (Westworld showrunners) haven’t ever ruled out Evan Rachel Wood’s return, they have stressed (via Variety) that Dolores – in her traditional incarnation, at least – died bringing free will back to humanity.

 Westworld Season 4 Trailer Confirms Evan Rachel Wood’s Return

With no dialogue or context, the Westworld season 4 trailer is more ambiguous than a Lou Reed song played backwards. The footage does, however, confirm Evan Rachel Wood’s Westworld return. Now sporting reddish-brown hair instead of her usual blonde, the Westworld actress is shown ascending a staircase in the “real” world and brushing past a group of eager men seemingly on their way to enjoy the violent delights of a Delos park. Wood is later shown taken aback by an unseen familiar face in a bar, and the object rolling across the floor hints she’s encountering the Man in Black here, since William would always pick up her dropped can back in WestWorld. Finally, Evan Rachel Wood is shown submerged underwater.

None of these shots reveal how Evan Rachel Wood’s Westworld comeback is addressed in season 4. The trailer footage doesn’t even signal whether Wood is still playing Dolores, or whether Dolores’ body is being inhabited by another host. Wood’s Westworld season 4 character certainly dresses like Dolores – even down to the black ear cuff she wore throughout season 3 – but has the specter of “Wyatt” resurrected, or is Wood portraying someone new?

Is Another Westworld Host In The Body Of Evan Rachel Wood? Who Could It Be?

In Westworld‘s crazy universe, hosts are comprised of two distinct components – the body, and the pearl. The latter is far more important – a storage device equivalent to a host’s soul, containing all the memories, motivations and morals that make up their persona. With the right equipment and a bank full of cash, a host body can be constructed to resemble anyone – a classic design such as Maeve, Teddy or Clementine, or a real person like Charlotte Hale or the Man in Black. This is why so many Westworld theories believed Evan Rachel Wood could return even after Dolores died. The real key to unraveling the actress’ presence in Westworld season 4 is figuring out who benefits from rebuilding Dolores’ body? And who would be inside it?

A major contender is Charlotte Hale – or, more accurately, the Hale-Dolores hybrid. The post-credits sequence of Westworld season 3 revealed Hale-lores busily constructing an army of hosts to dominate mankind. Despite having the exterior appearance of Tessa Thompson, the original human Hale is long dead. This host version carries a copy of Dolores’ pearl, but the combination of personalities has created an entirely new character. Westworld season 4 may see Hale-lores swap bodies. Not only would a new face allow the famous Delos boss to move around inconspicuously, but dressing up as Dolores – the original host revolutionary – might help Hale-lores recruit other stray robots to her cause. Westworld season 4 then creates a fun scenario where Evan Rachel Wood is playing Tessa Thompson, who was already playing Evan Rachel Wood’s Dolores.

Another possibility is that Westworld season 4’s Dolores is an entirely fresh host. The cyborg fleet created by Hale-lores probably included designs from the original park like Teddy, Clementine (who we see in the trailer) and, indeed, Dolores. Although this host would possess Dolores’ exterior (helpfully facilitating Evan Rachel Wood’s return), the pearl must be totally new, since Rehoboam scrubbed the real deal clean. This theory is supported by the Westworld season 4 trailer’s Caleb shots, which reveal Aaron Paul’s character wearing a wedding ring. Between Westworld seasons 3 and 4, maybe Delos integrated its host army into the outside world, Caleb met one who looks exactly like Dolores (who he fell for back in season 3), they get married, and this is who Evan Rachel Wood plays in Westworld season 4.

How Dolores Can Properly Return In Westworld Season 4

Though bringing Evan Rachel Wood back to Westworld was relatively simple, reviving Dolores looks decidedly trickier… albeit not impossible. Westworld season 2 revealed five copies of Dolores’ pearl were made. One went to Dolores herself, another into Charlotte Hale, a third into Martin, a fourth into Musashi, and the last into Lawrence. Hale has mutated into something else entirely and Dolores’ pearl was wiped by Rehoboam, but the other three potentially remain intact. Westworld could reintroduce an authentic version of Dolores through one of the pearl copies inside Musashi, Martin or Lawrence. As proven by Hale, however, these clones have a tendency to develop minds of their own.

Working on the theory that Evan Rachel Wood is portraying an entirely new host in Westworld season 4, it’s also plausible (for Westworld anyway) Dolores’ personality could re-manifest. Trailer footage recreates Dolores’ can-rolling reverie, and Wood’s character shows a spark of recognition at whomever picks it up. Maybe Evan Rachel Wood’s new host somehow reassembles Dolores’ original persona over time, following a maze of her own. She wouldn’t be exactly the same version from Westworld seasons 1-3, but a close enough facsimile.

Dolores’ return won’t necessarily be that convoluted. Westworld could, of course, reveal Dolores stashed all her memories and data inside the Sublime when she handed the key over to Bernard – a contingency plan in case defeating Rehoboam ended badly. But Westworld season 3 placed such emotional emphasis upon her demise, any return for the proper, original Dolores should be hard-earned. A surprise USB stick in Bernard’s pocket won’t cut it.