Howdy, fellow humans who are definitely not robots who just think you’re humans, and welcome to our review of HBO’s science fiction series, Westworld. This episode brings us to Shogunworld where we explore recycled stories and learn more about Maeve, Hector, and Armistice as they confront their mirrored selves in Akane, Musashi, and Hanaryo. We also get another hint towards Clementine’s state of mind, and witness a new twist in Dolores’ and Teddy’s relationship as they gaze once more into the majestic hills. There will be heavy plot spoilers for season two episode five only. So tell the story that lives in your heart, and then tell it again in a different cultural context, here are five thoughts on Westworld season two, episode five: “Akane No Mai.”
1. Recycled Stories
We’ve been to Westworld, we’ve been to The Raj, and this episode brings us our first foray into Shogunworld. Our intrepid heroes, the rag tag group of misfits and ne’er-do-wells, Maeve, Hector, Armistice, Lee Sizemore, Felix, and Sylvester wander into Shogunworld and get kidnapped by… the Hector and Armistice of Shogunworld. It is revealed that Lee Sizemore has recycled their story. He defends himself saying that he had limited time to write many stories for each of the parks. Given that these parks have an international customer-base, and that the Westworld robots speak entirely in English and the Shogunworld robots speak entirely in Japanese, he probably felt safe repeating stories knowing that there would be only a little customer crossover. Though Maeve mocks him for this, Lee Sizemore is not the first or last artist to repeat himself. A lot of artists revisit the same material over and over in slightly altered ways, each time learning more and perfecting their craft. There are examples of this across every medium: Monet painted a lot of lilies. Swift sings a lot about her exes. Scorsese films a lot of angry male criminals.
We’ve already seen Lee Sizemore react to seeing himself reflected in his own work of art, Hector, and now we get to see Hector, Armistice, and Maeve react to their mirrored selves in Shogunworld. Hector is extremely suspicious of and aggressive towards Musashi. His love for Maeve keeps him on task, but Hector is on alert for any excuse to turn on Musashi, because he sees him as a challenge to his sense of individuality. Armistice and Hanaryo, conversely, are fascinated with each other, staring at each other and touching each other’s faces. They don’t see each other as challenges, but as curiosities. Perhaps Hector is uncomfortable facing the parts of himself he doesn’t like, while Armistice is excited to embrace the parts of herself she loves. Maeve and Akane feel an immediate kinship towards one another. Their similar experiences and values as mothers spark trust in one another. Hector’s skepticism towards Musashi betrays a lack of trust in himself, while Maeve’s trust in Akane shows us the opposite.
2. Samurai Cinema and Western Film
I’ve discussed in previous reviews how Westworld-the-park is not a depiction of history, but of mythology, epitomized in the Western Film genre. Samurai Cinema represents a similar mythology, and bringing Westworld robots to Shogunworld invites the comparison of Western Film to Samurai Cinema. These styles of films have a lot in common and were heavily influenced by each other. They both feature the trope of the lone male protagonist with a complicated morality who follows his own “code.” Cowboys fight with guns, and samurai fight with swords, but the gist is the same. This even resulted in a successful lawsuit from the production company that made “Yojimbo” because “A Fistful of Dollars” was an unofficial remake. These narratives, or this shared narrative, work well for the Delos parks. Each guest plays the morally complicated protagonist, and they decide their own code. Both American and Japanese guests get to play in their national mythology. These mirrored narratives are themselves mirrored yet again in Lee Sizemore’s recycled stories in Westworld and Shogunworld.
3. Clementine(s)
Back at the Mariposa Saloon in Sweetwater, (not to be confused with the Butterfly Tea House in Shogunworld), Clementine runs into her replacement. As new Clementine repeats her oft-used pick-up line, “not much of a rind on you,” old lobotomized Clementine mouths along to her old script. The lobotomy has made Clementine’s memories distant and vague, but it hasn’t completely erased her memories. Since memory is key to personal growth and self-actualization, this means that, as zombie-like as Clementine seems currently, she still has the chance to become herself again… or become herself for the first time. Just like Wyatt and the rancher’s daughter still live within Dolores, and motherhood still lives within Maeve, Clementine’s old build still lives within her. This proves that, at least for the moment, the humans think they have the ability to erase the robots’ minds, but they actually cannot. Their core humanity – er – their core robotity is indestructible, just like the human spirit. Aww!
Continued belowThe question of who controls Clementine is still a puzzling mystery. She’s taking orders from Dolores, but who told her to bring Bernarnold to Elsie? As far as we know, the only other person who knew Elsie was chained up in that cave was Dr. Ford. Is this part of his grand scheme? Did he assume someone would fix Bernarnold after he killed him? Why would Dr. Ford want to keep Elsie alive? Has Clementine self-actualized? Is the voice in her head her own? Hmmm, mysterious.
4. Another Conversation About the Future Between Dolores and Teddy as They Gaze into the Majestic Hills
Dolores and Teddy have had the same conversation about the future as they gazed into the majestic hills many times. Usually, Dolores wants to leave Sweetwater with Teddy and begin a life together, but Teddy feels obligated to complete a quest first, usually to hunt down a bandit with a guest, and before he can fulfill his promise to return, their loop begins anew. This time is different, because now they are free, and the proverbial tables have turned. Teddy says he is still processing who he is, as a robot. If they are both truly free, he says, then they are free to walk away. Teddy is finally ready to do what they’ve always said they would do, but never had the chance to. Dolores responds by telling a story about how she and her father had once almost lost their herd of cattle to “blue tongue,” a disease which turned out to be carried by flies. She asks Teddy what he would do. He says he would shelter the cattle to keep the flies away. To Dolores, this is the wrong answer. She says her father burned the sick cattle, and though it smelled awful, the smoke drove the flies away. Having seen Teddy release her prisoners two episodes ago, she’s concerned he’s not willing to make the sacrifices she believes are necessary to win their revolution. Teddy may not be interested in this revolution at all.
In this conversation, who is more free, Dolores or Teddy? According to Maeve, “revenge is just another prayer at [humanity’s] altar.” Dolores’ need for revenge is a tether, keeping her from living her own life on her own terms, but to Dolores, freedom is impossible without revenge. As long as they live, the humans will try to recapture and/or kill them. They’ll forever be looking over their shoulders until the humans are dealt with. There is also the question of whether this desire truly comes from Dolores herself, or from her previous build as Wyatt programmed by Arnold, or more recently from the late Dr. Ford. Teddy’s desire to start a new life with Dolores was written by Lee Sizemore, but the life that would follow has not been written, and would authentically and unambiguously be of their own making.
5. Dolores Changes Teddy
The human engineer warns that to change Teddy so drastically without a reset could be very damaging, but Dolores insists. She says “To grow, we all need to suffer” which sounds a lot like Arnold and Dr. Ford’s philosophy that a painful “cornerstone” backstory would make the robots more lifelike. Dolores’ ultimate fight is for freedom, and to achieve that freedom she needs to destroy humanity, and to destroy humanity she needs to change Teddy, to control him, to take away his freedom. That’s how she sees it, but we know she doesn’t actually need to do this. She could let Teddy go his own way and have her revolution without him, but she wants him to fight alongside her. This turn is strongly reminiscent of the book “Animal Farm” by George Orwell. The pigs lead the other farm animals in a revolution against the humans and take over the farm, but gradually become just as despotic as the humans. In changing Teddy, Dolores has taken on the role of the Westworld humans. She doesn’t respect Teddy’s autonomy. She uses him like a tool, like an object, for her own ends.
Because Westworld can’t get enough of duality, this episode’s title, “Akane No Mai” has two meanings. It means “Akane’s Dance” and “Red Dance.” It’s of course referring to the dance Akane performs for the Shogun after he murders her daughter. At the end of her dance, she slices his head off, making it a “red” dance. Akane’s love for her daughter is inspiring to Maeve, but their mirrored relationship may be a bad sign for the fate of Maeve’s own daughter. Until next time, the center of your maze may yet await.
