WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Season 3, Episode 7, of Westworld, "Passed Pawn," which aired Sunday on HBO.
Following the latest episode of Westworld, "Passed Pawn," HBO aired a featurette that focused on that epic desert fight between Dolores Prime (Evan Rachel Wood) and Maeve (Thandie Newton) outside of Serac's New Mexico outlier facility.
In the behind-the-scenes look, Wood laments how long she wanted to see a team-up and epic feminist moment between the two characters in the previous seasons they were leading a rebellion of hosts against humans in Delos' park. It never materialized but Wood did say she was happy that while there wasn't an alliance, the two powerhouses got this brawl which left social media abuzz. However, with one episode to go, there's still a strong possibility we'll see Dolores and Maeve team up, except it won't be the Prime version thanks to a sneaky betrayal.
This alliance has been put into play by Halores (Tessa Thompson) -- the version of Dolores that just lost her family in an explosion rigged by Serac. However, she's not just bitter towards him but Incite and Rehoboam as well for taking her ex and son off the map. She also hates Prime, who's basically the mother that brought her into the real world, for the war that's causing so many casualties.
Halores starts this episode off by selling out Sato (Hiroyuki Sanada), another version of Dolores, so Maeve's crew could kill him for some mysterious plan. And it seems Halores is in on it or driving this new joint venture, as she let Sato know she's streamlining operations because Prime's plan will kill them all; hosts and humans alike. She tells him the other Dolori are expendable and while they had no connections to people, she wants agency, as well as freedom. Halores believes in identity so it's similar to being trapped in the park, only this time she's enslaved by Prime, not Delos.
Given that Sato has control of Prime's cortical fluid, speculation has it Halores has hijacked this and could be working with Maeve to bring their families back as hosts. In that sense, they both may have to play the Prime, Caleb (who just got the ultimate weapon to destroy humanity) and Serac himself as he has all the host and human data that's essential to bring back everyone's loved ones. But rather than watching Prime and Maeve cutting people up with swords, shooting them up with guns, or using other bloody tactics, this coalition is much more covert and steeped in stealth. Halores is working behind Prime's back to derail her, and possibly Serac, all while Maeve hunts the Prime for her boss. The thing is, though, it's still unclear what data or tech they're hacking on their end.
It's long been suspected that Halores will turn on her master, and while she's a corporate boardroom type figure, she can brawl as well. That was evident with her gunplay in taking out Serac's men and escaping Delos just before the villain blew her family up. Now, it's only a matter of if Maeve will physically attack the Prime or Serac. If their plan is what many think it is, then chances are it'll be both. After all, they both know the plight of losing children and as grieving mothers, they'll stop at nothing to unite with their kin. Whether it's getting them from the Sublime or using Incite's data to make new hosts, it's clear that they're as driven as ever and an alliance in the name of love is more than enough for them to buck Prime and Serac's plans for a new world order.
Airing Sundays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on HBO, Westworld stars returning cast members Evan Rachel Wood, Thandie Newton, Ed Harris, Jeffrey Wright, Tessa Thompson, Luke Hemsworth, Simon Quarterman and Rodrigo Santoro, joined by series newcomers Aaron Paul, Vincent Cassel, Lena Waithe, Scott Mescudi, Marshawn Lynch, John Gallagher Jr., Michael Ealy and Tommy Flanagan.