Westworld season 2 episode 10: What that huge Dolores-Charlotte twist means for season 3

Westworld season 2 capped its often challenging run with a bumper finale which raised some questions, answered even more and dealt out some twists that will change the HBO series as we know it (we break down that post-credits scene here).

With plenty to chew over for the next year until the already-confirmed third season debuts, fans have already begun to theorise about what it all could mean for the future of the series.

Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood) has escaped the park albeit in the form of Charlotte Hale (Tessa Thompson) leaving behind a large number of hosts alive in a virtual utopia and human characters, well, dead (rest in peace Lee and Elsie). The final scene shows a further two hosts residing in Arnold's home back in the real world - a second version of Dolores, in the guise of Evan Rachel Wood, and a new version of Bernard (Jeffrey Wright) built from scratch.

She tells him they both need to exist in the real world in order for hosts to survive - quite what this means is unclear but it certainly seems the two will be locking heads in the third season, especially considering there are two Dolores' prepared to wreak havoc on civilisation.

When asked if the hosts will be able to function in the same way in the real world away from the maintenance they continually received in the park, co-showrunner Lisa Joy told The Independent: “I have a seasons coming up for you.”

As for the virtual world we see a number of hosts - including Akecheta and Maeve's daughter - escape to, it seems these characters wil be put to the test to see if they can live in their own word without any preordained rules or master - and whether they can do a better job than humans do.

Still, death doesn't necessarily mean the end for these characters with digital copies of the humans in existence - and don't think for a second, technicians Felix and Sylvester wont salvage Maeve, Hector and Armistice at the insistence of Delos.

Whatever happens, Joy as teased that season 3 will be “a very different” Westworld and hinted at the introduction of ne human characters as well as the return of some old familiars now the majority of scenes will take place back in the real world.

Westworld Season 2 is available now on Sky On Demand & streaming service NOW TV