Apart from the Season 2 trailer released earlier this year, we’ve had very little to stave off our curiosity about the murky future at Westworld – especially with co-creators Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy remaining stubbornly tight-lipped about the whole thing.

With only a month until the new season airs on April 22, the co-creators decided to break their vow of silence at SXSW for a featured panel discussion showing a scene and a brief, previously unreleased trailer.

Joined by Evan Rachel Wood, Thandie Newton, Jeffrey Wright, and James Marsden, the co-creators reportedly asked the audience not to share the released saying, “Please don’t share it.

We put stuff in here we’re not ready to show. It’s just for you guys,” Nolan urged his diehard fans.

In order to ensure that what happened in SXSW stayed in SXSW, Elon Musk even made a surprise appearance on the panel. Invited on stage, the SpaceX founder shared a trailer he had prepared for the recent "Falcon Heavy" launch.

Not only did Elon Musk’s appearance seal the deal, it also spurred a riveting discussion about the meaning of life and the necessity of space travel. “There are a lot of negative things in the world — a lot of terrible things happening all the time, lots of problems that need to get solved — but life cannot just be about solving one miserable problem after another. There need to be things that inspire you, that make you glad to wake up in the morning and be part of humanity,” Musk said.

Quoting Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky, one of the first prominent Russian rocket scientists, Musk added, “Earth is the cradle of humanity, but you cannot stay in the cradle forever.”

Nolan ended the panel discussion on an unexpected note when a 3-minute footage was aired depicting a rocket leaving the Earth’s atmosphere and a car floating in space to Bowie’s eponymous “Life on Mars.” Complementing Musk’s point, Nolan went on an Earth-rant of his own: “Obviously, we’ve got a lot of problems on this planet, but one of the beautiful things about space flight is that it’s all of us working together.

And we were trying to think of an image, something to shock people, and what we came up with was a red sports car and a David Bowie song.”

If there is one thing left to be said, we missed out on that party. Luckily for us mouthwatering fans left behind enemy lines, HBO has recently rolled out a new promo teasing its TV show and movie lineup and scattered it with bits and pieces from the upcoming season of the Emmy Award-winning "Westworld".

"I remember beautiful things and terrible things," says Evan Rachel Wood's Dolores Abernathy in the clip, sending us down the same emotional spiral we all remember so well, and inviting flashbacks from the finale that we all pored over for days; trying to get some closure and only arriving at half-chewed explanations.

About the top-secret SXSW footage

Although the SXSW attendees kept their promise about not recording the aired footage, they failed to keep their lips sealed. After all, who can?

In the aired scene, Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood) and Teddy (James Marsden) are seen on the wrong side of things. Two of the prisoners stand on tombstones with nooses around their necks and a third is waiting his turn.

“You’re in my dream,” Dolores says, teasing an evolving consciousness and asking them if they ever wondered about the price they would have to pay if there is a reckoning.

Adjusting the noose on the man’s neck, Dolores says: “That reckoning is here.”

In another teaser, dead bodies are strewn in and around the park, and we catch up with Bernard (Jeffrey Wright) back from season 1’s party, who wakes up in the dirt just as armed men in uniform enter the park, joined by Charlotte (Tessa Thompson) and William (Jimmi Simpson).

If you think this is intense, wait till you hear this! At the sneak peek of Shogun World, two Samurai armies are fighting each other — starring the Wolverine actor Hiroyuki Sanada — as Maeve is seen walking into the fight dressed in a beautiful, serene kimono.

What does the new season hold?

If one thing is certain about the upcoming season of "Westworld", it is this: The vengeful ancient gods of Sweetwater decided it is past time for some reckoning – especially for the TV show's notorious Man in Black (Ed Harris); Dolores’ abuser and part-time psychopath. In the TV show's intense bite, the Man in Black finally learns an age-old adage: Be careful what you wish for, old man.

We also see some vital character development for Dolores, who has not lost her talent for getting into trouble but seems to have learned a thing or two about free will.

Dolores is not the only one working on herself this season, as Teddy is also rumored to have a change of heart. On the panel discussion, Joy answered a fan’s question with some insight: “You see, he’s not beholden to those archetypes of the unfeeling man who’s just shooting people; he’s got this deep feeling for the people in this world that he’s only beginning to acknowledge himself.”

Maeve is also reported to have some unforeseen changes on the show, as Newton shared with the audience that Nolan and Joy revised her actions and got her to do things that he did not intend for Maeve.

Commenting on those changes, Newton conceded: “I thought I owned this character, but by the end of the season, I was really humbled.”

Although the panel was an impregnable fortress when it came to confirming or denying the fog of fan theories circulating overhead; they hinted at “controversial plan” that HBO had in mind to engage with the speculating bunch of avid theorists. With mounting curiosity, a fan asked if there is anything they might have missed. “Oh yeah,” Nolan said. “Tons and tons of stuff.”

Are we getting more characters?

If you were having trouble keeping up with the onslaught of characters and twisting storylines on "Westworld" – brace yourself! As far as characters are concerned, "Westworld" is about to give Game of Thrones a run for its money!

Joining the cast on Season 2 are Katja Herbers, who will be playing Grace, Neil Jackson who will be starring as Nicholas, Gustaf Skarsgård as Karl Strand, and Fares Fares as Antoine Costa.

Additionally, we will be seeing a lot more of Louis Herthum, as Peter Abernathy will be getting a lot more screen-time as a regular on the nightmare park.

Want to Take a Walk in Sweetwater?

HBO and the creators of "Westworld" did not think that airing unreleased footage and inviting Elon Musk was enough to whet our appetite for what comes next.

So, in one of the biggest publicity stunts in the 21st century, they built the entire town of Sweetwater - right at the heart of SXSW!

Here's a tour if you missed out on the real thing.
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