'Westworld' Season 2's latest installment named after a Machiavellian principle "Virtue e Fortuna" (google it) was a lot to take in, so without further ado let's get into all the important things, tiny details (and their possible hidden meanings) that you might have missed in the episode.
Spoilers will follow.
A brand new 'Raj World' introduces an important character
Another cold open revealed a brand new world set in Colonial India, which we later find out on the official website is called "Raj World." We see a man (named Nicholas) and a woman whose name is confirmed to be Grace, though she doesn't appear at the end credits which may or may not be a clue to her secret identity.
Grace, who suspiciously looks and acts like Theresa Cullen, a deceased Head of Quality Assurance at Delos, is holding a somewhat mysterious notebook which seems to be some kind of map. "Westworld" fans on Reddit were quick to note an interesting symbol in down right corner of the page which just so happens to be the same symbol we see later in the episode when Bernard is trying to fix Abernathy. Meaning that this girl is, most definitely, up to something more than just hunting Bengal tigers.
Also, one of the hosts informs Nicholas that the Governor wants to speak with him, clearly interrupting their conversation, as Grace herself confirms.
He ignores the servant and continues to talk about hunting Bengal tigers near the edge of the park. And the next thing you know, they are in a room, about to hook up, when Grace shot Nicholas to make sure he is a human.
The two eventually go hunting, but Grace notices something is very wrong as hosts are nowhere to be seen, and guests are lying dead. That's when they heard a familiar "violent delights" line from one of the hosts who then kills Nicholas on the spot. Grace is able to defend herself. But soon after, she is attacked by a tiger. As she runs off, she reaches the border with a voice telling her to turn back. Grace ignores the warning and crosses the border, but so does the tiger. That's how they both ended up in water.
And we now know where the tiger, whose body we saw in Season 2 premiere, comes from.
What is the Cradle?
Back in "Westworld" park, and the present timeline, Bernard, Stubbs, and Strand along with Delos forces arrive at one of the outposts where they meet with Charlotte Hale, who, judging by the way she speaks, probably knows that Bernard is a host. "He keeps slipping away from us," she says, clearly talking about the most important host for Delos, Peter Abernathy who has 35 years worth of guest data stored inside him. Somewhere between the lines, we also learned that the "Cradle" is missing. The official website was quick to inform us that cradle is a time capsule that ensures the guests get the immersive and dynamic experience.
'A most virtuous and quickest gun in the west' programming connects the two timelines
A post-massacre timeline takes us right where we left off in the Season 2 premiere, as we see Bernard and Charlotte looking for Peter Abernathy. Turns out he was captured by Rebus and his group who are waiting for Confederados to show up and ransom the hostages.
Charlotte makes a perfect distraction by calling for help. As Rebus goes off to investigate, Bernard hits him in the head and proceeds to make a little adjustment, turning Rebus into the "most virtuous, quickest gun in the west." This perfectly explains his behavior in the Season 2 premiere where he was eager to protect an innocent woman.
As for Peter Abernathy, he was eventually captured by Confederados, and so was Bernard, while Charlotte managed to escape on the back of a horse.
Dolores and 'Wyatt' programming
Meanwhile, Dolores, Teddy, and the Confederados arrive at Fort Forlorn Hope. She introduces herself to the Colonel, as Wyatt, proving that, despite her being fully conscious, she still follows the part of her old murderous Wyatt programming. In any case, Dolores warns the Colonel about Delos forces who are about to arrive at the scene to stop them from making it to the "glory," which, as we all know, is just another word for "a valley beyond."
We also got a glimpse of a zombie-like lobotomized Clementine dragging a captured Delos soldier. Angela then handles a modern gun to the Colonel who ends up shooting the captured soldier.
Maeve's flashback reveals an interesting face
As Maeve, Hector, and Seizmore are walking through the park, they stumble upon some members of Ghost Nation who demand Sizemore. "In a new world, there is no room for him," one of them says. Maeve, of course, doesn't want to hand them a valuable hostage, so she gives orders, to which members of Ghost Nation don't respond.
What's interesting to note here is that once Maeve sees Ghost Nation, she has a series of flashbacks of her daughter. And in one of them for a brief second, we see Akecheta, a character, we first met in last week's episode. Ghost Nation is also seen near the end of the episode capturing Grace.
The connection between Hector and Sizemore
Once they are safe at the headquarters, Sizemore wonders why Maeve and Hector are holding hands even though they are programmed to be alone.
Hector is not supposed to have feelings beyond Isabella, who, as we soon realized, was Sizemore's ex-girlfriend who left him. This resulted in him writing her into a narrative of a man he always wanted to be. "It's a bit sad," Maeve says, "but so is holding hands." This makes me think that Maeve is just using Hector for her goal to reach outside world.
She has a dragon
Soon after this, they run into Armistice who is burning Delos staff alive with her robotic, fire-breathing arm. "She has a dragon," Hector points out, which is clearly a reference to another "HBO" hit show. Then, the group meets with Felix and Sylvester. Together, they head out to resume the search for Maeve's daughter, a quest which will eventually bring them to the north edge of the park where they will stumble upon a samurai.
One-time-use key
We then got a brief touching reunion between Dolores, and Peter Abernathy, who played the role of her father in the previous narrative. Something is wrong, and Dolores asks Bernard to fix her father.
Bernard notices there is a thin character inside Abernathy that has been masking a vastly bigger file. He then tries to encrypt the file with the one-time-use key (this is where the symbol from Grace's notebook appears). We don't see if he presses the button or not, but one theory suggests that he was able to download all the essential data into himself.
All in all, Peter was captured by Delos forces led by Charlotte Hale, and Bernard was knocked down by Clementine, following the Fort Forlorn Hope battle which saw Dolores betraying Confederados.
In the end, she charges Teddy with killing the Major and the rest of the Confederados, but Teddy lets them all go, which may or may not lead to Teddy's betrayal. One thing is certain, Dolores doesn't look pleased with his decision.