Westworld is undoubtedly the world’s most luxurious resort – a place where guests can live without limits and fulfill their wildest fantasies. But it’s by no means the only artificial universe to be created within the bowels of Delos.
The fictional conglomerate is the true antagonist of HBO’s prestige drama, and while the opening season primarily took place in the Wild West – a man-made Wild West, but a Wild West nonetheless – we have reason to believe that Westworld‘s sophomore installment will expand its horizons into uncharted territory, which is to say that viewers may well pay a visit to the mooted Samurai World.
Briefly teased at the tail-end of Westworld season 1, a samurai-themed world is supposedly one of five new destinations waiting to be explored, and thanks to a newly-launched viral site (h/t ComicBook.com), we now have some clues as to where HBO’s genre mash-up is headed next.
If you hop on over to Delos Destinations, you’ll notice that the front page includes a picturesque Japanese landscape, and strongly hints that Westworld season 2 will, at the very least, allude to a Samurai or Shogun World. If you select the option to “visit the parks,” the viral site takes you to a slider filled with thumbnails intentionally reserved for authorized personnel only…except one: Westworld.
Alas, we’ll have to wait until April before we have some definitive answers, as HBO has only just showcased the first full trailer for season 2. And though slowed-down versions of pop songs has become something of a hackneyed cliché, Westworld‘s orchestral version of “Runaway” – phenomenally put together by esteemed composer Ramin Djawadi (Game of Thrones) – was perhaps the perfect audio complement to season 2’s moody, first-look teaser, as its shrill piano beats only amplified the on-screen tension.
Because make no mistake, Westworld season 2 will up the tension quite considerably, as the Hosts, led by Evan Rachel Wood’s Dolores Abernathy, stage an uprising of their own, beginning with the mass slaughter of their former captors. A revolution is afoot, then, and it all begins on April 22nd.
