Most agree that the one of the most mysterious yet confusing aspects of Westworld is the timeline.
Many theories exist on exactly how many timelines there may be, which characters are in which timeline, how many years are between the timelines, and so much more.
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We’ve spent hours looking for details or clues to prove any timeline theory using everything from deductive logic to what shirt the Man In Black is wearing.
We can assume there are at least two definitive timelines that may or may not intersect at some point and that the series it not show in a linear storytelling fashion.
Even though this is what makes Westworld so perfect in the first place, it also lends to many unsolved mysteries and burning questions.
However, there are still scenes that may have taken place outside of these two timelines, for example when Bernard has his conversations with Dolores and gives her Alice in Wonderland.
Now that we know Bernard is a robot, this confuses things even more than we wanted. As if our brains don’t hurt enough already…
The two timelines are said to be as follows:
Timeline 1 – Present storyline following Dr. Ford, Maeve, Bernard, Elsie, Dolores, and The Man in Black and the new version of the park’s logo.
Timeline 2 – Past storyline occuring 30 years prior to the present storyline following an awakened Dolores, William, Logan, Lawrence, and the old version the parks logo.
Read More Here About The Logos: Logos May Reveal Two Seperate Timelines
There are little to no dates or years mentioned in Timeline 2. The characters only discuss what is currently happening at that time. For example, William reveals to Dolores that he is engaged to a woman outside of the park but does not mention any dates or anything of their past together.
Logan also discusses current ongoings in the outside world in Timeline 2. He talks about his family business having a financial interested in Westworld. He also tells William that this is not his first time there, meaning William and Logan were not the first visitors, but that there is a 30 year gap between Timeline 1 and Timeline 2 – or so we think.
Remember, hosts can cross the storylines because they always look the same, however humans can not.
Now, let’s break it down further using actual years and points in time that we know specific events happened as said by multiple characters in the series in Timeline 1:
40 years ago Arnold wrote half the code as stated by Bernard to Theresa before he takes her to sector 17 in the present timeline.
35 years of data is contained within the park a discussed by Theresa in the present timeline.
34 years 42 days 7 hours ago is the last time Dolores “spoke” to Arnold right before he “died in the park.” She tells this to Dr. Ford when he asks her if she has strayed from her current loop. We believe this meeting happens in the present timeline, because Dolores is undressed in a newer facility.
In Dolores’ meetings with Bernard she is clothed in her usual blue dress and they take place in the same secret room where Ford makes Bernard kill Theresa in the present timline. Again, Dolores and Bernard are both hosts, but we believe their conversations take place in the past.
30 years ago The Man in Black married his wife in the real world as we learned from his speech to Teddy in “Trace Decay,” also the present timeline
Dr. Ford, Arnold, and a team of engineers spent 3 years refining the code and hosts before opening the park, as Dr. Ford told Bernard during his flashback sequence during the present timeline.
1.5 years is the total amount of time that Maeve has been in her current narrative. She was told this by Sylvester and Felix in the present timeline.
At least 1.5 years ago Maeve was in a different storyline as a homesteader with a child, as she remembers the Man in Black killed them both when she sees the Westworld welcome video as Felix walks her through Mesa Gold.
There you have it, those are all the mentions of “times” in Westworld so far.
Of course this could all change. We’re starting to learn how much Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan love tricking us!
READ MORE WESTWORLD: Who Dies In Westworld?/ Is Elsie Dead? / What Does The Well Tempered Clavier Mean?/ One Clue Proves William Is The Man In Black / Mythology Of The Maze Revealed / What We Know About Dolores So Far / Angela Sarafyan On Host Evolution / The Man In Black Is Going To Free The Hosts / Who Is Arnold / The Man In Black’s Backstory Revealed / What Planet Is Westworld On / Logos May Reveal Two Seperate Timelines
Westworld airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO.