The ending of the first season of Westworld opened up the possibilities for the series to explore the world beyond the Old West. After Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood) kills Ford (Sir Anthony Hopkins) and initiates a revolution among the hosts, chaos sweeps all the properties owned by Delos Destinations. So far, Westworld has given details about seven different parks that exist within the show’s canon. The fourth season recently introduced a mysterious new location known as the “Golden Age” park.
The multiple parks within Westworld are inspired by the original source material. The original 1973 film based on Michael Crichton’s novel introduces both “Medievalworld” and “Romanworld.” The 1976 sequel Futureworld added a futuristic park to the equation, as well as a more relaxing “Spaworld.”
While each of the parks present different dangers to potential guests, longtime players in the game may have been able to pick up on the recurring archetypes, storylines, and survival solutions. Westworld has fun satirizing the unoriginality of the Delos writers. In the second season, Maeve (Thandiwe Newton) even calls out the writer Lee Sizemore (Simon Quarterman) for reusing her story. This comes to Maeve’s advantage in the fourth season. She and Caleb (Aaron Paul) are able to survive the Golden Age because they know most of the storylines already.
Each park presents its own unique set of challenges. Here are all the Delos Parks in Westworld, ranked by the dangers they pose.
7. FantasyWorld
HBO’s Westworld hasn’t introduced a “Medievalworld,” but it did reveal a medieval location in the Season 3 episode “The Winter Line.” Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss appear in an amusing cameo as two of the technicians working at the park. They appear to be working on a version of Drogon. Although Westworld’s showrunners Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy had previously ruled out any Game of Thrones parks, Benioff and Weiss said that George R.R. Martin gave them his blessing. There aren’t any specific Game of Thrones elements that are canon. If we learned anything from the last two seasons of Game of Thrones, it’s that Benioff and Weiss are bound to introduce deus ex machina moments. Despite the presence of Drogon, FantasyWorld is likely the easiest to survive in.
6. The Raj
William’s (Ed Harris) daughter, Grace (Katja Herbers), is introduced into the show during her stay at Delos’ sixth park, “The Raj.” The Raj is inspired by the European rule of India, and appears to take place during the English Crown’s rule between 1858 and 1947. While this appears to be one of Delos’ more relaxing parks, Grace learns that anything can happen when the hosts are unleashed. She fights for her survival when she’s nearly mauled to death by a hungry Bengal tiger. Although the tigers certainly add a sense of danger, there doesn’t appear to be any human hosts that are particularly dangerous. Emily is able to dispatch with her traitorous guide, Ganju (Sean Mann).
5. Golden Age
If there’s any recurring theme within the work of Michael Crichton, it’s that humans don’t seem to learn from their mistakes. In the fourth season of Westworld, Delos Destinations opens yet another new park. The new location is modeled off of the Prohibition era in 1920s Chicago, complete with jazz clubs, early automobiles, and small-time gangsters. HBO is always keen to homage their other legacy shows; if we got a Game of Thrones-esque park, then surely we also deserved a Boardwalk Empire one too? However, the Golden Age isn’t everything that it seems; it’s apparently the first step in Dolores/Charlotte Hale’s (Tessa Thompson) plan for world domination.
The Golden Age boasts a secret level below the main park, where the events of Dolores’ revolution have inspired their own level of the game. However, the rest of the park doesn’t even try to reinvent any of the outdated original patterns, allowing Maeve and Caleb to easily elude any potentially dangerous mobster hosts. Perhaps the Golden Age will end up ranking higher based on what is revealed about Hale’s plot in the rest of the new season.
4. Shōgunworld
The second park is certainly one of the most action-packed destination sites among the Delos properties, and it’s not just dangerous for the guests. Maeve, Sizemore, and Hector (Rodrigo Santoro) are barely able to survive their encounter with the merciless shōguns that roam the recreation of feudal Japan. It’s a fun homage to the history of similarities between classic samurai and western films; Akira Kurosowa’s Seven Samurai inspired The Magnificent Seven, and Kurosowa’s Yojimbo inspired Sergio Leone’s A Fistful of Dollars.
Apparently, these similarities are something that Lee Sizemore was well aware of, because he blatantly repurposes the Westworld narratives into the Edo period. Any guests that have frequented the Westworld park should be able to figure their way around Shōgunworld and see all the traps coming. Maeve just so happens to be in danger because she is reminded of her own daughter when she sees a similar relationship between Akane (Rinko Kikuchi) and Sakura (Kiki Sukezane).
3. Warworld
Of all the Delos attractions, “Warworld” seems like it would be the least enjoyable as an actual vacation destination. Sure, you can find adventure in the Old West or learn chivalry from the world of feudal Japan, but who wants to place themselves within the fascist occupation of Italy during the end of World War II? The recreation of 1940s combat is particularly brutal, and the Nazi officer Sauer (Christian Stamm) appears to be one of the most dangerous hosts in the park. It’s unclear why anyone would want to visit Warworld in the first place, and the more advanced weaponry only makes it more dangerous. According to Lee, Warworld is also nearby both the original Westworld and the Forge, so it’s bound to be the site of major activities within the Westworld canon.
2. Westworld
While Warworld might be more inherently dangerous, the original Westworld is the site in which Dolores’ initial revolution began. As a result, the Westworld hosts are the most adept at killing humans, and they’ve learned the most about human behavior. Westworld was the first park that was built, and has evolved over time to become even more dangerous. Any attendees of Westworld are also not going to be able to call in for help; the Control Room has been taken over several times throughout the show.
1. Park Five (Military Contractors)
The mysterious “Park Five” is shrouded in secrecy, and apparently, it’s so dangerous that it’s not even designed for guests. As part of Delos’ military contracts, the fifth park is used as a training facility for combat simulation. There aren’t any known hosts that are specifically designed for the park, but Dolores reveals that some hosts from other parks have been brought in as potential “target practice.” Based on Caleb’s flashbacks, it’s clear that the simulated combat isn’t pulling any punches. Anyone trapped in the Delos properties would be wise to avoid this one altogether.
