'Westworld' May Have Hidden Clues in the Season 2 Opening Credits

Here's what the changes to the Westworld opening credits might mean for season two.

This post contains spoilers for Westworld season one.

Westworld returned Sunday night after more than a year off the air (season one ended in December 2016). The groundbreaking sci-fi drama picked up more or less where it left off, addressing (some of) the aftermath of the robot uprising at the end of season one.

Fans obviously scoured the episode for clues about what's to come and what twists the show might have in store during season two, but some of the biggest clues came before the episode really started—in the opening credits.

The opening credits were largely similar to season one's. Watch them again below if you need a refresher:

Westworld Season 1 Opening Credits | HBO - YouTube Westworld Season 1 Opening Credits | HBO - YouTube
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The first season’s dramatic opening credits cut between images of the Wild West and images highlighting the science behind the hosts and the Delos parks. While the second season's credits maintained most of the elements from season one's opener, there were some very important tweaks.

Season one's credits saw the creation of a host horse:

In season two's opening sequence, a robot bull is also shown being created in the Delos lab—and it charges at the camera. This reads as a not-so-subtle reference to the hosts' awakening consciousness and aggressive uprising. They are not longer passive victims; they are coming for the humans.

In the season one credits, there's a shot of two hosts having sex:

In season two, the lovers have been replaced by a haunting image of a host mother and child, which seem to be a direct reference to Maeve and the daughter she's intent on finding.

The season two credits also include a long shot of a hosts' hair being brushed. Because the hair is long and blonde, it's possible that this refers to Dolores/Wyatt, who was literally groomed by Ford to achieve consciousness and lead the next chapter in the story he planned.

Watch the full season two opening credit sequence below:

Westworld | Season 2 Opening Credits | HBO - YouTube Westworld | Season 2 Opening Credits | HBO - YouTube
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Contributing Editor at Marie Claire

Kayleigh Roberts is a freelance writer and editor with over 10 years of professional experience covering entertainment of all genres, from new movie and TV releases to nostalgia, and celebrity news. Her byline has appeared in Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan, ELLE, Harper’s Bazaar, The Atlantic, Allure, Entertainment Weekly, MTV, Bustle, Refinery29, Girls’ Life Magazine, Just Jared, and Tiger Beat, among other publications. She's a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.