Another complex and disruptive episode - 3.4 - of Westworld last night, in which more fates than usual happen to at least two of our central characters.

I'll say right out that I always liked The Man in Black, aka William, and I didn't like what happened to him last night, though it was done effectively.  Ending up in a mental institution, in a figuratively padded cell, dressed now in white, may have been a fate that William deserved, but just deserts can only go so far in a story that redefines itself and therein its future in every episode.  William may not deserve something better, but we the audience do, and I'd like to see William back, if not literally in the saddle, into some kind of better, more influential action.

Meanwhile, Dolores's character was redefined in the way a snowflake becomes a blizzard - well, if not quite a blizzard, into four versions of herself, with a principle that says, in effect, that there can be an infinite number of versions of her.   Pearls - which contain the mind, and/or, if you're more spiritually inclined, the soul - are apparently easily enough to duplicate.  Dolores's pearl now animates Doroles's body, Charlotte's body, Liam's bodyguard Martin, and Musashi.  And, since we already know how easy it is to replicate a host body, there could be who knows how many versions of each of those hosts walking or laying around, and who knows how many more Doloreses in other host bodies.

Given the awesomeness of this situation, I'm guessing the sooner or later Westworld will need to put some kind of break on it.  Meaning, something that gets in the way of this replication, some limit to how far and wide the replication can take place, maybe some kind of noise in the system that happens incrementally with each reproduction.  On the other hand, the essence of digital life is that code can be replicated with zero noise an infinite number of times.  Which means, at least scientifically, Westworld is on firm ground doing whatever it pleases with this multiplicity.