Westworld season 2 episode 3 samurai ending explained: What we know about Shogun World

*Huge spoilers for season 2 episode 3 follow*

(HBO)

Westworld season 2 aired what could well be the greatest episode to date with an action-packed spectacle that slammed the brakes on the mythology instead focusing on world-building.

Continuing in what we hope is a consistent trend of cold opens, the HBO series placed us in a completely brand new location of what has been previously named 'Park Six,' the world drenched in Indian culture filled with elephants, Bengal tigers and - yes - rebellious hosts.

The remainder of the episode threw us back to the titular park catching up Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood), Bernard (Jeffrey Wright) and Charlotte Hale (Tessa Thompson). It's Maeve who was handed the episode's closing moments, however, with a moment sure to excite even the most casual fan.

Warning: you are now entering spoiler territory

Having made it to the snowy northern outskirts of the park with Hector (Rodrigo Santoro) and Lee (Simon Quarterman) - shortly after uniting with Armistice (Ingrid Bolsø Berdal) and hapless technicians Felix (Leonardo Nam) and Sylvester (Ptolemy Slocum) - it soon becomes apparent that not is all as it seems. Noticing a campfire in the distance, Maeve heads its way before Lee spots something buried in the snow: a helmet-covered head.

As he shouts a warning over to his protector, they spot something charging at them in the distance - a samurai warrior, his sword raised heralding the arrival of Shogun World and the anticipated episode showrunner Jonathan Nolan previously told Entertainment Weekly would be entirely spoken in Japanese.

So what do we know about this park?

Nolan revealed that the scenes set in this new world will make the series feel like “a samurai movie with all the trimmings” citing a love for Japanese cinema as a chief reason in welcoming viewers into this world. Based on the Edo period (1603-1867), Nolan described the world as “...a composite” with “artefacts from across 300 years.”

You can read our review of the episode here.

Westworld season 2 debuts on HBO in the US and through Sky Atlantic and NOWTV in the UK.

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He added: “I think the stuff we did for Shogun World is spectacular.”