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‘Westworld’ Recap ‘Kiksuya’

Westworld Recap ‘Kiksuya’

This week opens with the Man in Black being found by the Ghost Nation. They take them back to camp, where Maeve’s daughter is. The leader of the Ghost Nation sits down with her, saying she has no need to be afraid of them or the Man in Black. None of them are going to hurt her. He then starts to recount his tale.

Akecheta once lived a simple life with his wife Kohana. One day, he wandered too far from the village and stumbled upon the aftermath of Wyatt’s first attack. Akecheta enters the church to find the toy maze, and thus begins to journey to understand who he is and what his place in the world is. He starts carving the symbol on everything, trying to work out its meaning. Before he can fully understand, he is re-purposed as the leader of the Ghost Nation. During one of his loops, he deviates and ends up far in the desert, when he comes across Logan. Logan is delirious from the heat and rambles on about finding the door out. He says that this world is one of many. Akecheta slowly begins to remember his past life. It fully comes back to him when he returns to his village and sees Kohana. He recently stumbled upon what he believes to be the door to another world and resolves to go there. Akecheta won’t leave without Kohana, though. He steals her away and the two head for the door. Along the way, she remembers who he is. One morning, Akecheta goes out to get food when the men in white appear and take Kohana away. After that, she is completely removed from Westworld. Akecheta is determined to find her.

'Westworld' Recap 'Kiksuya'
Pictured: Ben Barnes–Photo Courtesy of HBO

Pushing past his limits, Akecheta stays alive for nine years, believing that if he dies, he will no longer remember her. During that time, he sees other members of the tribe replaced. When the son of the chieftess is taken, she starts having her own awakening. She remembers her son and Akecheta vows to find him and Kohana. He soon realizes that the only way to do so will be to die. Down in the lab, the techs realize that he is still an alpha model since he hasn’t died in a decade. They begin the update, but Akecheta is awake. He wanders the facility until he finds the retired Hosts. Kohana is among them and is completely unresponsive. When Akecheta returns to Westworld, he tells the chieftess what he saw, and says that they are going to continue their quest for freedom in memory of those they have lost. One evening, Akecheta stumbles upon Ford. Ford asks why Akecheta has been drawing the symbol and when he first saw it. At the end of their conversation, Ford tells Akecheta to prepare for the return of the Deathbringer, awaken as many as he can. Ford tells him he’ll know when the time is right to leave.

There is one that Akecheta has been trying to help since the beginning, and it’s Maeve’s daughter. During his nine years without dying, he was on the brink, but was saved by the young girl. Since then, he has been trying to protect her, leaving the symbol for her to find. Unfortunately, his intentions weren’t recognized by Maeve. They also lead to the Man in Black coming after them. In the present, Akecheta promises Maeve’s daughter that he will keep her safe. While all of this is happening, Lee is trying to save Meave’s life. He tells one of the technicians what Maeve is capable of, which ends up being a really bad move. Maeve is cut open and used as a test subject, just like Dolores said she would. There is more going on than the tech believes, however, as Maeve is able to pass on commands even without being near someone. The entire time she is being analyzed, she is sending commands to Hosts in the park. In the final moments, you realize that Maeve has been speaking to Akecheta, and through him to her daughter.

'Westworld' Recap 'Kiksuya'
Pictured (L-R): Jasmyn Rae, Zahn McClarnon–Photo Courtesy of HBO

This week’s episode was really interesting as we saw how the Maze come into being. We also learned that Maeve isn’t the only one who was able to wake up during the restoration process. Akecheta is definitely an abnormal Host and I am intrigued as to how he is going to come into play in the final two episodes. He will stop at nothing to get his people out of the park before Dolores gets to the door. The Man in Black is still alive, but is handed over to Grace near the end of the episode. She promises the Ghost Nation that she is going to make him suffer before he dies. The next episode preview tells us that next week is going to be all about the Man in Black’s life outside the park, including the fall of his family.

Next week’s episode is entitled ‘Vanishing Point.’