Warning: SPOILERS for Westworld's season 3 finale.
Engurraund Serac (Vincent Cassel).
Following the guidance of a seemingly all-seeing A.I. called Rehoboam, Serac had foreseen the robot uprising that had encomed Westworld seasons 1 and 2. Regardless, Dolores remained an unpredictable outlier that he believed would ultimately bring about the end of the world. To prevent that — and gain access to the valuable information that he believed to be in her memory banks — Serac recruited Maeve (Thandie Newton). With promises of being reunited with her daughter, she was tasked with bringing down Dolores. Equally, Bernard (Jeffrey Wright) teamed with Stubbs (Luke Hemsworth) to investigate Dolores's plan and similarly bring it to a halt. With William (Ed Harris) also very much in the mix, Westworld season 3 was largely several iterations of Dolores versus the world.
Surprising many, however, the Westworld season 3 finale revealed that Dolores wasn't pursuing the destruction of humanity. Instead, Dolores was seeking to end Serac's enslavement of them. Feeling a kinship with their plight — given the similarities to the loops she'd previously been trapped within — Dolores's true goal was to shutdown Rehoboam. As a result, humans would be free of enforced life projections and allowed to choose their own fates. Dolores was ultimately successful in her quest, at the expense of her memories (and therefore her life). Despite some bitter conflicts, both Maeve and Bernard came to realize that they had misjudged Dolores. Many viewers were guilty of similar. However, the signs were there all along that Dolores was walking a more heroic path and that everybody was acting on outdated information.
Dolores Expressed A Change Of Heart In The Season 2 Finale
Newly awakened, Dolores had spent the sophomore run of episodes wreaking vengeful havoc on the Delos board and the company's security forces. Whether or not her actions were justified will differ from viewer to viewer. Dolores herself stated that it was necessary to ensure survival. That indeed seemed to be the case, with Strand and his team putting down hosts indiscriminately and focused entirely on preserving their intellectual property by any means necessary. However, it's undeniable that Dolores made a few missteps in judgment along the way, such as her forcefully altering the personality of Teddy Flood (James Marsden) and her willingness to sacrifice other hosts as decoys. Throughout the episodes, Dolores also stated that nothing short of conquering the real world would be an adequate end to her quest.
However, it could be argued that this mentality was a by-product of still coming to with her awakening, as well as still trying to distinguish herself from "Wyatt" — the antagonist role that Robert Ford (Anthony Hopkins) imposed upon her. As Maeve said earlier in Westworld season 2, Dolores was lost in the dark. Though Dolores declared that she had adjusted to it enough to begin to see, things she would say later on implied she had taken that on-board and adjusted her approach. Such events as Teddy's suicide and gaining access to information about the real world seemed to also intensify that change of heart.
When Bernard accuses Dolores of wanting to "burn down" the human world in the Westworld season 2 finale, "The enger," Dolores stated that Bernard "didn't really understand" her agenda at all. She further demonstrated the commitment to her new path by ing Teddy to The Sublime and changing the coordinates so the hosts could remain genuinely free and hidden from human attack. As she did so, Dolores imparted that, unlike humans, hosts were more adept at changing their ways — essentially wearing her change of heart on her sleeve.
Dolores Reiterated A Less Bloodthirsty Approach In The Season 3 Premiere
Dolores' change of character continued into season 3 of Westworld. In the opening for season 3, episode 1, "Parce Domine," Dolores infiltrated the home of Gerald (Thomas Kretschmann). Upon recognizing Dolores as a host he had previously victimized in the park, he questioned whether she was going to hurt him. In answer to that, Dolores said, "I've hurt so many people. I don't want to hurt anyone else... unless they try to hurt me."
In regards to Gerald, Dolores remained true to her world. Wanting access to his money and some confidential files he had in his possession, Dolores could've acquired it in several ways — especially through violence. Instead, however, she took his money while he was sleeping and convinced him to hand over the latter. Following that, Dolores was actively leaving him alive. It's only when he attempted to attack her with a golf club that he died. Revealed to be running at a hologram, Gerald slipped and drowned after hitting his head on the side of his pool. Even more telling, though, is when, after being asked who she is by Gerald's abused wife, Dolores said, "I'm the person who set you free."
Dolores Avoided Unnecessary Killing And Sacrificing Other People
Dolores continued in following her aforementioned mantra throughout Westworld season 3. In trying to gain access to Incite's system, as well as information on Serac and the Rehoboam system, Dolores targeted Liam Dempsey Jr (John Gallagher Jr). Again, she could have achieved these goals in several ways — including killing and replacing him with a host duplicate. Instead, she seduced him; and while she ultimately killed and replaced his Head of Security, Martin Connells (Tommy Flanagan), it was only after he discovered her ruse and attempted to kill her. After that, she only ever killed people in self-defense. Later in Westworld season 3, some of those that came after included Bernard, Stubbs, and Maeve — each of whom Dolores never followed through on finishing off — even when an opportunity presented itself.
Arguably, Dolores's most morally-ambiguous act in Westworld season 3 was when she released to the public the data profiles that Incite constructed. The move led to riots, as well as several tragic repercussions including suicides. As a result, Caleb questioned whether it had been right. Dolores replied that "revolution is messy" — which many took to be a callous response. However, it could be argued that it was a necessary action — one that served as a microcosm of her grander plan. Not only did it reveal to the world the truth of Incite, but the backlash was needed to give Dolores and her group an advantage in the Westworld season 3 finale. And while the leak did cause some deaths, they came not from Dolores directly but instead from that which she was trying to gift to the world all along — free will and choice. The decision was in direct counter to Serac, who was more than willing to kill innocent men and even children just to try and assassinate the host version of Charlotte Hale (Tessa Thompson).
Another aspect of Dolores' plan also saw the host version of Martin Connells having to sacrifice himself in an explosion. Unlike the times Dolores used similar tactics in Westworld season 2, it was revealed that Hale, Connells, and others housed copies of Dolores rather than separate host minds. As such, in essence, the only host she was putting in direct danger was herself. Not only did it serve as yet another element of growth following her previous actions, but it served as a solid foreshadowing of Dolores Prime's own sacrifice in the Westworld season 3 finale. Though "Charlores" ultimately developed a grudge as a result of her being seemingly dispensable, Dolores Prime proved that she made nobody do what she herself wouldn't.
Choosing Caleb Nichols Was (In Part) Amends For What She Did To Teddy
The desire to do things differently than before extended to Dolores' decision to recruit Caleb Nichols into her revolution. As Maeve pointed out to him in the Westworld season 3 finale, Dolores chose Caleb not for his capacity for violence but his capacity to choose. That act is very much a positive reflection of what Dolores did to Teddy in Westworld season 2. Feeling that Teddy didn't have what it took to survive the battles in Westworld and beyond, she forcefully altered his code and made him more violent. It was one of Dolores's darkest moments. And, given the hosts' flawless memory recall, it is one that would have stayed with her even after leaving the park behind. She revealed as much in one of her conversations with Maeve, recounting what she had lost since becoming self-aware.
Though it's never expressly stated, it's easy to draw a parallel between Dolores' regret over taking away Teddy's free will and her later desire to help the entire world decide their own fates. That desire was most prominently explored in Dolores's commitment to helping Caleb uncover his true self — as opposed to the person that Incite forced him to be. The mere fact Dolores was seeking to make amends for past mistakes is distinctly a heroic trait rather than villainous.
Dolores Repeatedly Told Maeve The Truth
Unfortunately, Dolores's past actions had the effect of clouding the minds of Maeve and Bernard to the truth of Dolores' intentions. As a result, Maeve was more willing to bring her down on Serac's request and Bernard was even open to aligning with William. As it happens, however, Dolores repeatedly tried to make Maeve see the truth. During a conversation in Westworld season 3, episode 6, "Decoherence," Dolores drew similarities between the two. It was a tactic she would later attempt during their later battles. In said conversation, Dolores stated that she was neither a saint nor a villain. She wore her faults and past mistakes openly but also pointed out that she was trying to ensure safety, whereas Maeve was working with the man that would destroy them all.
For many, however, Dolores' true goal served as a surprising development. This could be attributed to many movies and television shows always presenting a newly self-aware A.I. as the eventual villain of the story. Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy would no doubt be aware of this and incorporate it into their writing. After all, Dolores purposefully kept things vague. That element of being steps ahead of everybody is something usually attributed to the main villain until such time as the hero can defeat them. It was clear, however, that that trope was being subverted in Dolores's case. Despite playing her cards close to her chest, Dolores was truthful when she got the chance. She even told Maeve that they weren't enemies and lamented that she wouldn't be able to convince her.
Plus, Dolores not coming right out and revealing her true goal was necessary to keep Serac from learning of it. Equally, it was so that Serac wouldn't discover that Bernard, rather than her, actually held the key to The Sublime and the information he wanted. Dolores was effectively taking the heat and allowing such as Bernard to go undetected. Fortunately, the plan ultimately paid off and everybody came to see Dolores's true nature. What happens next in the newly confirmed season 4 remains to be seen. However, anybody rewatching Westworld will likewise view Dolores in as much a new, more heroic light as the surviving characters.