‘Westworld’ Season 2, Episode 5 ‘Akane No Mai’ Recap: A New Voice [SPOILERS]

In this week’s episode of “Westworld,” Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood) and Teddy (James Marsden) spend intimate time together during their preparations for the incoming attack of the humans. Maeve (Thandie Newton) and company find themselves in the Shogun world, a world that seems to be playing an all too familiar narrative.

Necessary Changes

Bernard takes a look around while the rest of the security members clean up the headquarters. Karl Strand (Gustaf Skarsgård) gives out orders to Maling (Betty Gabriel) who is still inside the park. Antoine Costa (Fares Fares) gives him bad news by saying that some of the hosts seem to have never been programmed at all and that a third of their IP has been lost. Karl looks at Bernard suspiciously as Bernard continued to blank stare at the dead hosts. 

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Teddy, Dolores, and their men enter the ruined Sweetwater village. They reach the train station. Dolores orders her men to repair the train since it will be needed in their rescue of her father. She then commands Teddy to follow her. They enter Maeve’s bar and have a short conversation there right before the new Clementine (Lili Simmons) talks to Teddy, with Clementine Pennyfeather (Angela Sarafyan) mouthing the same words she says. Dolores tells her to rejoin the rest of their crew; then they leave the bar.

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Dolores and Teddy travel to the valley where they spent most of their time together. Teddy then tries to convince her to leave the fight and start a new life with him. Dolores tells him a story about a virus that infected their herd and how her father got rid of it. At the end of the story, Dolores tells him that she will consider his offer then they left the valley.

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That evening, Dolores and Teddy take a look at the train. While they are talking, Angela (Talulah Riley) interrupts them, bringing a prisoner with her. The prisoner reveals where they are keeping Dolores’ father. After this, Dolores orders Angela to make the preparations for their trip the next day. Dolores brings Teddy to a place where they would spend the night. They have a short conversation; then they make love.

A few hours later, Dolores wakes Teddy up to show him something. While Dolores leads the way, she tells Teddy how she weighed her feelings for him, and how Dolores realized that it was all true. They enter a building and in one of its rooms came a disgusting smell. Dolores apologizes to Teddy, saying that he was too kind for what he was about to face, so Dolores has to make a few changes to him. She orders Phil (Patrick Cage II) to load a new narrative to him, despite the consequences it had on Teddy’s life.

Shogun World

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Maeve evades Musashi’s (Hiroyuki Sanada) samurai sword as he strikes at her. Hector (Rodrigo Santoro) and Armistice (Ingrid Bolsø Berdal) aim their guns at him, but Maeve tells them not to shoot. Out of nowhere, lassos suddenly grip each one of them. Maeve attempts to command Tanaka but this does not work; Tanaka eventually has one of his men gag her. As they walk towards a town, they meet Hanaryo (Tao Okamoto) along the way. Upon entry, they are paraded as his prisoners. 

While they are being secured on the porch of a building, Hector and Armistice notice that they are playing out their narrative and that Musashi and Hanaryo are each other’s counterparts. Lee (Simon Quarterman) justifies what he did, saying that his job was overwhelming. Hanaryo starts shooting at the town’s local police, using Lutz (Leonardo Nam) and Sylvester (Ptolemy Slocum) as human shields. Tanaka goes inside the bar to rob it, killing everyone who gets in his way. He meets Akane (Rinko Kikuchi), the geisha who runs the bar.

Hanaryo continues to kill all who attempt to attack her. Armistice warns her of an attack from behind her whom she evades. She realizes that they mean her no harm, so she releases her as well as Hector, Maeve, and the rest. Musashi pulls Akane away from where the safe falls. As one of Musashi’s men decide to take Sakura (Kiki Suezeane), Maeve enters the bar and fires a warning shot, telling them to lay down their weapons and that they should all have a civilized conversation.

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Sakura dances for them while they all watch her inside the bar. Maeve expresses her impatience over what is happening, but Lee tells her that they have to go through with the formalities before they could make their way out of the village. Maeve complains to him about what he did to their narratives; then Hector tells them his mistrust for Musashi. Lee justifies his actions and explains the reason behind their reaction towards their “dopple-bots’. The Shogun’s emissary enters, demanding to buy Sakura for the Shogun. Akane refuses, and when the emissary does not accept her refusal, she kills him. Musashi runs inside, demanding to know what has happened. Akane explains her plan to get her and Sakura out of the village involving his help. Lee gives Sakura a location, a location that Sakura says is safe. It also has an access point to the tunnels; their way out. Musashi agrees, and Maeve tells them that they will help her.

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Ninjas attack them in the middle of the night. Musashi, Maeve, Hector, and everyone else counterattack. Maeve can command a ninja mentally who in turn impales himself. Once the fight was over, they realize that Sakura is missing.  Musashi uncovers a tattoo on one of the fallen ninjas which symbolizes that he is one of the Shoguns’s men. Outside, they here the Shogun’s men advance into the village. Maeve comes up with a plan that could help them escape the town but would require a diversion, so Musashi, Hector, Armistice, and Hanaryo engage the men. They lose the battle, but Maeve, Akane, Lee, Lutz, and Sylvester can escape.

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Maeve and Lee dress in a disguise. Lee tries to talk Meave out of rescuing Sakura, but his attempts leave Maeve furious at what he has said. Lutz approaches them, telling them that their transport is ready. They make their way to the Shogun’s camp. They are introduced to the Shogun (Masaru Shinozuka). They present their gift for him. The Shogun boasts about his achievements then throws the golden statue on the ground but dismisses his actions as a joke. Lee sees that cortical fluid is flowing out of his ear, a sign that means that he is malfunctioning. He welcomes them to his camp and tells them about the interventions he made on his men to prevent them from being controlled by the witch. After this, he presents Sakura to them. Akane blows their cover by her attempt to approach Sakura. Akane tries to buy her back from him, so the Shogun presents her a deal: if she dances alongside Sakura for him at that evening, he will give Sakura to her. Akane agrees, so they are escorted to their quarters.

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Maeve and Akane enter the quarters. Akane immediately goes to Sakura to check on her and her condition. She discovers that the Shogun has had someone carve a cherry blossom tree on her back. Akane comforts Sakura and promises her that they will escape from the camp. At some point in their conversation, Maeve continues what Akane is saying. Akane smiles back at her. After they talk, Maeve tries to convince Akane to join her in her journey, and she even goes as far to giving Akane full consciousness just as she has, but Akane refuses. Maeve realizes that there are some things worth sacrificing to motherhood, even freedom.

The Shogun has Maeve sit near him while he watches Akane and Sakura’s performance. Just as they begin, the Shogun stops them, saying that there is one missing detail. He kills Sakura. Akane regains her composure then she continues the performance. She gives it her all, and when she approaches the Shogun, she kills him. The Shogun’s men are outraged by this, so they have Akane and Maeve kneel to get executed. However, Maeve does what she did to the ninja but on a much larger scale, causing the men to turn on each other. While the chaos was dying down, Lee sees that more men are coming their way, but Maeve tells them that she has found a new voice. She picks up a katana and maintains a fighting stance.

“Westworld” continues next Sunday, May 27th, with “Phase Space” at 9/8c on HBO.