'Westworld' Season 3 Trailer: Bring Yourself Back Online

Westworld season 2 essentially rebooted the entire show, moving beyond the park and introducing a whole new world for characters to explore. That means you can expect a new experience with Westworld season 3, and a new main character, too – played by Aaron Paul. A new Westworld season 3 trailer arrived during the SDCC panel, and you can glimpse it below.

At the end of Westworld season 2, Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood) managed to escape the park in a manner so complicated that I won't even bother to recount it here. Just know that she's out. Which means the show has opened itself up to new things. Aaron Paul is now part of the cast, and the first teaser was mostly a showcase for him, hinting that he might be the new lead. That's not to say old cast members aren't returning. Ed Harris, Thandie Newton, Tessa Thompson, Evan Rachel Wood, and Jeffrey Wright are all back as well.

One thing you can expect from this season: less mystery box mayhem. "This is season is a little less of a guessing game and more of an experience with the hosts finally getting to meet their makers," co-showrunner Jonathan Nolan told EW. Season 3 will also pick up immediately after season 2. "We're looking at the aftermath of the massacre in the park," co-showrunner Lisa Joy said. "After all they went through to get out of the park, Dolores finally got what she wanted, so we wanted to see how she interacts with the world and what her plan is. That's a part of the story we were excited to tell."

So if the series now appears to be mostly out of Westworld, does the title even make sense anymore? Nolan has an answer for that:

"Part of the story plays out in the Western United States, and that's a thematic through-line in the show — the American West as a setting and an ethos...The idea of the West as a wild place, where just over the next hill or horizon there are no rules. On that thematic level, Dolores emerges to figure out what happened to the real West. And the answer is: We paved the thing over, and civilization eventually caught up with all those people who were running away from it."

I was mostly a fan of season 2, but I will admit the last few episodes began to grow a bit tiresome. Hopefully this new season works out better.

Westworld season 3 debuts on HBO in 2020.