While Elsie seemed as good as dead in episode nine, the actress always knew she'd be coming back for season two.
Elsie seemed to drop off the face of the earth on season one of Westworld, but Shannon Woodward knew she was coming back for season two.
"I knew the whole time," she told ET's Brice Sander at the HBO series' press day last month. "But I'm very excited to be back, and thrilled to be able to talk about it."
The last time viewers saw Elsie, she was being strangled by Jeffrey Wright's Bernard in episode nine, and presumed to be dead after she didn't show back up again in the season finale. As for how Elsie survived Bernard's apparent attack, Woodward joked, "I can't tell you that" -- but she did reveal that we'll find the Delos programmer "somewhere in the park, not sure what condition she's in."
"If I were Elsie, I would certainly want a little retribution," the actress said of her characters' possible interaction with Bernard in season two. "I don't know if she gets it."
"The thing about Westworld is that... there's no rules," she said. "You could call it the Wild West, but it's such a bad pun."
One thing Woodward could confirm is that season two will dive deeper into the world of Delos -- "essentially what Elsie was trying to figure out," she teased -- and that it will be completely "mind-bending."
"Season two explores more of Delos, the corporation behind and its genesis, so I think you'll have those answers," added Rodrigo Santoro, whose character, Hector, was last seen sacrificing himself to battle the Delos guards while Maeve (Thandie Newton) made her great escape.
"I was surprised when I saw the first script and then the second and then the third one and then the fourth one and then the finale," he shared, revealing that Maeve and Hector "will reconnect and develop that connection that was established in season one."
"I think what's really interesting about the show is that, especially this season, we're watching humans lose all the power and have to struggle with what that means for them, and we're watching the hosts gain autonomy and get to decide who they are," Woodward revealed. "I think watching the dance of, like, how that story plays out, it's mind-bending and fascinating and so exciting to watch."
Westworld returns to HBO on April 22. For more on the show, watch below.
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