So: HBO's sci-fi cowboy drama Westworld is returning for a second season and we now know what its first episode is called. Partly.

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Show co-creator Jonathan Nolan recently replied to a Reddit post asking Westworld fans (Westworldians? Westies?) to stop posting random pictures of mazes. To this, Nolan commented “nope” with a photo of a smiley toy labyrinth of his own, alongside the cover of episode 201's script. The title? "Journey Into N—", with the final word partially covered.

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What does it mean? Many have convincingly argued that the full title is Journey into Night, the name of the narrative Anthony Hopkins's Doctor Ford launched in season one’s bloody finale. Others have theorised that the full name is Journey Into New Beginnings. And some, well, they’ve suggested the smiley toy points to an impending Westworld/Watchmen crossover. Which would be undeniably brilliant.

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But whatever the actual meaning, fans have a Southern Rail-style wait to board the Westworld train once again: the second ten-episode season is hoping for a 2018 release date – and it probably won't be early 2018, given that filming hasn't started yet. So, plenty of time for internet theorists to break the enigma above and predict the show's more complex plot points once again (sorry, Jonathan).

Authors

Thomas LingDigital editor, BBC Science Focus

Thomas is Digital editor at BBC Science Focus. Writing about everything from cosmology to anthropology, he specialises in the latest psychology, health and neuroscience discoveries. Thomas has a Masters degree (distinction) in Magazine Journalism from the University of Sheffield and has written for Men’s Health, Vice and Radio Times. He has been shortlisted as the New Digital Talent of the Year at the national magazine Professional Publishers Association (PPA) awards. Also working in academia, Thomas has lectured on the topic of journalism to undergraduate and postgraduate students at The University of Sheffield.

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