Fans of sci-fi drama Westworld can start sharpening their puzzle-solving skills, as HBO has announced a third season will land on the platform on March 15th.
The Emmy-winning series - described by HBO as "a dark odyssey following the dawn of artificial consciousness and the evolution of sin" - is created for television by Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy and takes inspiration from the film written by Michael Crighton.
Westworld's head-spinning season two left viewers with more than a few big questions - and now a teaser trailer released by HBO gives a number of hints as to what's to come.
True to form, the eight-episode dystopian series is as dark as ever, and humanity is not in a good place.
Beginning with political unrest and wide-spread protests in Hong Kong, the series then charts the impeachment of the 45th President of the United States.
There's ecological collapse in Indonesia, an assassination in Buenos Aires, and the outbreak of a second Civil War in Russia - all of which, we sense, are culminating into something much, much bigger.
"We are in the middle of a war," narrates the voiceover. "No one knows it's happened yet, or that it's already been lost."
"For the most part, humanity has been a miserable little band of thugs, stumbling from one catastrophe to the next," continues the bleak warning. "Our history is like the ravings of lunatics. Chaos. But we've changed that. For the first time, history has an author. A system."
Many members of the show's all-star cast will return for the third season, including Thandie Newton as Maeve, Evan Rachel Wood as Dolores, Tessa Thompson as Charlotte, Ed Harris as the Man in Black, Luke Hemsworth as Stubbs and Jeffrey Wright as Bernard.
This season's new cast members include Vincent Cassel, Aaron Paul, Lena Waithe, Scott Mescudi, Marshawn Lynch, John Gallagher Jr, and Michael and Tommy Flanagan.
Show-creator Nolan is interested in the idea that a "dystopia" may not look like the hellscape we imagine it to be.
"Dystopia can look pretty beautiful in the world," said Nolan, as reported by Deadline. "Just because the world is corrupt inside, doesn't mean it can't be smothered over and pretty. We wanted to find a version of dystopia that we hadn't seen before."
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Bring on the mind-bending twists.
Westworld Season 3 arrives on HBO Sunday 15th March.
Featured Image Credit: HBOTopics: TV and Film, TV News, TV Entertainment