Westworld season 2 episode 8 ending explained: Maeve's powers revealed in emotional outing

*Major spoilers for Westworld season 2 episode 8 follow*

The latest episode of Westworld was an emotional delve into the backstory of Akecheta, the scalp-slicing leader of Ghost Nation.

Last seen, kidnapping the daughter of Maeve (Thandie Newton) - before she was gunned down in a hail of bullets - the episode sees Akecheta (Zahn McClarnon) narrating his heartbreaking story to the young girl: it turns out he was one of the first hosts to develop consciousness, learning about the maze and discovering a door (yes, that door) that will take him to a new world so he can get back the love of his life who's currently standing lifeless in cold storage.

The episode is intercut with scenes in which Lee (Simon Quarterman) demands Maeve is saved by a Delos technician who's willing to let her die until Lee drops the bombshell that she can control other hosts using her mind. As it draws to a close, we learn a lot more about what it is that's making Maeve so powerful.

Maeve is controlling other hosts through access to “anomalous code.” The technician tells Charlotte Hale (Tessa Thompson) that Maeve has somehow been granted administrative access to the park, something not even any Delos member has been able to hack thanks to the Cradle version of Dr Robert Ford (Anthony Hopkins).

“She was out there reprogramming hosts on the fly,” he tells Hale, “reading their code, changing their directives, seeing through their eyes.”

Hale points out that she wasn't just doing it in the park - she's communicating with another host as she lies half-dead on the operating table in front of them. It's here that we learn Maeve is influencing Akecheta and his band of Ghost Nation warriors to protect her daughter at all costs until he returns.

Maeve's fate now rests in the hands of Hale. If she decides to extract this code from her mind, she'll become expendable - and her influence of Akecheta may put her daughter's life in grave danger.

You can read our review of the episode here.

Westworld season two's penultimate episode, 'Vanishing Point' will air on Sunday night on HBO in the US and through Sky Atlantic and NOW TV in the UK.