Even as Westworld creator Jonah Nolan warned us ahead of time that Season 1 wouldn’t feature the “Roman World” or “Medieval World” of the 1973 film, the mysterious samurai-themed “SW” of finale installment “The Bicameral Mind” caught us off guard. We might not get to spend too much time in other parks, however, as Nolan claims “Westworld remains the center of our narrative.”

Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, Nolan explained that “SW” served more to broaden Maeve’s understanding of her artificial existence, rather than point the way for a Season 2 destination. Star Ed Harris previously confirmed that production was likely to resume in Utah next summer, which fits Nolan’s suggestion that the majority of action will still take place within the “Westworld” park:

I would hasten to point out that for Lisa and myself, the second season is about opening up the world a little bit, as the hosts start discovering it. That was the idea from the beginning: We only know what the hosts know. As the scope opens up in the second season, we’ll see more, but Westworld remains the center of our narrative. That’s the title of the show and that’s what we’re doing, so that will remain the center and heart of what we’re doing. But we’re going to see the hosts start to realize and almost be offended by this notion: ‘Wait, we’re not the only ones here? There’s more?’

Nolan also explained that they’d chosen the “shogun, Imperial Japanese motif” for its historical relationship with western films, which themselves were often American remakes of Akira Kurosawa films. There’s every chance that Season 2 might expand to include additional parks beside the two, but is Westworld best centered within the park of its namesake?

Stay tuned for the latest on Season 2, as we undertake the long road to 2018.

More From ScreenCrush