"Kiksuya" is the eighth episode in the second season of the HBO science fiction western thriller television series Westworld.
Seeing Maeve's daughter scared of William, Akecheta realizes she has memories of her past narratives, and tells her his own story to reassure her.
Witnessing the aftermath of Wyatt's massacre of the hosts under Arnold's orders, Akecheta finds the symbol of the maze and starts down the path of sentience.
Once returned to the park, Akecheta begins raids against the host population, recruiting them to join him in his search and starting them on the path to sentience, thus explaining the Maze symbol which William found outside Maeve's house after killing her and her daughter.
Charlotte discovers Maeve does this by rewriting their programming over the hosts' network, and may be key to regaining control of Westworld.
McClarnon is part Lakota and Standing Rock Sioux and was able to contribute knowledge of his heritage to help develop the character of Akecheta and the Ghost Nation tribe.
Nolan and Joy had established the Ghost Nation as a fictional Native American tribe conceived by Dr. Ford, giving McClarnon freedom to vary from traditions in his performance.
[3] The scene in which Akecheta finds the decommissioned Kohana in the Mesa's cold storage area is accompanied by a piano cover of Nirvana's "Heart-Shaped Box" arranged by Ramin Djawadi.
"Kiksuya" was watched by 1.44 million viewers on its initial viewing, and received a 0.6 18–49 rating, marking an improvement from the previous week.