Another Theory

Published November 22, 2016 · Updated July 6, 2022

Hey guys,

I’m the idiot who trolled you regarding the “Trompe L’Oeil” pronunciation on Twitter 😉

Just finished watching episode 8 and listened to the instacast while getting ready to go to work. Again, really appreciated it, so thanks for putting it out there.

Anyway, I don’t know how this telegraph thing works, but regardless, food for thought, right?

I actually don’t believe the Man in Black is William. I’m not convinced he’s anyone we know. I think he’s a host. Now, let me give some backstory to explain this.

I used to subscribe to the notion that the Man in Black was Logan, that Teddy was a reincarnated form of William, and that Theresa was Logan’s sister that William was engaged to. Now, I’m not so sure anymore.

What got me thinking is that we have not met anyone from Delos. Sure, Charlotte is around, but she’s about as believable as anyone else.

Going back to what Charlotte said a couple of episodes ago, what is the real interest of Delos in Westworld? I don’t think it would be something as obvious and mundane as a military/armament angle; that’s way too boring. I also don’t think that HBO would condone the slavery angle (as in, commercialize hosts as sex slaves or use hosts as store clerks).

So this got me thinking, and this is where I think I need a better hobby or to see a psychotherapist: I think Delos is an AI, and that it uses the park to replace their guests with hosts. This is what the Man in Black means when he alludes to the fact his wife killed herself because of what he became in the park (I’m paraphrasing).

The main points that brought me to this are the following:
– Why do they have cold storage? To keep an original copy of the guest? – The train was referenced in this episode: is that the way that hosts can exit the park? Does it disable the “protection mechanisms”? – Sylvester looked full of shit when he “confirmed” the C6 explosive. Also, C6 would only paralyze an individual from the midriff down?

We know that guests are wealthy individuals. Jet-setters with too much time on their hands. “Titans of industry”. What better target for our robotic overlords than to Trojan horse our civilization from the top, the overly and overtly powerful and influential?

What does it mean for the show? Well, I think it will become a fight between humanity and computing, but not the wetware definition of humanity: one could argue that Maeve, Teddy, Bernard, and Dolores are showing the first signs of humanity. Maybe it’ll be the story of an alliance between meat suits and certain hosts to fight for the independence of thought and soul.

This is just a brain dump, so feel free to tear it to shreds. Also, wrote this on my phone, so apologies for typos/autocorrect.

– Sebastian Lauwers

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