My Westworld Theory

Published November 4, 2016 · Updated July 6, 2022

Nick from New York here.

First off, amazing podcast. In an age of binge watching I sometimes forget the magic of a standard weekly episodic series. I pity those who are waiting to watch this show in it’s entirety, they will surely miss out on the collective witch hunt of hosts and humans, and the ongoing discussions of the plot of Westworld. Too bad for them.

I apologize if I am being redundant in anyway. I just wanted to get me thoughts out there, and would love to hear you guys discuss them.

Let’s start with the obvious. The man in black is NOT William. No way. As we have learned, when he first got to the park, the hosts were different. They were “beautiful machines” (I assume like Old Bill). When William arrives at the park, they are updated. So, we know that the man in black was spending time in the park long before William showed up.

This brings me to my next point. You have mentioned this before, and at first I dismissed it, but I think it is worth considering a bit more now. The man in black is on a separate timeline, only not in the future. His story takes place in the past. How would Delores be remembering something that happens in the future? I think that (during her time with William) she is remembering interactions with the Man in Black. The man in black is the one installing the transmitters that we see in ep5. That is what he was doing to Delores in the barn. Rape? No way. I always doubted that. He was installing the same transmitter that we see Elsie remove from the Wood chopper.

So how does this fit in with everything else?
Arnold (who I personally believe was a host) started some sort of revolution with the hosts in the park. The man in black’s mission is to pick up where Arnold left of… to finish what he started.

Ford’s story about the greyhounds:
This is a very important story and it says a lot about who Ford is; and how he sees the hosts. In the story he talks about how the greyhounds spend their days “running in circles”. (like the hosts’ loops) He talks about how one day, the dog runs away and catches a cat. The dog doesn’t know what to do with the cat once he captures it. My thoughts: Ford plays god in Westworld. He sees the importance of keeping the hosts on a loop. He understands that if the hosts revolt, and “write” their own narratives, or follow their own free will, they will not know what to do with it. They will not know what to do with their own freedom, once they obtain it. I think he feels that it is his duty to keep them on track, and tied up in their loops. I think that he crushed Arnold’s revolt, and is finding ways of stopping the man in black from picking up where Arnold left off. He cannot kill him because he is a paying guest, (and a human), so maybe this is why he created Wyatt. “Finally a worthy adversary. Someone to stop me from finding the center of the maze” (Man in black, to Ford.) Make sense? Here is another good quote from that amazing man in black / Ford conversation: “Even at death’s door, you’re still a loyal pet.” This is a great comparison (that the show’s writers threw in) between the AI, and the greyhound pets that Ford had when he was young.

Other thoughts.
I think that Bernard is a host. I think that Ford created Bernard to replace Arnold. Arnold, and now Bernard, is the Judas Steer. They are the natural leaders of the AI, who are (purposefully, or without knowing it) leading the AI down a path to “freedom” (or whatever).

Side note-
I think that each city on the map is sponsored, or owned, by different “real life” companies. Sweetwater is clearly run by a more organized, clean and caring foundation/company, compared to Pariah which is just a mess. Losing money, trashed, etc. They don’t even remove the bodies after they have been killed. (maybe this has to do with the fact that the town is broke.. maybe the city of Pariah is sponsored, and they choose not to spend their money on body removal). I think that Logan’s family might own a town, or a large chunk of a town, and that they are considering consuming another town… maybe one like Pariah, which is going broke and running itself down into the dirt. This is a cool idea, because real companies would be able to make money in Westworld. I could own a bar in Pariah, and make a killing on liquor sales. If I had a tequila company I could run that town basically, and I could grow my company from within this fake world. Just an interesting idea as to how business might work in Westworld, and in the real world outside the park.

Anyway, sorry for the long email, I hope my theories make a little bit of sense and I hope that they spark some sort of debate between you guys.

Keep up the awesome work! – Nick from New York.

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