Not-Sure-Where-I’m Going with It But Solid Theory

Published November 25, 2016 · Updated July 6, 2022

Hey, guys – love your cast.

I’ve heard you all touch on many of the video game references and Similarities Westworld has to various games so here is what I’m thinking. Ford is obviously a computer mastermind but I think his real passion is games. The “amusement park” is really just a cover for him (and now Delos) to bring enough customers in keep the lights on but the REAL purpose of what he built is a live-action computer game. Just like all games, the goal is to beat it. Ford’s goal is to build a game so tough that no one can.

But for people who have figured out there is a game, they must keep coming back and completing the various levels until they make it to the end. Ford is constantly creating new characters & narratives to get in their way and prevent them from doing so but the Man in Black is obviously hooked and can’t break his addiction. But he knows the route so far and keeps going through all the levels to get to the end which must be the maze? Which has resulted in Him coming back for 30 years? So he keeps doing his thing w Dolores, scalping the same guy, finding the same snake tattoo lady etc to get a little farther each time but can’t get to the end. It’s never ending because Ford can keep changing the rules and story but Man In Black is determined to try. The ultimate power struggle.

But the maze I think is not for him (as they keep telling him); I think it’s Ford’s way of providing an escape hatch for any host who manages to gain sentience and find their way out of Westworld. If they can make it to the middle, their explosive vertebrae will become inoperable long enough for them to leave the park as a reward for them breaking free from his code (and beating him). I think the center of the maze will be the train they leave the park on or some other way to exit alive.

Ultimately Ford wants this to happen because it will mean that his work is complete and perfect because he has created the perfect Host who was human in every way – developed the power of independent thought, ability to beat the game and “become a real” boy, as Pinocchio would say. It’s the way Ford would “beat the game” – to create the perfect robot.

What say you?

Shannon M

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