Taking Stock

Published June 4, 2018 · Updated July 6, 2022

Hey Guys,

Last season at this time we listed the questions that all needed to be answered by a theory of “Westworld” in order for it to avoid crack pottery. Most of these questions need to be answered this season, and all of them by the end of the series.

Since any such theory deals with Meinongian truth, there are some special considerations, such as poetic license and production errors. We’ve seen both of these this season.

Poetic license is evident at the end of episode four in the scene in which Emily appears out of the rising sun. The sun rises in the east and William was riding west so this shot is astronomically impossible. Lisa Joy when composing the shot employed poetic license to ignore this impossibility.

Production errors occur in several places. The subtitles attributed Elsie speech to Hale. We know this was an error because they were corrected. Other cases are less clear. In episode six Bernard is missing his self-inflicted gunshot scar on the temple when he is with Elsie in the Cradle. In episode one during the execution of hosts on the beach, events appear in an impossible order. Are these errors or clues?

Here are the questions all of which must be answered by a correct theory of “Westworld”:

• Why are maze tattoos under the scalps of hosts?
• Why didn’t Bernard use his tablet to fix himself as Elsie did for him?
• Why are Bernard’s memories unindexed?
• What IP did Abernathy contain?
• What was the verdict that William is trying to reverse?
• What is the “door” that Ford has William on a quest to find?
• How does the Ghost Nation religion have icons from the real world? What is Ghost Nation doing and why?
• What is the weapon that Dolores is seeking in the Valley Beyond?

Chris Cole

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