Westworld Blood and Brains

Published January 25, 2017 · Updated July 6, 2022

Hey,

Thanks for the mention on the podcast… felt like an honor. I forgot I emailed you and really got a kick out of it when I heard you review my email.

In regards to how long human body parts can last without blood: not long. Brain and heart, likely less than 5 minutes, other parts of your body, maybe a half hour. That’s why your theory drew red flags in my mind. It seems by the time they take them back for repair it would be longer than a half hour.

This wikipedia page describes “Ischemia” – which means body parts not getting oxygen (which is in blood):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ischemia

I agree the hosts must have organic material. The cold storage point is a good one. Additionally, in one episode they mention a host has “mersa”, which is really MRSA, an acronym for a certain type of bacterial infection people get. But that doesn’t mean the hosts are mostly human. Fruit is organic, bacteria can grow on it, and it sometimes needs to be refrigerated.

My best guess is they are made of synthetic tissue that is made to be human-like for realism, but is still organic (people are trying to create this type of stuff in real life). In fact, in the opening credits, they show the hosts being created using a machine. That tissue probably doesn’t decay as easily when the host has no blood like human tissue would. The hosts seem to need blood, either because they actually need it to run, or are programmed to shut down without it. My guess is they need it like a car needs oil and maybe they are programmed to shut down if they lose too much or lose it too fast to prevent severe damage to themselves. The blood could also contain an energy source that needs to be refilled after a certain amount of time. Human blood contains glucose (sugar) which gives our muscles energy to move. But they could also contain a battery and the blood is only like an oil-like substance that helps them move. Or the blood could be for show only. Not sure, but I agree the newer hosts have organic material in them.

Anyway, thanks for putting the podcast out there,

Brian

Subscribe Now