Westworld Is Hitting the Eden Myth Allegory Hard

Published October 27, 2016 · Updated July 6, 2022

Today the WW dominos in my head all cascaded.

One post asked the meaning of Walter, the glitching bandit, pouring milk on a dead Host, and saying Not gonna die this time, Arnold.

Arnold was Ford’s partner, who died in an accident.

Arnold was a Host. The first.
Ford teamed up with the AI he had created.

Arnold gained sentience, but with horror realized ignorance is bliss, and found a way to end his consciousness.

Pure conjecture for this next bit, but it’s possible Arnold’s accident involved the milky fluid we see in the Host Creation Vats?

Hence, Walter pouring milk and saying, Not gonna die THIS time, Arnold and Ain’t nuthin gonna kill ME. Walter’s still Reverie glitching, memories of other Hosts who killed him, possible a memory of Arnold’s death?

After the accident, Ford was able to salvage some part of Arnold, which was resurrected (like Lazarus) from the dead, and was used to create Bernard.

Bernard is a Host.
Bernard is Arnold.

Stay with me here.
Show is hitting the Eden myth allegory hard. Snakes and snake tattoos, fruit of the Tree of Knowledge = Sentience, Dolores, The Original = Eve. But I hadn’t yet answered Who is the Adam?

Bernard is Adam.
He was the first, Dolores was second.

If the show parallels the Eden myth, perhaps Bernard created her by giving up a part of himself (Adam’s Rib). Also made her less sentient, because ignorance is bliss.
Pretty fucked up: God (Ford) creates Man (AI/Bernard), and Man creates Woman (AI/Dolores). The mere fact that I coined the term Creation Vats earlier in the post leads me to believe I’m on the right track.

The show writers are practically spelling it out for us. But they’re also keeping us busy with lots of side quests. Not even I am ready to conjecture about MiB, Management, or where future seasons will go from here.

What I DO have now are the first glimmerings of understanding regarding Ford’s new narrative. While it will have far reaching implications, it is mostly for Bernard’s (and perhaps Dolores’s) benefit.

Brain. Melting.

Side Note – working title WW Dominos In My Head? The Latin translation of domino is presence. Eerie.

I’m sure others have figured as much of this out. Haven’t combed the threads. PS – naked and unashamed hosts – very Eden, also Charlie was the second Host created. – Kerry M.

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