With each episode, Westworld leaves us with more questions than answers. The new HBO drama, which revolves around a Wild West-themed fantasy park populated with androids, is more than a little complex.
We know that the park is the brainchild of Dr. Robert Ford (Anthony Hopkins) and that guests pay a significant amount of money to visit a world where they can shoot, drink, and fuck with abandon. We know that the androids, known as hosts, cannot hurt the guests, but that guests can do what they like to hosts. We know that the company that runs Westworld has a bigger agenda that goes beyond simple hedonism. We know that story lines have a set run time before they loop again, and hosts are repaired before being put back into circulation. We know that some guests return over and over again, and that hosts do not remember them.
But most importantly, we know there's a glitch in the system — one that will surely continue to keep us guessing. And that's the fun part.
Follow along every week as we break down some of the wildest theories about this brave new world.
Who is the Man in Black?
Raise your hand if you thought Ed Harris was just your generic bad guy host. That scene definitely came as a shock. There's clearly more to the Man in Black than meets the eye.
Here's what we know about him so far:
He's been coming to the park for 30 years.
He seems to know the hosts, although they don't know him.
He has no problem inflicting trauma and pain on said hosts.
He's not interested in the outer layer of services Westworld has to offer.
You don't just kidnap a man, slash his throat, drain most of his blood, and then scalp him for no reason. The Man in Black clearly has a plan — what that plan is, we can only guess.
Is he a corporate spy, sent by a rival company to uncover the deepest secrets of the park? Is he a government employee, on a mission to regulate the abuses of the park's management company? Is he just the most intense gamer we've ever seen?
Or is he, as some have suggested, a robot gone horribly awry? (All signs point to no — until you remember that "The Gunslinger," as this character is known in the 1973 movie, is in fact a host.)
Photo: John P. Johnson/HBO.
What happened 30 years ago?
Bernie Lowe (Jeffrey Wright) mentions in the premiere that the park has not had a "critical failure" in 30 years. What happened 30 years ago? And why the sudden preoccupation with the disturbance in sub-basement 83?
When you factor in that the Man in Black has been coming to the park for 30 years, all signs seem to point to his involvement.
Photo: John P. Johnson/HBO.
Who's "the lady with the white shoes"?
When Bernie and the gang head down to sub-basement 83 to check on the disturbance, they discover Dr. Robert Ford chatting with Old Bill, one of the park's older hosts.
In a moment that's easy to miss, Old Bill repeats an old drinking toast twice: “Here's to the lady in the white shoes, she'll steal all your money, she'll drink all your booze.”
The saying itself is innocuous — and has existed for years. But could it have a deeper significance than Ford lets on?
Photo: John P. Johnson/HBO.
Where is the park?
During his conversation with Theresa Cullen (Sidse Babbett Knudsen), Lee Sizemore (Simon Quarterman) asks her if she gets to "rotate home" soon. What does that mean? Do Westworld employees reside at the park while they work?
If anything, it suggests the location is fairly remote. Is it even on Earth?
Photo: John P. Johnson/HBO.
What does management want from Westworld?
Sizemore also hints to Cullen that he knows there's more to this park than meets the eye, a fact Cullen confirms: “You’re right: This place is one thing to the guests, another thing to the shareholders, and something completely different to management.”
What exactly that means, though, remains a mystery. Is management planning something bigger for the hosts? Could they be building an android army? Or does this have something to do with what the Man in Black calls the "deeper level" of the game?
Photo: John P. Johnson/HBO.
What's with all the flies?
There's something rotten in the state of Westworld. Did anyone else notice that there's a fly around every time a host glitches?
A fly lands on the sheriff's face right before his stroke-like episode. Another one crawls on Peter Abernathy (Louis Herthum) in the middle of his existential crisis, and on Dolores' (Evan Rachel Wood) face when she's being questioned. And finally, one crawls on Teddy's (James Marsden) face while he's standing guard outside the sex lodge in the middle of nowhere. Does that mean Teddy will be the next to glitch — or that he already has?
Photo: John P. Johnson/HBO.
Will Dolores lead the android uprising?
Was Dolores' comment to Teddy about the Judas steer a hint of what's to come? Reddit sure thinks so.
The two are overlooking the canyon when Teddy asks how the cattle know to go a certain direction. Dolores explains that they follow the Judas steer — where he goes, they go. When Teddy wonders how they know which one is the Judas steer, Dolores responds that it's something you just know.
Is Dolores the Judas steer? As the oldest host in the park, she is probably the most evolved, and the one farthest along in her journey toward consciousness. Will she lead the hosts?
Photo: John P. Johnson/HBO.
Are there more hosts than we think?
One theory floating around is that some of the employees we believe are humans are actually hosts.
One Redditor known as Loginuser points out that there could be hosts living outside the park. In fact, what if Dr. Ford is the only human left, controlling everything via androids?
Or, conversely, what if he is in fact an android, an imprint of his former self, meant to last forever? That would certainly explain his fondness for the hosts, and his desire to make them more human.
Redditor TrenandJerrys, on the other hand, suggests that Bernie is the android. That pointed comment about him not having kids? Suspicious.
Let the guessing commence!
Photo: John P. Johnson/HBO.Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?
This Lena Dunham Story About Hollywood Sexism Is Horrifying
The Weird Sci-Fi Thing Evan Rachel Wood Studied For Westworld
Britain's Got Talent Judge Congratulates Simon Cowell For No Longer Pitting Women Against Each Other