Westworld

Good summary of the William = MiB theory. I like the idea of it.... but feel there are too many holes for it to be correct.

Running Down That Crazy Westworld Man in Black Theory

I think the MiB is Arya stark.

That is a good little article, but I still feel that his big point that the end actually proves the theory. The MiB says to her, "Why don't we reacquaint ourselves, Dolores? Start at the beginning." and she runs into William.

This is after we see her going through different "memories" of that scene. One she is shot... next she isn't and rides off and runs into William. She is remembering her past, where she met the MiB when he was a new park goer, William.

Also, remember that scene with William and Logan when they are eating dinner... We get the impression that William really doesn't like Logan. Logan seems to be there just to fuck and shoot. He doesn't want to explore this grand place. Then before the treasure hunter walks over, Logan says:

"Logan: I know that you think you have a handle on what this is gonna be, guns and tits and all that mindless shit that I usually enjoy. You have no idea. This place seduces everybody, eventually. But by the end you're going to be begging me to stay because this place is the answer to that question you've been asking yourself.
William: What question?
Logan: Who you really are. And I can't fuckin' wait to meet that guy."

Even Logan thinks that William is a bad ass waiting to be awoken.

William is the Man in Black.

It's fucking confirmed. Why? The logo's.

When William arrives at the park, the logo for Westworld is the original one used during the flashback when they were first creating the hosts. The flashback when Ford was explaining Arnold to Bernard.
William is obviously in a much older version of the park. There are other hints such as the bullet, the train being newer, and the narratives being different.




This is the only logo you see with William. With every other character on the show, including the MiB, you see the much newer logo:


The actor who plays William has facial features very, very similar to Ed Harris (if you throw 30 years into the mix). So yeah, not a theory anymore.

So the MiB is not Arnold trying to become immortal and set his "creations" loose.

"These violent delights (the guest's gratification within the park) have violent ends..." is from Romeo & Juliet and is perhaps the biggest piece of foreshadowing we've seen yet. Shit is going to get messy. True phrase is from Act 2 of Romeo and Juliet and is, ""These violent delights have violent ends. And in their triumph die, like fire and powder."

Humanity has created artificial intelligence at this point. They've become gods. They've basically mastered the mysteries and secrets to life, and if there's any accomplishment which could be considered a triumph it would be that. That would be the greatest triumph that our species could achieve.

"in their triumph die, like fire and powder." Think about it. "In their triumph." Humanity triumphs by creating artificial intelligence and then gets destroyed. It's not stopping with the park denizens, the entire human race is probably up for extinction by the end. The host kill the staff and take control of the faculties necessary to reproduce other androids and they have the means to create an army.

This isn't going to be a story about a park going wild and a few people dying, this is going to be a story about AI exterminating humanity.

kaid said:

Ford also seems to have the right realization that the very last thing you want to do after trapping them into a sexbot murder western hell is grant your creations sentience or anything even approaching it and actively dissuades others from thinking about them like that or trying to follow that path.

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It's interesting though that he programmed in the reveries (Supposedly). In that hierarchy of consciousness he pointed out you need memories, they are effectively the foundation of being conscious. And its true, especially if you believe consciousness is just a learning affectation, which is what some people argue. That effectively humans make every choice subconsciously, you've already made choices before your consciousness can confirm them. The analysis in your head, the voice/conscious mind is more there to reflect on memories and create inputs for future decisions that are too complex to be handled with more simplistic logic. So consciousness is more like a programming center, getting your brain ready for the next time a similar situation comes up.

Which is exactly what Ford described with the voice of god--their own voices taking over in order to let them rewrite their programming. I'm thinking Ford's partner didn't just try for consciousness, he achieved it. However, Hopkins was horrified at the implications of it, maybe because he realized his business venture would go under, or any number of reasons. So his answer was to wipe out the memories every cycle of the Hosts, which would effectively prevent the hierarchy from completing. Now, for some reason, he gave them little memories back--but he seemed to try to control it to not let them have full memories.

In any case, one thing he said in the Episode--the only thing left of Arnold's code are the verbal commands we use to control them. "These violent delights have violent ends", is one of Arnold's commands. It allows for Hosts to recall substantial memories. I think it was Arnold's last fuck you, because he realized his 'children' were going to be used in such a horrible way. I think the man in black, somehow, knew this and used it, and now its spreading, activating Arnold's code.

I added this to my last post but this is a bit more speculative based on foreshadowing.


"These violent delights (the guest's gratification within the park) have violent ends..." is from Act 2 of Romeo & Juliet and is perhaps the biggest piece of foreshadowing we've seen yet. Shit is going to get messy. True phrase from the play is, ""These violent delights have violent ends. And in their triumph die, like fire and powder."

Humanity has created artificial intelligence at this point. They've become gods. They've basically mastered the mysteries and secrets to life, and if there's any accomplishment which could be considered a triumph it would be that. That would be the greatest triumph that our species could achieve.

"in their triumph die, like fire and powder." Think about it. "In their triumph." Humanity triumphs by creating artificial intelligence and then gets destroyed. It's not stopping with the park denizens, the entire human race is probably up for extinction by the end. The host kill the staff and take control of the faculties necessary to reproduce other androids and they have the means to create an army.

This isn't going to be a story about a park going wild and a few people dying, this is going to be a fable about AI threatening the entirety of humanity.

I also like the theory that William is the MIB because the can that Dolores drops rolls to three people: Teddy, who is a host and part of the loop, The man in black, and at the end of episode 2, William. If indeed William is the MIB, then the only non host who picks up the can is the MIB. If it is a flashback, then the end of episode 2 is likely the first time The Man in Black meets Dolores, which seems to be the first time he actually becomes really interested in being in the park.

Lithose, the Shakespear quote could be a command left behind by Arnold but the problem is that Abernathy is the first to say it, not the Man in Black (correct me if I'm wrong). He whispers it to Delores.

More likely just foreshadowing considering the very careful selection of the line itself. Who knows, could be a command, but if the MiB did use it then how did William obtain an antiquated command from a dead park programmer in the first place?

Kiroy said:

I thought her 'dad' whispered it to her first, after his picture malfunction?

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I think it's likely the reason for the malfunctions, mistakes...evolution. It likely was a verbal command left behind by Arnold, but this brings about two questions to mind.

1. Did the command pass to the stray who flipped the fuck out and killed himself?

2. Who was the very first to utter the command? If it was Abernathy, what prompted him to override his programming and issue a command to Dolores, something the hosts cannot do. If it was the MiB/William, then how did he obtain Arnold's lost code?

The more I think about it, it's definitely Arnold's command. It fucks up every android that hears it; and Abernathy did not just randomly say it because of his "Shakespeare" background.

https://www.inverse.com/article/22344-westworld-viral-site-glitches-east-eggs

If you enter the violent delight phrase the AI tells you that Arnold will come for you and that you're in a prison of your own sins.

Aeden also says that Arnold had a special connection between himself and the hosts before glitching out.
All sorts of other easter eggs.

Another piece of evidence to throw on the mountain that already exists that William = MiB is that when talking about guns and humans Aedan says, "...fire shots closer to paintballs than actual bullets. You will either get better at ducking or become accustomed to the impact."

Westworld: A Delos Destination

Go here and press shift.

Really looks like Arnold disagreed with Ford about the basic concept of the park, and the policy of basically exploiting their creations. This led to him probably getting killed (maybe murdered), but not before finishing conciousness and hiding it away for it to appear some thirty years later.

Woolygimp said:

Lithose, the Shakespear quote could be a command left behind by Arnold but the problem is that Abernathy is the first to say it, not the Man in Black (correct me if I'm wrong). He whispers it to Delores.

More likely just foreshadowing considering the very careful selection of the line itself. Who knows, could be a command, but if the MiB did use it then how did William obtain an antiquated command from a dead park programmer in the first place?

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Abernathe is the first to say it--the day after the MIB is around when they all die. He had plenty of time to tamper with them. All the people who have said the line so far, had some experience with the MIB.

Lithose said:

Abernathe is the first to say it--the day after the MIB is around when they all die. He had plenty of time to tamper with them. All the people who have said the line so far, had some experience with the MIB.

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Yeah. I think Arnold is going to end up playing an absolutely major part in this story as it's clear he completed his work on conscienceness, but the hosts aren't conscience at the moment because of perpetual memory wipes. (lvl 1 of the pyramid) The quote from Shakespear being the "key" that begins to tamper with those wipes, allowing their conciousness to emerge.

It's going to be interesting to see why William turned evil, and if he played any role with Arnold, or how he was able to learn that particular phrase. And what Arnold's true fate was. I have a particular suspicion that Ford murdered him (because of his success). I have a hard time believing a host did it.

Ford has a clear disdain for the androids, but would know that they're sentient, or close to it. That makes you question what kind of relationship he'd have with a business partner who was experimenting and having success with something that would basically render the park useless as a business venture. Ford would have had to kill him if he wanted "his way". They couldn't have it both ways, and Arnold would have sunk their investment. So to sum it up:

Ford & Arnold partner up to create a park filled with androids.
Their visions are drastically different.
Arnold succeeds in creating true intelligence.
Ford kills him, realizes that for sentience to persevere there must be memory, thus makes sure the androids are "scrubbed" consistently, but not before Arnold had installed a verbal command which will allow the androids to retain their memory.
William comes to the park, and is initially pretty normal.
Something happens, changes him into the man in black.
30 years later, Arnold's verbal command is found and released into the park.
Androids start to remember and thus regain their sentience.

Or Arnold isn't dead... and he is in the middle of the Maze

TJT said:

I can say with absolute certainty this thread of endless batshit theories is improved by the original WG's delusions!

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Can we do some sort of avatar bet that William is the MiB? If those fucking Westworld logo's don't convince you that we are watching two distinctly different timelines (and that William is in the past), then I don't know what to tell you.

I think the differences in what happens when the bullets hit is even more telling.