The finale is the first time that I have been really truly excited for the premiere of a new Westworld episode. Not that I haven’t enjoyed the show but I found it very slow to get me emotionally engaged. Finally it has kicked into high gear, with some truly tragic turns and exciting tangible final mysteries ready to unravel. I’ve theorized on what the finale will bring to Maeve and Dolores major plotlines here and here respectively, but I also wanted to touch on a few other hugely critical theories and mysteries that I think we will get our answer to this episode:
Ford and the Delos Board:
This is a thought that I haven’t seen elsewhere, but makes a lot of sense: if Ford can create hosts based on dead people who are nearly indistinguishable from humans, why stop at reanimating Arnold? If the Delos board gives him trouble, why not kill whatever representative comes to the park and replace them with a double? Soon he would control the company itself.
I’ve seen people theorize that Delos wants the tech so they can replace world leaders, but why doesn’t Ford do this to get Delos off his back? My only argument against is that he’s too risk averse to let any host leave the park even if well disguised. Or maybe in his arrogance, he takes a perverse pleasure in his sparring matches with the board. These don’t seem like super strong arguments against. Maybe this will be the endpoint of his ‘Final Plotline,’ or maybe he has already done it. Will Charlette learn the truth in the moment she tries to oust Ford?
I hope it is touched upon.
Charlie and Charlotte:
People have noticed a strong resemblance between Bernard’s fake dead child Charlie, and Delos representative Charlotte. Could Charlotte actually be Arnold’s daughter? Beyond the resemblance, Charlotte is at an age close enough to fit with Arnold’s death 30 years ago. It would also explain why someone so young would have so much power in Delos. Maybe she inherited Arnold’s seat on the board. There is also the similarity in name, which fits with Ford’s treatment of Bernard and his memories.
Arguments against are mostly that Ford and Charlotte don’t speak to each other as if they have any kind of history. But they are both also hyper controlled people and Charlotte would have been very young when her father died. There’s no evidence she was ever close to Ford. Also, of course we know Bernard’s tragedy is a riff on Arnold’s, which would mean that Arnold’s child died as well. But couldn’t this have been tweaked to not make the link TOO obvious to Bernard? What if Arnold lost his wife but not his child – maybe he lost her in Charlotte’s childbirth? This all fits pretty well, to be honest, and does not feel outside the scope of the secrets the writers like to embed.
Bernard’s death scene was actually multiple timelines:
Viewers more astute than myself have noted visual inconsistencies in the room where Bernard is forced to take his own life. You can dig into them here, but basically in some shots there are racks of bodies in the background and in others there is nothing, the body bags change color and shape, there is a light outlet at the beginning of the scene that isn’t there at the end. This could be a super small Easter egg only to drive home how truly tragic it is that Bernard gets stopped at this same place every time he becomes aware. But it could be more significant if we ask: Which of the plot lines did Bernard actually shoot himself? Do we know it was the present? Is there hope for a still aware Bernard that chose NOT to confront Ford and instead bide his time? This would be a big twist with an episode that already has a lot of things to resolve. But Bernard fans can hope.
What will happen to Lee and Dolores’ murderous father?
In Episode 8, Charlotte convinces Lee to try yet again to smuggle code out of the park, this time inside Dolores’ decommissioned father from the first episode. Last time we saw the father he had become self-aware and was quoting some particularly vengeful passages of Shakespeare at Ford and the tech gang. This is a nearly unique plotline as it seems both high risk, and disconnected from our other big interweaving arcs. Maybe it will just end with Lee getting a nice gory death, or maybe it will be the thing that Ford wasn’t watching for and will put his plans at risk. It’ll be fun to have our first murderous host from the show back in action either way.
Is Elsie Alive?
Let’s just say it clearly: until I see a body, I won’t assume anyone is dead. Also, come to think of it, in a world where perfect fakes of humans can be created - seeing a body might not be confirmation either. Guarantee this will come into play at some point in Westworld. But, to stay on target, we last saw Elsie being jumped by who we now have pretty clear evidence was Bernard acting under Ford’s instructions.
But then her locator turned back on, and Stubbs went to go find it, only to be relatively non-violently tackled by Ghost Nation tribe members. Couldn’t Elsie have escaped Bernard’s clutches? She’s a top programmer too and Bernard at the end of the day is a host, even if a special one. When I saw Maeve’s voice commands work on him, I started to think that maybe he isn’t immune to all the run of the mill host control tricks. Elsie could have programmed and commanded her way out of the situation, possibly commanding Bernard to forget he didn’t kill her or perhaps even implant fake memories that he did so Ford doesn’t get wise. I'm not sure how work intensive that is, but it could be too much.
Then she got a few other Ghost Nation host allies on her side before calling for Stubbs to help her. The only reason I fear this is Stubbs is called to find her in the sector where Ford has his cabin. This is basically Ford’s seat of power in the park. It kind of tips me to thinking that it might be a fake host Elsie that Ford created. Either way, I think we will see the character come back in the finale. The question will be whether or not it’s really her or a host doppleganger. Be very vigilant in watching those scenes, the clues will be there.
Tune in tonight to see how these theories play out.
