@TimK That's what I wondering too. I'm hoping from the various teasers it will be answered somehow in the next episodes. One of my thought is that they go to the world via an ultra realistic "VR" type experience.
I am still not sure what to think (and very curious) about the true nature of the park and how it exists in physical space. Where is it located, and is there some sort of giant fence or force field or something around it to keep the hosts in and the guests from accidentally wandering out? Where does the train bringing new guests originate? The engineers seem to just appear out of thin air when they need to investigate or fix something but we don't see how they get there. They don't roll up in a jeep or rappel down out out of a helicopter... have they invented teleportation along with androids? Or is this not the concrete physical world that it appears to be?
I assume they just walk/ride out to where they need to be.
We saw the park's... "head office" on the top of that very cylinder shaped rock. I'm thinking that rock is partly, if not fully, manufactured, and the building goes right down the center of it, about 83 floors deep.
@Zothor Yeah if there's ever a real villain so to speak I think that would be Ford more so than anyone else. I think the show could work with having the various guests serve the villlain role though.
I know that people are desperate to start spinning wild theories, but I think it would be pretty silly if one of the humans turned out to be an android. They've clearly laid out that the android technology has only recently begun to brush up against being indistinguishable from real humans, so for someone like Ed Harris who's been coming to the park for 30 years, or the engineers who have been working in it for years, to be a secret hidden cylon seems impossible. and I'm not interested in a reboot of Battlestar Galactica's "THEY LOOK LIKE US NOW" shtick. The themes this show is already exploring are way more interesting.
Im curious about the place where they were storing the unused robots. It looked like they were in an old mall, with that big globe behind them and it seemed like either stairways or escalators. I'm guessing it's an old part of the park that's no longer used. Could just be an easy bit of world building that's just thrown in there, but maybe we'll learn more.
I know that people are desperate to start spinning wild theories, but I think it would be pretty silly if one of the humans turned out to be an android. They've clearly laid out that the android technology has only recently begun to brush up against being indistinguishable from real humans, so for someone like Ed Harris who's been coming to the park for 30 years, or the engineers who have been working in it for years, to be a secret hidden cylon seems impossible. and I'm not interested in a reboot of Battlestar Galactica's "THEY LOOK LIKE US NOW" shtick. The themes this show is already exploring are way more interesting.
You don't think the whole speech about how human consciousness is the result of accidents doesn't, potentially too perfectly, set up for a reveal that at least one of the AIs evolved on its own unknown to the creators? I mean, it's not a theory that I'm shipping, but I don't think only-recently-indistignuishable thing negates the possibility. It would also more accurately represent real evolution. This kind of forced, update all the Hosts at once with a "mutation" which gives them memories bit takes out the selection part of natural selection. If the Man in Black is the evolved host, you'd think he'd be working to outcompete his other hosts and potentially try and induce the same evolution in them that he experienced.
@Zothor My interpretation is that that's exactly what happened, and that someone is Dolores, she lies in the questioning and they did not catch it.
Also only 10% of the hosts were updated not all of them, and as far as I know Dolores was not one of them, and if I'm right about that this makes it far more interesting since her self awareness was not sparked directly from the update but rather spontaneously through one that had been.
Edit: also I greatly dislike the idea of the man in black being a host. He's vastly too convincingly human to be that old and a host.
I know that people are desperate to start spinning wild theories, but I think it would be pretty silly if one of the humans turned out to be an android. They've clearly laid out that the android technology has only recently begun to brush up against being indistinguishable from real humans, so for someone like Ed Harris who's been coming to the park for 30 years, or the engineers who have been working in it for years, to be a secret hidden cylon seems impossible. and I'm not interested in a reboot of Battlestar Galactica's "THEY LOOK LIKE US NOW" shtick. The themes this show is already exploring are way more interesting.
You don't think the whole speech about how human consciousness is the result of accidents doesn't, potentially too perfectly, set up for a reveal that at least one of the AIs evolved on its own unknown to the creators? I mean, it's not a theory that I'm shipping, but I don't think only-recently-indistignuishable thing negates the possibility. It would also more accurately represent real evolution. This kind of forced, update all the Hosts at once with a "mutation" which gives them memories bit takes out the selection part of natural selection. If the Man in Black is the evolved host, you'd think he'd be working to outcompete his other hosts and potentially try and induce the same evolution in them that he experienced.
The idea that an earlier version of a host hit the singularity without anyone knowing, disappeared from the system without anyone noticing and stole the resources necessary to upgrade itself to a lifelike state, in a busy themepark without being detected, strikes me as a few bridges too far. Especially if we're then supposed to believe that the android then faked a resume and rose to a prominent position within the company. If this show is going that far into crazytown just so they can pull off surprising twists I think they'll be squandering a great opportunity to tell a more straightforward but philosophically interesting story.
@Zothor My interpretation is that that's exactly what happened, and that someone is Dolores, she lies in the questioning and they did not catch it.
Also only 10% of the hosts were updated not all of them, and as far as I know Dolores was not one of them, and if I'm right about that this makes it far more interesting since her self awareness was not sparked directly from the update but rather spontaneously through one that had been.
Edit: also I greatly dislike the idea of the man in black being a host. He's vastly too convincingly human to be that old and a host.
I could have sworn Delores WAS one of the upgraded hosts. It's the reason why they said "that's the last of them" when they corralled her and brought her in. It was also the reason why they were questioning her the way they were (so I thought).
I could have sworn Delores WAS one of the upgraded hosts. It's the reason why they said "that's the last of them" when they corralled her and brought her in. It was also the reason why they were questioning her the way they were (so I thought).
This is also what I remembered; didn't they say that her life depended on her answers to her questions? That has to involve her being one of the suspected/updated hosts.
@alexander.klassen I agree that I don't like it. But I don't know what you mean by "then faked a resume and rose to a prominent position within the company." We were talking about the Man in Black, who appears to clearly be a Guest/Newcomer, not an employee. Anyhow. My gut says he's human. But I wouldn't be at all surprised if the tracks get laid for him not to be. He could perfectly well also be Anthony Hopkins' side experiment that he never told anyone about; we haven't gotten close to the sinister twists yet. There's a ton to be revealed that we just don't have the facts for yet. It's too early to be sure of anything.
@Zothor I think some people were suggesting that the woman managing the park was a robot because of her lack of affect, that's what I was referring to.
@KingKobra Ahh okay, I interpreted this as SOP for re-integrating hosts back into Westworld when they've been killed/damaged and after a 'scene' in the Westworld show ('that's the last of them,' meaning the ones involved in this 'act' not the updated androids), that they're repaired, wiped, and then asked the series of questions before being cleared to return, hence the line about answers determining their life/whatever. But it seems your interpretation almost certainly far more likely.
Still, in that case the scene with the photo that her father host found is odd to me; at the time I thought he reacted that way to it because of the update and that she had no reaction because she was not updated.
I liked it a lot and I often struggle with pilots as you have a lot to learn from those episodes you have to learn about lots of new characters, the story ect I feel like I'll be more in tune by around episode 3... and also when things make more sense, but I do love a mystery. I just hope I don't get Mr Robot type of lost where I'm almost only understanding the episodes after listening to Jim and a.ron
Anthony Hopkins has ulterior motives. You don't go drinking with an old robot and deliver speeches about how "human evolution has hit a dead end" if you are a well balanced individual.
He seems to have semi autotomy in the company. He pushed a new update without it being validated by the other techs.
It wouldn't break the rules of the show to have the creator of this world be able to build a robot without everyone else knowing about it, since that's more or less what happened with the new update.
No one even knows what exactly it even did. Just that it messed up some of the bots.
IMO it seems entirely within his character to either create a sentient robot in secret and let it loose in the simulation to see what it does or to hide evolving intelligence knowing the other employees would want to destroy it.
I have not finished the podcast yet so forgive me if this already has been addressed.
I do not take them referring to Dolores as "the oldest host in the park" to mean she is the original. I think she's just the oldest one there. Old Bil has not been updated because he's so old that his hardware can't be.
Which brings me to my other theory. Strange how they talk about the second host ever made (old bill) and don't mention the first. I think this is very significant. I also think that Ed Harris is way more than a corporate spy (remember, these are the people who brought us Lost!) my crazy theory is that he was at one time a host. If he was the first that would be awesome, but then that doesn't explain why old bill couldn't be updated.
Haven't listened to the cast yet so this might have been discussed but why did they need an army of dudes wit machines guns when they went to sub basement 82? What were they expecting to run into where they needed that type of protection and firepower? They even said something like "you should stay back".
I'm really intrigued by Ed Harris's character. I thought he was a host until they established he's not. I wonder if he's from a rival company out to steal trade secrets? He's clearly a part of the larger picture that the Head Writer was talking about, but is that some kind of military project? An experiment in population control?
I got the feeling he's not just a rival, but also a former compatriot/colleague or perhaps apprentice. In the scene when he shot Teddy, didn't he say "It's great to be back!"? Now that could mean he's been a guest before, but to me it felt more like he had been returning after a long absence. As if he had been banish (if not imprisoned), and now perhaps forgotten as only Ford remained from the time that Harris's character worked there.
Ed Harris/Man in Black - I'd bet he is an android. . .
So is this theory ignoring the fact that Teddy's bullets couldn't hurt him (therefore human), or assuming that he's a bot that somehow evolved a defense against other hosts hurting him?
Listening to the podcast I agree with the guys and can't imagine that this is virtual reality. heres why.
1. Why would they have such a massive installation if this was VR? 2. Why would they have real robots that interact with the staff? Why have physical hosts if it's VR? Surely if this was VR there is no need for physical robots. 3. Humans can not be killed. If this was VR why not make them have the chance of dying? 4. Adding to 3 why would the robot who snapped and killed all the people at the bar not hurt the real couple. If it was VR they could be killed and unharmed in real life. But it looks like thy are really there and thus why they were not harmed. 5. This is more speculation but it would take away from the threat that humans can be harmed and that the hosts can "come to life" and do real damage. If it's VR then there is really no threat in real life.
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Also only 10% of the hosts were updated not all of them, and as far as I know Dolores was not one of them, and if I'm right about that this makes it far more interesting since her self awareness was not sparked directly from the update but rather spontaneously through one that had been.
Edit: also I greatly dislike the idea of the man in black being a host. He's vastly too convincingly human to be that old and a host.
@alexander.klassen I agree that I don't like it. But I don't know what you mean by "then faked a resume and rose to a prominent position within the company." We were talking about the Man in Black, who appears to clearly be a Guest/Newcomer, not an employee. Anyhow. My gut says he's human. But I wouldn't be at all surprised if the tracks get laid for him not to be. He could perfectly well also be Anthony Hopkins' side experiment that he never told anyone about; we haven't gotten close to the sinister twists yet. There's a ton to be revealed that we just don't have the facts for yet. It's too early to be sure of anything.
He seems to have semi autotomy in the company. He pushed a new update without it being validated by the other techs.
It wouldn't break the rules of the show to have the creator of this world be able to build a robot without everyone else knowing about it, since that's more or less what happened with the new update.
No one even knows what exactly it even did. Just that it messed up some of the bots.
IMO it seems entirely within his character to either create a sentient robot in secret and let it loose in the simulation to see what it does or to hide evolving intelligence knowing the other employees would want to destroy it.
@cory
He actually said "it's good to be bad" as in he enjoys playing a bad guy.
1. Why would they have such a massive installation if this was VR?
2. Why would they have real robots that interact with the staff? Why have physical hosts if it's VR? Surely if this was VR there is no need for physical robots.
3. Humans can not be killed. If this was VR why not make them have the chance of dying?
4. Adding to 3 why would the robot who snapped and killed all the people at the bar not hurt the real couple. If it was VR they could be killed and unharmed in real life. But it looks like thy are really there and thus why they were not harmed.
5. This is more speculation but it would take away from the threat that humans can be harmed and that the hosts can "come to life" and do real damage. If it's VR then there is really no threat in real life.