MovieChat Forums > Westworld (2016) Discussion > You think William is a host?

You think William is a host?

posted 6 years ago by Mister Babadook (2623)
17 replies | jump to latest

It never really crossed my mind until last episode, where he was talking to his daughter and said he remembered she was afraid of the elephants in the other park, and she looked confused and corrected him "No i loved the elephants, it was mom who was afraid of the elephants" and William looked a little shook by it.

It wouldn't surprise me if the real William died, and this has been a host we've been following. I mean what if he's programmed to complete his mission and beat Ford's game or at least try to? thats why he refused to leave with his daughter, and left her high and dry, gotta complete his mission.

Plus the way he was convinced his daughter was a host Ford made to mess with him, in reality he's the host made by Ford.

[–] xfool (923) 6 years ago

nope, why would Ford play with his hosts for no reason?

William left her because hes convinced she is really his daughter but he still wanted to finish the game so left her to avoid her getting hurt or killed.

[–] Jeepster (1026) 6 years ago

Regarding the part of the elephants, I'm thinking it had to do with more of him testing her, rather than forgetting the details. He might have looked shaken because he realized it was really her.
But that's what I think, you may disagree.

[–] Burk48917 (10979) 6 years ago

I thought it was to show how uninvolved he was in her life.

[–] jimmyzimms (72) 5 years ago

Yup. Similar to her birthday gift for her 15th from her mom about dancing (my little ballerina) when in reality she had given up dancing years prior. Her mom was too preoccupied and drunk and self medicated to even notice.

[–] keithmovies (627) 6 years ago

Not a bad idea but I don't think it's the case. Following the narrative through from Season 1 till now we know that aged William was impervious to injury from weapons in the park unlike hosts who are vulnerable to the weapons. The daughter seemed unaware of any likelihood that he was dead (through illness or other) and didn't twig that his mistake about a past event might be suspicious - if she was concerned she would have challenged him with a gun in the same way she tested a fellow guest in the Indian colonial period park. His mission is way too important to him to give up especially seeing as he sacrificed his personal happiness with his family to invest in the park's existence and the problem presented by his tussle with Ford who he may view as an intractable enemy responsible in part for his misery.

[–] Mister Babadook (2623) 6 years ago

As for the part about William being impervious to damage in S1, Ford could have easily programmed that into him to make him believe he was real.

And the daughter likely wouldn't' know about his death, they never stayed in touch it seemed, William was always in the park, so it wouldn't be farfetched that she'd be unaware of his death.

Plus in S1 William had a line that went "Thats the one thing this place has been missing, a true villain" perhaps Ford thought the same thus why he made William a host who was ruthless and on a mission to kill anyone in his path and try and beat the game.

[–] chrisjdel (2714) 6 years ago

They seemed to imply that whether or not the weapons will harm you depends on the park sensor grid and whether it reads you as a human or a host. Thermal imaging perhaps. Who knows? A hack that makes everyone appear as a host (at least according to Bernard) was uploaded by Ford to get around the safeguards.

Some theories of the show have everyone being a host. Like, for example, if the entire island is one big version of the experiment with James Delos in his glass cage. They're trying to perfect stable human consciousness transfer using a thousand test subjects instead of only one. That sort of thing.

The problem of course is, how would you know if you were a host? Could you trust your own memory? All the hosts in their narratives have backstories they remember just as vividly as you remember yours. How do you know the life you think you've lived ever really happened? Maybe William's function in the narrative is to be an agent of chaos. To actually try to beat the game, unravel the simulation and destroy it. Just like Bernard asked Maeve if she's ever questioned why she's doing the things she's doing, maybe the same question could be posed to William. Is he just another host running around his loop?

[–] Mister Babadook (2623) 6 years ago

Well well well, looks i was right :)

[–] charliekelly (1018) 6 years ago

Brilliant observation with the elephants bit ⬆️. I always wanted him to be human, so I just took that as him being an absent father.

[–] Mister Babadook (2623) 6 years ago

Thanks, yeah i wanted him to be human too, but it started making more and more sense he was a host in the final episodes. With all the talk with his daughter William kept making comments like "I guess Ford forgot to give you that little detail" all the talk about misinformation then when he got something wrong about the elephants it clicked in me he was a host.

[–] ExTechOp (2747) 6 years ago

He's human

The version we see in the final episode's post-credit stinger isn't the original William. It's also not a host, per se, but "something else entirely" according to Lisa Joy.

[–] Mister Babadook (2623) 6 years ago

Wait what? Now i'm confused, he had the same blood on him that he did after his gun backfired in his hand, the same wounds, so was the William we saw that got into the elevator following Bernard and Dolores the Original William? Or was that the "something else entirely" William?

[–] ExTechOp (2747) 6 years ago

No, you have it right

Remember, it LOOKED like William followed Bernard and Dolores into the elevator

But Bernard got into that SAME elevator at the bottom - no William

The show runners were playing with timelines again - the William who got into the elevator was the something-else-entirely William in the far future

As for why he’s all bloody - maybe that’s the latest memory they were able to extract from his hat-transmitter before they shut down the Forge. Or maybe future-host-Emily just wants him to suffer

[–] McQualude (4231) 6 years ago

Something else means not human.

[–] papamihel (1574) 6 years ago

"You think William is a host?"

I really don't care. While I like the character I don't give a damn about his story.

[–] MrFilmJunkie (857) 6 years ago

well, i'm waiting for that twist since the first episode, as william resembles the gunslinger character from the original westworld.

[–] MovieManCin2 (26342) 6 years ago

I don't think so. If he were a host he would have been killed all those times he got shot by Teddy and other hosts.

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