Westworld Wants us to Think Arnold is dead

Westworld is trying hard to make us believe that Arnold is dead, but that’s not the whole picture.

When Arnold, Westworld’s co-creator, first came up in conversation it was a bit of an awkward moment. Ford brings him up to Bernard in one of their little chats, but at that moment it was difficult to believe that there was a co-creator that nobody knew about. Since then, Arnold has become part of more casual conversation. We’re told that he died, and that he and Ford differed on how to handle the park and the Hosts.

When Arnold is brought up it is almost always followed with the fact that he died, though nobody has said exactly how it happened. It’s such an odd situation that it’s possible we have actually already met the man. Either way, Westworld isn’t fooling anyone at this point. Arnold is alive in some form — though it may not be human.

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It’s entirely possible that Arnold’s physical body truly is dead, and Ford isn’t lying. But he’s worried. During ‘Contrapasso’ he makes sure to ask Dolores when the last time he spoke to Arnold was. Directly afterwards, an unseen person — possibly in her head as programming — practically tell us that she was lying.

Any Host could be inhabiting the mind of Arnold, or he could just be tucked away somewhere deep in their head. Westworld is a shot about robots, so having Arnold be an actual person doesn’t really fit the theme. It would actually be a bit of a let down at this point. Just the frequency with which Arnold’s name is spoken at this point is suspicious. You better believe he’s out there.

Next: Westworld looks to the future.

There are many possibilities to tacking this issue, but Westworld has laid out a map. It just may not be totally clear yet.