‘Westworld’ Season 2 Theory: Is Dr. Ford The Weapon?

It seems that with each new episode of HBO’s Westworld, new theories develop on the show in regard to its story and plots. Episode 6 was no exception to this rule.

SPOILER ALERT: This article discusses Episode 6 (titled “Phase Space”) of HBO’s Westworld Season 2. Please proceed with caution if you have not yet viewed this episode and wish to avoid spoilers.

In Episode 6 of HBO’s Westworld, viewers saw Bernard (Jeffrey Wright) enter The Cradle, which is the equivalent of the cloud for hosts. While he was there, he discovered Dr. Robert Ford (Anthony Hopkins) who was living on in The Cradle — Matrix-style — even though he had been killed in the Season 1 finale of Westworld.

Now, as Episode 7 approaches, fans have developed a new Westworld theory that sees Dr. Ford as the weapon that was first mentioned earlier in Season 2.

There has been much speculation about what this weapon might be that was first mentioned in Episode 2 of Westworld Season 2. Both Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood) and William (Jimmi Simpson) were in pursuit of it and theories varied from the weapon being some type of machinery such as the massive drill seen plowing into the earth of Westworld, through to an actual person or host. With the advent of Delos’ obsession with intellectual property introduced in Season 2 of Westworld, the host Peter Abernathy (Louis Herthum) was also a suspect in the riddle of what this weapon really was.

However, Den of Geek now suggests that Dr. Ford is this weapon.

Their theory revolves around the fact that Bernard was seen taking a red ball which is known to be a printed human conscious rather than the white balls of hosts. Den of Geek then theorizes that his human conscious mind was Dr. Ford’s. They suspect Bernard then placed Ford’s consciousness into The Cradle.

A previous episode of Westworld Season 2 showed an attempt to have the human conscious implanted into a host. James Delos (Peter Mullan), who was dying, had his conscious mind replicated, or mapped out, and placed into a host in an effort to live forever. The experiment was a failure, though, even after it was enhanced and replicated over many years. The consistent problem seemed to be that as soon as James Delos found out he was a host rather than a human, he started glitching out. In the end, William terminated the experiment.

However, in the case of Dr. Ford, he has been placed not inside a host, but into The Cradle, a massive machine that holds all the hosts’ memories and experiences. So, could this make a difference when it comes to humans living on forever? While Dr. Ford is not inside a hosts’ body, he is still, effectively, living forever. This would make him a veritable weapon that can control all of the hosts without actually being an in-the-flesh human who can be controlled or killed.

Of course, viewers will just have to tune into further episodes of Westworld to discover if Dr. Ford really is the weapon or not.

Season 2 of Westworld returns with Episode 7 on Sunday, June 3, at 9 p.m. ET. According to Elle, this episode will be titled “Les Ecorches.” The synopsis for this episode is below.

“Strike the match.”