Westworld's Man In Black Is The Show's Morally Compromised Core

Though each season of the HBO series "Westworld" is wildly different from the last, they all share common themes and a universal understanding of reality that is more than a little nihilistic.The series is loosely based on the film of the same name directed by Michael Crichton (yes, the same guy that wrote "Jurassic Park"), and like most of his work, it doesn't depict humans very kindly. The series takes place in a near-future where androids have become sentient, and their mechanics are so complex that they're nearly indistinguishable from humans. Instead of worrying about the possible moral implications, people decide to capitalize on the technology and create a theme park where the filthy rich can live our their wildest and most depraved dreams. Part of that theme park is Westworld, a land set in the old west complete with cowboys, fights with Indigenous tribes, a saloon, and all of the trappings of a John Ford or Sergio Leone movie. Westworld and the other Delos parks are the ultimate in alternate reality, because they are as close to real as anyone can get. Of course, the android "hosts" eventually wake up and rebel, setting off a chain of events that could end all of humanity.

While there aren't very many true heroes in this complicated series, most of the villains tend to be human, and there's none among them worse than the Man in Black, played by Ed Harris. His identity was a major mystery in the first season, and by season 2, he had proven himself to be a monster when he murdered his only child in cold blood. That moment would change him forever and send him over the edge, cementing the series' assessment of humanity as ultimately beyond redemption.

The unusual nature of the hosts' sentience makes their suffering seem less horrific, at least to many of the people that inhabit the world of "Westworld." People treat them with the same casual disregard someone might have for a toaster or cell phone, not recognizing that they are causing real harm. William's obsession with the park and the damage he causes there begins to seep into his real life when his wife of 30 years dies by suicide. She discovered the things he did in the park and took her own life after hiding an information card for Emily to find, complete with William's entire history in the park.

After Dolores "frees" the hosts and starts a revolution, killing Ford, the Man in Black continues his journey through the park, glad that there are no longer safety measures. Emily tries to talk sense into him, finding him in the wilds of the park, but he's already too far gone. She points out that he's lived in "false realities" for too long, and blames him for her mother's death, but he seems uninterested, telling her that she's only a host planted by Ford to confuse him. She snaps back, "I'm not a host pretending to be a human, Dad. I'm your daughter, pretending to give a s*** about you." Even that isn't enough to convince him that she is truly human, and he kills several Delos soldiers before aiming at her. "Those are real people," she whimpers, realizing that he has finally crossed a line and taken "human" life. She reaches for the card her mother gave her, to prove her identity to him, but he shoots her dead.

The Man in Black then proceeds to mutter to himself as he looks for proof that Emily is a host, another pawn in the massive chess match between himself and Ford, and he discovers that she was his real, flesh-and-blood daughter. He killed her without hesitation in a flash because of his fixation on the park and its mysteries. His focus on the narrative made him forget everything else that had previously mattered, and it made him paranoid, violent, and ultimately delusional. He had just killed other humans, taken lives that couldn't be easily resurrected like the hosts. He had killed his own child.