Hector Escaton is Westworld's permanent “Most Wanted” bandit. He is a terrifying and brutal Host, and has a dark sense of humor to match. He subscribes to the theory that the West is a wild place, and the only way to survive is to embrace the role of predator. He is portrayed by Rodrigo Santoro.
Season One
"The Original"
In the first episode, incoming Guests are greeted by Sheriff Pickett who is recruiting visitors to participate in a hunt for Hector Escaton. He is wanted dead or alive. Later, Hector and his posse ride into the Westworld's town Sweetwater. They rob the brothel and wreak havoc on the townspeople, killing many of them. However, just before Hector can give his "chilling" speech, he is shot through the neck by Craig, a park visitor. Craig also kills Hector's deputy Armistice and is thrilled with his kills. He laughs over their wriggling corpses.
"Dissonance Theory"
In Dissonance Theory, the Man in Black promises to break Hector out of prison, in exchange for a few private words with Armistice, who he believes can help his pursuit of "The Maze."
The Man in Black does as promised, but not without using "cheat codes". He sends out a signal for pyrotechnics, and in the control room, security higher-up Ashley Stubbs obliges. As a result, the Man in Black's cigars become explosives which he deploys to spectacular effect. The first blows the door off the cell. The second is sparked by an unwitting lawman and it blows his head off. From there, the Man in Black and Hector blast their way out of the building before mowing down an entire firing squad to liberate Lawrence Pedro Maria Gonzales.
The Man in Black brings Hector back to Armistice, and as promised, she delivers information that will help his cause. She talks about the origin of the massive red snake tattoo crawling up her neck and onto her face, tracing it back to a childhood trauma instigated by a bunch of men she's since tracked and killed; all but one man, the head of the snake: "He has many names. I once knew him as Wyatt." The Man in Black believes Wyatt is the next step on his hunt to find Westworld’s secret.
At the end of the episode, Hector and his gang re-engage in their narrative to steal the brothel's safe. Hector meets Maeve in the brothel. Maeve informs Hector that she lives in worlds, plural, and she and Hector dig a bullet out of her abdomen — a bullet that exists inside her, despite there being no wound to show for it. It confirms for Maeve: "That I'm not crazy after all, and that none of this matters." With that, she brings Hector in for a passionate kiss, as lawmen shoot through the door and into the room, presumably putting both hosts down. For now, at least.
"Trompe L'Oeil"
Hector is seen naked in Charlotte Hale's room when Theresa Cullen arrives to meet with her. He is tied to the bedpost, and roughly calls for Charlotte to "get back here". She mutes him and continues her meeting with Theresa.
"Trace Decay"
Hector arrives in Sweetwater to play out his narrative, and Maeve meets him at the entrance of the Mariposa. The sheriff approaches to kill Hector, but Maeve changes his narrative and he walks away. Hector acknowledges her and walks into Mariposa to steal the safe. Maeve manipulates events to allow Hector to finally steal the safe.
"The Well-Tempered Clavier"
Hector goes to pee in the woods and is startled by Maeve appearing from the trees holding a gun. They have a conversation, where Maeve reveals the rest of his and the outlaws' narratives. He is skeptical, but hears the outlaws arguing and runs back to their camp in time to see Armistice shoot them all, just as Maeve predicted. Armistice raises her gun to shoot Hector, calling him a "damn fool", and Maeve shoots her.
Hector and Maeve open the safe that he stole from Mariposa, only to find that it's empty. Maeve explains her plans to him and asks him to help her, and he agrees. They go back to his tent and make love while the tent burns, set on fire by Maeve.
Personality
Hector is a cold-blooded killer and outlaw. He takes joy in killing, even laughing while he mows down the other Hosts in his narrative. As the leader of the outlaw group he makes all the plans regarding heists, showing he is quite intelligent.
Relationships
Armistice
Armistice is Hector's second in command. He trusts her very much, allowing her to give orders to the outlaws while he is in prison. She cares enough about him to break him out prison. It's unknown whether their relationship runs deeper.
It is revealed in "The Well-Tempered Clavier" that Armistice doesn't care about Hector, as she calls him a fool and attempts to kill him before being shot by Maeve.
Maeve Millay
Charlotte Hale
It is unknown whether Charlotte feels any real affection for Hector, or if their relationship is purely physical. Given Charlotte's disregard for the hosts, it is most probably the latter.
Appearances
Trivia
- This character was originally called Harlan Bell.
- "Escaton" is a derived from "éskhatos", the Greek word for "last", which is also the root of the English word "eschatological", which means "pertaining to the Apocalypse".