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Revision as of 16:32, 6 December 2016
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| “ | You want to know who I am? Who I really am? I'm a god. Titan of industry. Philanthropist. Family man. Married to a beautiful woman. Father to a beautiful daughter. I'm the good guy, Teddy. Then, last year my wife took the wrong pills, fell asleep in the bath. Tragic accident. Thirty years of marriage, vanished. | ” |
–Man in Black to Teddy | ||
The Man in Black (first name William) is a main character in the sci-fi western TV series, Westworld. He is a gunslinger and longtime visitor to the theme park, Westworld. He is played by Ed Harris. He believes that the original park creator, Arnold, hid some mystery in the park before he died 34 years earlier. Man in Black focuses on finding out what this secret is. It is discovered in "The Well-Tempered Clavier" that the Man in Black is a member of the Delos company board of directors who are attempting to oust Dr. Ford as park director, and secure the hosts code/programming (which they see as their property) from him.
In "The Bicameral Mind", William reveals that he is the majority shareholder and, in effect, owns the Westworld theme park.
He is on first name terms with Dr. Robert Ford; in the episode "Contrapasso" he greets Ford and says "How'm I doin' Robert?" Likewise, in "The Bicameral Mind", Ford greets him with "Hello William".
Biography
Background
The Man in Black says he has been visiting Westworld for more than thirty years, and wants to visit the deeper levels of the game he believes is hidden in the park. He says he regularly visits Dolores Abernathy, a host who lives on the outskirts of Sweetwater. Among other hosts within the park, he has made acquaintances with Teddy Flood and Lawrence.[1]
The Man in Black is a wealthy person outside Westworld, wealthy enough to operate a foundation and to be recognized by other guests in the park. He does not though, appreciate having his vacation interrupted by guests who recognize him.
Season One
The Original
On one of his many visits to the park, the Man in Black has the intentions of finally reaching the deeper levels of Westworld. He pays a visit to Dolores one last time, killing Teddy Flood in the process. On a later day, he visits the Mariposa Saloon to meet Kissy, a card dealer. At nighttime, he sneaks up on Kissy and slits his throat, rendering him powerless, and quietly drags him away to the mountains. There, after explaining his intentions to find the truth of Westworld and its deeper game, the Man scalps the host. On the inside of the host's scalp, he finds a map for an unknown maze.[1]
Chestnut
William comes to Westworld with Logan, who he disapproves because he comes to the park for a good time and has little interest in the role playing. William meets Dolores.
The Stray
The Man in Black appears in Dolores' nightmares and memory flashbacks, during their interaction that apparently happened off-screen in The Original. He throws her on the hay in the barn, pulls out a large knife, and suggests they reacquaint themselves. He tells her to "Start at the beginning." When Dolores kills Rebus in the barn, she is seeing the memory of the Man in Black standing in the same spot, and hears a voice say "Kill him" before she shoots Rebus.
Dissonance Theory
In the desert, Lawrence talks to the Man in Black about why he wants to find this maze. The Man says that this entire world is a story, and he’s read every page except the last one. He needs to see how it ends, and what it means.
They come across Armistice bathing in the river, and the Man notices the tattoo of her snake around her body. She is dismissive of him, and the Man wonders why they’ve never met. He wants to know the purpose of her tattoo, and agrees to join to her gang and help them in return for the story.
Man in Black meets Armistice
In camp, the Man in Black is approached by two guests who are with the posse. One approaches and begins to thank him, because his foundation saved his sister’s life. The Man stops him with a threat to kill him, and says “This is my fucking vacation.”
Lawrence tells him that the posse plans to get someone out of Los Diablos Prison, and want to steal a cannon from the Calvary to do it. The Man says he doesn’t have time for that, and offers to go in alone to get the man they want. All he wants is the story of Armistice’s tattoo. He asks her if she’s familiar with Arnold, and says you could say he was the original settler of the area. He says Arnold created a world where you can do anything, except die. No matter how real the world seemed, it was just a game. But then, he says, Arnold died in the park, but had one story left to tell, one with real stakes and violence. The Man in Black says he’s there to honor Arnold’s legacy, and that the tattoos are the next piece of the puzzle.
The Man and Lawrence get arrested, in a stagecoach headed to the prison. As Arnold glowers, the Man in Black offers the deputy a cigar. Meanwhile, he tells Lawrence that Lawrence blames the Man in Black for taking away his choices, forcing him to come along, but that Lawrence has truly no choice that was ever his own in the park and was always a prisoner. The Man in Black says he’s there to set him free, and smiles.
At the prison, they lock up The Man in Black, and recognize Lawrence as having to been executed. In the jail cell, the Man in Black meets Hector Escaton, the one he’s there to rescue. Hector says they never met, and the Man in Black admits that’s true, that he was never interested in meeting before. The Man asks for Hector’s worldview, and Hector replies that the world will end badly and no one will be saved, and only the brave can understand it. The Man notes that they have more in common than he thought. The Man in Black stages a jailbreak, using explosives hidden in the cigars he brought, to break the jail cell door and kill the deputy who brought them in. They rescue Lawrence from the firing squad and head back to meet Armistice.
Armistice tells the story of a group of men who attacked her village when she was a child, and who gutted her mother. She painted herself in her mother’s blood to make them think she was dead. She has tracked down each of the men, filling in a part of the snake tattoo with their blood. Only one remains: Wyatt.
The Man and Lawrence ride off in search of Wyatt, with Lawrence attempting to talk him out of it. In the desert, they come across Teddy, tied up to a tree and bloodied. The Man decides to free Teddy and bring him along.
Contrapasso
The Adversary
More to Come
"Trace Decay"
Teddy and the man continue their search for Wyatt, and cross into his territory. Teddy tells the Man to be vigilant, and the Man warns him that Wyatt better be somewhere close. As they travel the Man makes conversation with Teddy, telling him that he is always doomed to be the loser as the "house always wins". His words cause Teddy to have a brief flashback to another interaction with the Man. The Man continues speaking, talking about how Ford keeps the hosts in the dark, though Teddy does not understand what he's talking about and ignores the mention of Ford's name.
They soon come across an array of corpses. Teddy spots a living woman and goes to her, the Man following behind. The Man seems to recognize the host, saying that he thought she'd have been decommissioned by now. The Host confirms that Wyatt's men killed everyone. The Man hears a noise and goes to investigate, and is attacked by a tall, grunting figure wearing a bull mask and wielding an axe. Teddy and the Man try to fight it, but find it difficult as bullets and regular wounds don't slow it down. The Man manages to get a rope over its head and bring it to the ground. The sight of him dragging the figure reminds Teddy of previous events where the Man dragged Dolores into the barn at her home. He snaps out of it and grabs the axe, burying it in the figure's neck and killing it.
The Man congratulates him on leading them to Wyatt's men despite not being able to remember anything, and Teddy picks up his gun and knocks the Man out, saying "I did remember something. You."
The Man wakes up that night, tied up, and has a conversation with Teddy where he reveals why he cares about the Maze. He explains that he was rich and successful in the real world, with a wife of 30 years and a daughter. However, his wife committed suicide, which his daughter blamed him for.
He decided to return to the park because he felt he had no purpose, and found Maeve in one of her past narratives. He killed her and her daughter to see whether it made him feel anything, but Maeve fought back and inadvertently led him to the Maze, which he has been obsessed with finding ever since.
After listening to his story the female host that they found earlier, Angela, tells Teddy to kill him, which he is unable to do due to his programming. She surprises Teddy by stabbing him in the shoulder with an arrow, revealing herself as a follower of Wyatt while more of his men emerge from the treeline.
"The Well-Tempered Clavier"
The Man, still tied up, watches Angela talk to Teddy and then kill him. She walks over to him and they exchange words before she slams his head back against a boulder behind him, knocking him out. He wakes up in the morning with his hands tied and a noose around his neck, slung over a tree and attached to his horse's saddle. He spots Teddy's body lying a few feet away, with the knife used to kill him still in his chest. The Man manages to grab the knife as the horse spooks and runs, and he cuts the rope before he is hanged.
As he lies on the ground to catch his breath Charlotte Hale appears and makes a quip about him choosing a pass time that's easier on his back. He reminds her that he doesn't like being disturbed, and she says it's important. Charlotte tells him about Theresa's death while securing park data, and how it was ruled an accident, but the Man says there are no accidents. She comments on how Ford's narratives are engaging, but the guests don't care about complex stories and just want something simpler, as the Board does.
Charlotte asks him to help her get Ford voted off the Board, as the Man helped keep Ford in business years ago and has a good position on the Board to get him voted off. The Man casually agrees, saying it's not Ford's narratives that he's interested in, and tells Charlotte "no more interruptions. I know where I'm going now and I don't want to be disturbed.", before walking away.
"The Bicameral Mind"
Dolores is shaving The Man as he's talking about the center of the maze. He says it's fitting that she's taking him there and says she's always been obsessed with 'this place'. She responds that she's never been here before, but The Man tells her she once brought him there, but then it was covered in sand. As he mentions Ford digging it back up and Arnold not making mistakes, Dolores says that Arnold built her a game. She realizes that her path brings her back here and she starts dreaming.
Once her dream ends she's standing in the graveyard behind the church with The Man behind her. He asks her if this is the center of the maze. She finds a grave with her name on it, starts digging the dirt in front of her and finds a capsule with the maze inside.
She says she can't remember, angering The Man. He threatens that he wants answers or and asks her where Wyatt is. She says she didn't want or mean to, which prompts The Man to hit her. He reminds her she said this is the only world that matters and that she's right, so he took her advice and bought this world. She says the world doesn't belong to him, but he says it does. He says this world feels more real than the real world, but emphasizes that the people in this world can't fight back so it's a lie. He asks her if she wants it to be true. She responds to him and says she found someone true, someone who loves her. She says his path will lead her back to her and kill The Man.
The Man says she's surprising him and asks her where her 'newfound stoicism' comes from. She says 'William' will come for her. The Man laughs with surprise and says 'you remember some things after all'. He tells her that he knew a guest named William too and offers to tell her where his path really led.
He starts telling a story about how William didn't know how to fight, had no instinct for it. At first, but he now had a reason to fight because he was looking for Dolores. Somewhere along the way he found out he had a taste for fighting. The Man continues by saying William retraced his steps, but Dolores was gone. William looked further, but couldn't find her. But out among the dead, he found himself. He retells a conversation between William and Logan where the latter says 'it was never about the girl'. He says Logan was wrong and that William never could get Dolores out of his head. He kept looking and eventually did find her back in Sweetwater. The Man tells Dolores he should thank her for helping him find himself, revealing that he is in fact William. He tells her that she was right that his path always led back to her, again and again. He says he grew tired of her after a while and looked for new adventures. He realized that he was just another memory to her.
He says they are here again, for one final round. Dolores asks him what he has become, and he responds "Exactly what you made me.". She helped him understand that this world was just like the one outside... a game. He tells her he owns this place and knows every trick in it except for one; The center of the maze. She starts crying and William says it was time she realized the futility of her situation, but she says she's not crying for her. She crying for him. She approaches him and says time undoes the mighiest of creatures, "just look what it's done to you". She says he will perish one day like the rest of his kind and says 'a new god' will take his place and never die. William tells her to unlock the maze and she says it wasn't meant for him.
She tries to walk away but William grabs her. She breaks his grip and starts punching him. He pushes him into the church and drags him to the altar. When she walks towards him he kicks her and start fighting back, but she grabs his arm and pulls it out of it's socket. She then throws him out of the church again and punches his gun out of his hand when he draws it. He then crawls back up against a grave as she pulls her gun on him and puts it to his face. He taunts her to pull the trigger, but when she can't he stabs her in her abdomen.
He approaches her with his knife when Teddy comes riding with his gun drawn and shoots him several times. Teddy takes Dolores away as William comes to. He gets up and grabs The Maze. Robert Ford comes walking towards him and remarks that 'he found the maze'. William asks what it is and Ford replies that William was looking for the park to give meaning to his life, but says their narratives are just games just like 'this toy' referring to The Maze. Williams says he wanted the hosts to fight back, to which Ford says he'll find his new narrative more satisfying. He asks him to join the celebration pointing at the stage for the presentation of his new narrative.
As Ford is presenting his new narrative, William is at the bar but leaves quickly to drink alone. As he's standing out by the graves, he sees something moving in the trees close by. Moments before Dolores shoots and kills Ford, hosts starts emerging from the trees. They start shooting the moment Ford falls dead to the ground, hitting William in the arm. He smiles as this is exactly what he wanted.
Personality
The Man in Black is a ruthless figure, who has no compunctions about killing, torturing or mutilating hosts in a number of ways. Unlike some other guests that see the hosts as nothing more than toys to be used or discarded with impunity, the Man in Black relishes the game. He will slip in and out of talking to the hosts in character and out of it. He will occasionally mock or taunt them, but it is usually as a way to mess with their minds, force them to realize they are in some way powerless next to him or to bring out extreme emotions from the hosts.
The Man alternately sees Westworld as a park and as a game. He feels he has seen almost everything about the park except the "Final Chapter", although he notes along way there are some characters and story lines he had not yet indulged in his 30 years of visits. While he takes advantage of the inability to be killed, he appears to crave a worthy adversary, and the real danger of the possibility of death. On some level, he is aware he is attempting to run away from his growing wreck of a home life, his wife having committed suicide and his daughter being driven away by his cold personality.
In the real world, the Man in Black is at least connected to a foundation that saves people's lives. However, at least while in the park, he has no problem threatening a real human. It is unknown how much that is him playing to a ruthless black-hat character he is in the park, but it is close enough to his true personality that it drove away his family.
Relationships
Dolores Abernathy
The Man seems to have some kind of connection with Dolores, having known her for a long time, perhaps as long as he has been coming to the park. He delights in causing her anguish and pain, but it is unknown whether he truly feels anything for her or thinks she is part of his search for the Maze. In the events of the finale, it is revealed that the Man in Black is in fact William; Delores was the reason for William's eventual moral decline as he became obsessed with finding and freeing her. William eventually does find Delores again, but due to the fact she was reset, she had no memory of him - leaving him even more cynical and jaded. He becomes obsessed then with finding the maze, in order to potentially free not just Delores, but also the other hosts.
Emily
Emily is the Man's daughter. They do not have a good relationship, as she blames him for her mother's death and claims that her mother committed suicide. It is unknown what their relationship was like before her mother's death.
Man in Black's Wife
The Man and his wife were married for 30 years before she allegedly committed suicide. According to the Man it was because she feared the darkness she saw in him. In the finale, the Man in Black is revealed to be an aged, more ruthless version of William; as such, it can be inferred that his unnamed wife was Logan's sister, Juliet.
Notes
- The Man in Black's appearance and outfit is reminiscent to the Gunslinger from the original film Westworld, played by Yul Brenner. In the film, the Gunslinger was a robot programmed to start duels and lose, but he eventually begins killing humans. He was the main antagonist in the original film. The Man in Black being human may be representative of the TV series' willingness to subvert the original movie, and/or a perspective change in that now the humans are the ones acting evil and the robots are the innocents being killed; though steadily that narrative seems to be changing. The Man in Black, at least in a conversation with Lawrence, sees himself as the potential hero for the hosts, claiming he is there to set them free.
- When William changes his shirt in Pariah (at the same time that Dolores changes into slacks), it is the same grey shirt that the Man in Black wears. Right after her changes his shirt color, they go on a heist to steal nitroglycerin. On the heist, William shoots dead an unarmed man.
- William is also shown with the same knife that the Man in Black is always seen with.
- When one asks about the Man in Black on the Westworld Website this is the response:
- AEDEN: I’M SORRY, PER THE WESTWORLD CONFIDENTIALITY POLICY, WE CANNOT DISCLOSE PERSONAL INFORMATION ABOUT ANY OF OUR GUESTS.
- AEDEN: JUST BETWEEN YOU AND ME, THOUGH, THE MAN IN BLACK IS SOMETHING OF A VIP. WHAT ELSE WOULD YOU LIKE TO KNOW ABOUT THE PARK?
Appearances
The Man in Black appeared in all Season 1 episodes.
Quotes
| “ | That gentlemen gets whatever he wants. | ” |
–Stubbs about the MiB, Chestnut | ||