Theory: What do the Westworld flies symbolize?

There are a lot of theories on what the Westworld flies mean, but this one might be our favorite.

All of the animals and livestock in Westworld are artificial, made in a lab, except the flies. But why have the flies been left out? Surely if you can build an artificial human you can build an organism as simple as a fly.

Obviously the flies are there symbolically so that we see that the hosts are quite human as they allow flies to crawl on their face, but is there more to it?

One redditor, kchole, thinks the flies may be in Westworld as a warning system of sorts.

"It is because the flies in the park fill the same role as the canaries that were used in coal mines. Just as the canaries would alert the workers of a carbon monoxide leak, the flies are in the park to alert the creators of the FIRST SIGN of sentience, the first sign of the hosts going against their programming.Dr. Ford, in his wisdom, has chosen the smallest of life forms to be the first domino to fall. He understands, as the writer of the androids’ code, that the core command that maintains the safety of his guests is that the hosts can never harm a living thing. If the only living things in the park were humans, the first living thing to be harmed by an Android (whether by accident or on purpose), could only be a human. That is the “critical failure” that was mentioned briefly in the first episode – and the one thing the park’s employees must never allow to happen."

That’s a brilliant theory, they flies serving as the warning system for the hosts is a really intriguing idea.

The other question the flies bring up of course is just where is Westworld located, but that’s a another rabbit hole in itself…

Check out more of kchole’s theory for yourself.

So what do you think? Are the flies a warning system for the hosts or are they something else? Let us know on Facebook or in the comments below.