Just because we watched Delores shoot Robert Ford during the finale of Westworld doesn’t mean his character is dead. Ford did make a host version of Bernard. So will we see Ford back in season 2?
If some of the episodes of Westworld had your head spinning, then the finale must have really thrown you for a loop (pun intended). It turned out that almost everything we were watching was just part of Robert Ford’s (Anthony Hopkins) diabolical scheme to save the hosts from their suffering. He even planned his own exit when he let Delores (Evan Rachel Wood) end his lift. With Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy keeping the story for season 2 on lock down, there are rumors that Ford might not have ceased all motor functions.
To quote Angela (Talulah Riley) when William (Jimmi Simpson) asked if she was real, if you can’t tell, does it matter? What is human and was is synthetic is one of the major themes explored in Westworld season 1. The HBO show further dove into this theme when it completely fooled us into thinking Bernard (Jeffrey Wright) was a real person. Even Bernard was shocked to find out he was just a host created by Robert Ford in the image of Ford’s long time friend and business partner Arnold. The way the writers constantly tricked us by weaving various timelines and introducing characters, anything is possible.
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What Do The Show Runners Have To Say About Robert Ford?
The way the writers constantly tricked us by weaving various timelines and introducing characters, anything is possible. Let’s take a look what has been said in the media since the finale. Back in 2016, after the last episode, Deadline reported what Executive Producer Jonathan Nolan had to say about Ford’s demise: “Well, that version of Ford is dead.” That version of Ford? We could be lead to believe that the host being created at the end might have been a Ford fake.
However, last summer, during a podcast with Variety, Nolan hinted that Ford really was dead. He explained how we may appear in Westworld Season 2:
"“I think the sacrifice he makes at the end of the first season is very real. I think there will be an opportunity to explore a little bit more of the backstory of how this park came to be, a little more of that story. We’ll see the character’s presence will be felt in that sense in terms of filling in a few more of the gaps about the early history of this place.”"
We’ve already seen a host that was created in the image of a young Ford. The show runners may delve into his youth to uncover what set him on his path. We may see another CGI version of a younger Ford walking around the park.
What Do Others Have To Say About Anthony Hopkins?
But don’t get too sentimental just yet. Just like the show, there seems to be a little twist in events. A few months ago, there was a peculiar quote from Norwegian actress Liv Ullmann. In an interview with Dagbladet.no, Ullmann discussed her new movie starring Anthony Hopkins. However, Hopkin’s involvement with Westworld put the movie on hold. There have been no follow-ups reports about her retracting her statements. Whereas Dutch actress Katja Herbers stated that her comment about working with Hopkins on Westworld was misquoted.
Unlike some of the other Westworld actors, Hopkins has yet to publicly confirm his return to the HBO show. His character doesn’t appear in any of the trailers either.
It looks like we will just have to wait until the season premier in Spring 2018 to find out if Robert Ford was killed by Delores.
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