The Westworld season two finale revelation that the Man in Black became a host shouldn’t come as much of a surprise as Emily’s resurgence. The fact that a host of Emily is the one that administers the fidelity test to the Man in Black means that his cornerstone moment was when he killed his daughter.
There’s nothing unusual about a father who is deeply regretful about killing their child, Emily was important to him even if his greatest love is Westworld. But for all of the crumbs, we’ve received since season one on the Man in Black’s family; his relationship with his daughter was nothing like I imagined.
For much of the first season, viewers wracked their brains on who this Man in Black was. He was a mysterious human on Westworld territory that loved exterminating the hosts while talking about all the intricate details that made up the robots narratives.
But most importantly, he was a know-it-all that was in the park every single day without any signs of having a home life. It seemed like the Man in Black didn’t care to go home at all. Finding out that William was the Man in Black established an entire thirty years of running through Westworld killing, drinking, and abusing. To me, that meant that his family life had to be poor.
Even without any context, finding out that Juliet committed suicide proved that there was something wrong that inevitably would be tied to the Man in Black. It was during the episode “Vanishing Point,” that we finally see that Juliet’s suicide was related to discovering that the Man in Black was irredeemable.
The moments leading to her death expose years of neglect and unhappiness. However, Emily is not at odds with her father at all. Her relationship with the Man in Black is not one that reflects years of absence but a partnership that has strengthened in the background of Juliet’s alcoholism.
At the party honoring the Man in Black, Emily glances over at her mom, who has already had too much to drink, like she’s a burden. Juliet’s alcoholism is an ongoing problem that Emily sees as an unfortunate hardship her father has to deal with.
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Later, when Emily walks in on Juliet yelling hysterically at the Man in Black, Emily approaches the situation like her father was a defenseless victim being attacked by an out of control boozer. Emily judges Juliet by her addiction and the Man in Black is the cool Dad–she has no idea has skeletons in his closet.
What’s interesting about Juliet’s character is how the show represents the stigmas tied to alcoholism and diseases people link to a problem with morality. Juliet may have realized that the Man in Black is not the humble, guy next door she married, but no one believes her. We now know this is also true of Logan, whose struggle with drugs and alcohol, strip his encounters with William’s killing spree at Westworld of any validity.
It is only after picking up a life of drinking and being treated like she’s crazy, that Juliet finally understands what Logan must have felt. And it isn’t until Emily discovers the profile that her Uncle Logan’s allegations that the Man in Black had committed evil acts in the park had any meaning to her.
But what I never expected was that Emily would see how calmly the Man in Black reacted to Juliet’s rant and interpreted his actions as facets of his calm demeanor. The Man in Black is quiet, but that’s due to his indifference and lack of guilt. It’s the same attitude he has toward his affinity for killing on Westworld property.
The Man in Black’s gentle disposition makes Juliet look out of her mind in comparison for being loud and shrill in her attempt to be heard. Emily must have spent her entire life perceiving her father as the responsible serene adult out of both her parents.
It’s unclear how often the Man in Black was in Westworld during the thirty years since he first stepped foot in the park or how his absence from his family was explained, but I’m sure Emily grew up thinking her father was laid back, unproblematic, and busy when he wasn’t around.
They probably told Emily her father was working and she didn’t question it because he was the owner of the Delos corporation. It isn’t until Juliet’s suicide that Emily’s eyes are opened to who her father really is, and that’s what changes how she perceives him.
Emily’s ultimate goal in Westworld is to report the Delos corporation to the authorities, a move that would close the park down for sure. She has no intentions to cause her father any physical harm, a testament of her love for him. And, if the park shuts down, I’m sure the plus side would be to have him present in the real world, even if it is in jail.
But don’t let the non-vicious part of Emily’s plan fool you into believing that her attempt to bring the Delos corporation vis a vis her father to justice is not just another form of retribution.
The profile card that Juliet left Emily was meant to show her who the Man in Black is when he’s in the park but it also served as one last attempt at proving what Juliet had been chanting from the rooftops all along, that she is not the bad one. Emily finally realized that her mom had been dealing with a negligent husband that preferred to kill robots then invest time with his family routinely.
The sad part is that Juliet had no one to support her. Since no one believed Juliet, she spent most of her married life alone in her suffering. The Man in Black never confessed to having any fault for anything that Juliet said, his silence made her boisterous accusations seem ludicrous.
And at this point, I think it’s clear he holds himself accountable for nothing. Emily’s revenge on her dad, however small, is about penalizing him for allowing her to go on in life believing that her mother’s words held no truth and for allowing her mother to suffer.
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Emily also went into the park looking to find what led her mom to commit suicide the night she died. She never imagined that the profile card that she inherited was to blame. If she had known she had the answer all along and understood what Juliet knew about the Man in Black, she might not have stayed in Westworld to exact revenge on her father.
Juliet said the Man in Black is a virus who came into the Delos family and consumed all of them. Emily saw what the Man in Black was far too late, and even though she was one of the only people in the world that he cared for, she ended up like the rest of her family–collateral damage in the Man in Black’s path.
What are your thoughts on Emily and the Man in Black’s relationship? Share your thoughts below!