Westworld: The Man in Black and Blade Runner theory

Does the Westworld season 2 finale post-credits scene hint that the Man in Black host will essentially be a Blade Runner?

Warning: Spoilers for season 2 of Westworld and Blade Runner 2049 will follow. 

The post-credits scene featured in the season 2 finale of Westworld threw everyone for a loop, raising countless questions. Some of what we know about it for sure is that we’re looking at a host version of the Man in Black being tested by a host version of Emily in a distant future.

With these facts in mind, it’s led to my theory that this host version of the Man in Black will be used to track down and kill hosts. By this point in the distant future, Dolores will likely have wreaked devastating havoc upon humanity. They will need to find a way to fight back against the hosts lest humanity be completely destroyed.

Using what Delos learned about copying humans and turning them into hosts, they could begin creating hosts under their control. These Delos-created hosts would be designed with the purpose of hunting and terminating hosts like Dolores and Bernard who are operating of their own free will.

The Man in Black host could be the prototype for Delos. Between his unique history as a seasoned guest, the lead figure within Delos itself, and as a survivor of the hosts’ uprising within the parks, he would be the ideal candidate for this project. After a lifetime of living among them, killing them, helping to shape their world, surviving when the stakes were real, and even loving one of them, no one is better suited to this task.

This initiative would be akin to Blade Runner 2049 in which Ryan Gosling’s character K was a Blade Runner replicant designed to track down and terminate rogue replicants. Just because this future Man in Black is a host doesn’t mean he’s on the same side as Dolores or Bernard, just as K wasn’t automatically on the same side of all other replicants.

All of this would mean that in the post-credits scene, the host version of Emily is testing the host Man in Black so he can become the perfect machine for finding and destroying hosts operating autonomously. If Delos can perfect him, other Blade Runner-esque hosts can be created and rolled out as well.

This development would be fascinating in how it comes full-circle with the original Westworld film from 1973 as well. The Man in Black from the film became a rogue killing machine and the primary antagonist fixated on hunting and killing the human protagonist. The television series created a human and much more complex version of the Man in Black.

Next: Should we feel sorry for the Man in Black?

If a Man in Black host designed to track down and kill the protagonists arises–in this case the protagonists being hosts like Dolores, Bernard, and Maeve instead of human guests–it would come full circle with the original Man in Black from the film without robbing the television series’ version of all his nuances and rich character development.

Depending on the status of the human Man in Black as a host-killing machine version of him is created, this theory could become even more intriguing. His determination to destroy the Forge in season 2 seems to indicate he would hate the idea of a host version of himself running around. Without a doubt, a human Man in Black interacting with a host Man in Black would be pure gold for Ed Harris fans.

What do you think of this theory? Will the host version of the Man in Black in the post-credits scene be used to track down and kill other hosts? Let us know in the comments!