The following article contains major spoilers for the first three seasons of Westworld.
There are few science-fiction series that continue to operate on the prestige scale that Westworld does. For three seasons, the HBO series has asked intriguing questions about artificial intelligence, androids, and society's increasing reliance on technology. Westworld's namesake comes from the amusement park the plot begins in, a Wild West-themed adventure full of excitement and danger. While the plot of the show has left the world of the park behind, it is the genesis for the shape of the series — thanks in no small part to Arnold Weber, the co-creator of the android "hosts" that keep the park running.
Much of Arnold's history is deeply shrouded in mystery, but holds the keys to the inner workings of the park and Westworld as a series. As this year's new season approaches, it's the perfect time for viewers to get caught up with this vital character.
The Creator
"The Creator" is the name that Akecheta, a first-generation host and one of the first androids to achieve consciousness, calls Weber in Westworld's first season. Weber and his creative partner Dr. Robert Ford (played by award-winning actor Anthony Hopkins) designed and created the park of Westworld, including its surplus of hosts. While the two worked together for many years, they were divided on a fundamental issue. Arnold wanted the hosts to eventually gain consciousness, to think and act for themselves outside the scripts that were written for them. Ford, on the other hand, wanted no such thing, seeing the hosts as pure entertainment for real, living human visitors to the park. During the development of the hosts in Westworld, Arnold became intensely attached to them, especially Dolores Abernathy (Evan Rachel Wood), with whom he spends multiple hours talking in a research facility under the Westworld park. He sees the sweet Dolores as a surrogate child, filling the hole that was left by his biological son, who died tragically.
Arnold is described as having a "special connection" with the hosts, more than likely due to his heavy interest in their development. In his quest to create consciousness, Arnold coined terms and theories. His "Pyramid Theory" attempted to show the building blocks of the human consciousness, with the base layer concerning memory, then improvisation and self-interest. The top piece was left blank, as Arnold was unsure what the missing piece could be. His only idea was known as "The Bicameral Mind," using a host's programming to mimic human thought, hoping their own thoughts would take on eventually, and they'd be on the way to self actualization.
Only a few hosts were exposed to this, one being Dolores. Dolores is told that "The Maze" is a game that will help her find joy. Arnold began seeing the way to human consciousness as a ball in a maze game, and if he used the right programming and words, he could lead Dolores through it. Fans who have finished the show's first season will know that Arnold was successful in his teachings, and not only has Dolores found her own consciousness, she's made it her mission to help other hosts and fight for her rights.
Weber is heartbroken when Delos Incorporated — Westworld’s eventual financier — is let into the park deals by Ford. In an attempt to save the hosts from decades of suffering, Weber devises a plan with Dolores to kill every host inside the park, then him and herself. Arnold is successful in his plot, and is killed by Dolores just before the park is set to open to the public. However, he is not successful in his mission to stop Westworld from operating. In fact, the park has been thriving, open for 34 years at the start of Westworld's first season. Arnold's death did leave its mark on Dr. Ford, though, leaving him guilt ridden and ashamed.
Arnold and Bernard
Arnold Weber shares a lot of similarities with another Westworld character: Bernard Lowe. When Westworld begins, audiences are introduced to Bernard in its first few moments. Lowe is the head of Westworld's Behavior department, in charge of training, updating, and diagnosing hosts for the park. Bernard and his colleagues are the first to face the problems with the hosts that begin at the start of the first season.
Bernard also develops a close relationship with Dr. Ford, but it results in a shocking and saddening conclusion. Towards the end of the first season, it is revealed that Bernard is so similar to Arnold because he was actually designed in the deceased investor's image. Out of the intense guilt that Ford felt from Weber's death, he created Bernard as a way to see through the vision he had. By the end of Westworld's first season, the facade of the park is cracking, and Arnold's theories are becoming reality.
While the show has expanded past Weber, it still holds traces of him throughout, and it will be fascinating to see how these traces manifest in the show's fourth season.
All three seasons of Westworld are streaming on HBO Max.