Westworld: The Big Twist from "Trace Decay" Revealed

Tonight's episode of Westworld seemingly confirmed a big fan theory....but in a very subtle and unconventional way. While searching for Wyatt in the outskirts of the park, Teddy and the Man in Black came across a number of dead bodies massacred by Wyatt and his posse. There was only one survivor...a pretty blonde woman played by Talulah Riley. The Man in Black was surprised to see the woman as he thought she'd been retired, but mentioned that Ford never liked to waste a "pretty face."

So what's the significance of the Man in Black recognizing the female host? Well, fans have seen before, as she was the host who greeted William when he first arrived at the park. The host even briefly tried to seduce William before letting him get dressed and enter the park with Logan.

This is probably the biggest confirmation so far that William and the Man in Black are the same person. Fans have theorized that scenes with William and Dolores are actually an extended flashback, and will somehow lead to William becoming the Man in Black. For the most part, William and Dolores's scenes have existed independently from the storylines involving Bernard and Maeve, which both take place in the present day. Fans have pointed out that William's scenes feature a different Westworld logo than the one seen in other episodes and have also pointed out similarities in how both the Man in Black and William dress.

If William is the Man in Black, then we learned that Westworld revealed something deep and wicked inside of him. The Man in Black claimed that his wife committed suicide in part because she knew what a monster he was...even though he had never harmed her or acted out of sorts in the real world.

There are still a few holes in this theory, though. We pointed out earlier that Stubbs has indirectly interacted with both William and the Man in Black, and tonight's episode indicated that Stubbs was human and not a host. There's also the fact that William and Dolores found the steeple in the desert, which appears to be the remnants of Westworld's earliest park. Ford showed Bernard the same steeple... although he may have torn up that site as part of his newest narrative.

With just two episodes left, we'll have to see if the Man in Black is actually William or if this is just a giant red herring left to trick viewers. Westworld continues to confuse and excite us and we can't wait to see what happens next.

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