Westworld Story breakdown anyone?

analysis
#21

These are getting clearer @Khodu. But I have some confusion about your statement about Ford “erasing Arnold’s memory and calling him Bernard”. I thought Arnold Weber was Ford’s real human partner in creating the Hosts? Arnold created robot Bernard in his own image (Bernard Lowe being an anagram of Arnold Weber). And Dolores killed Arnold (as part of her journey to get to the center of the Maze)? So Arnold was human. Bernard is robot programmed with Arnold’s same backstory. If this is not the case, then I need to re-watch… which I think I’m gonna do anyway.

My point is there is some dynamic going on, perhaps multiple nested storylines, like a russian doll, between Ford, Arnold, Bernard and Dolores. There’s an innate conflict between Ford and Arnold. As we find out later when Bernard is revealed as a robot that Bernard reports to Ford, so he might be behind why Dolores killed Arnold. All this points to a primary Ford vs. Arnold storyline. But who’s the MC and who’s the IC really? Ford seems to be the one influencing much of the goings on in the background.

1 Like
#22

@MiggsEye You’re right. Messed that bit up. I apologize. Lol. Arnold was once human. Dolores killed him. But he still did all those things. So I think the Throughlines still check out. Thanks for the notice.

#23

I just noticed your response. No problem. And it’s becoming clear there are throughlines: Arnold MC, Ford IC, Control or Domination RS

In all this consider that Arnold and Bernard may be separate characters in separate throughlines. ie.

– Arnold MC, Ford IC, Control/Domination RS. This story line has ended long ago when Dolores killed him.

– Bernard MC, Ford IC, Manipulation RS. This storyline is continuing and is one where Ford forces Bernard to kill his lover, Theresa.

OR is it just a continuing throughline with the MC handing off from Arnold to Bernard and the same dynamic happening?

#24

Hi all,
Just finished watching the show. First, let me say wowwww that was an amazing show!!! Definitely worth storyforming to appreciate the meaning behind it better.

Anyway I was diligently staying away from this thread afraid of spoilers, and was worried I would miss out on the fun, but it seems there is still plenty of work to do!

Has everyone watched the whole season 1? Definitely we need full knowledge of the whole story to analyze.

Anyway, here’s my take the throughlines:

  • OS: The park’s control of the hosts, and the hosts’ struggle to break free of that. (I think other stuff going on in the park, the board of directors’ plan to oust Ford, Ford pushing back, etc. fits in here too.)
  • MC 1: Dolores struggles with true consciousness.
  • MC 2: Bernard struggles with his own awakening, realizing his memories of his son are false, etc.
  • Main IC: Ford and all his past wrongs – how he treated his old friend Arnold, opening the park despite objections, how the hosts have been treated all these years. And what he’s now doing to make up for that.
  • IC 2: The Man In Black / William – changed by the “game” of Westworld, he wants to experience something new and profound, the deeper game.
  • RS 1: Bernard & Ford – managing the park together, appreciating what they are to each other (the good, the bad and the ugly)
  • RS 2: Dolores & William – love that’s turned to abuse
  • RS 3: Dolores & Ford – a relationship felt through the abuse of the park itself

I think Maeve may temporarily take on the MC throughline, but I see her more as an OS character.

I don’t agree with Arnold being an MC, since we never see the actual Arnold, except as figments of Dolores’s imagination. Even in her real flashbacks (real memories) he’s in another room and not seen. The MC has to be someone you can experience their personal issues from their point of view, you almost feel like you’re them in a way. Bernard on the other hand feels like an MC, because of the amount of screen time that’s “in his head”. And the whole thing with his son really hurts, and hurts again when you find out it’s not real. Same with Dolores, especially the questioning sessions when she is hiding her awakened consciousness, or when her father is taken from her, you feel like you’re in her shoes.

I’m not sure there are multiple OS’s, as everything in the Overall Story seems to fit in one. (Although, there must be a Series OS, because you could totally feel that next signpost coming on at the end!)

1 Like
#25

@mlucas. Thanks for the insight. You’re right. I think it would be safe to correct the Arnold MC to Bernard instead. Hey @jhull would you say we’ve sorted the relationships out? So we can dive into Throughliines. :slight_smile:

#26

Thanks @Khodu. What do you think of the summaries I gave? Ask yourself if they feel right to you.

I struggled a lot while watching the show to figure out throughlines (but I knew it was kind of a stupid idea to try to storyform something before you’ve seen the whole thing). Then the last episode made it clear that it wasn’t Bernard or even really Arnold who was influencing Dolores in those conversations / interrogations. It was Dolores herself, her voice questioning herself. And I don’t think the author’s intent here was that there are two Dolores characters, one an IC and one an MC – not at all. I think the IC-influence on Dolores was more about what it took to allow her inner voice to be heard and recognized.

That scene where she finally recognizes her own voice had me in tears, even though part of me was like “you knew this was coming, you knew it was her” … the other part of me remembered being a child and wondering about my own thoughts, my own inner voice and where it came from, and that connection to my own memory of the same thing was like, wow.

I made a mistake about never seeing the real Arnold, since you do finally see him in Dolores’s flashback to actually killing him. Still, I don’t think that makes him an MC. It could be the very beginning of the IC throughline, but I think we can put that to the side for now since analysis will be easier focusing on a “meatier” IC with more screen time.

#27

I agree. I don’t see how Arnold could be an MC. He exerts a lot of influence over the season for multiple characters, but I can’t see him as being a candidate for any MC role.

I think Mike’s summaries are pretty accurate, but I feel like Maeve is also a strong candidate for some sort of MC, rather than an OS character. I just can’t think who her IC would be, since she never really comes into contact with Arnold or Ford. Perhaps the lab technicians? They’re the ones that show her the new world. Bit of a stretch, though.

Is it a possibility that Maeve, Bernard and Dolores share the MC role in regards to their ‘awakening’ plot? They all seem to be dealing with the same issues (awakening from the host personality; remembering false memories; etc.), and there’s not a lot of difference in regards to their individual situations. Or am I completely off-base with that? I understand they all have individual ICs, but it just feels like they’re all handling the same problems.

#28

Great observation! I was totally thinking along these lines too. We may find there is only one MC throughline, with 2-3 MCs that share it like you say. And I think it might make sense to count Arnold along with Dr. Ford in the same IC throughline, if that’s how you see and @MiggsEye see it.

I agree that Maeve could be an MC sharing the same stuff as Dolores and Bernard, for a few episodes maybe, but if so she kind of sidesteps out of that and goes fully into the OS. I could be wrong, but to me it felt like once she awakened, she didn’t really have much personal issues/angst about the awakening itself, she was more just “ok I’m awakened now what am I gonna do about it?” If she is an MC, I’d say her IC would be Arnold/Ford – you don’t need physical contact to feel influence, nor to have a relationship.

I’m actually not sure on the Man In Black / William as an IC anymore. Maybe that is a sub-story*? Or William is a proxy of the IC to help make the RS work**? Everything seems to work so well with one MC throughline (shared by 2-3 characters) and one IC throughline (Ford and maybe Arnold). But maybe I’m trying to make it too clean and ordered, LOL. Hoping @jhull and @MiggsEye chime in with their thoughts.

* If it’s a sub-story, I could actually see William as an MC in that sub-story…
** If you think about the relationship between Dolores and William, it goes from love kindled by awakening of consciousness, to abuse and suffering related to that awakening not being complete… And you could almost see the relationship between Dolores and Arnold/Ford the same way, with the love being a father-daughter (creator-created) love instead of romantic.

#29

Great observations guys @mlucas and @jhay. I’m really digging the shared MC Throughline. Funny thing is that I’ve been experimenting with this same thing in my epic fantasy novel lol. Only difference is that its with the IC instead. That aside. I think Maeve is definitely an MC even though she’s making the transition to being an IC faster than anything.(perhaps because it’s a series, hence more room for potential change). As for William being the MC of a sub-story it makes some sense, however in most stories, sub-plots run parallel without a direct interference with the main plotline until near the end or the denouement where they’re weaved in. But in this case he impacted Dolores’ / The main plotline earlier on. I think this cements his role as an IC. Plus he’s been trying to get Dolores to see things differently for 30+ years.

#30

Do you have any idea of what would be the “primary” MC/IC for the show. Perhaps we should start there and circle back once we have that one down. (Great work @mlucas)

1 Like
#31

I think the primary MC for the show is Dolores. And the primary IC is a combo of both Arnold(her personal plot line) and Ford (For the show). Ford’s influence is felt almost throughout the show. Down to his new narrative for her. Arnolds is to get her to awaken. Especially with the whole maze fiasco. Kindly correct me if I’m wrong. Cheers.

#32

Almost positive Ford is the Protagonist with the Company as the Antagonist. That’s where you’re feeling his influence. Arnold makes perfect sense.

2 Likes
#33

I’m totally on board with Dolores as primary MC, and Arnold as primacy IC. (That choice of IC seems ‘tricky’ to me, due to him being dead during most of the IC signposts. But also really cool. Maybe it helps to think of Arnold as a force of influence rather than a person? His ‘ghost influence’ is perhaps more subtle than Obi-Wan’s voice in signpost 4 of Star Wars!)

2 Likes
#34

To move this analysis along, let’s make sure we’re on board with the descriptions of the 4 throughlines, then move on to questions like Resolve, Approach etc.

Overall Story: The park’s control of the hosts, and the hosts’ struggle to break free of that. (The Company’s attempts to control the park also fit here.)
Main Character Throughline: Dolores struggles with consciousness.
Influence Character Throughline: Long-dead Arnold influences everyone through his core programming of the hosts.
Relationship Story Throughline: Creator / created, almost like a father/daughter relationship.

I’m struggling a bit with the IC description, let me know if you think of something better, or just want to leave it at “Arnold” for now. (And I wrote “long-dead” but it’s possible the first IC signpost is when he’s still alive, or his death itself.)

Please voice any concerns with these descriptions or different ideas … we probably should have done them one at a time but I was trying to speed up the delay of waiting for responses etc.

#35

Is it a given that the mc will be change then? I haven’t seen the show, but the dead Ic concept hooked me.

#36

Not necessarily – there could be an IC handoff or a way that the “force of influence” Changes somehow. But it’s certainly a good guess!

#37

Hi guys, been away from this topic for a while. I stumbled on a very interesting video(take) on the throughlines. Not specifically in Dramatica terms or appreciations but they seem to have some interesting insights on the show. So @jhull @mlucas @jhay give this a look and let me know what you think. P.S This video makes me appreciate Dramatica so much. It’s like cheating. You know almost everything and get to predict it. I had a laugh at their misconception (Perception) of Ford’s role. @jhull called it eons ago.

1 Like
#38

I watched that video about halfway … the stuff about Dolores seemed totally wrong to me. My feeling was that Dolores does reach true consciousness in the final episode, when she grasps that the voice inside her head is actually her. Although Maeve is certainly important I felt like consciousness was most deeply and personally explored in Dolores. (Also, he said a bunch of stuff about Maeve that I wasn’t sure where it came from – maybe I missed something? How does he know exactly what’s part of her ‘script’ and what isn’t?)

So are we going to move along with the analysis or what!? :slight_smile: What did you think of the throughline summaries I posted?

#39

You bet! I concur on your descriptions of Throughlines. Although I think you should finish watching the video. They seem to struggle with the fact that Ford is indeed the Protagonist of the show. They’re on to it, but the concept seems strange to them(The Video guys). I’m up for our breakdown. I believe identifying the Domains is in order. NEXT!

#40

Actually before we identify domains, let’s identify the Character & Plot Dynamics (Resolve, Approach, Outcome, Judgement, etc.).

MC Resolve: I believe Dolores is a Change character – if you compare her at the end of the final episode to the beginning, it’s a night and day difference. I believe early on she mentions that she “wouldn’t hurt a fly”, (which is why the scene where she slaps the fly on her neck has such significance). But at the end she executes Ford and begins shooting people left and right, a clear change. She also seems suddenly sure of herself.

Note: I’m not sure I agree with various opinions that Dolores was just following Ford’s programming at the end when she killed him. It seemed more like Ford helped set things up so that she could finally achieve consciousness and free will, and that’s what allowed her to kill him, to use real bullets against humans. But maybe I’m wrong.

2 Likes