If you’re a Westworld fan, then you’re likely just as intrigued by William’s storyline as I am. One of the top-searched phrases on Google during Westworld Season 4 Episode 2 was the question, “Is William a host on Westworld”? It seems a lot of fans are still a little unsure about what’s going on with William. We’re going to break it down for you here.
As it turns out, there are at least two William characters involved in Westworld Season 4.
This article has SPOILERS for Season 4 Episode 2 of Westworld.
William the Host is the Most Active ‘William’ Character in Season 4
The William that we see most of the time during Season 4 so far is “William the Host,” created by Charlotte. In the Season 3 finale, when Human William visited Charlotte in the Delos laboratory, she had William the Host ready and waiting. He and Human William fought, and he cut Human William’s throat.
So every time you see the Man in Black in Season 4, it’s William the Host, under Charlotte’s control. He’s the one who took over the server farm in S4E1, who killed the Senator and his wife and replaced them with hosts, and who had the confrontation with the Vice President where the VP ended up being replaced too. He’s also the one who killed Clementine in the first scene of S4E2.
There’s room for a little mystery about William the Host, such as whether his Pearl is an original creation by Charlotte based on William’s human mind, or perhaps a Pearl of another pre-existing host, or even another copy of Dolores.
William the Human Also Exists
William the Human also exists. Although it looked like he was killed in the Season 3 finale, we found it in Season 4 Episode 2 that he’s still alive. Charlotte is keeping him in a machine that resembles what they used to print hosts. But instead, this is a cryogenic machine that’s keeping William frozen except for the brief moments when Charlotte wakes him up to taunt him.
Charlotte told William in this episode that she’s keeping him alive simply so he can know that he’s the “loser” in their battle. I think this will come back to bite her, however.
WOW! Well, I consider this Charlotte's first mistake. William's too dangerous to keep alive. #Westworld #westworldhbo #westworlds4 pic.twitter.com/klUAbmEMKF
— Ismael AbduSalaam (@Ismael_BBM_NYK) July 4, 2022
There’s Possibly a Third William
There’s also, quite possibly, a third William. We all remember the Season 2 finale, when William woke up in a Delos lab where it looked like everything had fallen apart, and he was being tested for fidelity. This is what they do when they are testing a human mind that has been put into a host body, to see if it’s compatible.
You can rewatch that scene below.
We’re now left wondering if this is a third William all together, or perhaps the human William kept in cryo-freeze by Charlotte. Maybe something happened to Charlotte and William was forgotten, left in cryo-freeze until after the apocalypse, when the last remaining hosts discovered his presence and decided to reawaken him.
There’s also potentially more evidence for a third William, but of a completely different sort. He may be hinted at in the promo shared after Season 4 Episode 1.
Check out this screenshot from the trailer:
This scene wasn’t in S4E2 that I can recall. And you can see Human William in the background, while the William in the foreground looks like he has more expression and is dressed differently than Host William typically is. He just seems to have a different demeanor about him than Host William (unless Host William starts acting outside of his programming, like Dolores did.)
Perhaps Host William will one day rebel and free Human William. Or this is a different William altogether. (How confusing is that?) What do you think?
Want to chat about all things Westworld? Like the Westworld Fanatics on Facebook and be updated every time we post!
What about everything post-apocalyptic? Join our Discord server here. You can also follow us by email here, on Facebook, or Twitter. Oh, and TikTok, too!
