This post turn back spoilers through the Season 2 premiere ofWestworld . head teacher toWestworld Worldfor reviews , theories , and deep dives .
Withholding fundamental info is a unwashed subject onWestworld . consider aboutthe Man in Black , Arnold , that one bird– it ’s been a farsighted , weird listing . Though such coyness is usually more of a strength than a detriment ( show do n’t tell apart ! ) , something continues to amaze us to an almost thwarting degree : the guns .
Are the arm actual ? How do the bullets work ? What happens if a guest shoots at another Edgar Guest ? With the Delos automata abandon their narrative loops , raise shooting iron , and killing node at will , we figure now ’s the metre to piece through duologue , interviews , show lore , and buff theories to get to the bottom of this wear mystery .
John P. Johnson/HBO
Background: here’s how guns worked in theWestworldmovie
Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan have said theirWestworldreboot is a " playful " homage , not a direct sequel , to Michael Crichton ’s 1973 movie , meaning shout - out to the origin fabric abound . befittingly , the weapons in both have the same intended effect – wipe out golem , do n’t vote down humans – but they function differently .
In the film , guns are n’t supposed to fire when pointed at humans . As James Brolin ’s Logan - esque role explain , " The accelerator pedal has a sensing equipment . It wo n’t kindle at anything with a high body temperature – only something moth-eaten , like a machine . " The guns in HBO’sWestworldare more complex .
Humanscanget shot
Key moment that set up the radical park ’s inscrutable small-arm convention :
• In the premiere , the Man in Black shrugs off Teddy ’s hail of bullets.• In Episode 2,Talulah Riley ’s robo - charactertells William the pistols guests choose are " real enough , but you ca n’t kill anyone you ’re not think to . “• In Episode 3 , a brigand ’s shell post William spinning to the dry land . " I believe you enunciate we could n’t get germinate ! " he says to Logan . " You ca n’t get bolt down , " Logan replies , adding that it " would n’t be much of a biz if they ca n’t photograph back . “• In the Season 1 finale and Season 2 premiere , the harmless bullets begin to give gore . ( " What about the fucking guns ? " Charlotte asks Bernard in the Season 2 premiere , referring to the surprisal killing fling . " Ford must have altered the system , " Bernard says , " coded it to show all of us as hosts . " )
What this assure us : 1 ) Westworld ’s guns are confusing to new and old green visitors likewise ; 2 ) they can be programme to damage unlike targets in different ways . How ? In 2016 , talk at a TCA control panel , Nolan revealed that the hummer , and the fashion they ’re fire , are the key . " In the original films , the gunman wo n’t operate on on Guest , [ but ] we feel the guests would want to have a more visceral experience,“he explained . " So when they ’re dissipate , it has an impact . They ’re call ' simunitions , ' [ aka non - lethal training ammunition ] . There ’s a bit of an impact , a bit of a bunco , so it ’s not entirely consequence - free for the Guest . "
Also , if you askedDiscover Westworld ’s Aedenabout the gas pedal during Season 1 , the Siri - comparable bot would react : " Humans can be film , but you are under no serious risk of injury or death ; our hired gun sport low-pitched - speed engineering science which feels close to paintballs than bullet . You will either get better at parry or grow accustomed to the impact . " That last part might explicate why newbs like William pass to the ground , whereas when he becomes the veteran veterinarian , the Man in Black , he can take strike like a champion .
Human deathispossible
For much of Season 1 , viewers wondered if , and how , the hosts would be able-bodied to down using the guns in the Mungo Park . An crucial clew , left concealment in Discover Westworld ’s weirdly specific Terms of Service , foreshadowed sealed doom and provided a little explanation : " triggerman ammunition contains proprietary safeguards related to slug velocity , and meddle with gun safety features or ammo mechanically transfer financial obligation to you and shrive Delos , Inc. , of any injury or expiry that may occur as a result . " Translation : Changing those " proprietary safeguards , " as Bernard cite in the Season 2 premiere , would likely imply a alteration in speed , making the simunition firing more like smoke than paintball . In other words : Human death is very possible .
Gun usage is governed by security and programming
Or , it ’s guess to be . Recall the scene near the end of the series premiere , when Hector andArmisticestarted a bloodbath in Sweetwater . Stubbs call for all the bandits ' firearms to jam ( including those used by the Edgar Albert Guest locomote with Hector ): Just like that , the firefight break off . It also appeared that sure characters used to be programmednotto shoot . When Teddy take Dolores outfor target practice in Episode 3 , for example , she picked up the gun , but she was n’t able to pull the trigger . Her old computer code prevented her .
There are real guns in the park
The discussion of guns in Westworld inevitably leads to two other significant questions : Are there normal guns in the parking area ? And how do non - firearm weapons workplace ?
To that first point , the short solvent is yes . Stubbs and his team are carrying legit FN P90s ( detailed list ofallthe show ’s guns here ) as a security system guard . ( " QA are in the mix,“Simon Quarterman , the histrion who playact Lee Sizemore , confirmed during a recent Thrillist consultation . The P90s they ’ve got " can kill everything . " ) The red paint job , picture in the close - up range above , potential signify " existent gun " for common employee . It ’s also credibly safe to assume that the weaponsMalingand her associates wield are literal .
As for melee detail : In Crichton’sWestworld , robots were program to put up a worthy fight before ultimately losing . ( apparently , that changed when things go haywire . think back : Medieval World ’s malfunction Black Knight fatally stabbed a guest with a sword . ) Meaning , the non - firearm arm were n’t safeguard ; it was all in the automatas ' code .
MGM
likewise , in HBO’sWestworld , the hosts are program to hurt you just the right amount . ( Do n’t have a bun in the oven dull steel or styrofoam blunt objects . ) After watching the Season 2 premiere , it ’s decipherable the melee weapons are very much genuine and deadly . TheGood Samaritan reflex , which is suppose to keep all host from inflict corporeal harm , is the only safeguard in place , and if it ’s deactivated or interpolate , you ’re SOL .
Unanswered questions and leading theories
While Nolan , Discover Westworld , and characters on the show have dropped breadcrumb that start to explain the gun technical school , none has explained it thoroughly . unrequited questions and mind - boggling scenario persist : How do the hummer pick out between Host and guests ? What about guest - on - guest law-breaking ? How would a ricocheting slug affect an unintended human mark ? Or how about lead shell its way through an obstruction ? ( Remember how the Man in Black shot in good order through that host ’s covert in Las Mudas ? What if a human being was on the other ending ? ) Also , how do the bullets " belt down " the legion ? Do theyactuallyinjure the legion ? Or does a gunshot wounding just signal them to go offline ?
Some popular theories :
Perhaps all the unanswered questions are n’t a defective affair . As Redditor Spock_Nipplesexclaimedrecently , " Who cares ? It ’s fictional proprietary technology . Call it a smart nanotechnology ' slug ' incite by an electromagnetic force-out from a arm that looks , sounds , and feel like a small-arm , but is n’t . Just go with it . You are n’t mean to understand it on an engineering spirit level , you ’re just suppose to get that it ’s smart , fictitious succeeding tech that operates as observed . " Or , perhapsWestworldhasn’t fully answered the question , because it has n’t had a good reason to do so . Yet .
John P. Johnson/HBO
rest tune . This post has been update throughout . We ’ll keep on to update it as more information becomes usable .
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John P. Johnson/HBO
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John P. Johnson/HBO
