With only five episodes in for Westworld's first season, fans of the HBO original series have been arguing possible theories about the Man in Black. Image Source: Nerdist

The cable giant HBO premiered the fifth episode of its new sci-fi drama ‘Westworld’ last Sunday night. ‘Contrapasso’ packed some interesting scenes about the puzzling theme park’s story, its guests, hosts, and even the timelines we could be seeing in the show.

Audiences have wondered what is going on in ‘Westworld’ for the most of the season. As episodes air every week, fans take on the task to put pieces together to try and figure out where the show is going. However, every week brings new revelations that set back existing theories or spring new ones.

Devoted viewers of ‘Westworld’ have established that some of the show’s storylines occur in different timelines. This does not seem so far-fetched since Jonathan Nolan has played with the notion of time perception before in short stories and films like ‘Memento.’

The Man in Black and William may be the same person

Keen-eyed fans of ‘Westworld’ have noticed hints of parallelisms between William (Jimmi Simpson) and the Man in Black (Ed Harris). The fact that AI hosts of the park are ageless adds to the mystery of what time exactly is it that audiences are watching.

 Warning: spoilers ahead 

However, last Sunday’s episode was all but subtle in a particular sequence featuring both characters. At one point during ‘Contrapasso,’ viewers saw the Man in Black kill Lawrence (Cliffton Colins Jr.) to give Teddy (James Marsden) a blood transfusion and save him.

Immediately afterward, Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood) and Logan (Ben Barnes) join William to meet the infamous criminal ‘El Lazo,’ who turns out to be no other than Lawrence himself.

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Now, audiences point out that the overnight switch could not have happened so fast, if at all, given Lawrence’s death at the hands of the Man in Black. Image Source: The Wrap

The fifth episode from Westworld has fans already guessing if they’re watching multiple timelines at the same time.  What’s more, Westworld’s architect, Dr. Robert Ford (Anthony Hopkins), engages in a deep conversation with the man in black, adding yet another layer to the show’s intriguing plot.

The show implies the Man in Black has a lengthy history with the hosts of the theme-park, so the story of William may be approximately 30 years into the past when the Man in Black first visited Westworld.

The preview of next week’s episode only seems to fuel the fan theory, since it shows a common element to the two characters. The Man in Black had a peculiar knife at the end of ‘Contrapasso,’ and William is seen carrying a very similar one in ‘The Adversary.’

‘Westworld’ is currently halfway through its first season on HBO. The series will air for five more episodes at the 9:30 pm ET timeslot on the premium channel.

Source: Collider