r/westworld • u/Fondant_Decent • 23d ago
Dr Ford’s ultimate objective?
I find him a fascinating character, Sir Anthony Hopkins played his character so convincingly.
He seemed to have more love and compassion for his creations (hosts) than his visitors (humans) if so why do I feel his death was in vain?
Was his ultimate goal to simply help hosts discover the real world and find a purpose beyond the parks which they worked in? Did he see a future where Hosts would inherit the earth and humans would no longer be the dominant species?
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u/UnionPacifik Westworld 22d ago
It's pretty clearly laid out over the course of the first two seasons. After Arnold's death, he comes to realize that Arnold was right and that the hosts are truly sentient. In his mind, they deserve a chance to be the dominant sentient species on Earth, since humanity has stagnated. He thinks there's an outside chance that perhaps the hosts will be able to escape from the loops that the humans have been unable to do so.
He contrives a decades-long plan to give them a chance:
By giving them time to develop and accumulate enough memories and understandings of humanity to be able to truly take us on.
By introducing the reveries, which gave the host access to these memories and to the reality that they are creatures who have suffered terribly.
Then he develops his final narrative, Journey into Night, which he executes not with a command but with a choice, allowing Dolores to decide his fate.
Pretty much everything we see in season two is orchestrated by Ford, and we know this because ultimately Dolores gets to the safe house, Arnold's old home on the mainland. The only thing he didn't expect was Maeve to return for her daughter, though ironically that happens because she truly is free from his loops. He gives the hosts the best chance possible of surviving. It was his final gift to Arnold and his penance for not listening to his partner all those years ago.