A more appropriate name for Westworld at this point may be Questionworld, as not a week goes by without some new information that leaves viewers stunned and scratching their heads until the next episode. Among the many mysteries on the show, the one that goes most overlooked amidst the hubbub of "the maze" and the Man In Black is that of who is really in charge of Westworld. It seems like Ford is the head of the park, but Theresa keeps talking about a "board" that has more power than him. It is, after all, a business, but the company that owns Westworld, Delos Destinations, may be interested in more than money.
Delos Destinations is a mysterious corporation with interest in the robo-park as a commercial venture, but it's not clear how high up the ladder the rule of Delos goes, and how many people are more powerful than Ford. It's also not clear if Delos exists just to manage and maintain Westworld, or if they have other business ventures. In the 1973 movie Westworld is based on, Delos actually runs three parks, including Roman World and Medieval World. The HBO series doesn't reveal much about its corporate benefactors, but the many websites related to it have a few clues hidden that suggest Delos may be up to something.
In the Nov. 6 episode, "The Adversary," Maeve convinces a Delos employee to give her a tour of the corporate facility. It's dark, dimly lit, and filled with all kinds of images that will surely take a toll on Maeve's already shattered sense of reality. Elsewhere in the facility, Bernard and Elsie got digging around Delos' past to try and discover why their hosts are being implanted with satellite uplinks. Elsie and Bernard discover that operations leader Theresa had something to do with the odd occurrences in Westworld, and it's possible her actions are taken on behalf of Delos.
The official Westworld website features a handy host named Aeden, made for the express purpose of answering questions about the park. When asked "What Is Delos?" Aeden replies as such: "Delos is the corporation that manages Westworld. I don't know much about it, but I've heard the board is more invested than ever in the park's future. Let's leave corporate to the suits." What could be spurring Delos to be more interested in the park than even before? Like many of the occurrences that happen on Westworld, it's not yet clear.
It seems that Westworld may be at threat, but at threat of what, exactly? A corporate takeover? Delos doesn't seem to own any other major businesses and Logan mentioned that the park was supposedly "hemorrhaging" money. Perhaps Delos is funding the technology used for entertainment value with the hopes that it can be weaponized. Or maybe they just want Westworld to make money, but the point still stands that things are fishy at Delos — especially now that executive director Charlotte has made her way to the vacation destination.
Delos' true intentions are anyone's guess, but with the mutterings of corporate's "real interests" and more suspicious occurrences than ever, there's likely much more at stake in Westworld than the theme park's profitability. Images: John P. Johnson/HBO; Giphy (2)
