These ‘Westworld’ Fan Theories About Ford Will Ensure You Never Underestimate Him Again

Reddit user deicide666ra noted that, as part of the Cradle, Ford may have complete autonomy over every aspect of all the parks. They suggested that Ford could be monitoring all the hosts at all times and changing their courses of action during the host uprising. So even in death, he's able to act like the God of Westworld and the other parks. As FanSided pointed out, this may explain how Ford has been able to continue communicating with the Man in Black through other hosts, like the boy version of himself and Lawrence's daughter.

If Ford's consciousness can live on in the Cradle and control Westworld, is it possible he could live in — and control — another system? David Crow of Den of Geek theorized that could be the case. "If Dolores or any other host were able to upload Ford’s consciousness to an open system (i.e. the internet), he could be anywhere and everywhere," Crow wrote. Viewers don't know much about the real world outside of the parks, but Crow theorized that this could make Ford invincible and give him the ability to make the Earth's inhabitants follow his narratives. If Ford really hates humanity as much as it seems he does, then that's definitely one way to destroy it.

Speaking of Ford hating humanity, he's completely responsible for the host uprising. And if you found Ford to be omniscient in Season 1, Reddit user HiImLate has a theory for you. They suggested that Ford used the Cradle to simulate host behavior and human behavior to ensure that his robot awakening plan would work. The Cradle stores the hosts' "minds" and Delos was collecting data on the humans. So maybe Ford had the necessary data to create simulated humans. He used these host and human simulations in different scenarios and that's how he was so confident that the hosts' rebellion would be successful even after his human body was gone — he had used the Cradle to predict the future.

Reddit user 10001110101abcd suggested that Ford has programmed Dolores to seek out the Cradle and destroy it. While Dolores believes she's headed to the Mesa command center to rescue her father, it's possible that Ford will lead her to the Cradle once she's there. Karl Strand's team has already discovered the ruined Cradle in a more future storyline during "Virtu e Fortuna" and "Akane No Mai." In "Akane No Mai," a tech tells Strand, "We put the fires out, but there's nothing we can recover from the Cradle. The hosts' backups have all been destroyed." Strand responds, "Well, that's quite a story he gave them and one hell of an ending." The "he" in this sentence is probably Ford. And since a dead Teddy is shown at this moment, perhaps the theory that Dolores' group destroyed the Cradle has already been confirmed.

Since the Cradle will be destroyed, Ford's consciousness would probably go with it — unless Ford's plan includes him getting a body upgrade. If you're into the theory that hosts can have children, then you might like this theory from Reddit user DownRedditHole. They wonder if Ford is waiting for two hosts to procreate (like Dolores and Teddy) and then Ford's consciousness pearl will be placed in that baby host's head so that he's reborn as a brand spanking new host.

A stronger Ford reborn theory comes from LoadInSubduedLight, who proposed that Ford's pearl will be placed inside of Bernard's head — not a newborn host's head. ScreenRant's David Rodemerk also thinks it's possible that future Bernard is really Ford's mind in Bernard's body. Going back to that Stand scene in "Akane No Mai," the camera does show Bernard when Strand says, "Well, that's quite a story he gave them." While Strand probably doesn't know it, that could be a hint that Ford's consciousness is now operating out of Bernard. And what a treat it would be to see actor Jeffrey Wright take on that task.

Even if he doesn't take over Bernard's body, Ford obviously has an obsession with his dead partner Arnold. Reddit user Lammie1 considered that Ford is trying to create a true host form of Arnold. Sure, Bernard is pretty close, but he's not really Arnold. So maybe Ford just wants his buddy back in his most accurate form. Lammie1 wrote that this could be why Dolores performs a fidelity test on a version of Bernard at the beginning of "Phase Space." When Bernard mixes up Arnold's words, Dolores replies, "No, he didn't say that." So with Dolores' help, Ford could be making the ultimate Arnold host.

With Bernard's hazy memories and time jumps, the leading theory is that Ford will place his own pearl into Bernard's mind. But as the preview for "Les Écorchés" shows Charlotte Hale discovering that Bernard is a host, perhaps Ford's master plan won't work out as perfectly as he expects. Either way, it sure looks like Dolores' "free will" is not so free after all and that Ford has managed to manipulate her even after his death.