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These 'Westworld' Theories About Teddy Will Make You Question Everything

by Zakiya Jamal

There are a lot of different theories surrounding Westworld. From the idea that two different timelines exist to Bernard potentially being a host, there almost seems to be an infinite number of theories floating around out there in the Reddit-universe. One character that has caught fans interest is Teddy Flood, played by James Marsden. And while at first it seemed his first objective was to constantly try (and fail) to save Dolores from harm — which usually resulted in getting himself killed in the process — his storyline has now evolved into something much bigger than his heroic nature. There are now a few different Westworld theories about Teddy and what his real purpose is on the show.

I point this out because most viewers don't believe he's just a regular host anymore. Though, to be fair, with all the recent changes that the hosts seem to be going through lately, one could argue that none of the hosts are what you would call "regular" anymore. Nevertheless, it's still really interesting to see what some people have come up with. Here are just some of the theories floating around about Teddy and how he factors into the complicated, and yes, sometimes very, very deadly, world of Westworld.

He Was Based On The Man In Black

John P. Johnson/HBO

This theory ties into another popular theory that predicts the show has different timelines and William is actually the Man in Black, 30 years in the past. Reddit user delitescentjourney takes this theory a step further by suggesting that Ford created Teddy out of a representation of William, the young Man in Black. If you believe in the different timeline theory this idea kind of makes sense. We've never seen William in a scene with Teddy, which is strange because William arrived into town on what looks like the same train, which is where Teddy's narrative has always started.

Also, there are a lot of similarities between William in Teddy. They're both interested in Dolores and want to protect her, which is further emphasized by the fact that both Teddy and William start their narratives with Dolores when they picked up the can she dropped from her bag. Delitescentjourney suggests this mirroring of the character is an indication that Ford came up with the idea of Teddy's storyline because of William's time at Westworld, which leads me to another theory...

Teddy Will Become The Antagonist

John P. Johnson/HBO

Just as many people believe William becomes the villain now known as the Man in Black, some could also argue that Teddy is on his way to becoming a villain. So far Teddy's been seen as the good cowboy, now set on a mission to fight Wyatt. But what if Ford has another plan for Teddy? Viewers haven't even seen Wyatt yet and some wonder if he actually even exists at all or is just another part of a bigger scheme Ford is working on. Whatever the case may be, it's possible Teddy is actually the villain the Man in Black so desperately craves.

Teddy Used To Be Human

John P. Johnson/HBO

Similar to the William/Man in Black/Teddy theory, Reddit user flanman1991 suggests that a guest once came to the park and was accidentally killed and to cover it up, Ford created Teddy, the host. This is why Teddy typically starts his narrative on the train with the other guests. The biggest flaw with this theory, though, is if a guest died in the park, wouldn't they have to send Teddy out into the real world at some point? Wouldn't the guest's family and/or friends wonder why he never came back from Westworld? Then again, maybe Teddy does leave the park sometimes and that is the real reason why he always enters from the train. Who knows?

Make sure to tune into Westworld on Sundays on HBO at 9 p.m. ET to see if any of these theories hold merit.