'Westworld' Theories About Bernard That Will Shock You Or Make Total Sense

The brutal ending to the Westworld episode entitled "Trompe L'Oeil" — a French phrase meaning to fool the eyes — left viewers either feeling vindicated in that their theory about Bernard being a host turned out to be right, or horrified at what happened next. (RIP Theresa.) But it doesn't end there. These Westworld theories about Bernard will either shock you or make total sense. Or maybe a little bit of both.

As it turned out, everyone who speculated that Bernard was a robot host all along was right. Everyone knew for sure when it was confirmed by the renderings for the design of Bernard that he apparently couldn't see. But the first clue came when Theresa pointed out a door in the cottage and Bernard said, "what door?" That, for me at least, was the moment I started chanting "Oh god, oh god, oh god," at my TV. But there's more to this theory than just that. For example if you'll recall the third episode in which Ford helpfully gave the audience all the Arnold backstory, he showed Bernard a picture, which Bernard says didn't look like anything.

Many fans on the internet have speculated that the man standing next to Ford in the photograph was his father, and that there was a third man in the photo that viewers couldn't see because it was shown from Bernard's point of view. And if Bernard couldn't see it, then the audience couldn't see it either. Why couldn't Bernard see the third person, you may ask? Because the man in question is actually Bernard himself. That's right, my friends — there's a theory circulating that Bernard and Arnold are the same person, which Redditors like SparklesMcG have been quick to point out.

This theory actually holds a lot of weight if you stop and think about it. For example, fans already know that Ford has a thing for creating robot versions of real people, like his creepy pet robot family that he hides in a cabin in the woods. So it wouldn't exactly be stretching the imagination that he's also created other robot clones as well. In fact, I have a feeling that that robot printer shown in the last episode was hard at work creating a Theresa Cullen robot.

There are also some pretty distinct comparisons between both Bernard and Arnold that give further weight to this theory, such as the fact that they both experienced tragedy and they both seem to care deeply about the consciousness of the hosts. Adding further fuel to the speculation fire, some Redditors like RufflesMe have pointed out that the basement where Ford finds Bernard and Theresa looks almost identical to the room where viewers have seen Bernard interviewing Dolores. Also, Bernard's full name, Bernard Lowe, is an exact anagram for the name Arnold Weber. As far as I'm concerned, that proves the whole thing.

Then again, it's still unclear what anyone's real goals are. Is Arnold/Bernard trying to start a revolution? Is Bernard really that much under Ford's control? Is it all a lie and this is just Ford's next big narrative? Who knows — but I, for one, can't wait to find out.