What Happened To Bernard’s Son On 'Westworld'? His Death Is Full Of Mystery

With every passing episode it seems Westworld gets more and more twisted and Sunday night's episode was no different. The robots are beginning to remember the terrible things that happened to them, seemingly developing their own consciousness — something that Dr. Robert Ford revealed his partner, Arnold, was interested in. As it turns out, Arnold died because he put his whole life into giving the robots consciousness and Dr. Ford worried Bernard may be doing the same thing, and he may be right. Bernard's fascination with the robots may have something to do with what happened to his son, but the question is what exactly did happen to Bernard's son on Westworld?

After looking at the footage of Walter's rampage in the park, Elsie realized that he was talking to someone that was not there in the room called "Arnold." Although Bernard pretended to dismiss it, he went to Dr. Ford to ask him about it, which was when Dr. Ford revealed the truth about his partner, Arnold. Although Bernard seemed fascinated by the idea of giving robots consciousness, Dr. Ford quickly reminded him that the robots are things, not real people, and they shouldn't expect them to act like humans. Bernard asked why Dr. Ford felt the need to give him this reminder and Dr. Ford brought up the death of Bernard's son, Charlie.

From what we could see in the brief flashbacks Bernard has of Charlie, it looks like his son may have been terribly sick before he died, possibly due to cancer. We saw Bernard in the hospital with Charlie and then later of him being pulled away shortly after his death. We also got to meet Charlie's mom, Lauren, in the present day, but her conversation with Bernard didn't reveal anymore clues about what had happened to their child. All we know for sure is that Bernard refuses to forget his son stating, "This pain is all I have left of him."

Although no one would expect Bernard to forget about his son, it does seem like he's translating his pain over Charlie's death to Dolores, who he continues to have secret meetings with. The fact that he especially likes to share books with her that he read to Charlie is very telling and may indicate Bernard is headed for a similar fate like Arnold. If Bernard continues to help Dolores see the truth of her world, he may realize too late that he's given her the tools not only to turn the tables on the guests of Westworld, but also to turn against him as well.