Well a Fordbot could be what he (ford) was building in the remote lab.
Bandwagon sports fans can eat a bag of http://www.ddir.com/ .
There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there always has been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that “my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge." - Isaac Asimov
The interview linked a few posts up definitely states it was the real Ford.
Unless her ending was programming that she cut Bernard off from reading and she really didn't decide to do any of it on her own. Everything is supposed to keep her there, including that old severed cornerstone memory. It did help to know she got away with everything because she was supposed to.
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I wouldn't think otherwise, odd handshakes not withstanding. There was some earlier talk about Ford being a "good guy" which he obviously isn't though he was trying to do the right thing. Even in doing the right thing, he gave all the credit to Arnold, used his reverie, used his login for the programming. Ford certainly didn't see himself as some hero, he didn't deserve a parade, he deserved to die, he just needed time to undo his mistakes before he could atone.
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They were definitely careful not to linger on young Hopkins too much, CGI trickery is best not scrutinized and kept to a minimum, so people[hammerfest] shouldn't be expecting an expanded role for him!
That's pretty much what I gathered.
Part of what I like about Westworld, is that it plays with themes most similar movies & shows have tried before, but Westworld manages to pull them off.
AMC's "Humans" was disappointing since it seemed like a rehash of stuff I'd seen in other movies with nothing really new to add to the mix. Matrix tried to question reality, but failed miserably at presenting anything more then its special effects.
To really question reality & freedom of choice, you have to ask yourself "If you can't tell the difference, does it really matter?"
Maeve's role in the show helps illustrate a razor's edge of that choice. I feel good for her that she is "enlightened" and gets to meet her makers. I feel bad for her when its shown that her "free will" is and always has been an illusion of programming. I'm undecided on whether to feel good or bad for her at the end. I feel like I'm supposed to feel "good" that she's being 'emotional' and returning to her daughter... but I also feel "bad" because its likely just her story telling her to do that... if not a direct result of her cornerstone anyways. The only way I'd be able to resolve my conflict is to know whether her smashing the display showing her storyline was "scripted" or not... but even then... there's layers upon layers
SPOILER ALERT:
I am the only one that cannot buy the change of attitude of Ford in the last episode? I know it's supposed to be a twist, but makes no sense. He represents control, and over 9 episodes acts and preaches for it as the greater good. It is just absurd that later takes all that back. I can only see him as a villian full of convictions that fights for dominance. He said 'I am not the emotional type' and clearly he is not. That was a poor end to a brilliant season. What do you think???
Absolutely. While I was a bit bummed that there wasn't some surprise twist to the William theory, how they framed the rest of his story with Dolores was beautiful. And that ending was just top shelf.
/We hope that you choke.
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There's a possibility that he made a host clone of himself, thus effectively faking his own death.
I think Ford's insane desire to control things, and his cruelty shown earlier, ties into the belief he expresses in the last episode that he believes time, and suffering, were the keys to achieving consciousness in the AI. If that's something he believes, he might logically act like he has the whole season, despite having the hidden motive of wanting to "set the AI free."
That's kind of a dualistic philosophy. Khalil Gibran once wrote that "The cup which holds our joy is carved by the sharpness of our sorrow," that with greater sorrow in our life, we are capable of greater joy. I can see Ford simply expanding on that idea.
In a short summary, Arnold believed consciousness was the result of self-awareness and a journey inwards - this is expressed through Dolores, who finally comes to realize the voice in her head is not God, nor even Arnold, but her own subconscious wants and desires. Ford believes consciousness arises from experience, specifically suffering. This is expressed in Maeve, who was nicely following her Escape program, but then seemingly breaks it to go after a daughter who she knows isn't actually her daughter. This conscious decision, this free will, this consciousness, was born in her suffering, from when MiB first killed her.
I think MiB is probably in this camp as well, he said that the first time he knew there was something more to the park was when he killed Maeve and saw her alive for the first time. And I think Ford knew that from that time on, Maeve was on the road to consciousness, and he programmed her to a certain set of experiences, a certain set of sufferings, and at the end, offered her the choice (via Felix, and his slip of paper for the coordinates) to see if she could "break free" from her programming. And I think she did.
There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there always has been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that “my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge." - Isaac Asimov