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Why did Robert Ford command Bernard to kill Theresa in Westworld?


This question got me thinking about Theresa's death.


In season 1, episode 6, "Trompe L'Oeil", Ford orders Bernard (now revealed as a robot) to kill Theresa. This scene shows Ford can control the robots very easily with the right spoken commands from him.






Theresa is revealed to be a robot herself in a memory scene with Bernard. She and Bernard were talking in bed when she suddenly went motionless for a few seconds. Tellingly, their conversation was about robots talking among themselves even when no humans are present.





If Robert Ford can control robots by speaking the right words, he should have been able to control both Bernard and Theresa.


No need for the revealing conversation before he orders Bernard to kill her. He could have just told them both to go into analysis mode, or freeze all motor functions, or reveal their secrets to him. He did not do any of those actions.


Why did Ford command Bernard to kill Theresa?


Her death causes several problems for Ford. He also has to command Bernard to "clean up the mess". He has to come up with a plausible explanation for her death for the human employees. He has lost a valuable asset of a robot he could use as a spy within the company.


The out of universe reason is that her death looks dramatic, but I prefer an in-universe explanation.




Answer



Because Ford learned that Theresa was a host he could not control and was giving away his secrets.


Ford could make almost any host obey him just by saying the right subtle verbal cues.


In this scene, Ford makes all the hosts near him stop in mid-action. Theresa notices that everyone has stopped. Ford almost certainly tried one of his subtle word tricks to see if she obeyed and stopped in mid-action. She didn't stop in mid-action so the audience assumes she is human. Ford probably already knew by this time.





We learned that Bernard is a host, and under the control of Ford. We learned that Bernard discovers Theresa is a host when she stops in mid-action during a private moment. If Bernard discovered she is a host, he almost certainly would have reported it to his controller, Ford.


Ford had also learned from Bernard recently that Theresa was passing corporate secrets out of the park by using a host to transmit a message to a satellite.


So what does Ford do when




  1. he discovers an employee is actually a host,

  2. that he cannot control the host,

  3. and that this host is passing company secrets to others?


His best option to retain control of the park is to destroy that host.


Ford told Bernard to bring Theresa to the cottage. He waited for them to arrive, and then he ordered Bernard to destroy Theresa.


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