I'm not fully invested in this show. By that I mean, I'm watching it, enjoying it, but only watch it once and when the end credits roll, I don't really think about it much unless somebody else brings it up to me.
I haven't read everything here, so excuse me if this has already been discussed. So do you think Logan is going to be the Man in Black? Others have mentioned William, which also is a good theory. Especially as it shows him starting white hat moving to black hat.
Sure it would be less of an arc for black hat to be black hat 30 so years later, but sometimes people want the "surprise arc" so badly that the common arc and surprise arc actually switch places. But it is more about a couple of items associated.
1. MIB pulls out a knife on Dolores and says let's get reacquainted. Logan cut Dolores open with a knife.
2. MIB is constantly searching for the "hidden game". Logan is constantly telling William to avoid the obvious adventures.
3. MIB is rich and is a corporate tycoon. Logan clearly is high up in the corporate world. Higher than William. However, you could also say Logan dies and William inherits his corporate fortune via marrying Logan's sister (who later commits suicide creating the MIB).
4. MIB says "The man I’d be asking died 35 years ago. Almost took this place with him. Almost, but not quite, thanks to me"
#4 needs more explanation.
William came to Westworld after Logan and after the massacre of 34 years ago. In fact, what we saw was Willaim's first trip, so that guarantees the massacre and most likely Arnold's death happened pre-William, but not necessarily pre-Logan.
I really haven't paid very close attention to the show. In fact, I usually watch it as I go to bed, so sometimes I start to fall asleep during the show and don't make a great effort to make sure I rewatch where I think I fell asleep. And there are some things I can't square with MIB's personality and Logan's. That could be on me for not watching the series in a more alert state.
An interesting theory that I basically pulled out of my butt is also that Ford was Arnold's creation. He was "unique", didn't hate Arnold but didn't like the mindwipes as knowledge is power/growth. He was to Arnold what Bernard was to Ford. And when Arnold was gone, he created Bernard for companionship, help and also to feel superior (reverse the roles). Possibly also because he could not kill others himself, so he needed the muscle (just as he may have used Dolores to do the original deed). Knowing Bernard could not kill him but Bernard could enlist host help as he did, he made sure to hardwire the hosts to prevent the come uppance cycle. Again, this isn't really based on anything other than plotting out multiple possibilities based off viewer intuition and past patterns of other stories.
I should find the original Westworld and watch that before I watch the finale.