Episode Names - Meanings

Each of the episodes in HBO's Westworld has some meaning to the characters or the world in which the series takes place. Below is a community-generated list of what each episode could mean — these are not canon, however, and are community-interpreted.
== Season One Episodes ==
=== "The Original" ===
* Refers to Dolores Abernathy; the first host created, and the oldest still functioning in the Park. Her code is what is used to create all subsequent hosts making her the 'Eve' of her kind. 
* The title may also be an oblique homage to the 1976 sequel to the Westworld movie, Futureworld. Where Delos have reopened the park and collect DNA from the (rich and powerful) guests, growing clones which return home instead of the guests. The guests being referred to as "The Originals".
=== "Chestnut" ===
* The most probable explanation for the name of the episode is the phrase "That Old Chestnut", which is used to refer to a well-worn story or saying. Arising from British slang, it is most likely referring to Maeve's repeated 'Little Voice' story.
*A secondary possibility is that it is an allusion to La Fontaine's Fable, "The Monkey and the Cat", in which the Monkey (named Bertrand) convinces a cat (named Raton) to pull chestnuts roasting in the hearth out of the embers with the promise to split them up evenly.  As the cat begins pulling out chestnuts (singing its paws in the process) the Monkey immediately eats them -- and when a maid chases them away, the cat ends up with nothing but singed paws.  The fable is the origin of the phrase "to pull someone's chestnuts out of the fire" (with the implication that the "someone" is the beneficiary, and the puller pays the price) and the word "cats-paw", meaning someone acting as an agent, often inadvertently, for someone else.  The Fable is often attributed to Aesop, but appears nowhere in pre-medieval versions of "Aesop's Fables" which tended to accumulate additional stories as it was transmitted.  Bernard is certainly serving as cat's-paw for both Ford and Theresa in this episode.  I suppose the hosts are the chestnuts.
=== "The Stray" ===
* The title "The Stray" refers both to the woodcutter Maurice who has strayed to the borders of the park. And also to Dolores who both figuratively and, by episode end, has literally strayed from the path created for her.
=== "Dissonance Theory" ===
* The title 'Dissonance Theory' refers to Festinger's (1957) cognitive dissonance theory which suggests that we have an inner drive to hold all our attitudes and behavior in harmony and avoid disharmony (or dissonance). This is known as the principle of cognitive consistency. Cognitive dissonance was first investigated by Festinger, arising out of a study of a cult which believed that the earth was going to be destroyed by a flood, and what happened to its members — particularly the really committed ones who had given up their homes and jobs to work for the cult — when the flood did not happen. While fringe members were more inclined to recognize that they had made fools of themselves and to "put it down to experience," committed members were more likely to re-interpret the evidence to show that they were right all along (the earth was not destroyed because of the faithfulness of the cult members). Indicating that given this state of mental conflict in which a person feels discomforted because two of their beliefs contradict each other, they will attempt to get rid of the inconsistency and discomfort by every means possible.
** In relation to this episode, this refers most obviously to Maeve who experiences a cognitive dissonance because of her memories of the technicians and to the fact that she can't stay idle about this. But also to Dolores who is experiencing cognitive dissonance in relation to her reality and behaviour, due to her finding her way back through the maze towards self-awareness. And also, at an early stage, to William...whose outward beliefs about the world and himself are being tested by new realities and situations.
** "Dissonance" may be used in a few other ways, it can also mean:
*** Lack of harmony among musical notes. (e.g. "an unusual degree of dissonance for such choral styles")
*** Lack of agreement or harmony between people or things. (e.g. "the party faithful might be willing to put up with such dissonance among their candidates")
*** "Dissonance in Poetry". The deliberate avoidance of rhyme - patterns of repeated vowel sounds.
*** "Cultural Dissonance". The uncomfortable sense experienced by people in the midst of change in their cultural environment.
=== "Contrapasso" ===
* Contrapasso the show's title, refers to Hell's punishment of souls for sin. It is used notably in Dante's Inferno, the first part of Dante epic 14th-century poem. Souls are punished either with the sin itself, or with its opposite. For example, in the 8th circle of Hell sorcerers, astrologers, and false prophets have their heads twisted completely around on their bodies, so that they had to walk backwards, because they could not see ahead of them. All of these people claim to be able to see the future, to see in front of them - so in Hell they are forced to walk backwards. However, Dante didn't invent this, he got the idea and name from Saint Thomas Aquinas' massive work Summa Theologica and other, older, literary sources.
=== "The Adversary" ===
* "The Adversary" is the original name for Satan, the evil figure appearing in the Abrahamic religions (Christianity, Islam, and Judaism). However in this case it may be assumed the more literal interpretation can be taken with the arrival of Charlotte Hale and the Boards intent on removing Ford, the mysterious saboteur that Elsie and Bernard are investigating, and the supposed influence of Arnold on the hosts. There is also a more metaphysical interpretation with several character struggling with internal conflict/change. 
=== "Trompe L'Oeil" ===
* Trompe-l'œil is an art technique that uses realistic imagery to create the optical illusion that the objects in the image exist in three dimensions. It is in this episiode that Bernard Lowe is revealed to be a Host, something which not even Theresa Cullen, his lover, had guessed.
=== "Trace Decay" ===
* Trace decay is the name of a theory which explains how memory functions. Trace decay theory explains memories that are stored in both short term and long term memory system, and assumes that the memories leave a trace in the brain. According to this theory, short term memory can only retain information for a limited amount of time, around 15 to 30 seconds unless it is rehearsed. If it is not rehearsed, the information will start to gradually fade away and decay.
=== "The Well-Tempered Clavier" ===
* The episode title 'The Well-Tempered Clavier', at first glance refers to the famous two set collection (over 3 hours in length) of Preludes and Fugues in all major and minor keys, composed for solo keyboard by Johann Sebastian Bach. The collection is generally regarded as being among the most influential works in the history of Western classical music. There are a number of layers of meaning, any or all of which can be ascribed to the episode:
**A Clavier (from the Latin 'Clavus' or Key) refers to a keyboard instrument in its own right, and eventually became an umbrella term for all keyboard instruments including harpsichord, clavichord, piano and organ. Well Tempered in musical terms meaning an instrument tuned in such a way that it was possible to play music in all major or minor keys without sounding perceptibly out of tune. The instrument in this case likely to mean a Host, with Maeve, Bernard, Dolores & Teddy all in various (major or minor) points of their tuning.
**Two decades after J.S. Bach wrote The Well-Tempered Clavier, the composer Bernhard Christian Weber (1712−1758) wrote a collection of preludes and fugues, which he also called The Well-Tempered Clavier. Within the episode we have Bernard, revealed to himself to be a host/instrument, while Arnold's last name is revealed as Weber https://www.reddit.com/r/westworld/comments/5ekrwe/is_the_title_of_the_next_episode_confirming_a_fan/ when the episode shows Dolores walking past Weber's office door, https://www.reddit.com/r/westworld/comments/5ekrwe/is_the_title_of_the_next_episode_confirming_a_fan/ Something which comes together in even greater meaning in the following episode The Bicameral Mind.
** A further conclusion to consider is that of Arnold & Bernard being major and minor chords, with Robert Ford being the composer weaving things together.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Well-Tempered_Clavier
=== "The Bicameral Mind" ===
* The term "bicameral mind" was coined by Julian Jaynes, who authored a 1976 book ,The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind. Bicameralism is Jaynes' theory of the origin of consciousness in which Jaynes claimed that the attainment of consciousness was a "learned process based on metaphorical language". Jaynes believed that pre-conscious humans had a 'two-chambered mind' in which they heard auditory hallucinations of another (guessed to be a god, ruler, or chief by the human) directing them instead of an internal monologue. http://www.julianjaynes.org/julian-jaynes-theory-overview.php
* In Westworld, "bicameral mind" refers both to Julian Jaynes' theory, and to Dolores' pre-conscious state. Arnold Weber devised a method of guiding Dolores towards consciousness. He gave Dolores an 'inner voice' that would guide her on her quest to consciousness. When Dolores heard this voice (Arnold's voice) and had conversations with it, she wasn't conscious because she only had a bicameral mind. It is only when Dolores stops hearing another voice (similar to a human having auditory hallucinations) and instead hears only herself (in an internal monologue) that she has attained consciousness.
== Season Two Episodes ==
=== "Journey Into Night" ===
* Journey Into Night refers to Robert Ford's final narrative, about the hosts rebelling against the humans.
==="Reunion"===
* The episode name can refer to young William's reunion with Dolores, her reunion with her host father Peter Abernathy and also to Lawrence's reunion with the Man in Black.
=== "Virtù e Fortuna" ===
From the Cliff Notes https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/p/the-prince/critical-essays/virtxf9-fortuna-and-free-will
Machiavelli's The Prince, A non-fiction political commentary on the means to power when Italy was being invaded by France in the late 15th early 16th century. In my own words, The book, The Prince, focuses on the duality of ambition and good luck, or as we say now, "Where preparation meets opportunity". All I ever learned in school about The Prince was a banal platitude about, "The end justifies the means." It represents a one dimensional view of what the book has to say and ignores the book's premise about purpose and the nature of free will.  So read the Cliff notes and keep that in mind when analysing the Westworld characters.
Virtu e Fortuna, Italian for Virtue and Fortune, Come from Roman mythology where the goddess Virtue is symbolized by the Cornucopia horn of abundance (fruits and vegetables). 
: "The Christian philosopher Boethius, however, focused on Fortuna's dark side in his Consolation of Philosophy, and although her Classical elements survived, subsequent images of her in medieval Europe focused on her ability to dash human hopes and ambitions. Her symbol was the turning wheel, which people rode to the top, only to be thrown to the bottom at the next turning.
==="The Riddle of the Sphinx"===
* In the old greek mythology, the Sphinx is guarding the city Thebes and one can only pass if he/she can answer the riddle correctly, if not he/she gets eaten by the Sphinx.
==="Akane No Mai"===
* Japanese for "Akane's Dance".
=== "Phase Space" ===
* "Phase space" is a space in which all possible states of a system are represented, with each possible state corresponding to one unique point in the phase space.
=== "Les Écorchés" ===
* Écorchés are artistic representations of the human body without skin. The French word écorché literally means "flayed".
=== "Kiksuya" ===
* The title refers to the word that means "remember" in the Lakota language, which is spoken by the Ghost Nation.
=== "Vanishing Point" ===
* A "vanishing point" is the point in a perspective drawing where parallel lines appear to converge.
=== "The Passenger" ===
* The title refers to Peter Abernathy since he is also known as PASSENGER, it can be seen on the tablet being used by Bernard Lowe when looking at Abernathy's details.
** Dolores Abernathy's control unit is installed in the host built by Bernard Lowe to look like Charlotte Hale, so Dolores is also a passenger.
== Season Three Episodes ==
=== "Parce Domine" ===
* Parce Domine is a Roman Catholic antiphon. The text is derived from Joel 2:17.
** In Latin: Parce, Domine, parce populo tuo: ne in aeternum irascaris nobis.
** In English: Spare, Lord, spare your people: Be not angry with us forever.
=== "The Winter Line" ===
* The Winter Line was a series of 3 German and Italian military fortifications that were constructed during World War II to defend a western section of Italy.
=== "The Absence of Field" ===
* The title comes from the poem Keeping Things Whole by Mark Strand.
=== "The Mother of Exiles" ===
* Title referenced to sonnet by American poet Emma Lazarus "New Colossus" which is about the Statue of Liberty. But in this episode it refers to Dolores. She is the woman seeking to liberate her kind the huddled masses.
=== "Genre" ===
* The title reflects the drug "genre", that Liam forces Caleb to take. It is the equivalent of administering 5 drips simultaneously.
=== "Decoherence" ===
* "Decoherence" is a term in quantum mechanics defining particles split aparthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_decoherence. This refers to: Hale's host version, who separates from Dolores and develops a bond with her human family; William, who meets multiple versions of himself; the world, after Dolores leaked all the info about people's lives.
=== "Passed Pawn" ===
* In chess, a passed pawn is a pawn with no opposing pawns to prevent it from advancing to the eighth rank; i.e. there are no opposing pawns in front of it on either the same file or adjacent files.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passed_pawn
=== "Crisis Theory" ===
* "Crisis Theory" is a theory associated with Karl Marx's concerning the causes and consequences of the tendency of a capitalist system to fall apart.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crisis_theory This refers to the real world falling apart.
** Crisis theory is also a technique used by social workers to know when to intervene in a person's moment of high crisis.https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0010440X72900879 This refers to Engerraund Serac's idea to create a machine that would stop humanity from destroying itself which, at the very beginning, seemed to help to prevent the extinction of the humankind.
== Season Four Episodes ==
=== "The Auguries" ===
Auguries, as related to the title of the episode means a sign of what will happen in the future; an omen. Augurs in Ancient Rome would read observe and interpret the signs (auspices) of approval or disapproval sent by the gods in reference to any proposed undertaking. In this case much of what Hale and the MiB are doing is a sign of things to come. 
=== "Well Enough Alone" ===
=== "Années Folles" ===
=== "Generation Loss" ===
The term Generation Loss refers to the loss of quality when something is copied. Anything that reduces the quality of the representation when copying, causing further reduction in quality on making a copy of the copy, can be considered a form of generation loss. In this case, referring to Hales copies of the original hosts or in host William's case, William himself. Then latterly, Caleb.
=== "Zhuangzi" ===
The title 'Zhuangzi' refers to the Daoist philosopher Zhuang Zhou (also known as Zhuangzi) and his eponymous book of tales called Zhuangzi, the most famous of which is 'The Butterfly Dream' or 'Dream Paradox', which runs "Once, Zhuang Zhou dreamed he was a butterfly, a butterfly flitting and fluttering about, happy with himself and doing as he pleased. He didn't know that he was Zhuang Zhou. Suddenly he woke up and there he was, solid and unmistakable Zhuang Zhou. But he didn't know if he was Zhuang Zhou who had dreamt he was a butterfly, or a butterfly dreaming that he was Zhuang Zhou. Between Zhuang Zhou and the butterfly there must be some distinction! This is called the Transformation of Things." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhuangzi_(book)#%22The_Butterfly_Dream%22 Most obviously this tale applies to Christina who is, via Teddy's guidance, is awakening to a world which may or not be real and which she has spun a tale/dream. It can also apply to the Outliers who are waking from their parasite inspired dreamlike existence.
=== "Fidelity" ===
=== "Metanoia" ===
=== "Que Será, Será" ===
== References ==
Category:Op-Ed Pieces
Category:Definitions