John P. Johnson/HBO
Warning: Spoilers ahead for "Westworld."
"Westworld" spent much of its ninth episode devoted to a major revelation about Bernard and teasing drama on the William and Dolores front. We learned not only that Bernard was a host created to mimic Arnold, but that we're definitely watching at least three different time frames play out on screen.
And though many fans had been theorizing about these storylines for awhile, there were two fans who made eerily accurate predictions.
HBO
Young Ford, his father, and Arnold all pose together.
Bernard = Arnold
We watched in episode nine as Bernard realized that he was a host built to resemble Arnold the human - Ford's original business partner.
But way back in mid-October, after the third episode aired, Redditor gbtolax submitted a post to the "Westworld" subreddit. "Arnold Weber is an anagram for Bernard Lowe," they wrote.
At the time ,we only knew Arnold's first name, so many people in the comments were derisive towards the idea. "This is basically inventing clues to support a fan theory, and then declaring the theory supported because of the made-up clues," Redditor Citizen_Me0w wrote.
Another Redditor had guessed the same thing just a couple of days earlier (though in a more general post). The response was the same.
The top reply to that post still reads: "I'm so sad you conjured up this anagram theory with 'Arnold Weber' - it's banana-nut-bread crazy and other Redditors are acting as if it is sensible."
But lo and behold, we saw Arnold's old office door in the ninth episode.
HBO
Dolores saw "Arnold Weber" on the door.
It read: "Arnold Weber." Both Redditors had guessed the truth with virtually no evidence to work from.
And this wasn't the only "crazy" prediction that came true in the ninth episode.
The photograph of William's fiancée
We also learned that the picture Dolores' father found in the pilot - showing a woman in Times Square - was actually an old photo of William's fiancée.
Again, back in mid-October, a fan thought this might be the case. Redditor croweschmo posted a picture of the photo from episode one with the following title:
[THEORY] The photo Peter Abernathy dug up in episode 1 is William's. We will see William pull this photo out of his jacket and leave it behind at the Abernathy ranch at some point this season. The woman in the photo is his fiancèe and Logan's sister.
Here's the picture seen in episode one:
HBO The photograph from episode was a bit beat up.
And the photo from episode nine, which Logan pulls out while berating William about his infatuation with Dolores:
HBO Here's the same photo, but shiny and new.
That's definitely the same picture, though the one we saw in episode one looks a bit worse for the wear. This confirms that we're definitely seeing at least two time frames - one in the present when Peter Abernathy found the photo, and one in the past when William first came to the park with Logan.
These two super specific (and accurate) predictions are indicative of the crazy hype surrounding "Westworld" right now. With the ability to slow down, freeze, and rewatch every frame of every episode, it's not so surprising that fans are getting some guesses right.
HBO William will have to choose between Dolores and his fiancèe.
When asked about this culture of spoilers-via-theories on sites like Reddit during an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, "Westworld" co-creator Jonathan Nolan had a diplomatic response.
"It's very exciting when people correctly guess where the narrative is going, because you've done your job," Nolan told The Hollywood Reporter. "I'm very much a believer that you have to on some level play fair with the audience [...] I've been reading [Reddit] for the better part of a decade. But for shows I like, I don't tend to go to the subreddit while the series is ongoing, because I don't want it spoiled. The thing about theorizing is that occasionally, you're going to be right. The distinction between a theory and a spoiler becomes moot if someone guesses correctly."
So non-Redditor fans be warned - the "Westworld" community has a growing track record. Peruse the subreddit at your own risk, because you might just stumble upon the answers to all of Westworld's biggest mysteries.