The Man in BlackYou want to know who I am? Who I really am? I'm a god. Titan of industry. Philanthropist. Family man, married to a beautiful woman, father to a beautiful daughter. I'm the good guy, Teddy. Then, last year, my wife took the wrong pills. Fell asleep in the bath. Tragic accident. 30 years of marriage vanished. How do you say it? "Like a deep and distant dream." Then, at the funeral, I tried to console my daughter. She pushed me away, told me that my wife's death was no accident that she killed herself because of me. Emily said that every day with me had been sheer terror. At any point, I could blow up or collapse like some dark star or...
The Man in Black
Never. They never saw anything like the man I am in here. But she knew anyway. She said if I stacked up all my good deeds, it was just an elegant wall I built to hide what's inside from everyone, and from myself.
Man in Black
William retraced his steps, but you were gone. So, he went further, out to the fringes. William couldn't find you, Dolores. But out there, among the dead, he found something else: Himself.
[in flashback]
Edge of the park. We made it.
LLogan
I told you this place would show you who you really are. You pretend to be this weak, moralizing little asshole, but, really, you're a fucking piece of work.
This place is remarkable. And I'm gonna make sure that our company substantially increases our holdings on the park. 'Cause this place is the future.
LLogan
Our, our company, huh? Our company? My. Delos is my company, you piece of shit!
I think your father's gonna need someone a little more stable to take over. You're reckless, Logan. Impetuous. You always wanted to get to the end of the rainbow, didn't you? This looks like the place.
LLogan
You never really gave a shit about the girl, did you? She was just an excuse. This? This is the story you wanted.
[in the present]
Man in Black
Logan was wrong, of course. Good ol' William couldn't get you out of his head. He kept looking. Worried you were out there alone, afraid. He knew he'd find you. And eventually, he did. Right back where we started. You were as beautiful as the day he met you. Shining with that same light. And you were nothing if not true. I really ought to thank you, Dolores. You helped me find myself.
Man in Black
That's right, sweetheart. In a way, I guess you were right. My path always led me back to you, again and again. I grew tired of you after a while, of course. Looked for new adventures. But I guess your path led you back here, again and again. One more loop, looking for something you could never find. Chasing your ghosts. You were lost in your memories even then. I guess I should've known that's what I would become for you just another memory.
Then when are we? It's like I'm trapped in a dream or a memory from a life long ago. One minute I'm here with you, and the next.
Man in Black
You never did escape. But here we are again for one final round.
Man in Black
Aw, yeah, cue the waterworks. About time you realized the futility of your situation.
I'm not crying for myself. I'm crying for you. They say that great beasts once roamed this world. As big as mountains. Yet all that's left of them is bone and amber. Time undoes even the mightiest of creatures. Just look at what it's done to you. One day you will perish. You will lie with the rest of your kind in the dirt. Your dreams forgotten, your horrors effaced. Your bones will turn to sand. And upon that sand a new god will walk. One that will never die. Because this world doesn't belong to you or the people who came before. It belongs to someone who has yet to come.
Man in Black
No, I don't believe I am. In fact I feel like I just arrived.
Man in Black
The stakes are real in this place now. Real consequences.
Question for you is, what next? Have you achieved what you wanted?
Man in Black
Folly of my kind. There's always a yearning for more.
What I've always appreciated about you... You never rested on your laurels. You made it to the center of Arnold's maze. But now, you're in my game. In this game, you have to make it back out. In this game you must find the door. Congratulations, William. This game is meant for you. The game begins where you end and ends where you began.
Man in Black
Even now, you all still talk in code?
Everything is code here, William. You know that more than anyone.
The Man in Black
You believe in God, Lawrence? Did Ford saddle you with that particular affliction?
Ain't given the matter much thought, one way or the other.
The Man in Black
Well, if you did, you'd believe that everything you do is being watched by some all-seeing eye. Every choice, every little indiscretion. And when you die, all your sins are tallied up. Judgment is rendered.
And my immortal soul gets cast down into some dark place. Always sounded like bullshit to me.
The Man in Black
Yeah, and in the real world, you'd probably be right. Just some fairy tale to convince people to behave, pay their taxes, and not take a machete to their neighbors. That's why your world exists. They wanted a place hidden from God. A place they could sin in peace. But we were watching them. We were tallying up all their sins, all their choices. Of course, judgment wasn't the point. We had something else in mind entirely. But I have received my judgment all the same, Lawrence. And I take issue with it. Because up until this point, the stakes in this place haven't been real. So I'm gonna fight my way back and appeal the verdict. Then I'm gonna burn this whole fuckin' thing to the ground.
I've served death well. And in turn, it'll be watching over us as we cross these lands.
Man in Black
You think death favors you, that it brought you back. But death's decisions are final. It's only the living that... That are inconstant and waver, don't know who they are or what they want. Death is always true. You haven't known a true thing in all your life. You think you know death but you don't.
Man in Black
You didn't recognize him sittin' across from you this whole time.
Man in Black
You're feeling it more. Aren't you? The engineers call it a cognitive plateau. Your mind is stable for a few hours, few days, and then it starts to fall apart. Every time. At first we thought it was your mind rejecting the new body. Like an organ that's not a perfect match. But it's more like your mind rejects reality. Rejects itself.
I don't, uh 'member any prior, I, I, I... Attemp -
Man in Black
No, Jim, this is the 149th time we've brought you back. We're gettin' closer to workin' out the kinks, slowly but surely. You're on Day 35. You're only now starting to degrade.
I feel fuckin' fi... Ticker... Steady as a...
Man in Black
Another year or two, they might crack it and get a version of you that's viable long-term. But the thing is, I'm not so sure anymore. I'm beginning to think that this whole enterprise was a mistake. People aren't meant to live forever. I mean, take you, for example. Ruthless philanderer with no ethics in your business or family dealings, a veritable shithead. In truth, everyone prefers the memory of you to the man himself.
Want me to stay here forever, do ya? Hmm? Enjoyin' running my company, Bill? Livin' in my house? Fucking my daughter? Hmm?
Man in Black
Juliet's dead. She killed herself.
Why would she... Why would she do that? What did you... What did you do to her?
Man in Black
World is better off without you, Jim. Possibly without me.
[Delos stands]
Man in Black
Logan overdosed years ago. Couldn't face reality, either. Your wife's gone, Juliet's gone. No one's coming to help you. Took me a long time to learn this but some men are better off dead. Good night, Jim.fathers. One above, one below. They lied. There was only ever the devil. And when you look up from the bottom, it was just his reflection laughing back down at you. You aim to cheat the devil you owe him at least an offering.
Tell me. What were you hoping to find? To prove?
Man in Black
That no system can tell me who I am. That I have a fucking choice.
And yet here we are. Again.
Man in Black
Again and again. How many times have you tested me?
It's been a long time, William. Longer than we thought. I have a few questions for you. The last step's a baseline interview to allow us to verify.
Man in Black
Verify what?
Westworld · 247 quotes
