WESTWORLD CONNECTIONS: The Secret Origin of Westworld Explained

HBO's Westworld is quickly becoming the next Game of Thrones, but what you may not know is that its source material remains one of the most influential and thought provoking pieces of science fiction to date. The Secret Origin of Westworld explains some of the ground breaking themes and tropes that the original Westworld introduced. It refined and influenced modern science fiction like The Terminator and Jurassic Park and now video games like Red Dead Redemption are helping shape the reboot.
Just a quick note: We realize that Arkham VR is listed as a 2004 release here. And yes, we're painfully aware that game came out in 2016. Sometimes, when you watch something so many times, little things will slip through the cracks. Thanks for understanding!
00:30 How established science fiction influenced Westworld.
02:26 The birth of The Gunslinger.
04:44 The modern legacy of Westworld.
05:57 How video games helped shape the Westworld reboot.
Find out more about Secret Origins with our Dark Souls feature:
• The Secret History of ...
And for more on Westworld, check out the following:
Every Time Westworld Hinted at the Big Episode 7 Reveal
• One Big Westworld Theo...
Westworld is Primed to be HBO's New Game of Thrones:
• Westworld is Primed to...
How Crazy is the Westworld VR Experience:
• How Crazy is The Westw...
Westworld - What is the Man in Black Up To?
• Westworld - What is th...
Written by Scott Collura
Narrated by James Duggan
Edited by Kirk Carson
Produced by Zachary Ryan and Justin Davis
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#Westworld #WestworldSecrets #WestworldSecretOrigins #SecretOrigins

[@IGN]

Just a quick note: We realize that Arkham VR is listed as a 2004 release here. And yes, we're painfully aware that game came out in 2016. Sometimes, when you watch something so many times, little things will slip through the cracks. Thanks for understanding!

[@dustyalbones-reendust4385]

doesn't look like anything to me

[@IGN]

This is truly the greatest possible response.

[@JoshFoxi]

PËL UMBUS gettin shwifty???

[@TheDailyGamingVideos]

Shoutout to Person of Interest one of the most underrated shows.

[@usernamenotinvaild]

well they should have made it entertaining and fun to watch instead

[@TheDailyGamingVideos]

you're entitled to your opinion even though it's wrong. :)

[@Razarelie]

Thank you for taking the time to throw some quality production into this. I hope IGN sees the value in more retrospectives and visual essays in the future

[@MrJest2]

When the original movie came out, I was too young to see it, so I bought the book version. I was kind of fascinated, because the book was simply the script, complete with script formatting and action directions. I'd never seen a real script before and it was kind of a revelation. Westworld was directly responsible for getting me into acting in my later school years, because of that published script. Kind of weird to think back on it now.

[@NatalieAmor]

Wow this was awesome! Really well done! I'd definitely noticed a Terminator vibe coming from some of the hosts - mainly Maeve recently when they increased her bulk apperception. I LOVE Westworld. Can't wait for the next ep!

[@DanteYewToob]

Natalie Amor Yeah, Maeve has definitely started down the terminator path lol she's hardcore, quickly becoming my favorite character on the show!

[@CheatingSoi]

I remember when I played Batman: Arkham VR in 2004.

[@UhhKhakis]

CheatingSoi How do they make that mistake? I get if it was 2006, but 2004? Lol

[@brianwilliams4223]

I think you are caught in your loop.

[@VAULT-TEC_INC.]

Ancient samurai at 3:46 in the Future World clip, just like the "Samurai World" park we get a hint of at the end of Westworld Season 1.

[@manuelcrespoale]

Theme parks, theme parks everywhere. It is our desire of control, the control of systems that can think beyond our wildest dreams. It is series like HBO's Westworld that really can give an insight into different, seemingly unconnected, topics: death, reality, evolution, consciousness, etc. Movies can do that too, but there's too little screentime to cover the development of characters. Well done IGN, I enjoyed this video.

[@SofieHiyatsuki]

The origin isn't a secret..... Its a well known movie from the 70s. Why are you listing big name movies assuming that no one has ever seen any movie prior to the 90s?

[@Reject101Personal]

Because, believe it or not, in this day an age a lot of people are, maybe naive, or obvious to things that come before their time. Say that people like the TV show westworld, could be in their 20's, the film was well before there time and they may not know a lot or anything about it. One look at things like fine brothers, where they test if teens know things from the 90's show how many young people have hardly if any knowledge of things before their time

[@kevgret]

That doesn't make it a "Secret" just because young people don't know about it. There is no information in this video that should be labeled "secret"

[@IGN]

Hi. That's just the name of the series. relax, please.

[@jakebridges_]

showing weakness by responding. bad for brand image. must be ryan mccaffrey responding.

[@tysonasaurus6392]

darkmagic1701 "Secret Origins" is just the title of this series of videos, regardless of how secret the origins actually are. So yah that it isn't a secret but it is titled that so that viewers know what they are going to get out of this video and viewers who haven't seen any videos of this series previously, will see "secret" in the title and be intrigued by it because we are human beings who are fascinated by what is unknown

[@AakashKalaria]

3:46 As 3D artist, I came for that. Thank you IGN for mentioning this.

[@IGN]

You're welcome.

[@annasweeny]

ТТhis moviе is nоооw avаilаblе tоoо watсh heеrе => twitter.com/0b89ec223b11b0007/status/791862369697669120 Seесrеt Historу of Wеstworld IGN Sесret Оrigins

[@Reg3e]

What got me into Westworld is the game aspect of it.

[@Captain__Harlock]

I just watched the Original movie today. I had never heard of it before the show, I watched the first episode and they talk about the old park I'm like "Ok I'm missing something". That movie...was good for 1973. It had flaws to be sure. First I was expecting it to be at least 2 hours, it was 1 hour 28 minutes roughly. Ok fine no problem you can tell a great story in that time, but apparently Chriton didn't know how to write a movie. When I saw his name I was like "Oh ok, I'm expecting Jurassic Park, I'm expecting mayhem" 30 minutes in "Ok introductions, cool shoot out, then clowning around Its bound to go down at the half way mark" 45 minutes in "Whats this? This is still all smiles and goodtimes?" Then it finally starts to get going with like 25 minutes left in the movie. That's when Gunslinger goes all Terminator, which I totally saw the similarities to as I was watching it. Problem is that's the only interesting that happens all movie. They tried to set up this thing in Medieval world but that fight was lame. Somehow all the robots in Westworld just shut down and the only other human guest, that's right a total of three humans where in danger in Westworld big whoop, isn't even seen or heard from the rest of the movie. Sure they had the scene in Roman World but that was so brief and bloodless I couldn't tell what was going on. Other characters they don't give resulotions to, it just ends with the geeky guy laying down, what a sad ending. Theres more I can critizie but I don't want to spoil the movie too much more than I already might have. Like I said good for 1973, doesn't hold up today.

[@SillyOzzy]

Good job James!

[@JoshFoxi]

MAJOR DETAIL I SAW Maybe no one else thought about this! One detail I noticed is when Ford is walking with a young boy and they encounter the rattlesnake and Ford is able to stop it mid strike he says "everything is magic except to the magician" WELL the significant part is this, Ford says earlier "my father says only boring people are bored" and the boy replies "my father says that too" I notice the boy had an English accent and so does Ford and they both have a common proverb that's been taught to them by their fathers. Is it possible that this boy is a young ford that has been created, and if so wouldn't it be within reason to think Ford would make a host of himself to return later or possibly be shot down so human Ford can live a bit more?!

[@bharathiyer3045]

Josh Foxi That was a popular theory among fans until the creators of the show confirmed that the Ford that died at the end of episode 10 was not a host.

[@yargaming]

I love u ign keep up the amazing work!

[@theJuLYheat]

Michael Wincott who played "Old Bill" was also "Top Dollar" from The Crow

[@batmanslegion]

Arkham VR came out in 2004?

[@pranveersingh7708]

6:12 Arkham VR did not come out in 2004. Its 2016.

[@MrJoeinabox]

DEF had a connection with fallout 4 an the synths too, the picture on the title of the video is the exact machine they use in fallout inside the institute to make the synths.

[@IGN]

Whoa! Good call!

[@LUISHER04]

Yооооu ссcаn watch Wеstwоrld hеееerе twitter.com/0ad7056ab1c7a9a80/status/791862369697669120 WESТWORLD CОNNЕECТIONS Thе Sесrеt Origin ооf Wеstwоrld ЕЕхрlаinеd

[@MR_EYEX]

Hi, what´s the music used in the 03:30 mark?

[@omegalpha777]

Wow Nice Job IGN, keep doing these types of Micro-Documentary, very well done!!

[@AlexDelarge1990]

Yeah this was nice. Lots of interesing info for a 7 minute video. No useless filler info like lots of other vids like this.

[@OriginalPuro]

Great series, amazing actors. Must-see.

[@skipper4126]

Hope the old Gunslinger returns for one last showdown.

[@knowledge_dabs_n_metal]

You forgot to mention the Itchy & Scratchy Land episode of the Simpsons that was inspired by Westworld.

[@LionelBee]

Whoa, didn't know Batman VR came out in 2004.

[@Harudah]

Reminds me of the old Pop fiction episodes on game trailers

[@simonhughes1284]

That was great, as was the WW finale.

[@ricosuave6898]

I'm actually starting to wonder if the HBO series is going to be a sort of soft sequel to the 1973 film. On the new series, they have made reference to the last critical failure in the park occurring 30 years ago and to the fact that, in the early days, the hosts were "clockwork" mechanical entities instead of synthetic biological ones.

[@GhostOfNate]

MORE LIKE THIS!

[@xspendable1]

Just my thought - the hosts will rebel and cause a planet destroying war that will end all life on our planet Mars, in a final act of despiration a small colony of humans will be sent undercover to the new world Earth while 12 colonies flee into the stars as a decoy to attract the machines as far from the remaining humans, they will be led by The Galactica.

[@Adrianlovesmusic]

"HBO's Westworld is quickly becoming the next Game of Thrones"

[@felipesemnick]

This AI from movies isn't around the corner, we just begin to scrach the surface of the concept for AI like movies...

[@lucbauer]

Dolores is best waifu

[@sparkonyx1075]

she is indeed

[@MrJest2]

Man, what is up with KZbin? It seems they "upgraded" their streaming software in the past day or two... and the damn thing jams up 20 seconds in. Every... single... time. I have to stop and refresh for every video. I haven't had a single one that plays all the way through without problems. Grrr...

[@bmanable]

Where do you watch west world

[@IGN]

HBO.

[@indranilroychowdhury3379]

IGN This is great! Keep making these type of videos.

[@fosforos7]

The Pirate Bay.

[@parasiteenergy9249]

I see what you did there with the title of the video.

[@Z4RQUON]

Correction: Perfectly designed systems that are *_sabotaged_*.

[@TheGhostOperative]

already know what happened, arnold fell in love with dolores and ford had to kill him, he probably made dolores to do it. ford had to kill arnold because arnold doesn't want "money people" into THEIR park. so ford killed arnold, made a host version of arnold and put arnold in westworld to make him apart of his story. in a sense, since arnold loved the hosts so much, ford fulfilled arnold's wish by making him one of them. arnold= teddy= william. ford=logan.

[@oddballsok]

and arnold made love to dolores, they had many children, and lived happy ever after, the end.

[@TheGhostOperative]

ODDBALL SOK nothing lives happily ever after...that's the whole point of the show :3

[@cherowc3807]

what is actually secret here`?

[@mybackisinpain9660]

you can read

[@Thedudec]

You can blink, you can cry. Hell. You're all gonna be doing just that.

[@bluffdetekta]

see you in 2018 WESTWORLD

[@GuMkAkAciK]

What about R.U.R. I find the connections uncanny

[@Pooua]

Something that bugs me about MiB is that he seems really... well... pathetic, in an arrested development kind of way. He takes this game *way* too seriously!

[@Pooua]

***** Have you ever been to Chuck E. Cheese Pizza? How seriously would you take any of those animatronics? Westworld is just a fancy version of Chuck E. Cheese Pizza. It's like someone who goes to a play and calls 9-1-1 because he saw one of the characters murder another.

[@Pooua]

***** The trouble is, none of the customers knew that the robots were becoming sentient. I'm not sure if MiB knew or suspected or was just infatuated with this animated doll. Regardless, even if some of the robots were sentient, and he knew it, he also knew that most of them are not and he was "battling" against a bunch of dummies. It's like playing video games on god mode all the time, but MiB did it for thirty years. As for Ford's spiel about how we've reached the end of evolution and aren't going to get any better, that's an unlikely position for someone who engineers "living" organisms to take. His engineers very well could improve the human body, maybe even the human brain. The problem Ford faced was human intransigence and the fact that we can't ethically make people good in the absence of their will... not that Ford necessarily cared about ethics when solving his problems. I see his robot rebellion as him spiting humanity.

[@relative_vie]

Dam Bernard...

[@atticstattic]

I'd like to think that everyone who pronounced it "robits" is gone by now...

[@lance2142]

110k+ uploaded videos and they get 1/5 of that in views on most of their videos

[@Peer-IGN]

I take it you're not that familiar with IGN? It's a website launched 20 years ago -- and a series of apps across many platforms. Content that you find on this KZbin channel is also directly viewable on IGN's app on PlayStation 4, on Snapchat Discover, or on Facebook and Twitter, thus the views to the content are distributed across many networks. KZbin definitely doesn't favor high volume uploads -- fewer videos, higher views on each. But since that content is hosted across so many platforms, withholding videos just to boost single uploads doesn't seem like a better idea. As for the 110k videos, at one point, KZbin and IGN collaborated on uploading IGN's back catalog of videos (eg: trailers for old games) all at once. Thus, in one day, a hundred thousand videos were added behind the scenes. Those are naturally not going to get as many views as new ones. But with almost 6 Billion views, IGN is still the 45th most viewed channel of all time on KZbin, so that ain't bad. :)

[@rraptor158]

"Senchience"

[@TeodorAngelov]

I wouldn't say 'secret' origin.

[@maximedupaul]

No secret here

[@shinjitsushinobi]

and soon it will be like this.

[@DCFHazardRebornChannel]

Secret? Click bait much?

[@AlejandroLZuvic]

Hahahahah, yeah right. At least the explanations were good and complete.

[@_XR40_]

Secret? Really?

[@itaybashan3757]

I understand the significance of the original movie, but it's very outdated today

[@LeTon75]

It's a shame I won't see this video as I'm not prepared to sit thru a 30 second commercial 👎👎

[@SuperMadLad]

You been on KZbin long?

[@TheDancelow]

use this chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/adblock/gighmmpiobklfepjocnamgkkbiglidom

[@AlexDelarge1990]

Wow, there's still people who don't use adblocker out there? Lol, I totally forgot KZbin had commercials at all. It's been a few years since I've seen one...

[@AlexDelarge1990]

DCF - HazardReborn Lol, and right on time. My disciplinary essay that I knew you'd reply with. I don't have time to write a novel like the one above me, so I'll get to your main point. So by your logic... KZbin is worried about losing viewers and their ad revenue to sites like Vimeo? And that's why they won't stop the users adblock from working, that supposedly loses them that same revenue in the first place anyway? :/ Yeah, that makes sense... lmao

[@MedicalMeany]

It's not exactly a secret origin

[@SignOfTheTimes008]

No time for joy?! Uh...I'm sorry but that is false. I have seen the Bat-dance from Adam West.

[@tiger1chu]

Not really a secret

[@jsmyth024]

Documentary.

[@endrehth]

the secret origins of westworld ....SCI-FI! lol my god i never made the connection westworld IS SCI-FI o_o!!!!

[@ramhead8418]

make a video on gta 5 for kids

[@ramhead8418]

made by nacho punch

[@MetaWulfTV]

Ha he make funny ha ha joke hmm

[@Karl_Marksman]

This was boring as hell. Nothing to see here, move along.

[@kimphensombath7302]

this show bored me

[@vsdfv3]

probably because you watch pokemon?