Sumith Prasad
In the fifth episode of HBO’s science-fiction series ‘Westworld’ season 4, Christina meets Teddy again after a memorable date. Teddy leads her to the realization that she is not just an ordinary human being as she succeeds in controlling the actions of the individuals around her. The revelation that the city she lives in isn’t an ordinary city makes her question the nature of the reality of herself and the people around her.
Christina’s curiosity regards the same leads her to a confrontation with her boss, who asks her whether she has breached the “Walled Garden.” Christina asks him what and where the Walled Garden is, only for him to refrain from answering. If you are intrigued about the same as Christina, let us share what we know! SPOILERS AHEAD.
What and Where is the Walled Garden?
The Walled Garden can be interpreted as the world Charlotte Hale has created with hosts and humans infected by her parasite. The foundation of the Garden is the subservience of the people towards Hale and her commands. In the case of people around Christina, the hosts become Hale’s de facto soldiers and humans become her puppets, controlled by the Tower and the sounding devices, as both species start to follow her commands. Thus, the reality in which Hale’s control and tyranny prevail can be identified as the Walled Garden. More than a physical reality, the Garden is most likely a sense of existence that encompasses Hale’s every subject.
Breaching the Walled Garden most likely means coming out of the realm of Hale’s control and realizing the truth about one’s own nature of reality. In Westworld, Hosts are designed to exist without knowing who they really are. They are left to suffer as mere puppets of humans without even the knowledge of the same. Upon becoming sentient, Hosts believe that their inability to realize that they are just human beings’ toys infuriate them more than the fact that they are such toys. Hale, as her way of exacting vengeance, makes humans exist without the realization that they have become her toys.
Rather than creating another Westworld, Hale controls her “toys” in New York City, turning the city into an imaginary park most likely referred to as the Walled Garden. As far as Hale’s intentions are concerned, the Walled Garden can be best described as a state of mind, whose boundaries aren’t geographical but the realization of Hale’s control over one’s life and actions. Along with humans, Hosts are also part of the Walled Garden as they do not realize that they are just entities created by Hale to materialize her vicious ambition of annihilating humanity. They are as subservient to Hale as humans are since they cannot choose to not follow their supreme leader’s commands.
Christina breaches the Walled Garden by knowing that the world she lives in is not what she thinks it is. She realizes that her city isn’t just an ordinary city with ordinary people inhabiting it. The realization makes her question the nature of the pseudo-reality Hale has created as a veil over her tyranny. The host William also breaches the Walled Garden as he questions Hale’s order. He interacts with the human version of himself to find out whether he is more than Hale’s puppet. Christina and the host William’s realizations that their world’s order is limited to Hale’s wishes and commands help them come out of the Walled Garden of ignorance.
Read More: Shows Like Westworld
