This Tiny Detail In ‘Westworld’ Season 3 May Explain Caleb’s True Identity

Westworld Season 3 has many mysteries, but none as big as the newest addition to the main cast, Caleb Nichols. Even before the season began, fans were theorizing that the character wasn't going to be human, but a secret host who lives outside the park in the real world. Wild theories have surfaced, from his being Dolores' created "son" to proof that Delos is still controlling Dolores. But now, this Westworld security clip of Dolores that was seen in Season 3 Episode 5 suggests that fans were more right than anyone realized. Warning: Spoilers for Westworld Season 3 follow.

Ironically, it was Westworld's newest evil computer program, Rehoboam, who initially convinced fans that had been wrong about Caleb. Rehoboam is a program designed to track the past and present behavior of every single person on earth and use it, via algorithms, to ascertain their most likely future. It then manipulates external factors to keep people on these predetermined pathways.

If Caleb were a host or a Delos plant, one would think Rehoboam could not read him, and his file would be like the one on Dolores, a blank space. Either that or would flag him as some anomaly, reporting him to Serac as someone who needs to be removed from the current timeline as a "chaos agent." But the file Dolores pulls on him says neither of these things. Instead, it reads him as a human whose life is heading towards a dead-end, and actively working to railroad him in that direction.

But it may be that Caleb is something Rehoboam can't recognize or read. Check out this image from Season 3, Episode 4, when Dolores and Caleb are heading to the bank to transfer Liam Dempsey Jr.'s assets to their accounts.

Now look at the version Rehoboam shows Serac in Episode 5:

All together now: "It doesn't look like anything to me...."

The use of the "host blindness" perspective to hide critical information is one of Westworld's oldest tricks. The oft-repeated line "It doesn't look like anything to me," was a critical reminder that hosts are kept in ignorance of the truth of their surroundings. They are unable to see anything that might contradict their programmed worldview, whether it be a photograph of the real world or the recreation of Ford's childhood home.

Serac mentioned more than once this season that Rehoboam is not perfect. There are flaws in the recreated mirror image of the world, a "blindness" if you will, to the emotions that drive humans. Viewers already saw it once, in the two recordings of Charlotte Hale in Episode 3. Fans believe one is Rehoboam's interpretation, getting the gist of the message, but missing the heart of the second, as "not important."

This is the second time Rehoboam has shown blindness. But in this case, it's not in transcribing a message; it's an entire person. Combine this with Liam Dempsey Jr.'s horrified reaction upon reading Caleb's file, and it's a sea of red flags. Fans are right to be suspicious about Caleb from here on out.