'Westworld': Who Is Isabella? Hector's Complicated Love Triangle, Explained

For all but the most eagle-eyed theory-crafters on Reddit, watching Westworld is an experience of feeling like you’re missing something. So, during the third episode of the HBO show’s second season, if you were confused when Sizemore mentioned that Hector was supposed to love Isabella and Isabella alone, it might come as a relief to know you weren’t forgetting about an apparently important character. This was new information.

When Sizemore, Maeve, and Hector are walking down the catacombs below Westworld, Sizemore suddenly gets very upset and confused about Maeve and Hector’s PDA.

“You two were designed to be alone,” he says, Britishly. “Yes, there’s some attraction, but you’d never have an actual relationship.”

“You’re in love with Isabella,” he continues, prompting Hector to respond with “not so much anymore.”

“No, you’re fucking programmed to have no love beyond Isabella. Isabella is written into the goddamn laws of your being,” Sizemore continues before Hector grabs him by the throat.

For somebody who is (or was, apparently) so essential to who Hector is, we sure haven’t seen or heard of Isabella before this moment. She’s not in Season 1. Based on what Sizemore says next, however, it seems there’s an in-fiction reason for this. Isabella appears to be based on a real woman that Sizemore loved, and she left him because of his lifestyle. It seems possible, then, that the Isabella Hector was supposed to be in love with is no longer in the picture.

“She’s all I ever dreamed life could be. And when she died, the dream died with her. And I dared dream no more,” Sizemore says, reciting the dialogue he wrote.

We’ve seen hosts with tragic backstories before — it’s part of what makes them feel “human.” Ford gave Bernard a non-existent wife and a dead son for this very reason. So, while Isabella might be a real host somewhere within the confines of Westworld, she could also just be part of Hector’s now-irrelevant narrative. He’s with Maeve now. They’re a pretty good couple.

News episodes of Westworld air on Sunday nights at 9 p.m. Eastern on HBO.