Westworld: What does Les Écorchés mean in English?

Westworld has another title in a foreign language this week, so we tell you exactly what it means to give you one less thing to be confused about.

Along with its science fiction routes, Westworld gives fans plenty to ponder and investigate before and after each new installment. Sometimes that means diving into the episode titles as well, which is definitely the case this week with “Les Écorchés.”

The title is French, following up on “Akane No Mai” two weeks ago, which was Japanese. Unlike that name, this one doesn’t translate into English very well at all. Running the name through Google Translate simply gives you the result “the Écorchés,” and you probably didn’t need a website to tell you that.

So what gives? The deal is that the “Écorchés” part has its own meaning. Here’s what Wikipedia has to say:

"An écorché is a figure drawn, painted, or sculpted showing the muscles of the body without skin, normally as a figure study for another work or as an exercise for a student artist."

That definition immediately calls to mind the drone hosts, who very literally do not have skin on parts of them and have exposed muscles. We’ve seen them pop up several times so far in season 2, working in the underground remote outpost that housed the deranged James Delos host-clone. We also know Bernard ordered them to kill the human workers there, though undoubtedly not of his own free well.

(Unless it was actually Arnold who did that, in which case … damn.)

Next: Westworld Phase Space recap in 5 important quotes

It’s also likely that the “Les Écorchés” title has a double meaning that’s more figurative, because that’s just how Westworld rolls. It could refer to the way that Bernard is now inside the system that runs the park, where he’s already run into a virtual version of Robert Ford. There are ways you can apply the idea to both the Dolores and Maeve subplots as well.

We’ll find out Sunday night. Come back and check out the rest of our Westworld coverage here at FanSided.com after “Les Écorchés” unveils its secrets.