It was one of Westworld's major twists - The Man in Black (played by Ed Harris) turned out to be not just a nameless villain, but in fact one and the same as William (played by Jimmi Simmons), just in different time periods.

But despite this being the biggest reveal of the series, Harris wasn't told about the direction his character would take until weeks after filming had begun.

HBO

"It wasn't shocking. It was like, 'Oh, thanks for telling me,'" he told The Telegraph, before adding that it would have been "a tad" helpful to know from the start that the stories were related beforehand.

But despite his not finding out the twist, Harris admitted that knowing about his character's backstory "would have altered something" in his portrayal of The Man in Black, so perhaps producers had the right idea all along.

The Man in Black's younger self, Jimmi Simpson, has also previously admitted that he too had no idea about the twist when he signed up for the show - but he did manage to figure it out when he realised that make-up artists on the show were trying to alter his face slightly so that he looked like someone else.

"I was like, 'Why would they change my eyebrows? Why in the world?'," Jimmi said. "I started thinking the one reason was to make me look like someone else, and then I cycled through the Rolodex of the main players. There's only one that really fit my look and dialect."

HBO

Related: 8 Westworld fan theories to really bake your noodle, from the totally plausible to the batshit crazy

And once the question of crazy Westworld twists were out the way, Harris also spoke about his character being a "very violent and unforgiving individual", adding that it's caused him to think about the kind of work he's putting out into the world.

"I've thought about it: what are you putting out there in the world, Ed? This violence and this behaviour," he added.

Westworld was renewed for a second season back in November last year, and you can rest assured that there'll be more brilliant and baffling twists and turns when the HBO series returns. After all, creator Johnathon Nolan did say season two would be "defined by chaos".

Unfortunately, we won't be seeing that chaos until 2018 to account for the immense production and script planning needed to ensure the entire season has a clear plan.

Filming is expected to begin in summer this year - "probably June or July", according to the Man in Black himself.

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