A resposta fora do universo: Era uma licença poética simples e o diretor usava a Regra do Cool . Lisa Joy dirigiu este episódio e usou imagens de fogo para evocar idéias do diabo e limpar o passado. Da Entertainment Weekly:
EW: ... At first, I was wondering why they would burn the room rather than just switch him off and dump the body. Then in the end, it seemed clear you were going for a metaphor of him being in hell. But [I] was wondering if you came up with a technical explanation for why they had to refurbish that room with the same stuff 150 times?
LJ: Part of it is it’s just visually cool. You’re starting with him lighting a cigarette and the Rolling Stones song “Play With Fire.” He talks about devils and angels. I wanted to ask: Can you have sympathy for the devil? You see two elemental forces in this episode. You also see rain in Westworld for the first time with the battle with the Man in Black, a baptism in that fight scene. And then you see fire. Both can represent the cleansing away of the past, and the question is whether the past can really ever be washed away, or does it always repeat one way or another.
- Westworld showrunner reveals what you missed in 'Riddle of the Sphinx'