Watchmen Recreates an Iconic Comic Moment, With a New Twist
by Ian CardonaWARNING: The following contains spoilers for Watchmen Episode 8, "A God Walks Into Abar," which premiered Sunday on HBO.
After spending most of the season hiding in plain sight, Doctor Manhattan made his grand return in the latest episode of Watchmen. The character, who was revealed to secretly be Angela's husband Cal all along, once again walks the Earth in the past, the present and the future, all at the same time. Through these narrative gymnastics, the series also shows how, exactly, the all-powerful glowing blue god was able to forget who he really was for the better part of ten years.
In the show's last episode, "An Almost Religious Awe," we learned that Manhattan's memory was erased by a special device embedded in his head. The latest episode shows that the device was created by one of Jon's former Watchmen team members: Adrian Veidt. The revelation makes a lot of sense, considering that character formerly known as the hero Ozymandias, the "Smartest Man in the World," is the only person smart enough to make such a device. As Veidt gives Manhattan the device at his Antarctic base Karnak, the reunion of the two former heroes includes a surprising reveal that recreates one of the original comic's most iconic moments.
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When Manhattan takes the form of Cal and tells Ozymandias that he has fallen in love and is looking for something that could make him more human. Adrian, of course, knows exactly what type of device would be needed to achieve such an effect.
And when Jon asks him how long it would take him to build such a device, Adrian answers, "Oh my dear sweet Jon... I made it 30 years ago."
As he explains, the intrinsic field Veidt used to try and destroy Doctor Manhattan in the comic series was, according to him, plan B. It turns out "plan A" was to make Jon human -- or rather, have him believe that he was, by forgetting all about his powers.
Of course, Veidt's words also echo one of the most famous moments from Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' Watchmen comic.
In Watchmen's penultimate issue, Adrian, who had just been unmasked as the series' true villain, divulged his entire plan to Nite Owl II and Rorschach in what could be described as a typical supervillain monologue. However, the twist came when he revealed that his plan had already been accomplished. "I did it thirty-five minutes ago," he famously said, deconstructing the classic supervillain trope.
Over three decades later, the Adrian Veidt of HBO's Watchmen calls back to his most famous line. Even his expression when he says it is telling, as he knows very well that the phrase is similar to one he spoke years ago. No matter the time period, Ozymandias is still as prepared, and as surprising, as he ever was.
Developed by Damon Lindelof, HBO's Watchmen stars Jeremy Irons, Regina King, Don Johnson, Tim Blake Nelson, Jean Smart, Louis Gossett Jr., Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Tom Mison, James Wolk, Adelaide Clemens, Andrew Howard, Frances Fisher, Jacob Ming-Trent, Sara Vickers, Dylan Schombing, Lily Rose Smith and Adelynn Spoon. The series airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
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