Watchmen Theory

Published December 4, 2019 · Updated July 6, 2022

Hey guys,

Let me start by saying this is not only the first tv show-companion podcast I’ve listened to, but also the first one of your podcasts I’ve listened to, and I’m loving it. You guys have really enhanced my viewing experience.

I’ve got a theory that I’d love to get your thoughts on, but before I get to that, I need to hit you guys with an um actually.

This show has nothing to do with the movie. It is supposed to be a live action adaptation to the world after the events of the graphic novel, not the events of the movie. One might think the difference couldn’t matter enough to make this point, but the difference is actually extremely important. In the movie, Ozymandias’ grand scheme to save humanity had nothing to do with a giant psychic squid. He actually let out some sort of blast that only Dr. Manhattan could’ve been responsible for, and he framed Manhattan for it, turning the world against Manhattan, not against transdimensional enemies. So if the show was set after the movie, nobody would be okay with Manhattan and he’d probably be much further away than Mars.

This hasn’t affected the way you guys analyze the show itself, but when you bring up the movie in relation to the show, it might make some people think you don’t know what you’re talking about since the two are completely unrelated.

Now on to my theory. I think Lady Trieu is the actual villain of the story. I think she has a personal vendetta against Dr. Manhattan, and she is actually working with Cyclops to kill him. It would make sense that she’d have beef with him considering she’s from Vietnam. Maybe her mom was killed during the war, and that’s why those memories are so important to Trieu. Also, Cyclops was definitely using her tech in the last episode when Keene was telling his plan to Lori. I also think it’s interesting that the correct pronunciation of Trieu is more like Tree-Ew, but she definitely pronounces it as “true.” Maybe there’s some symbolism there with a fixation on truth. So far, pretty much every major character has more to their story than it seems at first, and her being the villain would check that box for her.

Another crazy idea is that Crawford is actually not dead and Reeves is working with him. The most racist thing Crawford did was say “I’m trying to fucking help you people.” Sounds like benevolent racism, sure, but maybe it was more of a desperate plea from a guy who was scared for his life. Maybe when Reeves says he knows who he is and he gives him the Cyclops signal, it was less of calling him out for being a bad guy and more of a wink saying he knew he was a good guy but he knows who the bad guys are and what they’re up to as well. He says “you can hang yourself now.” Maybe there’s a dead clone of Crawford ready to be hanged, and that is the “yourself” Reeves is referring to. So why would Reeves use the mesmerism device to force Crawford to do all that for him if they’d both be on the same side? Well Reeves is clearly a bitter old man at this point, and for good reason. He doesn’t have the patience to reason with this guy, and he needs to show him that he’s got the tech. I know this is reflectatine, but would they really want Don Johnson to be used as the guy who dies in the first episode?

Thanks for reading my email. Keep up the great work.

-Cody

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