6 Questions ‘Watchmen’ Has to Answer in the Season 1 Finale ~ Digital Library

After a gripping season, it seems like all bets are off with the Watchmen season finale episode coming Sunday, Dec. 15. The characters we’ve met over the course of the season are in disarray, their lives in danger and their futures uncertain.

Angela Abar (Regina King) had to watch her husband, Doctor Manhattan (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), get kidnapped by the Seventh Kavalry. Laurie Blake (Jean Smart) is being held captive by the Seventh Kavalry, ostensibly to bear witness to their evil plot becoming a reality before she is killed. We still have zero idea where Wade Tillman, a.k.a. Looking Glass (Tim Blake Nelson) is located after he ostensibly murdered a gang of Seventh Kavalry home invaders. Adrian Veidt (Jeremy Irons) is quite possibly still stuck on Europa or, at minimum, his whereabouts are unknown. How will it all pan out? Are our favorites in serious trouble? Is humanity doomed?

There are still some big questions lingering as we head into Sunday and it’s worth revisiting them, especially since they give way to tons of other, smaller questions. Here’s what I’ve come up with thus far.

Why Are the Seventh Kavalry Creating Portals in the Abandoned Shopping Mall?

Photo Credit: Mark Hill / HBO

A funny thing happens in Watchmen Episode 5, “A Little Fear of Lightning,” which I keep coming back to. About three-quarters of the way through the episode, Wade discovers the Seventh Kavalry are operating out of an abandoned shopping mall. Part of their operation involves using a device to open portals like the one which was opened back in the late ‘80s by Adrian Veidt to stage the giant squid attack which saved humanity but scarred survivors, including Wade. The Seventh Kavalry are seen bouncing basketballs through the portal and then going around the mall and marking coordinates where they landed.

This moment ties into another moment involving Senator Joe Keene Jr. (James Wolk) in Episode 7, “This Extraordinary Being.” In this episode, Joe reveals to Laurie the Seventh Kavalry want to kidnap Doctor Manhattan and transfer his powers into Joe for the group’s own dastardly and racist purposes. Right now, it seems ludicrous that the Seventh Kavalry would dedicate so much time to figuring out how to open and travel through portals if Joe, armed with the powers of Doctor Manhattan, could just teleport instantly. So, what’s the deal with the portals. Will they be used by other Seventh Kavalry members to travel to Joe-as-Manhattan’s location as backup? Will they bring in more squids to rain down on people while Joe-as-Manhattan does his thing?

Is Angela Really the Reason all of the Events Began in Watchmen?

Photo Credit: Mark Hill / HBO

Towards the penultimate Watchmen episode, “A God Walks into Abar,” Angela tries to communicate with her grandfather, Will Reeves, back in 2009 while she is in 2019. She’s able to do this through her husband, Doctor Manhattan, who acts as their mediator because, as Doc repeatedly mentions, he exists at all moments in time and thus, experiences time differently. When Angela tries to ask Will how he knew Judd Crawford (played by Don Johnson) was a part of Cyclops, the white supremacist predecessors to the Seventh Kavalry, and how Will knew Judd was hiding a Klu Klux Klan robe in his closet. Doc gives Angela a jarring reply: 2009 Will has no idea who Judd Crawford is — but he does now.

So Watchmen manages to pretzel itself into an interesting “chicken or the egg?” situation (just as Doc puts it) as it ramps up to the finale. Wondering whether Angela is the reason all of the events seen in the series began is the most philosophical approach to the situation, but it’s also interesting to think about. Things get even more interesting when you consider Doc absolutely knew this was going to happen and took zero steps to dissuade her from communicating to 2009 Will through him. Doc could have asked 2009 Will a different question and lied to Angela, or maybe guided her towards another topic, or even zapped himself into the kitchen earlier to avoid doing it altogether. And yet, he didn’t do that; he let it all happen.

What Was in the Capsule That Crashed on the Farm in Oklahoma?

Photo Credit: Mark Hill / HBO

All Superman vibes aside, the moment in Episode 4, “If You Don’t Like My Story, Write Your Own,” Lady Trieu (Hong Chau) bought a farm just so she could have the right to whatever was on it was interesting for a few reasons. It’s interesting not just because we got to watch her calmly but firmly take what was hers whatever the cost (gotta hand it to her: offering up the baby a childless couple desperately wants is cold and calculated AF) but also because, as we watched a mysterious capsule crash-land on the outer reaches of the property, it became clear Lady Trieu knew exactly when this capsule would arrive. However, we don’t know what was in the capsule or why Trieu was so eager to get her hands on it.

What was in the capsule? I’m currently thinking it was Adrian Veidt, a man Trieu idolizes and clearly models her work after. We still don’t know how the two met or what their relationship pre-Veidt’s trip to Europa was like, but the golden statue of him Trieu keeps in her private solarium should be a hint. It’s entirely possible that, not only were all of the Veidt scenes in Watchmen actually showing us the past, but also that Trieu managed to find a way to get a spaceship out to Europa to save Veidt and bring him home.

Then again, it’s it’s not Veidt, who — or what — was in the capsule?

Will Doctor Manhattan Transfer His Powers to Someone Else?

Photo Credit: Mark Hill / HBO

It was repeated more than once in Episode 8 that Doctor Manhattan’s powers are transferable. Episode 8 also made it clear that he was in trouble and he knew the Seventh Kavalry would kidnap him for their own evil plan.

Since Doctor Manhattan has always known he would be taken prisoner by the Seventh Kavalry because he experiences time all at once, is it possible he also transferred some or most of his powers (not all because otherwise he wouldn’t have been able to stay in Cal Abar form for so long nor would he have been able to put up a fight at the end of Episode 8) before he went undercover in 2009?

If so, did he transfer them to Will, allowing him to live until he was more than 100 years old and carry out the actions we see throughout the season? Did he transfer any to his and Angela’s children? Will Angela officially receive all of his powers by the end, possibly using a method involving the pool, which Doctor Manhattan drew her attention to?

What Is The Millennium Clock’s Purpose?

Photo Credit: Mark Hill / HBO

All season long, we’ve gotten a look at the Millennium Clock being built by Lady Trieu. There’s been lots of pomp and circumstance around the official unveiling and turning on of the Millennium Clock but no clear hints as to what the clock does. It doesn’t look like a clock in the traditional sense and any time any character has tried to get a clear answer about what it does, they’ve been met with vague answers.

At the same time, it’s hard to ignore the Millennium Clock is similar to the Doomsday Clock from the Watchmen comics. There, the Doomsday Clock was a symbolic timepiece used to mark the growing threat of nuclear war as the minute hand was moved closer to midnight. What if the Millennium Clock is another symbolic timepiece which instead functions as a way to countdown to an event which saves humanity rather than mark its possible destruction? Or, what if the Millennium Clock is actually the device which plays an active role in saving humanity altogether?

Who Is Lube Man?

Photo Credit: Mark Hill / HBO

How can Watchmen introduce a character like Lube Man and simply not address it for the rest of the season? If you forgot (but honestly, how can you forget?), Lube Man is the name Watchmen viewers dubbed the very skinny, goggle-wearing, silver-suited person who was caught watching Angela, dressed as Sister Night, dispose of the evidence of her meeting with Will Reeves. When Angela gave chase, Lube Man bolted and finally evaded capture by pulling two bottles of a lube-like substance — mid-run, mind you — and dousing themselves with it before sliding into a sewer grate. It was by far the most bananas moment of the season and also so silly. Answers are needed, Damon Lindelof.

The Watchmen Season 1 finale will air on HBO on Sunday, December 15 at 9/8c.

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