Watchmen fans were given a doozy of a plot twist in last week’s episode, when it was revealed that Jon Osterman/Doctor Manhattan has been hiding in plain sight as a member of the show’s ensemble. The nature of that reveal – and exactly how a blue superhuman was able to blend in to the world of Tulsa, Oklahoma – is answered in a pretty profound way across this week’s episode, “A God Walks Into Abar”. In the process, the series provided a surprising answer to one of its biggest unanswered questions – how did Adrian Veidt/Ozymandias (Jeremy Irons) end up in a clone-filled country estate on another planet. Spoilers for this week’s episode of Watchmen, “A God Walks Into Abar”, below! Only look if you want to know!
The episode chronicled the nonlinear love story between Jon (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) and Angela Abar/Sister Night (Regina King), which began with them meeting in a bar in Saigon in 2009. Jon began to tell his origin story — including the fact that, as a boy, Jon met a young British couple (who look a lot like Mr. Phillips and Ms. Crookshanks) who taught him about love and creation, and asked that he go out in the world and make something beautiful.
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Decades later, Jon fulfilled this promise, beginning to create life on the moon of Europa. Jon constructed a lofty English estate (inspired by the one he met the couple at), and modeled his proverbial “Adam and Eve” after their likenesses. Eventually, Jon grew bored with the idea of ruling over this domain on Europa, and abandoned it.
Later, when trying to find technology that would allow him to suppress his gold-like powers, Jon made a visit to Adrian Veidt in Antarctica. Veidt confirmed that he had engineered the technology to so thirty years prior, but asked for something in return. Veidt mentioned that he was bored with humanity after saving it from nuclear war years ago, and wanted to go to a place where he would truly be appreciated. Veidt asked Jon if he would transport him to this English estate on Europa, and Jon agreed.
So, the answer to the question of “who brought Veidt to Europa” is…himself, with the help of Jon. Of course, as we’ve seen in the Ozymandias scenes scattered throughout the series, Veidt grows increasingly bored with his time on Europa, and tries and fails to make an attempt to escape because “God has abandoned” everyone on Europa. Considering the fact that Veidt gave Jon the technology to forget that he’s Doctor Manhattan — essentially leaving Veidt stuck there until Jon remembers to check on him — that adds an interesting extra wrinkle to his time there.
What do you think of the circumstances of Adrian Veidt being stuck on Europa? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!
Watchmen airs Sundays at 9/8c on HBO.
