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This week's episode of HBO's Watchmen was full of answers and, as it turns out, we were right about one of our biggest and most pervasive theories: Will Reeves was actually Hooded Justice, the only member of the Minutemen to never be officially unmasked. But, in true Watchmen style, that major confirmation just led to more mysteries revolving, specifically, around his relationship with Lady Trieu. What is Trieu's actual endgame and what does it have to do with Will's past? How do the Cyclops' mesmerism and mind control schemes connect to whatever the 7th Kavalry is planning in the modern-day? And where does Angela fit into everything? We've got some ideas. Here are five major theories about the future of Watchmen, spinning out of Episode 5, "The Extraordinary Being."
1. American Hero Story is using the Cyclops mesmerizing tech.
One of the most troubling revelations in this episode was the existence (and successful implementation) of mind control technology by The Cyclops, a KKK-offshoot hoping to use it to provoke interracial violence in Black communities. We also see that the tech works in an incredibly simple form in 2019--Will essentially uses a flashlight to brainwash Judd into killing himself, so it certainly seems like there have been some pretty major developments in the field. Mind control technology could essentially be anywhere--even in the "newly legalized HD TVs" that Lady Trieu provided to everyone within Tulsa's tri-county area. And if that tech is embedded within the TVs, it doesn't seem like too far a stretch to look at a show like American Hero Story--something that absolutely everyone seems to be watching--for some sort of coded, brainwashing message. The major question is: To what end? The Cyclops obviously wanted to spark a race war, but if Lady Trieu is co-opting their methods, is she after the same thing?
2. Bian is actually a clone of Lady Trieu's mother.
An article in this week's Peteypedia update confirmed that Lady Trieu's mother was an eccentric "parenting guru" named--wait for it--Bian. And, interestingly enough, that Trieu somehow "doesn't have" a father. While it's certainly possible that Trieu's daughter Bian was given her name to honor her grandfather, it seems just as likely that there's something more insidious at play here. Knowing what we know about Lady Trieu's cloning capabilities, it would certainly seem possible that Bian, the daughter, is actually a clone or duplicate of Bian, the grandmother. That would give even more context to her strange IV medication and the fact that she somehow seemed to have a nightmare about experiencing the Vietnam war. But this raises more questions than it answers. Namely how Trieu herself fits into the scheme. What would cloning her mother actually accomplish? Why does Bian, like Trieu herself, seem to have no father? Is Bian in on the scheme or is she being manipulated as part of something much bigger?
3. Lady Trieu tampered with or influenced Veidt's memories.
The circumstances behind Lady Trieu's connection to Adrian Veidt are one of Watchman's biggest and most confusing mysteries, and this week they only got more bizarre. From the Peteypedia, we learned about Trieu's completely bizarre childhood and the fact that her mother raised her while idolizing the principals of Richard Nixon, The Comedian, Doctor Manhattan, and of course, Adrian Veidt. It's an eccentric list of "heroes," to say the least. Both Nixon and The Comedian are dead and Doctor Manhattan is, functionally, a god, so it would be next to impossible for her to have any sort of substantive connection to them, but Veidt is just a human man--and one that Trieu or her mother could have had some contact with prior to his "disappearance." Is it possible that Trieu somehow utilized the Nostalgia-based memory harvesting tech on Veidt to learn his secrets? If she is indeed the person keeping him trapped on Europa, she'd definitely have access to him even now. And literally experiencing their memories is certainly one way to get a leg up on your business competition.
4. Manhattan isn't actually on Mars and Trieu's satellite images are fake.
We've known since Episode 3 that Trieu was responsible for the Manhattan phones, but the Peteypedia this week confirmed that she's also the one who put the satellite that watches him "build and destroy sandcastles over and over" on Mars into orbit. The article jokes about Trieu being a "fan," but we think there might be more to her apparent obsession than just idolization. Trieu is, functionally, the person in charge of any and all Doctor Manhattan-based news and communication. The world believes that he's still on Mars because Trieu says he's still on Mars. But everything she's providing as evidence can be faked. And it certainly doesn't seem like anyone is doing much fact-checking. But if Doctor Manhattan isn't actually on Mars, where is he? And why would it be important to hide?
5. Judd's grandfather was involved in the massacre, that's why will killed Judd
Judd's grandfather, Dale, was a member of the KKK--it's part of Judd's "legacy," as he calls it and not something he seems at all ashamed of. Sure, he might keep grandpa's Klan robes in a secret compartment in the closet, but he still keeps them. It's starting to seem like that unapologetic reverence for his family history may have been what inspired Will to kill him. We learned this week that Will's trauma for surviving the Tulsa Race Massacre in 1921 is what fueled him to become a cop, and later, what pushed him to become Hooded Justice. Dale was, according to the Peteypedia, a Tulsa sheriff who served for over 55 years--making it more-than-likely that he was a cop during the Massacre. Killing Judd may have been an act of retribution in Will's mind. But if that was the case, why would he have waited so long? And what does his partnership with Lady Trieu have to do with it?
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