Without delineating much on how, despite being the most intelligent species, we humans mess everything up so badly, it is safe to say that we are surprisingly complex creatures. Which is why it is laughable to even make the effort to pin the multitude of variables of individual experiences, emotions, and perspectives into neatly crafted theories, principles, and assumptions—it reeks of a worldview, which is shallow and egotistical. While Watchmen Chapter 1 meditated more on the deconstruction of superhero tropes and captured the geopolitical zeitgeist of the 80s Cold War era, the concluding arc, Watchmen Chapter 2, highlights the futility of attempting to draw a pattern in the simultaneously absurd and unique human existence. Doesn’t matter if you are the smartest man on the planet or the nigh omnipotent, omniscient being afflicted with a god complex who can see through atoms—there is no scope of certainty when it comes to predicting what makes humanity function the way it does.
Spoilers Ahead
Never Compromise: Rorschach Sees in Binary
In the first part, the hyper-cynic vigilante Rorschach aka Walter Kovac’s journal entries were viewers’ guides to the world of Watchmen. His extremist moral superiority, skewed worldview made for an interesting character study— but remained incomplete till the second chapter, which sheds light on his past. The first part ended with Rorschach being caught by the authorities after being framed for killing the former supervillain Moloch. In this part, Malcolm Long, the prisoner psychiatrist steps in for Walter’s profiling. The good doctor makes the mistake of trying to find humanity within an irredeemable, stinking pile of mess, which is Walter’s psyche, and pays the price by losing his own peace of mind as a result. Rorschach saw the ugliness the world had to offer and, in the abyss of human apathy, wanted to hold on to his goodwill in an effort to make a difference. However, for a person who never received the warmth of human connection, the ugliness of the world was too much for Walter to handle, and he found it safer to hide behind the brutal, merciless, misanthropic mindset of Rorschach—until there was no more Walter. Only the black-and-white inkblot mask-wearing crusader of justice remained, who justified every atrocity in the name of necessary enforcement of morality, whose mask is a reflection of his absolutist perspective.
American God Reconnects With Humanity
Meanwhile, the world is aggressively marching towards Armageddon, as tensions continue to rise between global superpowers. The only one with the power to stop the madness, stooge of United States of America – Dr. Manhattan, has left Earth after getting disenchanted with humanity, and his emotionless, cold demeanor has driven his girlfriend, Laurie, aka former superhero Silk Spectre II, to find comfort in the presence of their superhero group teammate, Daniel Dreiberg, aka Nite Owl II. The present geopolitical scenario, the arrest of his former crimefighting partner, Rorschach, the conspiracy behind the recent attacks on former caped heroes, the nostalgia of the good old days of heroic adventures, and his budding romance with Laurie—everything has compounded together to keep Dan a little distracted. When he and Laurie finally get close, Dan’s psychological block affects his actions—and it isn’t until he and Laurie go on a little adventure of their own by donning their old costumes that he is able to get his groove on. The costumed life was a coping mechanism for Walter, while for Daniel it was a passion he harbored after getting inspired by his idol—Nite Owl I, aka Hollis Mason. All excited after taking on a mission for the first time in what seemed like forever, Dan proposes he and Laurie break Rorschach out of prison. The duo manages to free Walter, who, by then, has already made a bloody mess out of three of his former criminal adversaries who tried to take revenge against him.
Right at this moment, Dr. Manhattan, aka Jon Osterman, arrives to burden Laurie with his past-present-in-a-flux disillusionment and requests her to join him in his citadel on Mars. Jon is able to vaguely predict something terrible is going to befall the world, but finds his vision of the future blocked by temporal/spatial distortion of some kind. However, Jon isn’t really interested in helping humanity to avert whatever crisis they will be facing next, as Laurie’s separation from him has eliminated the last bit of connection he felt with humanity. Laurie tries to talk sense into him and to convince him to help the people in need, only to find Jon increasingly jaded by the very notion of life, which he has started to consider to be extremely overrated. Jon’s god complex has robbed him of his humanity; his powers allow him to see things with more clarity, but with a total lack of appreciation for life. Jon finds the barren landscape of Mars, with its geological transformations, to be more interesting than the lives of squabbling humans on the blue dot.
Jon has lost his capacity for feeling emotions and sees human life as a fleeting, insignificant speck of dust in the grand scheme of the cosmic order, which makes his detachment from Earth that much stronger. However, as Laurie has a crucial, life-altering revelation by peeping into her past, Jon finds the phenomenon of life to be interesting again, in his own curious, unpleasant way. Laurie realizes that Edward Blake, aka Comedian, the man who she abhorred throughout her life for trying to rape her mother, Sally, was really her father. While Laurie’s world is turned upside down and crumbles like Jon’s citadel on Mars as she wonders how her mother could find it in herself to forgive the person and get into a relationship with him as well, Jon finds the ordeal extremely fascinating. Sally’s act of forgiving Blake and mothering a child with him adds a level of complexity to human life that even Jon’s all-perceiving, all-analyzing, omnipotent mental capacities cannot fully fathom. He is hit with a feeling of shock and wonder for the first time in a long time and interprets the mere existence of life as the rarest of rare thermodynamic phenomena. Every living being, in its own capacity, is unique and worth observing—a poignant realization that helps Jon to find humanity interesting once again, as he consoles Laurie by assuring her of how special her own life is.
Ozymandias’ Masterplan Explained
Meanwhile, the news of Rorschach’s release triggers a bunch of gangbangers to spread wanton violence, and they end up breaking into Hollis Mason’s house and beating the former superhero to death—as an act of defiance against costumed crimefighters. The news results in Dan having a temporary mental breakdown, but he manages to pull himself together to investigate the murder mystery/anti-superhero conspiracy with Rorschach, and they unearth a heinous plan that ties to Adrian Veidt, aka Ozymandias—the smartest man alive.
Realizing that humanity is teetering on the verge of all-out nuclear warfare, Veidt had devised a plan that will unite the opposing global superpowers against a common threat, thereby allowing humanity to avert an impending crisis by banding together. The caveat? Well, the plan simply advocates killing millions as inevitable collateral damage to save billions. For a deconstruction of superhero narratives, Veidt’s masterplan in Watchmen Chapter 2 as well as in the source material itself is pretty comic-bookish, which is another sly jab by writer Alan Moore, whose criticism against funny pages knows no bounds. Veidt’s plan unfurled itself in a twofold process: he had brought renowned writers, artists, and researchers to his private island to create a cephalopod monstrosity that, right off the bat, looks alien in appearance, and imbued it with telepathic powers. Veidt planned to drop it in the heart of New York City, thereby creating a crisis of unprecedented nature, which would force all of humanity to work together to stop such a supposed extraterrestrial threat. Needless to say, none of the creators or Veidt’s associates were left alive, as Ozymandias took care of loose ends. The second phase of his plan was to divert, and possibly send the biggest threat to his plan, Dr. Manhattan, into exile. It was Jon’s apathy and callousness that let things escalate to this point, and Veidt couldn’t afford having him ruin his chances of ensuring world peace. Through well-planned libeling by planting the Manhattan-causing cancer hoax, Veidt systematically aggravated Jon’s detachment issues with humanity.Â
The crafty business on Veidt’s part was to use Jon’s own powers to make strides in transportation technology, which he planned to use to send the monstrosity to New York. As for how he blocked Jon’s future sight abilities, Veidt had used tachyon particles to hide from Manhattan’s sight. Eventually, Dan and Walter confronted Veidt in his private facility, Karnak, located in Antarctica—not before Walter had a chance to pen down his final entry in his journal and leave it in the mailbox, where he implicated Veidt to be the mastermind behind all this.
Was The Cost Of Peace Worth It?
Upon questioning, Veidt proudly proclaims he had set his plan in motion even before Dan and Walter had even considered approaching him. As the cephalopod monster is unleashed upon New York, millions die in an instant by psychic blast, and Jon arrives at the location with Laurie to witness the sheer, devastating spectacle. Jon teleports with Laurie to Karnak in order to apprehend Veidt, who manages to disintegrate the former by recreating the intrinsic field accident. However, that doesn’t stop Jon in the least, as he reforms within seconds to corner Veidt.
The most impressive part of Ozymandias’ grand plan is showcased at this moment, as he shows Manhattan and Co. how well his plan has worked. As the world cowers in the vicious attack and reels from the tragedy, the global superpowers join hands against the supposed extraterrestrial threat posed by the monster. For the first time in a long while, the world feels more united than ever, and Veidt plans to build a lasting utopia upon it. If Jon and his costumed friends decide to expose Veidt’s actions, they will inevitably undo the peace that came at the cost of the death of millions. Veidt’s irrefutable logic prompts Laurie, Dan, and Jon to agree with him—but with his strict adherence to his principles and morals, Rorschach cannot let Veidt go scot-free. He proceeds to leave the facility to expose the truth to the world, only for Jon to approach him, and after a moment’s hesitation, disintegrate him. One more body added to the pile for the greater good. A distraught Dan watches his friend meet a gruesome end, but there’s nothing he can do about it—he too believes in keeping the sanctity of such a variety of peace.
Veidt’s plan proves to be effective, and even though it raises major ethical questions and implications, it ultimately is a fairly common practice in geopolitics to sacrifice a few to save the larger whole. Jon meets Veidt for the last time to inform him that he is leaving this galaxy for good, this time to settle in one with fewer complications—and he is interested in creating life on his own as well. Despite being so sure and confident about his master plan, Veidt needs a verbal confirmation from the good doctor; he asks Jon whether he did the right thing, whether everything worked out just fine in the end. Before leaving, the only advice Jon can impart is that nothing ever ends—thereby poking at Veidt’s uncertainties about the effectiveness of his actions. Through his experiences, Jon has learned that the effort to assess the nature of human existence is a futile attempt to make sense of the most unpredictable, inexplicable phenomenon in the cosmic order. His own powers have made him realize how time and space aren’t bound by conventional patterns, there is no true end to anything, and similarly, human history has a tendency to repeat itself. Veidt’s peace will not be everlasting; humanity will find something to bicker and clash over once again. Veidt can bask in his heroic glory for a brief period of time until the realization hits him hard. Jon had gained back the humility of realizing that, in the grand scale of nature and the cosmos, he too is a puppet like every other living being. Veidt still believes that he is in control because he hasn’t been humbled yet.
Laurie and Dan leave their old life behind to adopt new identities and live together, while Laurie questions her mother about her father’s identity but assures her she doesn’t hold any grudges or pass judgment for whatever Sally did in the past. In the final moments, Rorschach’s journal ends up in the crank files of a small-time publishing house called New Frontiersman, and it is indicated that someone is going to take it up in search of news. The ending leaves it uncertain whether Rorschach’s truth will end up becoming public knowledge, thereby foiling Veidt’s foolproof plan sooner than expected. But in all honesty, it doesn’t matter; given Rorschach’s reputation as an extremist nutcase, no one is going to buy his words, and even if people do, they have a way to make peace with the most troubling truths.
Black Freighter Subtext Significance
Just like the source material, Watchmen Chapter 2 focuses on the Tales of the Black Freighter, a pulpy pirate comic that is read by a kid named Bernie. According to writer Alan Moore, in the world of Watchmen, the existence of real-life superheroes resulted in a lack of interest in superhero comics, and in their place, adventure-oriented pirate comics stayed popular. But even aside from that, Black Freighter acts as a metaphor for the central narrative, as the story follows a sailor whose horrid experiences during his time at sea force him to lose his touch with reality. He believes that his family is in danger of being apprehended and killed by the unearthly crew of the Black Freighter, and in order to reach his home, the sailor goes through a hellish experience. However, his journey transforms him into the very monster he sought to guard his family from, and he ends up killing his wife in sheer paranoia, disillusionment, and confusion. Ultimately the sailor joins the demonic Black Freighter crew, having nowhere to turn to, and such is the fate of the crime fighters in the Watchmen. People like Comedian, Dr. Manhattan, Ozymandias, and Rorschach have been transformed by their experience in a way that their initial motive of protecting those in need has been lost, like their own humanity. They have jeopardized the lives they swore to protect in the name of justice, prompting us to ask the perennial question, Who Watches the Watchmen? In this way, the Black Freighter narrative acts as a subtext to the main storyline and is a direct commentary on the role of authoritative forces in the existing world order.
