The final moments of 'Watchmen' give rise to a new debate as it reflects the end from the original comic
Spoiler alert for the series finale of ‘Watchmen’
The ‘Watchmen’ comic book series has inspired many debates in the years since its release, but the biggest one revolves around the cliffhanger the series ended with - whether or not the contents of Rorschach’s journal would find publication, exposing the conspiracy that helped avert nuclear catastrophe. Now, thanks to David Lindelof, there’s an entirely new debate to keep fans engaged in endless hypotheticals until the next ‘Watchmen’ story comes along - whether or not Angela Abar (Regina King) has the powers of a god.
While the existence of masked vigilantes has definitely played its part in altering the history of the world of ‘Watchmen,’ it’s the existence of Doctor Manhattan (Yahya Abdul Mateen II) who has changed the world the most. His extensive powers won America the Vietnam War, and his very existence escalated the Cold War and the threat of nuclear annihilation to such an extent that Ozymandias (Jeremy Irons) felt it necessary to save the world from itself - and the rest is (alternate) history.
The endgame this season for both Lady Trieu (Hong Chau) and the white supremacist organization known as Cyclops has been to capture Doctor Manhattan and take his power for themselves. While John Keene Jr. was reduced to a puddle of blood and goop by his lack of protection from atomic radiation, Lady Trieu’s ascension to godhood was interrupted by a deadly hail of frozen squid (because the show is as weird as it is deep) sent by her father.
In the aftermath, Angela, while trying to deal with the loss of her husband, receives one final message from him that was passed on by Will Reeves (Louis Gossett Jr.). “He told me you’d try to save him, but this was the way it had to be. You can’t make an omelet without breaking a couple of eggs” says Will, saying that Angela would know what that means when the time was right.
The messages stumps Angela until later when she sees the carton of eggs she smashed in the middle of an argument with Doctor Manhattan, while he was trying to cook just before the Seventh Kavalry came to capture him. She remembers something he’d said in their very first meeting - that he could theoretically imbue an egg with his powers, passing them on to whoever consumed it. Checking the egg carton, Angela finds that there is one miraculously undamaged egg still in the carton. She steps out into the pool, swallows the egg’s contents, and just before her foot touches the surface of the pool to confirm whether or not she now has godlike powers...the credits roll.
Fans of the original comic were no doubt waiting for a cliffhanger in homage to the original series, but it’s interesting that the cliffhanger is not a question of whether or not Angela would accept the powers, but whether or not it worked. The original cliffhanger was both a question of truth, and justice - would the world find out about the atrocity that Ozymandias committed, and if so, would it bring him to justice (as it turns out, yes, and not for a long time, respectively)? In the case of Angela, it’s a matter of whether or not her husband believed his powers should be passed on, and whether he felt Angela should bear them. Where the first cliffhanger was a matter of truth, and justice, this series’ cliffhanger is a question of love, and faith.
The themes explored in the show, particularly in the episode ‘A God Walks Into Abar,’ may provide enough clues for a definitive answer - or, as will more likely be the case, just enough fuel to keep fans in spirited debate for years to come. The show’s creators haven’t given fans a proper answer, one way or the other - instead borrowing the spirit of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbon’s final panel from the series:
What do you think happens when Angela’s foot touches the water? Let us know in the comments!