'Watchmen' Episode 9 'See How They Fly': Adrian Veidt's monologuing skills are what makes him a better villain than Lady Trieu
There's one thing that's a constant in all superhero stories no matter how realistic or gritty it might be and that's the megalomaniacal villain. The 'Watchmen' comics had Ozymandias / Adrian Veidt and Damon Lindelof's 'Watchmen' HBO series has Lady Trieu (Hong Chau).
Spoilers ahead for 'Watchmen' Episode 9 'See How They Fly'
In Episode 9 'See How They Fly' we finally got to find out the truth about Lady Trieu and her plan to save the world. We learned about her origins as the daughter of Adrian Veidt (Jeremy Irons) and about her plan to steal Doctor Manhattan's godlike power for herself. But most importantly, we learned that despite what she might have believed, Trieu was never a match for her father.
Trieu does constantly seem to be one step ahead of Veidt throughout the episode and but the one thing at which Ozymandias was clearly better than his daughter was the final monologue. Sure, they both brought a theatrical flair to their monologues but when Ozymandias revealed his master plan in the comics, he did so after already having succeeded and that made all the difference in the world.
Meanwhile, Trieu took the time to put on a show, teasing and playing with the 7th Kavalry, showing off how brilliant she is. Her monologue bought Veidt enough time to stab her in the back with his squid rain and prove once and for all that he is the smartest person on the planet, not because he had the better plan but because he actually pulled it off.
In a way, the reason why Veidt's plan in the comics succeeded was because as narcissistic as he might be Ozymandias was never as arrogant as Trieu, and that's saying a lot because he is extremely arrogant. Trieu believed she could not be defeated, so she wasted time with grandstanding and spectacle instead of just executing her plan before anyone could stop her.
It's a mistake every single supervillain since the dawn of comics has committed. Every single one, that is, except Adrian Veidt.
'Watchmen' Episode 9 'See How They Fly' aired on HBO on December 15.