'Watchmen': How the show uses elephants as a symbol of intellect through Lady Trieu's treatment for Nostalgia OD
One of the most interesting, yet weird instances in 'Watchmen' episode 7 occurred when Angela Abar (Regina King) traced the pipe that she was connected to, to a door behind which she assumed lived her grandfather Will Reeves (Louis Gossett Jr). Lady Trieu (Hong Chau) had mentioned how the pipe connected to her was helping her flush out her grandfather's memories so that she may heal from the overdose of Nostalgia. This was exactly why Angela had assumed that she was connected to Reeves. However, when she did manage to break the door down, what she saw shocked her, and us. It was an elephant, sedated and imprisoned within the room. The elephant was the being on the other end of that pipe, not a human.
By flushing out Reeves' memories from Angela, into the elephant, Lady Trieu is using the animal that symbolizes intellect. An elephant's memory, in the wild, is also key to its survival. It is their memories that serve them well when they come across elephants that do not belong to their herd and may pose a threat. It is also possible that Lady Trieu is using the elephant as a vessel to hold onto Reeves' memories to possibly find more about his past, his connections to Dr. Manhattan among other things.
Elephants have also been used in the show in other ways before, which also includes the logo of Lady Trieu's Trieu Industries. The logo is the face of an elephant. It is important to note that Trieu's mother Bian My had let her daughter choose her name. According to one of the Peteypedia files, "In her memoir, Bian reveals that she let Trieu pick her own name at the age of five. Her choice was inspired by Vietnamese history. The Trieu of lore, a third-century freedom fighter, was part Joan of Arc, part Minuteman (the revolutionaries who saved us from the oppressive British, silly, not those corny caped crusaders of yesteryear). She was known for her striking appearance, a no-compromise, no surrender personality, and bold statements." This warrior rode on the back of an elephant when she went to war.
Coincidentally -- or maybe not -- Bian My's memoir titled when roughly translated means 'Pachyderm Mom'. Then there is also one of the first references to an elephant in connection to Lady Trieu in episode 3 where Lady Trieu used an hourglass that was engraved with elephants. The most recent reference happens to be that of 'Trunky and Tusky', a children's movie tape where we see young Angela enter a shop to buy the 'Sister Night' tape. Will the sedated elephant tie into Lady Trieu's big plan? That is something that we would have to wait and watch.
The next episode of 'Watchmen' will air on Sunday at 9 pm ET on HBO.