Damon Lindelof's WATCHMEN, Coming to HBO

[Richard Dickson]

Maybe not jumping up and down, but he did revel in it.

[ska oreo]

Maybe not jumping up and down, but he did revel in it.

Right.  And you can make the argument that in that moment, Veidt revealed himself to be what he actually was--kind of a monster.

[schwartz]

Also violently disagree with your opinion on Irons’ performance.  That’s absolutely the same man who, 35 years ago, jumped up and down in glee at having “saved” the world.

He didn't actually jump up and down, and it was fundamental to that character that he still needed to ask for reassurance from the only other intellect he truly respected that he had done the right thing and at least tell himself that he had made himself "feel every death".  He was capable of being ruthless, obviously, but he would never treat killing with the glee or petulance with which Irons slaughters the clones.

He was also rather scrupulous about affording his enemies respect.  He took insults from Rorschach and his early loss to the Comedian in stride, never rising to their insults and only moving against them when they threatened to expose his plan.  He wouldn't fart at them, no matter how far beneath himself he thought them to be.  The Ozymandias who gave away a fortune just to challenge himself and spent decades coolly assessing and methodically conquering the threat of mutually assured destruction would likely find escaping his space prison and the Warden to be stimulating problems to solve, rather than whine and rant at them like Cobra Commander.

But again, you'd only have a point if we were talking about the "same" Ozymandias right from when Watchmen the comic ended.  I absolutely buy that, as desperation set in, that Veidt became more callous and less empathetic--less empathetic for a man willing to drop a nuclear bomb on an American city.  People change depending on the circumstances: sometimes for the better, and sometimes for the worst.

You just said it was "the same" guy who reacted a certain way in the comic!

Really, I feel like you are arguing points that are just off center from what the other is saying.  I have repeatedly said that my issue with the shift in characterization is not that I don't believe that Nu-Veidt could developed out of Old-Veidt, it's that I think Nu-Veidt is more simplistic and less interesting than Old-Veidt.    

The more we go around on that particular point, the more it feels like this.

[ChrisW]

Apparently there's a post credits scene this week. My guess is that it's Veidt joining the current time line.

[Overlord]

Maybe not jumping up and down, but he did revel in it.

Right.  And you can make the argument that in that moment, Veidt revealed himself to be what he actually was--kind of a monster.

I think that actual moment came earlier.

[superlaser]

Apparently there's a post credits scene this week.  My guess is that it's Veidt joining the current time line.

Yeah, I’d assume Veidt has to come into the main story by the final episode.