WARNING: The following article contains spoilers through the fourth episode of HBO's Watchmen, "If You Don't Like My Story, Write Your Own," which aired Sunday.
Ever since its series premiere, one of the biggest mysteries in HBO's Watchmen has been what, exactly, Adrian Veidt, the former Ozymandias, is up to. While most characters from the series have crossed paths in one form or another on the television series, Adrian has been all alone in his castle, surrounded only by his faithful, cloned servants. We've seen him celebrate a mysterious anniversary, write and put together a play on Doctor Manhattan's origin, grow tomatoes, tangle with a masked caretaker and seemingly try to build some sort of suit that would allow one to survive in space.
To the world of the Watchmen series, Adrian Veidt has been legally declared dead, but the truth of the matter is, as revealed by the Peteypedia files, the intelligence agencies have no idea where he is. And neither do we.
But now, in the series' latest episode, "If You Don't Like My Story, Write Your Own," we find out a little bit more about what Adrian is up to, and while it's just as curious and baffling as previous episodes, it may provide some context. Mainly, what we see in this latest chapter has us wondering if, perhaps, the former Ozymandias is not on Earth... but somewhere else in the solar system entirely.
In Watchmen's latest episode, we catch up with the former Ozymandias after he's had what he himself describes as a rough night. Evidently, he killed his entire cloned supporting staff in a fit of rage, later explaining that it's now been four years since he's been trapped on the grounds of his castle. While he admits he first thought of it as a paradise, he now sees it as a prison. But, as we've come to learn from the presence of his caretaker, as well as whatever the hell he is up to, Adrian is trapped and looking for a way out.
Previously, we've seen Adrian outfit his servant Mr. Phillips with a test space suit. Unfortunately for the butler, Adrian was unsuccessful in creating an outfit capable of surviving a thinning atmosphere -- for the time being. However, that hasn't stopped him from trying to escape. Now, he's using a catapult to measure the distance at which a body can travel. From the looks of it, it appears Adrian might be trying to escape some force field or invisible barrier. But the real question isn't why.
Where is this castle Adrian Veidt has been trapped in for the last four years? The early assumption was that he was building some sort of flight suit in the hopes or perhaps reaching Mars, where he would be able to reconnect with former Watchman Doctor Manhattan. However, what if it isn't Doctor Manhattan that is on another planet, but Ozymandias himself?
In fact, a clue as to his whereabouts may be in "If You Don't Like My Story, Write Your Own." When his servants catapult another body into the sky, Adrian watches it travel through his telescope. As he looks through the device, the episode transitions to the next scene by having the scope fade into the shape of the Moon, in the night sky over Tulsa, Oklahoma. Therefore, this transition could be hinting that Ozymandias is actually trapped on the Moon.
It's certainly an outlandish theory, but it's also one that makes sense. It would explain why Adrian is so desperate to get out, and why he's keen on building a device to survive the freezing depths of space. While luscious green pastures aren't exactly a commodity on the Moon, we wouldn't put it past the abilities of the Smartest Man on Earth to build a man-made, self-contained biosphere on the satellite moon.
Given his status as the original graphic novel's villain, we assumed Adrian was up to his old ways and manipulating events once again. But perhaps, after all this time, he simply retreated to a quiet life away from all the drama. And now, he's looking to get out. Or back in, that is.
Developed by Damon Lindelof, HBO's Watchmen stars Jeremy Irons, Regina King, Don Johnson, Tim Blake Nelson, Louis Gossett Jr., Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Tom Mison, James Wolk, Adelaide Clemens, Andrew Howard, Frances Fisher, Jacob Ming-Trent, Sara Vickers, Dylan Schombing, Lily Rose Smith and Adelynn Spoon. The series airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET/PT.