Yes, and no reason for Manhattan to spare him, considering what he did to Roscharch. Good point.
FTR, I think I may have spelled “Roscharch” differently every time so far.
As to Dark Knight and Dark Knight Returns, perhaps I’ll start another thread. I had no idea they weren’t related.
villa, I did like V for Vendetta, by the way. Didn’t love it, but at least V had a lot of personality and characterization.
Deciding that humanity should survive and actually caring about whether any one particular person lives or dies are two different things. Despite his change of position on the former, Jon had long since passed the point of no return on the latter. The only reason he disassembled Rorschach was to silence him, and he’d made clear the fact that the only thing that would keep him quiet would be getting put down.
That makes perfect sense to me. Manhattan cares enough about humans to save them, but justice without a notable beneficial consequence doesn’t hit his radar. Humanity doesn’t gain from Adrian’s death, and revenge isn’t an emotion Manhattan will bother with.
I think Doc Manhattan is so far gone that he doesn’t really care about the affairs of humans. If you saw an ant kill some other ants, would you feel obliged to enforce some ant justice?
Ozymandias makes this exact comparison at the end of the book when a reporter asks him about Dr. Manhattan’s political views.
That’s a third one for you to read. The movie made me so angry with how dumbed down it was.Ev
Evie is far better as a 15 year old factory worker and hooker than a successful career woman. And why would the child of a labor activist who had been sent to the campus be allowed to work in Broadcasting?
BTW - even Rorschach knew he had to die at the end. He was smart enough to realize there was no alternative.
What “he” did to Rorschach? Doc killed Rorschach because Doc figured Ozzy was right. “Logically,” said Doc, “I’m afraid he’s right.” He understands what Ozzy did and explicitly says he doesn’t condemn it.
The Dark Knight Returns is about Batman coming out of retirement to save the world. It’s actually got more in common with Watchmen than it does with the Dark Knight movie.
Yes, I understood villa’s point, in that Roscharch himself saw there was no place in this Brave New World for him. What I didn’t understand, really, is why Doc let Ozymandias live. But I also understand killing Roscharch is more “non-interference” than killing Oxymandias.
What does Adrian’s death advance. There’s no deterrent as no one can know. It simply deprives humanity of the services of the smartest man alive.
Why did Ozzy let himself live? Because he thought he was right. Doc agreed.
Right - there’s probably some “You created this mess, you can clean it up” thinking going on.
That’s why I’ve always thought The New Frontiersman publishing Rorschach’s diary would be pointless. Adrian’s still around to suppress & deal with a crackpot right wing rag.
I don’t agree. Manhattan doesn’t factor in the past. There’s no idea of justice. Every action is taken based on the future effect. Killing rorschach prevented him making things worse. Manhattan could still think Adrian’s plan was stupid, but once it had happened, the costs of blowing it open exceeded keeping it silent. Hence the death of Rorschach.
This is the version that was shown on TNT this past Saturday night. I still can’t believe I stayed up to 2 in the AM to watch the film, however.
I liked both the graphic novel and the movie, but I can separate the two mediums more readily than some (apparently) and take them for what they’re worth. I prefer the novel, though.
The “Hitler reacts badly to finding out the ending of Watchmen was changed” was the first Downfall mashup I ever saw. Too bad it’s been taken down. 
(However, my “Hitler gets mad about Doctor Who” mashup still stands after 1 week on YouTube! 
).
I think Hitler was wrong, though: the graphic novel ending probably would have seemed silly on the big screen - the film ending worked better, imho, visually, story-wise, and character-arc wise.
I think it’s slightly more in Ozzy’s favor than that.
Ozzy: “By exposing me, you would sacrifice the peace so many died for today.”
Dan: “Peace based on a lie.”
Ozzy: “But peace nonetheless.”
Doc: “He’s right. Exposing Adrian would only doom the world to nuclear destruction ***again.” ***
Bolding mine. Doc seems to agree not just about how to preserve life going forward, but also about whether the world would’ve done blowed up real good otherwise.
Hmm. I never got the idea publishing the diary was to hurt Adrian. I got the idea it was so maybe, this time, we’d read the book and remember the mistake we almost made.
Maybe.
I don’t disagree. But I don’t think he would have acted any different had the plan been a disaster…killing 80% of the world, for example. If things get worse if it is exposed, he kills Rorschach. What’s done is done, and prior morality doesn’t impact forward looking decisions.
It’s an interruption in that it’s a commentary on the story.
Hee, this thread is 10x more interesting than the movie! 
It’s been said (by Frank Miller, I think) that The Dark Knight Returns was the funeral for the traditional superhero comic, and Watchmen was the autopsy.