5. The Indifference of God
We empathize with Doctor Manhattan; the show is scripted and shot in such a manner that it’s impossible to feel otherwise. But even so, his negatives are evident: He has a casual, almost callous indifference to the immediate effect his actions have on other people. This is encapsulated by his Europa experiment, and the multiple people he created to live in his manufactured paradise. Once he grew emotionally discontent with their unfailing worship and regard for him, he abandoned them, and left them without a purpose to continue existing.
Part of the reason for this mindset is his perception of time. As in the comics, Doctor Manhattan experiences all time–past, present, and future–simultaneously. In his mind, that which will happen has already happened, and there’s nothing he can do to alter the path or change it.
And so, when Doctor Manhattan discusses the “optimal outcome” with Will Reeves, it’s important to remember that a semi-god like Doctor Manhattan thinks in big terms. A million lives might be a drop in the bucket next to a billion lives, and it might be necessary for evil to win in the short term so that good can triumph later on. His callous abandonment of Europa could be part of this–he traumatized these people he created, knowing that they would subsequently keep Veidt imprisoned, against his will, for nearly a decade as part of some larger plan.
In the final episode of Watchmen, prepare for the worst (even though this, in the larger scheme of things, is also relative). As Will Reeves commented to Lady Trieu, Angela is going to hate him once all is said and done. Senator Keene may become superpowered. Millions or even billions more people may die. But in terms of scope, it might actually be the “best outcome,” even if we struggle to see exactly how.
