Watchmen by Alan Moore - Thug Notes Summary & Analysis 

Cool fact about the watchmen. Towards the middle of a book is a section called "Perfect Symmetry". If you go to the middle of that section you'll notice two pages which are the same cell shapes across the pages, and if you move outward from there, the cell shapes will be identical. So a page divided into three rows may have a long row on top, two cells in the middle and a long cell on bottom, will be mirrored with the same on another page. It's pretty cool.

I'd really love a Thug Notes on Killing Joke!

Ozymandias is the best antagonist ever. A lot of medium tried to use the "morally grey" trick, but Ozymandias is the only guy that really nailed it.

Essentially, these are what each character represents: - Rorschach is a dentologist. He strives for truth and his perception of what is good. Cares about the weak - Ozymandias is a utilitarian. For him the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. Cares about the greater good - Dr Manhattan is a materialist nihilist. He believes nothing has meaning and bases everything on pure logic and science. Is mostly detached - The Comedian is an absurdist nihilist. He too believes nothing has meaning, the difference between him and Manhattan is he gives in to his savage nature. Cares about nothing but himself - Nite Owl is a humanist. He sees the good in others and believes humanity may be worth saving. Cares mainly for his friends and the weak - Silk Spectre is sexy? She has that crucial moment where she shows Manhattan the importance of life so there's that. Also she shows forgiveness Watchmen is the most philosophically complex book I have ever read. While each character can be defined as each of those philosophies, all of them are taken to the extremes of each philosophy. And it has pictures. Take that Shakespeare

This one was exceptional. I have liked every episode of Thug Notes (and the other shows on this channel) so far, but this one was something special. I always look forward to both your summary and analysis, but the analysis on this one was amazing. I love this channel and hope everything you do is successful, but I have no doubt this one will easily hit a million+ views and draw in enough subscriptions to push you past the million mark there too. It, and you more than deserve it.

I love the book especially because it doesn't tell you what to feel. The reader is allowed to come to their own conclusions about the ending.

I can imagine you being an English professor. I'll pay to attend a class like that.

Missed a lot but can't blame you since Watchmen is dense as hell and there's only so much time. It's commentary on so many things: our place in the universe, the value of life, are humans special, superheroes and vigilantism, right and wrong, meta commentary of real life consequences of superhero lifestyle, determinism and a ton of other things. It's insanely deep.

"Dealin' wit all these loud ass piles of molecules ain't worth the shit"- perfectly worded..and everyday for me.

Between this and Earthling Cinema, I am now hooked on this channel. I want to start up a RU-vid page of my own and I aspire to put out quality stuff like you all. Thanks and please keep it up!

Amazing. In 7 minutes you managed to touch on the most important parts of this complex book, and even fit in a reference to the comedians nihilism.

The graphic novel that told the world that comics are now at the same level as novels....only that its more expensive to produce.

it's funny how the word "Ozymandias" sounds like it was recorded on a different day

I think you missed one of the most important questions of Watchmen. Even with all the questions of fate and uncertainty, the biggest question, we as readers should have is: on what athority do we let these questions of war and peace be answered? None of the main characters (save maybe Lori) are good, or at the very least are so flawed they have no business making these complex decisions. Watchmen gives us a veritable god, and said god has to be convinced to even care about us. Rorschak is a hyper conservative nutbunny motivated by a need to bring justice to the world. He's a domestic terrorist! Dan is a middle aged man living off of parents money whoes undermotivated and undersexed. Even when world peace is, arguably, created, does the fact that the character was successful in his plan give him the right to do this? This isn't just the ends justifying the means, this is ceding out morality to who feels he is the best among us. It's fascism. Hell, the ending is almost self satire. Amidst all the superhero deconstruction, the ending might as well have been Lex Luther successfully hatching an evil scheme. If Lex defeating Superman ended the Cold War would we accept that ending? What does this say about other super heroes? What about governments? What power should protectors have over the people they protect? Is it better that humans make their own mistakes or is it better that a man who punched crime in the face in the 1960s lead us to a better tomorrow? What if some don't want a better tomorrow?

I honor your totally thugged out analysis of my fav graphic novel, sun.

The Epic of Gilgamesh

My man, out of countless other people who attempted to analyze Watchmen, you was the deepest and most thorough one, even though limited by time. Seriously, kudos and congratulations.

This episode was nice and lengthy, just how I like it

A Streetcar Named Desire - Tennessee Williams Plz

Thank you for this! As one newly introduced to Watchmen via the HBO series, I found your video highly informative and easy to understand. 👍🏽

This show so underrated...

excellent as always.

Would love to hear a Sandman one! That series is packed with good stuff.

I know you rarely do "modern" books, but can you PLEASE do House Of Leaves? It's one of my favorite books.

If you're doing graphic novels, could you please do Maus? Pretty please?

I know it would be a long video, but I think A Game of Thrones from A Song of Ice and Fire would make a great episode.

This guy is really insightful, peace and love brother..

The beauty is even deepened by understanding the characters through the extra materials between issues. You see that Ozy is so vain by having the nova express (a paper he owns) come to Karnak to interview him on himself. So “saving the world,” as he justifies his act, is nothing more than an assertion on power. To show that he is like the man he based so much of himself after and can make change in the world. Rorschach is also grey in this way. He claims to be against the killing people, but you can read a paper he wrote as a child where he talks about the Hiroshima bombing and his father being Truman supporter. He says the Bombings were necessary or more people would have died and that what little of his dad he knew, he believed he was a good man and supported his support of right wing presidents. He’s not okay with adrian killing a ton of people because it’s killing it even killing of the innocent. He’s not okay because it’s based on a lie. The right wing stuff is further backed up when he uses the word liberal as an insult and he only reads the right-wing rag the new frontier, which has an anti-Semitic, racist EAC. The books themes are so deep and interesting. I re-read the whole thing including middle material once or twice a year

"YO OZZIE! THE F*CK MAN!?" Why wasn't that a line in the book? xD Michael Moore could've squeezed it somewhere!

V for Vendetta, please.

I wouldn't mind seeing Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream by Hunter S. Thompson

Thank you for covering a majority of books that my high school reads 😭

Have you ever thought of tackling something by H.P. Lovecraft?

Simply one of the greatest literary masterpieces of all time - and thank you for recapping it, Sparky!

Can you please do Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs?

I can't believe anyone disliked this. Fantastic analysis of the best graphic novel ever created.

Well 'ain't that some philosophical shit.

I cannot express in words how much admiration I have for this channel...

Rorschach don't care about innocent people, just punishing evil.

This channel deserves AT LEAST 1 million subs!

Rorschach my main man up there with Batman , delusional unfit sociopaths who fight on the good side !

I have ridiculous ADHD. As much as I love graphic novels it’s legit hard as fuck for me to focus enough to be able to fully retain reading them. All the images make it hard to focus. Somehow I made it thru Preachers entire series but I’ve tried Watchmen for years. I can barely make it past Comedian being killed. Im so glad I found this video. Thank you dude

I'm sure other people have pointed this out, but Watchmen can be interpreted differently by every reader. There are some people who agree most with Dr. Manhattan, Rorschach, Comedian, Ozymandias, Nite Owl II, Captain Metropolis and Silk Spectre II. In agreeing with or sympathizing with any one of these characters one tends to interpret the story differently and gets something else out of it. Therefore, Watchmen itself is a Rorschach Test.

I’m learning more from this channel than I did in 4 years of lit courses

Rorschach: Virtue Ethics Dr. Manhattan/Ozymandias: Utilitarianism

This is seriously my first source for a cursory explanation of classic literature. Thank you Thug Notes.

I wonder if this is what prison book clubs are like.

The Watchmen is a story that only gets better the longer you think about it.

you know what man i'm starting to really like your show. i didn't think i'd like it at first but now yeah i think i do, now keep up the great work!!

I don't get the hate for zack snider's adaptation. it pretty much follows the story beat for beat except the giant squid.

Loved it. I was hungry for longer Thug Notes videos for ages and this one hits the nail in the head so hard. Thank you!

There is only one hero in watchmen. Hint: he has a newspaper stand. Honorable mention for the kid, he is a good person. Grand total of 2 good people. Change my mind.

I still, after all this time, need y’all to know that the captions hold up so well. They’re so good. I need y’all to know how good the captions are. It’s amazing. It don’t matter how much time passes the captions are still amazing.

Did you record this pronouncing Ozymandias wrong, and then went back and redubbed those bits?

Currently writing a paper on Watchmen for a Comics, Graphics, and Novels class at my university. Your analysis helped a ton, loved the video. Keep it up.

A Lie that brings peace is better than the truth that brings chaos

Very very deep down great. I love thug notes. Smart and no dumbing down. Better and as good as great lectures I've heard (like The Great Courses Series ). Can't find the right words. Just...."Damn".

All-Star Superrman!!!!

This has to be one of your best analyses. Watchmen is one of my favourite novels (if you could call it that). You nailed it Greg, thank you for making awesome content.

THE DARK TOWER: THE GUNSLINGER....for your father's sake

This narration is dope! I love how you summarize through the story

Framing Dr. Manhattan for the catastrophe was a better ending in the movie than the faked Alien enemy in the original. Other than that it's a perfectly told story.

The contrast between this video and the ad I had to watch before it made the whole experience even more interesting. The ad was for Dasani sparkly water where this woman says a bunch of simple and perfectly understandable sentences are are basically nonsense if you think about them as a whole.

Before I watch this I just want to say you ARE A GOD of my youtube subscription box, love your content always continue the amazing work please!

Thank you for doing videos on graphic novels like The Watchmen and V for Vendetta!!! Like I've commented before-I love all your vids from breaking down tv/movies, to philosophies, to now discovering you're a book(and comic) lover as well& knowing how to induct humor in to all this---I just want to say how awesome you are! Thank you again! :-D It's really so refreshing to see all this quality art being produced

Good as always, but I felt like you missed one major point of Watchmen: It´s a super-hero comic that denies the possibility of a true hero, super or otherwise. NONE of these clowns is an acceptable hero. For all his god-like power, Manhattan doesn´t do any heroic deed for the entirety of that novel. Rorschach might be very popular for his moral integrity, but it´s also his fault: When he says "Never compromise! Not even in face of the Armageddon!" he totally means that. He would rather see the world destroyed than compromise any of his borderline fascist views. Ozymandias might have changed the world for better from a utilitaristic perspective, but his methods are devious and inhumane. The Comedian was just a thug. All power, but no morality. Now Silk Spectre and Night Owl are the most normal of the bunch, but they admit to only being able to change small events in the world and for them being a hero is mostly a way of dealing with their own identity issues (mother issues for Silk Spectre, self-esteem issues to the point of a sexual fetish with Night Owl), which is a tad selfish in a way.

I have JUST found your channel, and I'm gonna watch ALL of your 'Thug Notes' books summaries because I ain't nobody got time to read all the classics! It's currently 1 A.M. on a Saturday! lol

Oh, but how I love Wisecrack! Great material, man.

Like most of your viewers, I clicked on this because it was "popular on RU-vid" and it mentioned the "Watchmen". But your analysis is somewhat simple, pretty funny, and amazingly deep. How can I subscribe just to YOU, thug?

Since we're going into graphic novel's for this show, I think it'd be great if you could do two of my personal favourites. Whatever Happened to The Man of Tomorrow and James Robinson's Golden Age.

Absolute brilliant observation on how the novel is structured as similar as how Mahattan sees the world. Gereat job.

Can you please do de tocqueville, The killing joke, and Call of Cthulhu

Wow. I watched the To Kill a Mockingbird video and was like "eh, s'alrite kinda too hard on the gimmick". But this. This was a solid (IMO) analysis of The watchmen especially considering the light-hearted jargon-opposed format and the 7minute delivery time. I have read the book as well as seeing the movie and I'm glad you didn't waste time addressing the movie (although it was a fairly good movie as far as super hero movies go to being true to the morals.) Your analysis section in particular was good and obviously there are SO many things to be addressed in this fantastic Graphic Novel but great job for the time span. Even without analyzing it overtly squeezed in the role of the comedian right at the end.

I loved Watchmen but personally I think the comic Sandman deserves to be on the time 100 list more

You rock man. Can't say this is my favorite so far because every one of your vids is top notch.

i like this guy :D

4:25 Or as the Doctor saw it. "People assume that time is a strict progression from cause to effect but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of...wibbly-wobbly...timey-wimey....stuff."

American Psychoooo! Oh, and "Papa Smurf", hahahahaha!

this might be the glorious enduring legacy of RU-vid. Thank You

"Too late! it already happened 30 minutes ago. oooooh shyt!" lmfao 😅😅😆😆😅

I didn't think anyone could make literary criticism entertaining. But you did. Just outstanding.

please do Candide by Voltaire :)

ohh shit, the mightn't been one the funniest but also enlightening videos I've ever watched, that writing was dope g.

Why does you microphone bug out every time you say 'Ozymandias'?

This was great. One of the best summaries of Watchmen I've heard so far. It's funny, but it's funny because it's true.

There is so much more complexity, but I understand you have time constraints. Still, you got the core themes of the work down. This is pretty much exactly what I got out of it, and what I like about it the most.

Rorschach was my favorite character, Dr. Manhatan kinda pissed me off by thinking hiding the truth was going to make a difference in humanity. I believe people deserve to know the truth rather than having "elitist" manipulate lives for the "good".

You're a seriously bright guy. A great, entertaining review executed on a completely fun and refreshing level. I'm going to enjoy your channel if I can expect more like this. Awesome job, dude. Just subscribed with enthusiasm!

*_Rorschach = John Galt_*

This is much better quality than the shorter episodes.

You should do dark knight returns!!

Thanks for making this one! It was great!

I think ozzy's NWO has to end. it would be the only logical reason he'd be named Ozymandias

that convo with jon and adrian still echoes until rebirth

Something (anything really) from H.P. Lovecraft would be wonderful.

Great job. I've read and reread that book since I was 8. Every time I read it I see something new.

What a great episode! Fantastic analysis!

You even do graphic novels! BRAH! you are my hero.

DAMN! This was SO good. Excellent review kid. Yo word up son! SUBSCRIBED!

The summary is always great and the analysis as well