Watchmen stand guard, stationed on the walls of civilization, waiting to sound the warning if an enemy approaches.  Their eyes are society’s eyes; they are depended on to be vigilant, selfless, on guard at all times. They are announcers of warning, but they are not perfect; watchmen make mistakes and have weaknesses. They themselves need watching, but who fills that role? Who provides ultimate oversight?

Who watches the watchmen?

The graphic novel “Watchmen” asks this question. The phrase appears throughout the book, coming up again and again, as if to say: “Have you figured it out yet?”. But in fact, the answer is on the very first page, in Rorschach’s journal. To see that, though, we must first see how the book also suggests other possibilities, and rejects them.

In a sense, we all watch the Watchmen. Even as they hide their identities, they are stars, unable to keep out of the limelight. They are public servants, protecting the public and so beholden to the public.  But oversight cannot belong to society. As The Comedian himself quips, they are protecting society from itself. People are the source of the problem, the reason the Watchmen exist. Society watches the Watchmen, but does not watch over them.

In the same comment, The Comedian chides Nite Owl for his preference for fighting costumed foes, instead of “normal” people. It is as if enemies in costume are somehow less human, somehow less part of the society they are protecting. There is an implication that, if donning a costume somehow separated their enemies from society, then they themselves are separate as well. It seems to follow that standing separate as they face such enemies, they should just police themselves. That seems appropriate; the select from society, empowered to protect, could be self-sufficient. Yet as the story unfolds, we see how false this perspective is. It becomes more and more clear the Watchmen suffer no less from the trials of being human than their charges. Self-centeredness, pride, lust, greed — the demonstrations go on and on. The Watchmen may stand apart, but they do not stand above.

Those who stand above society are its legitimate rulers. They come in many forms, but it is the government who should embody that ideal. And in Watchmen, it is the government which finally faces up to the limits of society’s heroes. Under the guise of the Keene Act, the Watchmen are brought under control. No longer are vigilantes allowed, but only those who serve in legitimate manner. But the government is composed of people, just as society at large and the Watchmen themselves. And over time the nature of humanity exposes itself in society’s leaders just as elsewhere. The difference here is the global scale. No individual crimes, no stealthy organization, the expression of humanity’s ills on a global basis threaten to bring an end to civilization, perhaps to all humanity, perhaps even to all life. In fact, this becomes the defining challenge for the Watchmen. What use protecting society from criminals, should society cease to exist?

Might it be that the Watchmen are not accountable, that there is no Judge? It’s tempting to conclude this, that life is all some great cosmic joke, but a joke without a punch line. Lending an air of expectation without resolution, leading to hope, but a futile hope. The sense of this permeates the novel, epitomized by The Comedian, who alone claims to grasp the comedic pointlessness of it all. Yet here we see the ultimate futility of his view, for it is The Comedian himself at his lowest point who calls out “God help us all!”.

Jon starts down this path also: His musings on the futility of life and purposeless of endless work echo those of Solomon. I hated life, because the work done under the sun was grievous to me, for all is vanity and a striving after wind. One might as well take the viewpoint of Veidt’s assistant, and take comfort in pay raises, fashion, and MTV. Jon abandons this view upon realizing the unique value of human life, but the assistant misses her chance. Even as she rejects the idea of an eternal perspective, she encounters the reality of it from an assassin’s bullet.

No, there is one who watches the Watchmen, but we have to go back to the beginning to see clearly.

On page one, we see the prophet of doom walking the streets with his message of unheeded warning. He leaves bloody footsteps as Rorschach condemns society for refusing to take the paths of good men gone before. The blood is The Comedian’s, having fallen to his death. Rorschach’s journal reeks of patience worn thin, of the need for judgment; he refuses to save those who are evil, and looks toward their impending doom.

In a similar manner, the prophet Jeremiah stood appalled at the society of his day. Like the prophet of doom in the street, Jeremiah was ignored. I set watchmen over them, saying “Listen to the sound of the trumpet!” But they would not listen. Exhorted to follow in the footsteps of those gone before, the people refused. See and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is, and walk in it. But they said “We will not walk in it.” He foresaw the destruction of those, like The Comedian, who should have been good leaders.Were they ashamed because of their abomination? Therefore they shall fall… they shall be cast down. Like Roschach, Jeremiah’s patience ran thin. I am full of the wrath of the LORD; I am weary with holding it in. And like Rorschach, he ultimately saw the impending doom. Behold, the LORD is bringing disaster on this people.

In this connection between Roschach and Jeremiah, we see the answer to our question. Who watches the Watchmen? “I set watchmen over them…” It must be the one who set them in place. Jon tried to name this force who set the stars in motion, who shapes all things. The Comedian cried out to this force in his darkest moment. And this force was addressed at The Comedian’s funeral as savior and judge: the Creator.

If the Creator is savior and judge, the watcher of the Watchmen, then he must rise above all else. Above human heroes, above government, and above the best of humanity. In fact, for his judgment to be perfect, he must be perfect, and set apart from humanity with an eternal perspective. Otherwise we would have just another flawed super hero, a mere demigod in tights. This creates a dilemma: How can the imperfect survive an encounter with perfect power? This dilemma manifests itself in the Watchmen’s drive to save people, though they themselves remain flawed.

Nelson Gardner began to see this need when he said “Somebody has to save the world…” Yet his efforts only provided another example of society’s best unable to save themselves. Veidt saw the need when he heard Gardner, and understood the scope of the problem. The Watchmen were put in place to warn and protect, but are not themselves the world’s salvation. Something bigger was needed. Looking at humanity and perceiving “the darkness in its heart”, Veidt saw the need for an enormous sacrifice.

But Adrian Veidt was only a man and did not understand the true enormity of the sacrifice needed. He considered the problem from only this world’s perspective. While Veidt realized the bloody, horrific price to be paid, he paid it with other people’s lives. When Veidt, in his own insecurity, asked Jon to agree that the end justified the means, Jon’s reply was that there is no end. The real problem is that an eternal perspective demands eternal accountability. While Veidt could provide temporal solutions, an eternal solution is needed. Ultimate salvation is not for this time only, but for time without end.

The Creator knew this, and knew the only solution. While Veidt paid the price with other people’s lives, the Creator paid the price with his own.

The human race was saved when a single perfect man died a bloody, horrific death. The Creator looked upon that as the price paid for the world’s depravity, and allowed it to replace the natural result of humanity’s dark heart. The proof of that was the resurrection of that man; the most profound event in history. The death of a single man in place of the eternal death of untold millions. This ultimate saving of the world was not temporal, like Veidt’s solution, but eternal.

Unlike Veidt’s solution though, people have a choice. The Creator’s solution can be chosen or not, by each person’s free will. Each of us can choose to meet Him on His terms, or insist on our own.

Watchmen was fiction, but the reality is that this is the watchman’s call today. To prepare for that inevitable plunge into forever. To be ready, unlike Veidt’s assistant, to meet eternity.