HBO’s Watchmen has given us question after question since the series began, but perhaps the one still baffling most fans is who is the mysterious Lady Trieu, and what is her connection to Adrian Veidt?
Lady Trieu (Hong Chau) first makes her appearance in episode 4, where she offers a couple $5 million and their own bioengineered child if they are willing to hand over their house and 40 acres of land. It is here that the audience gets the sense that Trieu is of course rich and powerful, but also intelligent and possibly capable of something that could change the world.
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Indeed, Trieu was raised by her mother to be “the world’s smartest woman, brighter than a sky full of stars, a redemptive blessing to the world planet,” according to HBO’s official Watchmen extra materials Peteypedia. Trieu appears to have accomplished this with her update of Veidt’s (known as the superhero Ozymandias) memory drug, Nostalgia, which allows users to experience past memories in the form of digestible tablets.
It does seem coincidental that Trieu purchased Veidt’s company in 2017, just five years after he mysteriously disappeared to a prison at a currently unknown location. Though Trieu had made millions off of her update to Nostalgia, we see through Angela Abar’s (Regina King) overdose on the drug, that Nostalgia can get pretty dangerous. Trieu eventually paid a hefty sum to victims after a class-action lawsuit was filed against the company, according to Peteypedia.
While Trieu’s adventures in Nostalgia may be over, her space projects and her giant Millennium Clock (is it a time machine?) still loom over Tulsa. Moreover, there’s also the question of her heritage. It was revealed in episode 7 that Lady Trieu's teenage daughter Bian is actually a clone of her grandmother, Bian My, and that Lady Trieu is feeding her memories of her past life. Add in that we still do not know the identity of her father, though there’s rumors it might The Comedian, aka Edward Blake, and Lady Trieu seems even more intriguing.
Fans have also begun to theorize that it’s actually Veidt, not Blake, who is Trieu’s father. The evidence? Trieu calling him a “seed of inspiration,” and some have suggested that instead of that note that Veidt made out of the dead clones, cut off at “Save me D—” says “Save me Daughter!” instead of “Save me Doctor!” as many had originally believed. Whoever Trieu’s father is, she has stated that she has every intention for her father to be present when she unveils her Millenium Clock.
If you’re tempted to look to the original Watchmen comics, save your efforts, as Lady Trieu is purely a creation for the TV show’s alternate history. You’ll have to watch the season finale for any more information on Trieu, which airs Sunday, December 14 at 9 p.m. ET.