The Trial Of The Watcher!

OR: "Better Late Than Never..."


There were probably a good number of us back in the day who wondered how the Watcher--one of a race of beings who took it upon themselves to observe significant events and noteworthy races throughout the universe while adopting a posture of non-interference with those they surveyed and contemplated--nevertheless tended to indeed make something of a habit of interfering and interacting in those affairs, while also managing to keep his activities on the down low as far as his fellow Watchers were concerned.

Inevitably, however, the Watcher's past was bound to catch up with him--and that time comes when Captain Marvel travels to the moon to investigate the activities of the Lunatic Legion. But Mar-vell's real surprise--and ours--comes when he heads to the Watcher's dwelling to gain information on the Legion's whereabouts, only to receive quite a different welcome than he expected.

Naturally, our first instinct would be to suspect that the Watcher is under some form of control, since he should have no clear reason to wish harm to Mar-vell, much less wish his death; but more importantly, given his role, he really shouldn't have even the inclination. Yet we'll find that the Watcher is indeed acting of his own free will. What's going on?

Unfortunately, Mar-vell meets the Watcher at a disadvantage, suffering from the effects of a drug-induced "trip" unknowingly inflicted on him by Rick Jones, the human who has been merged with him and who also suffers the drug's effects at his location in the Negative Zone. And so Mar-vell's resistance to the power of the Watcher is hampered, and short-lived.

Shock follows shock, as we see that the Watcher, however remorsefully, has apparently done the bidding of the Legion--a group of renegade Kree who wish nothing less than Mar-vell's death. What's the story here? Had Mar-vell not been debilitated, would the Watcher have slain him? And why? Whatever the Watcher's motivations, we can all agree that he crosses the line here with malice prépensée--and so this being who has often defied the strict code of his race will finally be called to task, when he at last stands before his fellow Watchers in judgment.

And frankly, it's about time!

But since Mar-vell will play a part in that drama, we should first see to his predicament, since our Kree assassins get right to it and perform a method of execution in use by the Kree for 900 years, designed to destroy both mind and body in order to prevent the victim's brain patterns from reassembling even after reincarnation. (Now that's thinking ahead.)

The story of the Lunatic Legion has been dealt with in detail in an earlier PPC post; suffice to say that, thanks to the three-hour limit that restricts the amount of time that Mar-vell can exist in our universe, the execution is aborted by the sudden appearance of Rick in the device, leading to Mar-vell eventually being able to turn the tables on his captors.

Yet that still leaves the issue with the Watcher--who, this time, responds differently to the entreaties of those he previously aided.

And after three simple words -- "I am... unworthy." -- the device the Watcher activates fires a bolt of energy into space; and what follows will enable both Mar-vell and Rick to be witness to a forum that, in our Watcher's case, has seldom if ever needed to be convened.

Thank heaven Rick's Denver concert was four days off--otherwise, who knows what fate would have befallen the Watcher. </sarcasm>

Whatever part Mar-vell hoped to play in the Watcher's situation, however, is rejected by those who insist that what is to come is for their eyes alone. But as Mar-vell and Rick muse on their escape from their forced stasis, they conceive of a way that may, and does, lead to their freedom at last from the circumstances of being trapped in each other's lives.

After Mar-vell deals with an unexpected attack from a "rackcat," an antlered and highly evolved beast that also inhabits this world, he and Rick head to the arena where the Watcher stands in judgment. What follows from the "prosecution" serves as a capsulized history of the Watcher for the uninitiated, all of which certainly seems to make a more than adequate case for his guilt. (And that just takes us as far as 1975, folks.)

This case seems open and shut at this point; but Mar-vell no sooner begins his defense when the rackcat, called Mad-Eye, manages to track him down and attack him on sight, while a young Watcher named Aron (good lord, it's not the same one, is it?) has watched their entire encounter from the beginning and followed it to its apparent conclusion.

Mar-vell is the equivalent of a "public defender" in this matter, and a green one--especially as he was well on his way to making Emnu's case for him. For example, the Watchers' oath to never take an active role in the affairs of those beings they observe comes from their first attempt to do so, resulting in the mutual annihilation of those they sought to help--and so Mar-vell's point about how the Watcher's interference has always aided Earth probably resulted in a lot of shaking heads in that arena, since it could only remind the assembled Watchers of how they had thought their interference was beneficial at first.

Secondly, Mar-vell's suggestion that the Watcher attacked him because he may have thought Mar-vell was an intruder is pure baloney. While the Legion held Mar-vell captive, they shared with him the fact that, upon their arrival, the Watcher welcomed and aided them after hearing their plans for their unsuspecting victim--i.e., there was no misassumption at all on the Watcher's part regarding Mar-vell's reason for being in his home. And finally, there's Mar-vell's audacity in suggesting to the Watchers en masse that they should all follow the example of the one who has already admitted that he was "not worthy"--which may be tantamount to admission of guilt in the Watcher's case.

As for the crisis at hand--will the Watcher do as Rick pleads, and step in to save Mar-vell's life? Well, we still haven't received an explanation of why the Watcher wanted to kill him himself, so perhaps his answer isn't surprising--though with the eyes and ears of every Watcher in the arena upon him, it's made to seem as if his refusal stems from wanting to prove to his peers that he's learned his lesson.

Yet after dealing with Mad-Eye, it seems Mar-vell hasn't learned his, as he advocates more strongly than ever for all of the Watchers to put aside their misgivings and fears and step in to help those races who are clearly in need of it. Thank goodness there are saner minds at hand--especially when Mar-vell need only look to the fallibility of our own Watcher to see how the path he proposes can lead to taking action that once seemed inconceivable.

As for Mar-vell, he feels pretty good about losing, since the rejection of his argument in this case translates to absolution and a reprieve as far as whatever consequences the Watcher might have faced without his participation. But I hope someone will explain to me the witticism intended in this story's final panels, because Mar-vell is obviously quicker on the uptake than your humble host as to why he feels his final words on the subject are amusing.

Gee, Mar-vell, it's no wonder all the points you made in this trial fell flat.

(This post covers the events presented in Captain Marvel #s 37-39.)