This week, Peacemaker had its grand reveal of a twist that was subtly built up over the course of a season. But at least one clue was so subtle, it didn’t even make the fan-created “list” of proof until after the fact. Spoilers follow, but hey, you shouldn’t have clicked on a link about the twist in Peacemaker.
The twist was, of course, that Peacemaker’s “ideal world” was actually an all-white country where the Nazis seemingly won World War II and have now imprisoned or killed all minorities. What fans noticed before all this is that it was being set up in a number of ways through practically the first few minutes of John’s time in the alternate world. Such as:
All White People – Fans noticed what Emilia Harcourt noticed almost immediately, that there were no non-white people anywhere. Not in town, not at ARGUS, nowhere. Fans noticed, she noticed, and that was one of the big clues that actually made it into the show, outside of when things became really obvious.
No Flags – This was the full “reveal” clue, an American flag with a swastika on it. Before this, there were no American flags anywhere in smalltown America, nor at the government agency ARGUS that was show. Red, White and Blue is still around, but the Nazis co-opted that.
No Eagly – While an eagle was in fact one of many symbols the Nazis used in their iconography, it wasn’t a bald eagle, and as such, Peacemaker did not have an eagle sidekick. His brother didn’t seem to think it was a bad thing, but the course of events that led him to get the American symbol in the real world clearly never happened.
Heroic Father – While the initial theory may have been that in this world, his father was a hero because he was not a white supremacist, the idea then was that he was a hero because he was a white supremacist, as was, of course, his family, as we now know.
Around the House – A portrait of a German Shepard. A book called The American Century. Even an ashtray that was vaguely shaped like a swastika, that maybe fans were not reading into after all.
Resistance – In this nearly perfect world, what exactly was a domestic terrorist resistance group resisting? And why were they targeting government building specifically? Well, now we know.
Blüdhaven – This was a one word, but very big clue. The name of the DC city was pronounced the German way rather that “Bloodhaven” which is how it’s normally pronounced in America-speak.
The Dance (see you next week) – Some fans are saying that Peacemaker did an arm gesture that translates to a swastika in the first seconds of the dance, but it sort of forms…an H instead. But there has been a theory that the lights dancing around the “grid” pattern this season could be later illuminated to form a swastika. So see you next week. I also wonder about the “mask off” moment with his father, but that may be a bridge too far. Still, you can see this everywhere now.
Well done, James, well done. Even if some guessed it, it was still set up well.