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| “ | During Ragnarok, the last battle of the gods, the Soviet Pantheon would take shelter in Metro-2 if the forces of evil should prevail. The Metro was made for the sheep (the metro inhabitants) and Metro-2 was made for the shepherds (the Invisible Watchers) and their dogs. At the very beginning, when the shepherd had not yet lost their power over the sheep, they ruled from there; but then their strength gave out and their sheep ran off. The Gates to Metro-2 was closed forever on a place that now covers the map with a blood-red scar. Those who lived in the Metro forget about Metro-2. But even though the gate to Metro-2 was closed, it certainly did not stop existing. On the contrary, it is all around us. Its tunnels wind with our own. Their stations behind the walls of our stations. The two Metros are inseparable. And those who believe the shepherds could not abandon their herd, say that they are present, directing our every move. And that is the legend about the Invisible Watchers. | „ |
| ~ The supposed "myth" by a Nazi soldier in Black Station about the Watchers. |
The Invisible Watchers, or the Invisible or Unseen Observers, are the main antagonists of the Metro franchise.
The Invisible Watchers are initially purported to be a group of "legendary creatures" in the Metro. However, they are later revealed to be the remnants of the Russian Government and its ruling elite residing within the secretive Bunker 42 installation, who control all aspect of living within Moscow Metro's factions and its residents, in the form of population control. Due to them being the true creators of the Moscow Metro's four main factions, and their involvement in the events of the games and novels, they serve as the main antagonists of the series.
Background[]
Myth[]
The Invisible Watchers are a legend among the Metro inhabitants. The legend says that they roam Metro-2, observing and directing the Metro inhabitants' every move. A Nazi soldier can be heard talking about Metro-2 and the Invisible Watchers in the Black Station. Ulman also pulls a joke about them on Artyom and Miller while in D6.
The Truth[]
The Invisible Watchers are a survivor of Central Metro Command, the prewar government, who fled to Metro-2 during World War III. They are the "shepherds" in charge of the Metro's inhabitants.
They were firstly mentioned in the dialogue between Artyom and Aleksei Bessolov in Bessolov's bunker in "Metro 2035." The Red Line, Hansa, Polis, and the Reich are all puppets (or "dummies," as Bessolov calls it) of Bessolov and the Watchers, who govern all of these factions secretly. This exchange reveals the reality about the metro and its factions. The four factions' conflicts are employed as a kind of "managed conflict," or, more simply put, population control.
Metro Exodus[]
Miller claims to have had direct touch with the Invisible Watchers, which takes place during some of the Spartans' escape from the Moscow Metro. The central command of the Russian national government allegedly sent orders to the Invisible Watchers, who identified themselves as surviving members of the local Moscow administration and operating out of the "Ark" facility.
The Spartan Order was referred to by the Invisible Watchers as the "Moscow" unit of their Russian Special Soldiers, and they maintained that the majority of Russian land had been seized by NATO forces ever since the bombs dropped. They warned Miller that disclosing this knowledge to anybody, even his own men, would result in his execution as a national traitor. According to Miller, the Invisible Watchers directed the installation and upkeep of the radio jammers to make sure that "NATO" could never locate the Metro.
Miller and the other Rangers explored the surface and found that neither NATO soldiers had conquered Russia nor had the "Ark" ever communicated with Moscow (as the "Ark" had never held the Russian government, instead being a den of cannibals). Miller deduces that the Invisible Watchers had fabricated their tale in order to use him to influence the Rangers. The truth is that the jammers were designed to keep Moscow hidden from the outside world, not the other way around.
In reality, the Invisible Watchers had been controlling all of the Metro's factions through similar deceptive tactics, either making them fearful of additional NATO attacks or keeping them engaged in internal conflict so they would never be able to recognise the Invisible Watchers' control over the Metro. As a result, at the expense of the rest of the Metro, the Invisible Watchers are able to live in a state of relative luxury and security.
When Miller learned what had happened to the Novosibirsk Metro, he finally saw why the Invisible Watchers were manipulating the world. The entire human population of Novosibirsk Metro had been exterminated (except from one small child) as a result of a protracted civil war between its leaders and the general populace over a scarce and overused medical supply. The mutants hiding in the Metro picked down the few humans who managed to escape the civil war. The precise reverse had been done by the Invisible Watchers.
They remained unnoticed so that the general populace, which was frequently enraged by the difficult, perilous, and frequently brief existence in the metropolis, would not have an obvious target against which to rebel. To keep the public's attention divided and prevent the creation of an easy scapegoat for the Metro's issues, the Invisible Watchers divided the Moscow Metro into the four main factions (Hansa, Polis, the Red Line, and the Fourth Reich).
To maintain a balance between a population that was large enough to defend itself against the various mutants and other threats in and around the metro and a population that did not place an undue burden on the metro's limited food, water, and medical resources, the Invisible Watchers had instigated regular inter-faction conflicts.
The Invisible Watchers also installed a number of radio jammers to ensure that no sizable outside bandit or other hostile organisation could locate the Metro and attack (or otherwise upset the delicate balance in the population numbers). The Invisible Watchers' ostensibly heinous deeds, albeit frequently on their indirect instructions, had not been done for their personal advantage; rather, they had made sure that the human population as a whole survived and, to some extent, prospered in the Metro rather than being entirely wiped out, as shown in Novosibirsk.
In the good ending of Metro Exodus, Artyom states that the new home for him, Anna, and the rest of the Aurora crew is far too big for them and the order is meant to save all humanity, which strongly implies that Artyom and the Spartan Order are now considering finding out who is hiding behind the Invisible Watchers to free the inhabitants of the Moscow metro.
Members[]
- Aleksei Bessolov - Leader
- Aleksei Zvonariov - Spy
External Links[]
- Invisible Watchers on the Metro Wiki
[]
 Villains
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Invisible Watchers Red Line Fourth Reich Church of the Water Tsar OSKOM Others | ||