Caution: Spoilers ahead for Watchmen's season 1 finale
The identity of Watchmen's Lube Man has finally been revealed. After an eccentric but well-received debut season, Watchmen has aired its finale episode and every major plot thread was wrapped up before the end credits rolled. Lady Trieu's plan was revealed to be the absorption of Dr. Manhattan's powers into herself, Will Reeves and Manhattan were shown to have conspired against Trieu the entire time, and Adrian Veidt managed to escape his prison on Europa, making it back to Earth just in time to help stop another Dr. Manhattan from being created. Only the very final scene, in which Angela goes to find out whether or not she inherited Manhattan's abilities, is left open to viewer interpretation.
There is, however, one other plot thread that Watchmen's finale failed to pull - the identity of Lube Man. Introduced in Watchmen's fourth episode, Lube Man randomly appears out of nowhere, with no clear intention or allegiance. While out fighting crime in her Sister Night persona, Angela spots this odd vigilante eyeballing her and gives chase but, before she can catch up, the silver onesie-clad hero covers himself in lube and glides through a drain into the sewer, leaving Angela perplexed. Following that dramatic debut, Lube Man's story was largely ignored through the rest of Watchmen's first season, but Peteypedia has filled in the gaps. Posing as an informative tie-in comprising of memos written by Laurie Blake's downtrodden FBI partner, Dale Petey, the website has helped expand upon Watchmen's fictional world.
The final Peteypedia entry comes not from Petey himself, but from the FBI's deputy director, Max Farragut. The memo reveals that, following the events of Watchmen's finale, Dale Petey was fired from the service, and the details of his sacking heavily suggest that he was the Lube Man all along. Firstly Farragut describes finding a "jug of canola oil" in Petey's desk - a substance commonly used as a natural lubricant. Elsewhere, the memo claims that Petey is a "Hero Enthusiast-Obsessive Solipsist" and is also "at risk for vigilante behavior, and most likely, always was" These details essentially confirm that Petey and Lube Man are one and the same.
In fairness, many fans had already come to the conclusion that Petey was the mysterious silver ground-surfer. Both figures were awkward, similar in stature and witnessed investigating Angela's movements, so it makes sense that Petey donned the outfit while staking out one of his official case targets. More significantly, Petey showed a preoccupation with masked vigilantes from his very first appearance, even going so far as to crack out an eyemask on his flight to Tulsa. An earlier Peteypedia entry even referenced a "skin-tight silver suit," proving the agent is either the true identity of Lube Man or part of an ABBA tribute act. Watchmen showrunner, Damon Lindelof had already confirmed that the final Peteypedia post would answer the mystery of Lube Man, so the case can now officially be closed.
While Lube Man was a very minor part of Watchmen's first season, his appearance attracted somewhat of a cult following and, along with the Peteypedia memos, provided an off-screen mystery for fans to dig their teeth into between episodes. This approach perhaps contributed to Watchmen's positive reception and helped accentuate the attention to detail that made the HBO series so intriguing from start to finish.