In their Princeton conversation, Einstein tells Oppenheimer that he'll spend the rest of his life grappling with "the consequences of your achievements." Though Oppenheimer completes everything he sets out to do at Los Alamos, the conviction that initially compels him turns hollow by the time the bomb drops.
Looking back, his first class at UC Berkeley, taught to only one student, stands out. Despite a practically empty classroom, Oppenheimer is filled with excited energy. He talks about light, space, and his black hole theories. He talks about the magic of quantum physics, and there's genuine joy in his voice.
What would have become of him had he stayed in that field of study? What if he had continued his labor organizing and focused solely on quantum theory, leaving the Manhattan Project to others? When he signs on, he believes the bomb is necessary to defeat Germany, but that turns out not to be true. By then, though, he believes he's too far gone. His invention changes the world for the worse, and he even throws some close friends under the bus along the way: Giovanni Lomanitz (Josh Zuckerman) and Haakon Chevalier (Jefferson Hall), who helps raise Oppenheimer's son, are both blacklisted by the government thanks to his snitching.
