Headscratchers / The Omen (1976)

• Why does Robert Thorn get a hero's burial at the end of the film? I mean, sure he was a good-hearted man and a good ambassador, but the police walked in on him attempting to kill a child. His child, as far as they knew. On the grounds of a church! We know Damien is the Antichrist, and although it's an appalling idea to kill a child, better to cut him down in his prime to prevent the terrible things he does in the sequels or, if you're feeling sympathetic, to save him from following his father's evil destiny, but nobody else knows that. As far as the world knows, he snapped and tried to kill his own child in the middle of a church for absolutely no damn reason at all. I don't know about you guys, but I'm pretty sure child murderers don't get off that easy in real life.
  • Robert Thorn was a very powerful diplomat, and almost definitely had powerful friends and allies. They likely covered it up, as it would've been a PR nightmare.
  • They may have believed that Robert had gone mad from grief over the death of his wife, and that it was an act of insanity rather than malice.
• Why does the priest tell Robert Thorn that his baby had died and encourage him to adopt Damien, when he could just have given him Damien and told him that this was his child? Robert wasn’t present for the birth, Katherine wouldn’t have known, and it would remove the risk that Robert would decline to adopt Damien. Keeping the real Thorn baby alive, and in the care of Damien’s followers, would also have given them a hostage in case the Thorns learned about Damien’s true origins.
  • Robert Thorn was a smart, deductive person, while his wife was likely not. Damien looked enough like Thorn to fool his mother maybe, but possibly not Thorn, thus it was better for them to tell Thorn a half-truth then to just try to pass Damien off as his living son which he would undoubtedly catch on. His concern for his wife's happiness and sanity would be all that was needed for him to maintain the deception, and thus there would be little risk for him to decline the offer. Also a living Thorn heir would be a constant threat to Damien's intention to inherit all of Thorn's power and wealth and carries too many risky factors (what if the child escaped and underwent a blood test? What if they were found out?). Also it was implied that the coven that arranged Damien's conception and the real baby's murder fell apart and they were all dealt with by Satan once they had outlived their usefulness, so they were in no position to keep a hostage in their care for the rest of Damien's intended career.