Yes, this is it. Most likely it was the South African guy who first said that someone had hijacked Q’s account that started it. He couldn’t admit he was behind the account or he’d expose and embarrass himself when CodeMonkey (Ron Watkins) took it from him. Then the Watkinses were behind it from then on.
The QAnon docu-series on HBO did an excellent job of showing that this is likely what happened. I’m super interested in that loony movement (as a spectator and worrier) and yet it still presented all kinds of details and info that I hadn’t known. Also, Will Sommer, author of * Trust the Plan: The Rise of QAnon and the Conspiracy That Unhinged America* and the hosts of the QAnon Anonymous podcast (also spectator and worriers) think this is the most likely answer and they collectively know more than almost anyone about the subject.
In the end, it was sort of an accident that it got so big and they just lucked into it.