How has Alien: Covenant affected your personal canon?

[Acid_Reign161]

We have no idea how long it's been dead because apparently that's a space suit, not a living organism (another thing I hope gets changed). It could easily be less than ten years.

That's something I'd have a hard time buying (personally); the 'suit' is organic, it has a skeleton/skull, we see it has flesh that syncs with user (it even blinks). I'd expect it'd decompose the same way as any other flesh. On Earth, full skeletonization of a human body, the final stage of decomposition, can take up to several years, with the main driver of decomposition being oxygen. As LV-426's indigenous atmosphere was described as "primordial", consisting mainly of nitrogen and carbon dioxide, with smaller quantities of oxygen, methane and ammonia (some of the latter existing in a frozen state), we would expect decomposition to take much much longer. For a Xenomorph to have burst from that host less than 10 years prior to the Nostromo finding it (probably considerable few years less, as David would need time to make several hundred new ovomorphs from the Covenant crew, locate a new juggernaut with a pilot to infect, and it to be in the vicinity of LV-426 when the burster pops).. I dunno, I'd expect it to be a fleshy, decomposing withering corpse, not something that could be 'mistaken' as fossilised. It's a hard sell for me. 😅

(Like you, I also hope the suit thing gets changed!) 😅

[SiL]

We have no idea how long it's been dead because apparently that's a space suit, not a living organism (another thing I hope gets changed). It could easily be less than ten years.

If we're playing the authorial intent card with Alien Covenant, we know the Jockey is meant to be real old in 'Alien'.

Good thing I'm not playing the authorial intent card in Covenant.

That's something I'd have a hard time buying (personally); the 'suit' is organic, it has a skeleton/skull, we see it has flesh that syncs with user (it even blinks).

It has a helmet. Prometheus is pretty clear it's a biomechanical suit.

[SM]

We have no idea how long it's been dead because apparently that's a space suit, not a living organism (another thing I hope gets changed). It could easily be less than ten years.

If the Company only picked up the signal around the time of the Nostromo's voyage (give or take a year or two), then it makes the Derelict being there a shorter time more likely.

If it'd been transmitting for eons, someone else would've picked it up earlier.

[Local Trouble]

That could depend on how much power was behind the signal and the frequency used.

[SiL]

And also space is big and it's off the beaten track.

[Acid_Reign161]

It could even be something as simple as a deep space survey probe cataloging worlds does a fly-by of Zeta II Reticuli system and intercepts the transmission when it came in range, sending confirmation back through the network. It could have been there broadcasting for centuries without anyone intercepting it.

EDIT; it took over 57 years for Ripley's final report of the Nostromo to be picked up by an EEV on Fury 161 😂

[Local Trouble]

ChatGPT elaborates:

Yes, it's entirely possible for a signal transmitting continuously for millions of years to go unnoticed, even if it's coming from a relatively nearby star system like Zeta II Reticuli. This could happen for several reasons:

1. Signal Degradation Over Time: While the signal may have been strong at the source, it would weaken significantly over the vast distances of space. The further the signal travels, the more it spreads out and diminishes in strength, making it harder to detect.

2. Interference and Cosmic Noise: The signal would have to compete with cosmic background radiation and other natural space noises. Over millions of years, various cosmic events and changes in space conditions could also interfere with the signal, distorting or masking it by the time it reaches Earth.

3. Evolution of Detection Technology: Over millions of years, the signal might have passed by Earth at a time when there was no technology to detect it. Even if our current technology is capable of detecting such signals, it's a relatively recent development in the long timeline of the universe.

4. Changes in Frequency: As the universe expands, electromagnetic signals like radio waves experience redshift, where their frequency decreases and wavelength increases. A signal that started out on one frequency could shift to another over millions of years, possibly moving to a frequency range that is less monitored or harder to detect with current technology.

5. Directional Broadcasting: If the signal is directional and not omnidirectional, it's possible that it was never aimed towards Earth, or it could have shifted direction over time due to the movement of its source or other cosmic influences.

6. Human Observation Limitations: For most of human history, we lacked the technology to detect such signals. Even now, our ability to monitor the entire sky at all frequencies is limited. A continuous signal could have easily gone undetected simply because no one was listening in the right way at the right time.

In summary, a continuous signal from a distant star system like Zeta II Reticuli could feasibly go unnoticed due to a variety of factors, including signal weakening, cosmic interference, technological limitations, and the vast time scales involved. The universe is incredibly vast and complex, and our ability to detect and interpret signals from deep space is still developing.

[razeak]

Have you ever done ChatGPT on the question of the alien origin and whether Col. David is selling the original recipe or extra crispy? I'll know if I can trust AI or not at least depending upon the answer haha.

[TheBATMAN]

Having David be just as much as false god as the humans and Engineers he so despises would carry a delicious irony.

I would like the retcon to involve him just simply being a liar. He stole the Engineers creation and replicated it as best he could, passing it off as his own. But his creation was not quite the finished article and thus a failure, something he could not deal with.

Whilst I know the film depicts it as a standard xenomorph, the lack of biomechanics could help sell this illusion.

I do like the idea presented in Advent that the company's prior knowledge of the Alien, or at least some idea of what they might encounter on LV-426,  could be perceived as coming from David though.

[BlueMarsalis79]

Therefore a company patent.

[The Cruentus]

Hopefully the series will make it so that Covenant/Prometheus no longer has to affect the canon. The film is said to have some connection, I just hope its not overt or at least they reference some stuff without acknowledging David.

[BlueMarsalis79]

I hope it is overt if it calls for it. No need to avoid mentioning Peter Weyland for one example.

[[cancerblack]]

That's something I'd have a hard time buying (personally); the 'suit' is organic, it has a skeleton/skull, we see it has flesh that syncs with user (it even blinks). I'd expect it'd decompose the same way as any other flesh.

I can't believe I need to say this, but it's biomechanical. One of the biggest features of the aesthetic both as created by Giger and used by others in various mediums, is the fact that it appears both alive and dead, organic and inorganic at the same time. As a style it's most often used as visual shorthand for "your rules no longer apply here".

[BlueMarsalis79]

When does it blink?

[[cancerblack]]

There's something that goes on with the eye in the "suit" scene, but I'm not convinced it's a blink. CBF getting the blurays out though, I only just packed them  .