Alien totally abandoned Parker and Lambert...WHY?

[SiL]

I imagine they all know.

Local Trouble is wondering why they need to bother since the "official" blueprints book added a third cryotube that makes no sense to be there, which was a source of much derision when it came out.

[Kradan]

What bothers me is that did Ripley stilll need that coolant after Parker and Lambert were killed ? I don't remember her carrying any

[Local Trouble]

What bothers me is that did Ripley stilll need that coolant after Parker and Lambert were killed ? I don't remember her carrying any

Nope.  And that's because they only needed the coolant when someone was going to be awake and breathing the whole time.

[judge death]

What bothers me is that did Ripley stilll need that coolant after Parker and Lambert were killed ? I don't remember her carrying any

What I got from it is: Only one cryo is working and the coolant is for keeping the life support working, so the other two can eat and breath air while they wait to get some sleep in the cryo, they most likely going to take turns. To keep 2 people extra alive for a so long journey they need all the coolant.

[SiL]

Both tubes worked, but there were three people. Someone was going to have to stay awake the whole time.

[BigDaddyJohn]

So if it did take 57 years for Ripley to be found, the one who would stay awake would be... dead ?

[Local Trouble]

Yeah.  That's why Ripley said they'd be taking their chances.  Even then, she was only expecting it to be a scant six weeks until she reached the frontier and the network would hopefully pick her up.

[SiL]

People forget that the Alien franchise treats space as vast and sparsely populated and dedicated life boats don't make much sense.

[Local Trouble]

The shuttle had to have an FTL drive though, right?  I highly doubt it would have been able to reach the core systems at sublight speeds in only 57 years.  Zeta II Reticuli is nearly 40 light years away.

[SiL]

My understanding of physics isn't good enough to answer, but since the Nostromo was going FTL and the Narcissus only slowed down to escape it, it might not have needed its own FTL drive - it would've been going FTL already.

[Elmazalman]

What bothers me is that did Ripley stilll need that coolant after Parker and Lambert were killed ? I don't remember her carrying any

She does in the comic book - and the self-destruct is set before Parker & Lambert are killed.

It's curious to me Ripley would know you need coolant for the air support system. One would think Parker being an engineer would be the one to know this?

It's also curious that Ripley is the one wiring up Ash's head, instead of Parker - but that does tie in later, with A3 (when she accesses Bishop's memory).

In the novel, I think it's Parker that wires up the head, instead?

[SiL]

I don't see why being a ship engineer means he'd necessarily know how to wire an android. They're entirely different fields.

Ripley doesn't grab coolant in the comic, she grabs the fuel from the flamethrower (you see her switching the tanks later).

She does set the countdown before - from the bridge, which is drawn suspiciously like the engine room.

[Elmazalman]

I don't see why being a ship engineer means he'd necessarily know how to wire an android. They're entirely different fields.

Ripley doesn't grab coolant in the comic, she grabs the fuel from the flamethrower (you see her switching the tanks later).

She does set the countdown before - from the bridge, which is drawn suspiciously like the engine room.

It's a coolant bottle. The same bottles Parker & Lambert were collecting. The comic book panel is right next to the one showing Parker & Lambert's bodies. She also has a bottle tucked under arm as she runs off in the next panel.

[SiL]

I just checked the comic. That bottle doesn't make it to the shuttle in the end -- but we do see her adjusting the bottle on the flamethrower while escaping. I thought they forgot about the coolant until  I saw that panel and realised what they were trying to show.

[Elmazalman]

I just checked the comic. That bottle doesn't make it to the shuttle in the end -- but we do see her adjusting the bottle on the flamethrower while escaping. I thought they forgot about the coolant until  I saw that panel and realised what they were trying to show.

She isn't adjusting anything. It's the way she's holding the incinerator unit - one hand on the trigger, the other on the bottle.

Yes, the bottle she took disappears before she reaches the shuttle, but that's a continuity error - the comic is littered with them - e.g. Dallas enters the air shafts with a short sleeved shirt - which changes to long sleeves - when he's ambushed by the Alien.