Are You Happy With The Engineers?

[Corporal Hicks]

And snipped. javablue, even if people don't agree with your interpretations, can you not be antagonist or rude about it. We're all nerds here. No need to start sniping at each other. 

[Dingbat]

I picked 6, I'm glad many others did too, but I'm starting to think we may never get our 3rd prequel, it makes me quite sad to think about it, just, that's it, the end, you know?

[Nightmare Asylum]

Yeah, I am going to be so incredibly bummed if Ridley doesn't get to finish his story here.

[Evanus]

The worst part is how we're being left in the dark. We have absolutely no clue what's going to happen now that Disney owns the franchise. Before the merger a third prequel was pretty likely, but now? Who knows. And with Covid-19, things are even worse.

[Nukiemorph]

It kills me to think my favorite franchise might just end on a cliffhanger.

But the more I think about it, the more I think Ridley was probably going to just show us a 7-foot actor dressed as an engineer crashing/landing the Derelict on LV-426 hours/minutes before the Nostromo passes by. He's going to get chestbursted with a plain old chestburster and won't be fossilized at all.

And we're just supposed to overlook the size and fossilization as minor continuity blips.

At least with the open gap we have now, we can come up with theories that address all of the issues.

• Maybe some engineers are much bigger than others.
• Maybe it looks fossilized because David attacked it with black goo.
• Maybe a black goo attack warped the engineer's proportions, bloating it to look bigger.
• Maybe the space jockey was a different kind of creature, an elephant-faced race above the engineers.
• Maybe David wasn't the original creator of the xenomorphs, and the space jockey is actually ancient and fossilized.
• Maybe engineers used to be bigger before evolution dwindled their size.

[OpenMaw]

The question in Prometheus from Shaw to Holloway "Yeah, but who created them?"

That's the way out for the Engineers.

In general i'm fine with the Engineers as a design. They evoke qualities from some of Giger's work featuring humans. That ivory skin with the black eyes, it's featured in places in his art.

But what we could have gotten in it's place? A giant, sentient, wholly Alien creature? Man...

I've said it elsewhere. I always wanted to see David get DESTROYED by a proper Jockey. He awakens something, maybe with the intent of black goo-ing it so it will distract the human characters, thinking he's oh-so-smart and powerful, and the thing inside just crushes him like a can of soda with its mind. Doesn't yell, doesn't screech or howl, doesn't even raise an arm. Just crushes him like he's nothing.

Then it would look over at whatever human characters are present and stares for a beat. They're a small curiosity but ultimately of no interest to a being of its years and existence. Goes on with its business, leaving the humans stunned. Space Gods are busy.

That would be the tail end of the final act. The end of the movie would be very Lovecrafty. The universe just got a whole helluva lot bigger, and everything that went on in Prometheus and Covenant was just a side show compared to what's really out there.

Shit, if we need a proper Alien in a third prequel, we could even see the Jockey containing it in someway.

[Immortan Jonesy]

But the more I think about it, the more I think Ridley was probably going to just show us a 7-foot actor dressed as an engineer crashing/landing the Derelict on LV-426 hours/minutes before the Nostromo passes by. He's going to get chestbursted with a plain old chestburster and won't be fossilized at all.

The fossilized looking of the Jockey can be explained in this way:

1) The chestburster is born.

2) The pilot is not alone and there is a character carrying a flamethrower.



3) The chestburster is burned to death.



4) The fire melts the suit a little, deforming it like melted cheese or marshmallow.





Edit: forgive my poor photoshop skills. 

But what we could have gotten in it's place? A giant, sentient, wholly Alien creature? Man...

I've said it elsewhere. I always wanted to see David get DESTROYED by a proper Jockey. He awakens something, maybe with the intent of black goo-ing it so it will distract the human characters, thinking he's oh-so-smart and powerful, and the thing inside just crushes him like a can of soda with its mind. Doesn't yell, doesn't screech or howl, doesn't even raise an arm. Just crushes him like he's nothing.

Then it would look over at whatever human characters are present and stares for a beat. They're a small curiosity but ultimately of no interest to a being of its years and existence. Goes on with its business, leaving the humans stunned. Space Gods are busy.

That would be the tail end of the final act. The end of the movie would be very Lovecrafty. The universe just got a whole helluva lot bigger, and everything that went on in Prometheus and Covenant was just a side show compared to what's really out there.

Shit, if we need a proper Alien in a third prequel, we could even see the Jockey containing it in someway.

That would be absolutely insane in a very cool way. Probably the most interesting scenario regarding the Derelict and its mysterious pilot. 

[j0nesy]

the one theory i've always liked with the space jockey is that they're a peaceful race, and perhaps that was their downfall, but i do not see them as having sinister intentions like the engineers (or the lv-223 sect of engineers, at least)

having said that, if a space jockey wants to seriously f*** up david's perfect composure, i'm all for it

[Nukiemorph]

But the more I think about it, the more I think Ridley was probably going to just show us a 7-foot actor dressed as an engineer crashing/landing the Derelict on LV-426 hours/minutes before the Nostromo passes by. He's going to get chestbursted with a plain old chestburster and won't be fossilized at all.

The fossilized looking of the Jockey can be explained in this way:

1) The chestburster is born.

2) The pilot is not alone and there is a character carrying a flamethrower.



3) The chestburster is burned to death.



4) The fire melts the suit a little, deforming it like melted cheese or marshmallow.

https://i.imgur.com/QtTIYzW.jpg



Edit: forgive my poor photoshop skills. 

That could work too. I like it!

[javablue]

And snipped. javablue, even if people don't agree with your interpretations, can you not be antagonist or rude about it. We're all nerds here. No need to start sniping at each other. 

Are you saying, Corporal, that your definition of a sniper is a poster who is genuinely interested in generating serious discussion and posts using fact, evidence (both scientific and artistic) together with reasoned arguments is a sniper. I'm sorry but have I landed in an alternative universe?

My definition of a sniper is someone who is not interested in genuine discussion but homes in on a peripheral or minor issue and posts with one-liners designed to attack, ridicule, discredit or warn off and, ultimately, stifle discussion.   

Now an honest question for you, Corporal. What is your definition of a nerd? I thought they were interested in sciencey things? I have similar interests myself, especially how science is used in Prometheus (see my post). But I don't see myself as a nerd - although I'm not exactly sure what a nerd is since it appears to be an evolving term. And I did read somewhere if you have to ask if you're a nerd or not, then you're not.  Hence, my request for a your definition.

And FYI, I see Prometheus as a puzzle movie.

[Corporal Hicks]

Your attitude was rude, and that was my problem. If you're here to be rude with people who disagree with you in any fashion, I'm afraid this may not be the place for you. But enough of that. Let's get on with the topic.

[Xenomrph]

The question in Prometheus from Shaw to Holloway "Yeah, but who created them?"

That's the way out for the Engineers.

In general i'm fine with the Engineers as a design. They evoke qualities from some of Giger's work featuring humans. That ivory skin with the black eyes, it's featured in places in his art.

But what we could have gotten in it's place? A giant, sentient, wholly Alien creature? Man...

I've said it elsewhere. I always wanted to see David get DESTROYED by a proper Jockey. He awakens something, maybe with the intent of black goo-ing it so it will distract the human characters, thinking he's oh-so-smart and powerful, and the thing inside just crushes him like a can of soda with its mind. Doesn't yell, doesn't screech or howl, doesn't even raise an arm. Just crushes him like he's nothing.

Then it would look over at whatever human characters are present and stares for a beat. They're a small curiosity but ultimately of no interest to a being of its years and existence. Goes on with its business, leaving the humans stunned. Space Gods are busy.

That would be the tail end of the final act. The end of the movie would be very Lovecrafty. The universe just got a whole helluva lot bigger, and everything that went on in Prometheus and Covenant was just a side show compared to what's really out there.

Shit, if we need a proper Alien in a third prequel, we could even see the Jockey containing it in someway.

I would be totally onboard with all of this.

[Mala'kak]

I think they look pretty cool. Just wish they didn't look so human like. I would like to know more about them!

[OpenMaw]

This is why I still think the best path forward is that the Engineers are pretenders.

As interesting of an idea as was postulated above that the Jockey Ship in Alien was subject to a burn or mutilation of some form... I hate that. I really, really, hate that. The original ship feels so real and different. To turn that into "Oh it was just melted soggy cheese" is rather insulting I think.

Engineers being the pretenders to the God-hood thrown in much the same way Weyland and men like him are pretenders would be the far better path. It would heal the franchise from the damage that has been done. David should be nothing more than a usurper, just like humanity and the Engineers. The truly ancient "Gods" are the leviathan creatures that are responsible for the ship on LV-426.

[Evanus]

As long as it doesn't undo what Prometheus and Covenant set out to do, which really didn't do that much damage, people just didn't like it.

They need to be careful with David's character especially. You can change the Alien's origins, there's room for it. But it needs to be relevant for David's character, not just a meaningless fan requested retcon. Same for the engineers. But changing these things will undo part of what has been set up in the previous two films, no matter what, so I'm not too sure about it. Oh well, it's probably useless anyway because I doubt Disney will want to touch any of this. Probably just gonna go for a reboot lol.