Why did the Xeno Kill Wierzbowski and Ferro?

[TheGreatSpoondini]

So in Aliens only 2 Marines are actually directly killed by the Xeno (3 if you want to include Spunkmeyer but that cant be confirmed). The 2 are Wierzbowski, and Ferro. Ferro is the only witnessed death.... Spunkmeyer we know or can assume he died one was or another in the drop ship (Either killed by explosion or in crash because we see the ramp closing therefor we know he is on that ship) and as for poor Wierzbowski,, you can only hear him scream and see his vitals flat line.

So why do you think they were killed and no collected like the rest? No other Marine or character suffered a death in this movie.

Frost - Death by fire and free fall
Crowe - Explosion
Drake - Acid
Vasquez / Gorman - Grenade


It seems all movie the Xeno are in ... lets call it harvest mode. It seems that all colonists ( or most of them) are taken and you see the Xeno making the effort to collect victims even in a gunfight (Apone, and Dietrich) rather than kill them. Even when you think about the operations fire fight the Xenos take Hudson (even with him shooting down at them) and when Vasquez and Gorman make their last stand the Xenos do not aggressively advance like we see in other movies going in for the kill.
Do you think Xeno show this type of behavior due to the Queen being in the area? and again if that's the case.. why did these 2 or possibly 3 get singled out?

Yes you could maybe make the argument for Burke too, but
1. You don't witness his death
2. The extra footage shows him alive in the hive
So.... yeah Lets hear what you guys got to say!

[SM]

I don't believe we see Wierzbowski's vitals - just his feed breaks up.  And Hudson doesn't mention him when he mentions Dietrich and Apone.  I don't believe he was killed, since he was unarmed and already wounded.

Ferro - she was flying a heavily armed dropship.

Gorman and Vasquez - an Alien attacked them in the same manner as Ferro just before Gorman's grenade detonated.

I think they abducted who they could and killed those they couldn't.

[TheGreatSpoondini]

I don't believe we see Wierzbowski's vitals - just his feed breaks up.  And Hudson doesn't mention him when he mentions Dietrich and Apone.  I don't believe he was killed, since he was unarmed and already wounded.

Ferro - she was flying a heavily armed dropship.

Gorman and Vasquez - an Alien attacked them in the same manner as Ferro just before Gorman's grenade detonated.

I think they abducted who they could and killed those they couldn't.

I see what you are saying I replayed the scene and you are right his camera just goes out.
But Hudson only speaks of Apone ( the sarge) and Dietrich so if Wierzbowski was alive he would make mention to him too.

I guess I see what you are saying about Gorman and Vasquez although we cant really say it was "attacking them" Think of the aggression you see with other Xenos in other movies when they want to kill they move fast especially if they are in sight.

for Ferro do you think the xeno realized what sort of cargo a ship holds? And not for nothing if I grabbed someone from below (Hudson) and they started shooting at me I don't think abducting him would be the first thing on my mind lol

[whiterabbit]

I'm certain that the aliens were trying to kill them all. We don't actually see how the alien attacks Ferro. Maybe it did a simple shoulder attack to wound her before carrying her back to the nest. Same for Spunkmeyer. Wierzbowski most likely survived the attack and escaped lv426 on a charter.

I can see the xeno's skull holes the moment it realized the drop ship was gonna crash because he disable the pilot.

[BigDaddyJohn]

I always imagined Wierzboswki was wounded by the explosion from Frost, and died slowly in a corner, thus hearing him screaming.

[David Weyland]

Calculation Estimate of potential Xenomorph Population created by Hadley's Hope Outbreak before Atmosphere Processor Meltdown:

Figure 1- Hadley's Hope Population:158 MINUS: Newt & estimated 20 killed in action= Total: 137(Impregnated)

Figure 2- Colonial Marines Rescue Team: 15 personnel MINUS: 11- Bishop(Immune), Ripley&Hicks(Survived), Burke(Grenade, deleted scene) & Colonial Marines killed outright for sure(Vasquez, Gorman, Drake, Spunkmeyer, Crowe, Frost, Ferro) = Total: 4 (Impregnated: Hudson, Apone, Dietrich, Wierzbowski)

Figure 1(137) + Figure 2 (4) = GRAND TOTAL- Queen+140 Xenomorphs: 141

[SM]

I guess I see what you are saying about Gorman and Vasquez although we cant really say it was "attacking them" Think of the aggression you see with other Xenos in other movies when they want to kill they move fast especially if they are in sight.

The attack on Gorman and Vasquez is the same as the one on Ferro - lunging at frame with inner jaw partially extended.  And Ferro's death was rather messy.

for Ferro do you think the xeno realized what sort of cargo a ship holds?

Possibly.

"If we assume the Aliens have intellgience, at least in the central guiding authority of the Queen, then it is possible that these decisions may have a tactical basis. For example, Ferro was a greater threat, piloting the heavily armed dropship, than she was a desirable host for reproduction. Newt, and most of the colonists, were unarmed and relatively helpless, therefore easily captured for hosting."

James Cameron - 1986

And not for nothing if I grabbed someone from below (Hudson) and they started shooting at me I don't think abducting him would be the first thing on my mind lol

They could've torn him to pieces as soon as he was off screen.  We don't know.

[whiterabbit]

Oh come on, Wierzbowski sounded like he was getting choked to death and probably was as an alien was carrying him off to the nest.

[SM]

Pretty hefty screaming for someone who's choking.

[OpenMaw]

Always sounded more like a scream of panic and desperation to me, which is quickly stifled, likely by the aliens capacity to paralyze it's victims.

[whiterabbit]

The alien probably had the courtesy to give him a reach around.

Yea it was a scream... however without an on screen death we cannot claim that he didn't escape lv426 with the alien version of himself. I mean out of 141 aliens at least one of them must be a hippy.

[Scorpio]

Why the alien dragged Weirzbowski away:

This is what some animals do.  If they got a kill, they try and isolate the kill to claim it.  Bears are known to do this. 

So the alien had him, probably wounded, dragged him some place that was safe for the alien, then made the kill.

[SM]

There was no real need to kill him.

[Scorpio]

Not right away, no.  No time.  Too many marines.  Too many other aliens that might take the booty.  Need to take it to a safe place first.

[SiL]

If he was dragged away alive he'd be cocooned like the others. Aliens don't take people away to kill, they take them away to breed.