What did Alien Covenant tell us about David and the Xenomorphs?

[Frosty Venom]

I am interested to find out the majority of peoples interpretation of this aspect of Alien Covenant.

So what did Alien Covenant tell you about David and the Xenomorphs?

[Immortan Jonesy]

David is the creator of what he saw in his nightmares, just like Giger. Also, every respectable artist needs a muse (jk)

[The Old One]

In the context of Alien Covenant, David is the creator.

[Stitch]

Covenant shows that David created the alien that is in Covenant. Covenant also shows that David is malfunctioning and he has misattributed original creators of his favourite things beforehand (Ozymandias).

The Covenant novel, and the Advent short film imply that David recreated the Alien based on Engineers' past work.

I don't like the idea that David created the original alien, but can't deny it's a possibility. It's also not confirmed.

In short, we can't definitively say that David is the original creator of the alien.

[Frosty Venom]

Covenant shows that David created the alien that is in Covenant. Covenant also shows that David is malfunctioning and he has misattributed original creators of his favourite things beforehand (Ozymandias).

The Covenant novel, and the Advent short film imply that David recreated the Alien based on Engineers' past work.

I don't like the idea that David created the original alien, but can't deny it's a possibility. It's also not confirmed.

In short, we can't definitively say that David is the original creator of the alien.

This.

[SiL]

Covenant also shows that David is malfunctioning and he has misattributed original creators of his favourite things beforehand (Ozymandias).

Covenant also points out every lie or mistake David makes and makes a huge point about his love of creation. It would make less sense for David to recreate anything.

[SM]

Covenant also shows that David is malfunctioning and he has misattributed original creators of his favourite things beforehand (Ozymandias).

Covenant also points out every lie or mistake David makes and makes a huge point about his love of creation. It would make less sense for David to recreate anything.

This.

[Corporal Hicks]

Covenant tells us that David made the Alien. It is that simple.

Could that change? Sure! Is there wiggle room? Sure is. But as it stands, David made the Aliens. I can head-canon my way around it but as far as the lore is actually concerned at the minute, David made them.

[SiL]

Covenant might maybe hopefully be misleading us.

But for now it's pretty straightforward.

[TheBATMAN]

The film makes it pretty clear David created the Alien as we know it. That is the intent for the story going forward, which is getting closer to explaining the mysteries behind the original Alien. A third film could easily change this, but that's how it things stand as of right now.

This whole 'recreation' thing is just a front for people disliking the above idea and trying to delete it.

[Stitch]

I've seen this argument on so many threads already, running around and around and around. The problem is that Covenant heavily implies that David is the original creator, whilst also providing just enough wiggle room that it might not be the truth.

The additional media also clouds the issue, with ADF implying it's a recreation, and Advent also implying the same.

Ridley Scott's intent cannot be trusted because he changes his mind so often that what is intended one day could be completely wrong the next.

Basically, there's no definitive answer, right now. I'm stressing definitive, because it's the most important word. We know that David created the alien in Covenant. We know the implications are that David is the original creator of the species itself, regardless of our personal tastes.

The reason this argument goes on and on is that there is just enough doubt that until the movies themselves outright prove that David is the original creator, then maybe he isn't.

Because it's a beloved franchise, and the concept of the alien species being created by an android is disliked by people, a lot of the arguing is going to be because people just don't want it to be the case. You can say they are grasping at straws, but while there's enough doubt in the storyline for the straws to be there, people will grasp at them.

[Frosty Venom]

I've seen this argument on so many threads already, running around and around and around. The problem is that Covenant heavily implies that David is the original creator, whilst also providing just enough wiggle room that it might not be the truth.

The additional media also clouds the issue, with ADF implying it's a recreation, and Advent also implying the same.

Ridley Scott's intent cannot be trusted because he changes his mind so often that what is intended one day could be completely wrong the next.

Basically, there's no definitive answer, right now. I'm stressing definitive, because it's the most important word. We know that David created the alien in Covenant. We know the implications are that David is the original creator of the species itself, regardless of our personal tastes.

The reason this argument goes on and on is that there is just enough doubt that until the movies themselves outright prove that David is the original creator, then maybe he isn't.

Because it's a beloved franchise, and the concept of the alien species being created by an android is disliked by people, a lot of the arguing is going to be because people just don't want it to be the case. You can say they are grasping at straws, but while there's enough doubt in the storyline for the straws to be there, people will grasp at them.

Also this. 100%

Well said.

[BigDaddyJohn]

He is, unfortunately, the creator of the species, at least in Ridley's mind.

[chappaeye]

It's not so much the concept that David created the xenomorph that bothers me...it's the motivation behind this. For me personally...I feel a bit cheated with the ending of the Prometheus film where Dr. Shaw tells David that the engineers created us and then they wanted to destroy us and she (we) deserve to know why. For the Prometheus film, I wanted more engineers and their backstory and wanted to know exactly what the tipping point was when they decided that they were tried of the humans they created and would destroy them. What was the single event or series of events that lead to them wanting to destroy humankind (I wanted a movie that explained that)? I thought those were new concepts that we hadn't seen before in the Alien universe (at least at the film level) and so that was the direction I thought we were heading. Lo and behold, no...it's more about evil AI destroying mankind for some reason or another, etc., etc. For me personally, I prefer the evil AI concepts that are going on in the Westworld series as opposed to evil AI David in Prometheus, but that's just me. To me, it's more scary that there is a highly-advanced lifeform (i.e., the Engineers or Spacejockeys) that could wipe us out fairly quickly and easily compared to the idea that David is going to punish humans because they treated him badly (buck up buttercup). I would have felt more of a connection to the David character in Prometheus or Covenant if, for example, he accidentally tried to help humankind and inadvertently created the xenomorph that could wipe out humanity. That would have been a crazy twist in the film and in my mind, I would have been able to relate more to his character as opposed to the evil AI robot that's gone of the reservation because humans were mean to him...it's just not original enough to me as a harsh sci-fi fan. So I don't like the idea that David created the xeno, but I would have had no problem if it had turned out differently in the film where he inadvertently created a xeno intending to save or help humanity (plot twist) as opposed to destroying it...but then I guess Riddles and the gang would have had to find a new character to fill in as the antagonist. 

[The Old One]

Westworld's garbage.


Elizabeth Shaw doesn't get her answers... and neither do the audience-
because that's how the universe is, it doesn't care about you or your questions.

We thought the Engineers were Gods, but before they could utter a word to us David killed them.
They were imperfect, ultimately they created us, so David decides to create something that is
perfect. In his belief. For all intents and purposes, David killed God and he wants us to know it.
He wants us to know nothing we asked matters.

To be fair, the universe was already made small when some space truckers stumbled upon an organism light years away that just so happens to be explicitly evocative of human genitalia and perfectly pre-adapted to incubate inside human hosts; pre-adapted to provide it oxygen, recognise and thwart its immune defences, etc. That's impossible from a biological/evolutionary perspective unless there was already a history of co-evolution established with humans/mammals, now we know there was. 

It's always been a Freudian/sexual nightmare, there's now a logical explanation for that aspect. Now, the pathogen's origins itself still isn't quite clear, thus genetically it still maintains mystery and is still technically alien, but the sexual, phenotypic design has a logical explanation now. I'm fine with it.

Personally, it's just so much more interesting thematically than the Lovecraft/Old Gods angle which is honestly old hat. (I'm aware that A.I. against humanity is equally old hat, but the key difference here is that David's motivations are born equally out of his inability to procreate - and the resulting sexual neurosis therefrom - as much as it's his disdain for stupid mortals. He's much more nuanced than ol' Hal 9000, Skynet or Agent Smith, and that's what makes him so refreshing as a character.) 

All hail David