Egg on Sulaco

[Olde]

Does anyone know how or why the egg hatched? I thought it normally hatched when a host was close to it (cf. Alien when Kane gets close to it and Aliens when Ripley is in the egg chamber and Newt is stuck in the goo). But Ripley, Newt, and Hicks (or some random guy if you take A:CM as canon) are in cryosleep when the facehugger impregnates Ripley. Why does the egg hatch at all? Did it detect human warmth through a plate of glass? And how does it break the glass in the first place?

[NetworkATTH]

Does anyone know how or why the egg hatched? I thought it normally hatched when a host was close to it (cf. Alien when Kane gets close to it and Aliens when Ripley is in the egg chamber and Newt is stuck in the goo). But Ripley, Newt, and Hicks (or some random guy if you take A:CM as canon) are in cryosleep when the facehugger impregnates Ripley. Why does the egg hatch at all? Did it detect human warmth through a plate of glass? And how does it break the glass in the first place?

I believe it was the queen alien that broke the glass, since you know, its armored. We just never saw it. I mean facehuggers can lunge at you from a ways away, I don't think it's impossible for even a regular facehugger to break some glass.

[Olde]

I believe it was the queen alien that broke the glass, since you know, its armored. We just never saw it. I mean facehuggers can lunge at you from a ways away, I don't think it's impossible for even a regular facehugger to break some glass.

The queen was blown out of the airlock long before they went into cryo. Sure I guess a facehugger could break some glass with one of its long fingers maybe, but why? Did it sense body heat? And that still doesn't answer what would have prompted it to hatch in the first place? Unless I guess it had already hatched before they went into cryo...

[Local Trouble]

Sure I guess a facehugger could break some glass with one of its long fingers maybe, but why? Did it sense body heat?

You mean exactly like it did with Kane?

[Olde]

I figure it thrust its whole body from the egg to latch onto Kane's face. Would the Alien 3 hugger do the same thing through a sheet of glass? I guess it could, yes.

[FiorinaFury161]

It's right there in the novel folks. Take a peek.

[DerelictShip]

It's right there in the novel folks. Take a peek.

I'm late here, what is this novelization?

[SM]

Does anyone know how or why the egg hatched? I thought it normally hatched when a host was close to it (cf. Alien when Kane gets close to it and Aliens when Ripley is in the egg chamber and Newt is stuck in the goo). But Ripley, Newt, and Hicks (or some random guy if you take A:CM as canon) are in cryosleep when the facehugger impregnates Ripley. Why does the egg hatch at all? Did it detect human warmth through a plate of glass? And how does it break the glass in the first place?

I believe it was the queen alien that broke the glass, since you know, its armored. We just never saw it. I mean facehuggers can lunge at you from a ways away, I don't think it's impossible for even a regular facehugger to break some glass.

Which glass?  In the cryotube bay?

[Olde]

Which glass?  In the cryotube bay?

Yes. It's not unfeasible in my opinion that the hugger could break the glass, my question is why it would have broken the glass or hatched in the first place. In the case of Kane in the derelict, he touched the egg first, which made a sound and clearly caused the egg to open. That and the facehugger might have felt a relative change in heat and/or motion from a single source around it. In the case of the egg on the Sulaco, what would have caused it to open? If it was closed when Aliens ends and Ripley, Newt, and Hicks are in cryo, I can't think of anything that would have prompted it to open. We've only seen eggs open when a host is close by, otherwise (presumably) the facehugger would be unable to support itself and just die. Even if it did hatch due to someone walking a bit too close to the egg or something before cryo that we didn't see, why would the hugger have broken the glass? Did it wait by idly while Ripley went into cryo and not do anything? Did it come back later and sense Ripley's body temperature through the glass? Does it have eyes?

[FiorinaFury161]

It's right there in the novel folks. Take a peek.

I'm late here, what is this novelization?

The Alien3 novelization by Alan Dean Foster.

"Sliding to one side, it eventually located the nearly imperceptible line which separated the transparent dome of the cylinder from its metal base. Tiny claws drove into minuscule crack as the incredibly powerful tail secured a purchase on the instrumentation at the head of the cylinder. The creature excerted tremendous leverage, its small body quivering with the effort. Seals were strained. The thing's effort was unforgiving, its reserves of strength inconceivable.

The lower edge of the transparent dome snapped, the metallic glass splitting parallel to the floor. A sliver of the clear materiial, sharp as a surgical instrument, drove straight into the creature's body. Frigid air erupted from the cylinder until an emergency seal restored its atmospheric integrity.
...
Emitting periodic, unearthly shrieks the mortally wounded crawler flung itself across the room, legs and tail flailing spasmodically at the transparent sliver which pierced its body. It landed atop the cylinder in which reposed the motionless Hicks, its legs convulsively gripping the crest of the dome. Shuddering, quivering, it clawed at the metallic glass while acidic body fluids pumped from the wound. They ate into the glass , into the metal base of the cylinder, into and through the floor. Smoke began to rise from somewhere beneath the deck, filling the chamber."

[NetworkATTH]

I believe it was the queen alien that broke the glass, since you know, its armored. We just never saw it. I mean facehuggers can lunge at you from a ways away, I don't think it's impossible for even a regular facehugger to break some glass.

The queen was blown out of the airlock long before they went into cryo. Sure I guess a facehugger could break some glass with one of its long fingers maybe, but why? Did it sense body heat? And that still doesn't answer what would have prompted it to hatch in the first place? Unless I guess it had already hatched before they went into cryo...

I meant the queen face hugger sorry. But that's canonically dubious, but so is everything

[Wweyland]

How long was the facehugger on Ripley?
From the movie it seems like a really short time.
Maybe the 5 second facehug from Covenant is not so outlandish.

[HuDaFuK]

Originally it was supposed to impregnate Newt, and then the embryo would switch hosts when Newt started to drown. They never filmed that bit, but obviously showing Ripley Facehugged during the intro would ruin the later surprise that she's carrying a Chestburster.

[Local Trouble]

Did it wait by idly while Ripley went into cryo and not do anything?

That's another reason I believe that it was just a globular proto-egg and not yet ready to "hatch" when it was first deposited in the hangar bay.

[Perfect-Organism]

I didn't say it was Brett, it could have been Parker or Lambert.

But we see Parker and Lambert and there's no time for them to turn into eggs.
But I like the idea that the Sulaco egg was actually Brett, best outlandish theory yet!

Right.  There is a good macabre to this.  Brett... he's still with us..