Egg on Sulaco

[Local Trouble]

I always figured Marachuk's facehugger was removed by any means necessary and they weren't gentle about it, thus I assumed it was killed in the process just like its would-be host.

[The Cruentus]

I think as long as they can still implant their host, they will still be alive. Within reason of course, I don't expect them to still be alive if they were torn apart in the removal process.

[Local Trouble]

I can agree with that.

[BringbackJonesy!]

Maybe we can just reconcile them all by lumping them into Ripley's anthology of nightmares alongside Alien 3.  Her unconscious mind sure is confusing.

Heh, I reckon the poor lass has suffered enough, and I wouldn't wish her to have quite so many troubled dreams along the way.

As my own preferred 'main storyline' of the Alien franchise begins with ALIEN and ends with ALIENS, period....I simply imagine that ALIEN 3 and ALIEN RESURRECTION are merely a couple of 'cryo-dreams/nightmares' that Ripley has on her safe journey home.  This way, I can re-watch Sigourney's other great perfomances without being bothered by ANY of the issues these latter two movies threw up for me....and of course, the 'egg' mystery is conveniently not a problem anymore when viewed this way, as it just adds to the other 'dream-like', visual inconsistencies at the beginning and end of ALIEN 3 (the 'cryo-tubles' specifically)

However....when it comes to the other franchise storylines such as the AvP movies, and PROMETHEUS/ALIEN COVENANT, I prefer to use a different 'method' to make them more re-watchable for myself, rather than looking on them as further 'cryo-dreams/nightmares' -

I simply choose to look on all of these entries as a mixture of 'Alternative Extended Universe', 'What If?'- kind of 'Fan Fiction' storylines using familiar elements and characters, which are totally unconnected to my preferred 'main storyline' of ALIEN and ALIENS whatsoever.  Again, this 'fanfictional' way of looking at these particular movies is just a way to smooth out all their issues for me, and helps to retain the 'mystery' of the 'Space Jockey' skeleton and 'Xenomorph' origins intact for myself in the process.  And although I could easily look on ALIEN 3 and ALIEN RESURRECTION in this same 'Fan Fiction' manner, I much prefer to imagine them as being Ripley's 'cryo-dreams/nightmares', seeing as they actually involve her character.

[The Old One]

I enjoy exploring the possibilities of the Alien Universe,
it's a rather large one and honestly- without inconsistencies (to an extent) it isn't nearly as interesting to discuss.

If only the most popular entry existed, I wouldn't care for the universe whatsoever. Without all three of the first entries being canon, it's just boring.

And yes the prequels require "patching" with a final entry, reconciliation with the idea the Alien is ancient and a "real" Space Jockey exists- and Prometheus isn't great, but I loved a lot of the stuff it added to the history and aesthetic of the universe and really enjoy the Pathogen's potential now because of it's sequel's clarification. Isolation's a good recreation and expansion of the original film but I strongly believe The Cold Forge is the newest entry to really develop the universe foward using aspects of the first three films and the prequel series together to create a new great story, it probably ranks above or alongside the original Alien for me.

[[cancerblack]]

But it wasn't too late, because the huggers didn't implant them. otherwise the huggers would not be alive to attack Ripley and Newt.

And that is precisely my point, given what we now know about Lope and Cold Forge. Those two colonists should have been implanted almost immediately. This is why retconning doesn't always work well.

I thought about that too, but there has been other sources that has huggers takes awhile to implant their hosts.

Yes, I am aware of that too, the WYR makes it clear that while implantation probably happens in the first few hours, the hugger wil remain attach for possibly much longer to make sure the "embryo" is secure.

If another prequel happens and does leave us with a derelict on LV-426 that's very recent, an easy out is that David extended the impregnation and incubation cycle to allow it to spread farther. For example, one of the (very few) merciful things about Ebola in the present day is that it's so deadly, most of the victims can't spread it very far before expiring. When making something similarly horrific, having it take longer is actually a refinement.

Of course, as it stands right now, that could be totally irrelevant.

[LV-12986]

They could have minimised this argument when they made alien 3 and started the film with the camera panning away from the dropship revealing the egg where the queen was hiding but nope......they couldn't even feature the same cryotubes from aliens :/

Great film tho

[Still Collating...]

But it wasn't too late, because the huggers didn't implant them. otherwise the huggers would not be alive to attack Ripley and Newt.

And that is precisely my point, given what we now know about Lope and Cold Forge. Those two colonists should have been implanted almost immediately. This is why retconning doesn't always work well.

I thought about that too, but there has been other sources that has huggers takes awhile to implant their hosts.

Yes, I am aware of that too, the WYR makes it clear that while implantation probably happens in the first few hours, the hugger wil remain attach for possibly much longer to make sure the "embryo" is secure.

If another prequel happens and does leave us with a derelict on LV-426 that's very recent, an easy out is that David extended the impregnation and incubation cycle to allow it to spread farther. For example, one of the (very few) merciful things about Ebola in the present day is that it's so deadly, most of the victims can't spread it very far before expiring. When making something similarly horrific, having it take longer is actually a refinement.

Of course, as it stands right now, that could be totally irrelevant.

I also see the longer implantation time, especially the gestation time to be an advantage for spreading.

[BringbackJonesy!]

And yes the prequels require "patching" with a final entry, reconciliation with the idea the Alien is ancient and a "real" Space Jockey exists- and Prometheus isn't great, but I loved a lot of the stuff it added to the history and aesthetic of the universe and really enjoy the Pathogen's potential now because of it's sequel's clarification.

Oh don't get me wrong, although I don't care for some of the directions Ridley went in with the 'prequels' in relation to his fantastic original, there's still a LOT I find of interest in them when I keep them separate.  His keen eye for visuals still being the main thing overall.  In fact my go-to-versions happen to be extended re-edits which include a lot of the neat additional scenes which were sadly excluded from the official cuts.

But while I choose to imagine they aren't the actual events that lead up to the ALIEN movie itself, I absolutely hope that Ridley gets the greenlight to conclude his David 8 storyline eventually, no-matter-what.

In the meantime, back to the 'egg' I guess....

[HuDaFuK]

They could have minimised this argument when they made alien 3 and started the film with the camera panning away from the dropship revealing the egg where the queen was hiding but nope...

I could be mistaken, but I believe the film originally had no visible egg at all, but after people in the test screenings were "confused" about where the Alien came from, they added a shot of an egg. That would go some way to explain its bizarre, incongruous placement.

[SM]

Yeah there's no egg in the Workprint.

Or burster.

[Local Trouble]

So what's the first indication of an alien presence on board the Sulaco in the workprint?  Was it this?

[The Old One]

I believe so, and so it ought've stayed.
On the implantation and gestation discussion:
By examining the films (And The Cold Forge) it's clear implantation is instantaneous but the length of time it persists attached is totally the choice of the Alien itself, gestation is always a number of hours or a full day.

[The Cruentus]

Not the second the film. Otherwise as I pointed out, those two huggers would not be alive to attack Ripley and Newt. Not to mention Marachuk and the other colonist would have already been infected.

[The Old One]

Or the log is inaccurate,
the implantation/gestation was thought averted at the time but wasn't.
And the surviving specimen- Simply contained during separate instances at the time of the infestation.