Comments (Page 734)

It certainly looks the same, and i am never going to dispute that and i would say with 99.9% accuracy the shooting location is the same.

However i think its just like a Easter Egg and i dont think it in anyway is to show us that Weyland Company knew of where the Sacrificial Scene took place.

The Scene did take place on Earth, and well Planet 4 was also on Earth.. hell even LV-426 is on Earth lol... but joking aside yes the Sacrificial Scene had taken place on Earth in the drafts, but RS had said it did not have to be Earth as a way to suggest that this kind of Sacrificial Event is not a One Off and has been done on other Worlds.

Is this Paradise/Planet 4... is open for debate, there is no Proof that it is, but it could be likely that the same kind of Sacrificial Scene had been done on Paradise, or even maybe Originally.

So the Sacrificial Scene in Prometheus could be the first time they did this,  5th time or even 1000th time we really cant be sure.

I think if RS ever suggests the Scene was on Paradise, we need to then not read into the Weyland/David Prologue Background as being that the company has been to Paradise.. i mean think of the Plot Holes and Questions this raises if this was the case.

@Sherris

Which Alien Timeline was this from?

If the seeding in Prometheus was 93AD then it cant be Earth lol, and it may be unlikely to had been Paradise too, unless Paradise had Primates or other Humanoids and then a Sacrificial Scene like this meant Engineer DNA then contaminated Humanoids to then make them mutate to more Engineer looking.

There is never been to my knowledge any official confirmation of the Sacrificial Scene so i would have to check that time line out... i think the reason for it is because RS sees this Scene as just showing how these Space Gardeners go about their business.

Spaights Alien: Engineers the Sacrificial Scene would have taken place  a FEW HUNDRED THOUSAND years ago maybe even Millions as it may be to show Primates Evolving into earlier ancestors, or earlier ancestors evolving into Homo-Sapiens we dont know how many times this process had occurred before in Spaights Draft.

Lindeoffs was to show case either the start of Life on Earth, which it could not have been due to Plant Life... or likely the Catalyst that caused Basic Life to Evolve to Complex Life and so like a Billion years or so.... but i am sure Lindeloff said the event was to explain the Cambrian explosion and thus over 500M years ago.

As far as what the Engineers are doing now... it depends on what was the Purpose for Seeding Worlds and did they Bare Sufficient Fruits of their Labor so they did not need to continue seeding worlds after a certain point?

We dont know how Far Spread the Engineers and their Hierarchies Seeding goes, for a Race that must be over a Billion years old, certainly Over Half a Billion... and a Race who have Maps to other Galaxies... we can not really comprehend just how far and vast their Genetic Space Gardening is.

Certainly is not limited to the close Sector of Space we live in and so its  ok to assume they have seeded and interacted on Worlds Thousands of Light years away too.  If not further.

All good points.... and indeed we have to accept the movie does not cover every moment of the events that befell the crew of the Covenant.

From when the Covenant ship suffered the damage to the sails and loss of crew, and so when the essential crew was woken up, right to when David had put Daniels to into Cryo-sleep.

These events did not take 2 hours, but over days and so the movie will not show every single conversation and so while the movie may only show the crew was in the Cathedral with David until they had to Run for their Lives and escape from David and the Xenomorph....  this may had only taken 20-25 minutes tops in the movie .  But in reality they could have been there for hours and so indeed not every conversation would have been shown.

But those that are not shown are merely not important to the Plot as far as how they wish to tell/drive it.  The Novel as with movie Drafts have the advantage of not having to stick to a Shooting Time Schedule and so more can be explained.

Ideally i think a bit longer interaction between David and the Crew within the Cathedral would have been good, and could have helped to expand upon stuff and i think a extra 10 minutes would have been good... but sadly when shooting the movie they have to cut things down.

So we can only assume certain things. I have not read the Novel Yet, but from the movie it does seem to me that David was not too surprised that people arrived.. it was like he was awaiting for someone eventually.

But i dont think he had anything to do with the Neutrino Blast, i think he may have edited and set off the Signal and its just the Coincidence that the Blast caused the ship to have to  have the sails repaired which then allowed the Signal to have reached them.  This was just a necessary piece of the Plot as far as a Plot Device.

So it goes like this... they could have had the Covenant detect a signal on route and have Walter then wake the crew up to investigate the source due to it seeming to be Human Origin.. but this would all be a bit too much like Alien.

And then what if the Captain then decided to simply ignore this and continue with the mission to Origae-6, the only way the Captain would have to investigate would be if its his choice or their is a company Directive that such things have to be checked out... just as the Nostromo had to do.

So by binging in a disaster that damages the Ship, and kills so many of the Crew....  then it allows for them to discover a signal to a World that seems more habitable than their destination thats 7 years away but Planet 4 is just 7 weeks away.

Some of the crew do not want to get back into Cryo-sleep and so its do they spend 7 years on the Covenant and head to Origae-6 or do they just spend 7 weeks to check out Planet 4 that seems a more suitable place to set up a Colony.

It may seem that way from the Novel...

But i think they went for the differences in the Movie to show how David is different to Walter and that Walter Models do not have the Emotional Ability or Understandings of the earlier models. So Walter is a Straight up Robot who does not have these feelings.

Its to kind of show us the differences like in Star Trek TNG with Data and Lore

Teesside. North East England.

The North at its heights. Home of  Pensions,Dole and Methadone 

There are deleted scenes on the bluray that focus on Walter/Daniels, and I think someone from a test screening mentioned a conversation where Daniels points out to Walter how they're the only two crew members that are alone. To me it sounds an awful lot like the deleted toast/creation myth scene in Prometheus (it makes the very same point about David/Shaw being alone, & Ridley said well before the rewrite that isolating David/Shaw was "essential" to what he wanted to say about humans & AI). At the very least, I find it interesting that the "lonely girl meets lonely robot" theme survived the rewrite process, much less made it all the way to being filmed if it wasn't important (it's one reason I consider AC a reboot and 100 credits says Walter/Daniels will be back for the sequel)

Im not certain on this but I did read an Alien timeline which stated that Prometheus seeding was 93 AD. (I just checked)

If this is true it would mean that The Engineers were still seeding planets up until at least 2000 years ago.

 EDIT: YES it does look the same scene now I have looked a little closer. 

Im not sure which is correct now. The timeline OR the Planet being the same. Cant be both.

As i said above it is astonishing to think that such an important detail is an oversight. However there has been previous evidence of inconsistencies in the Franchise so it is possible.

I am still thinking that the "Engineer" slaughter in A:C shows the beings to be different.

Skin Colour - The Engineers223/Sacrificial seem to have different skin tone to beings on Planet 4 too.

The Hammerpede - That seemed to be the same colour as The Engineers 223/Sacrificial and so if these beings have been enhanced or created then for me that points to the Black Goo having something to do with the process.

There are other colours with relevance also. Take the green goo David touches between his fingers in Prometheus. Now that looks like the same green colour that is woven into the Jugganaut controls like an energy source. This same colour is present at the Alter too, where the Urn was replaced by a "Green Stone"  It is the one Holloway examines in Prometheus.

Any thoughts ????

how can she get from the airlock to the food stores? she opened the door to the med pod room and let the trilobite into the main area of the ship. unless u have a blue print of the life boat and know where the food is stored and can find a way to get there that doesn't require her to open the door from the airlock that directly leads to the main area where the engineer and trilobite are.

I wasn't talking about how long the daily cycle of lv223 was. im pointing out that no one knows it and the time scale given by shaw shows that she has at least 4 days to try and figure out how to plot a course and learn how to pilot the ship before take off and that it may well have been david who was piloting the ship from take off. also there must be some form of sustenance on the juggernaught for the crew so she may have checked to see if it was edible for her which would have saved her having to face the engineer and trilobite.

unless u worked on the movie u don't know, none of us do. its all our own interpretation of what we saw. unless u have valid evidence to support it

"why would anyone in their right mind go back to that life boat with an engineer and trilobite on it just cause she might need a coffee cup?"

You may as well ask why she laid there right beside the open door for a long time when both the Engineer and trilobite were just 40-50 feet away behind the inner door. But she did just stay there. She did not even attempt to run away. And neither creature came to get her because they were both dead.

A coffee cup? She needed food, water, medicine, clothes. Everything one would need to survive. Even if she was not sure the trilobite was dead, all she had to do was close one or both of the inner doors. She knows it does not know how to open a door. All the supplies appeared to be right there just inside the outer door.

"we didn't even get how long 1 rotation of lv223 took"

It does not matter how long a day was on LV-223. The Prometheus crew were using our standard measurements of time - 24 hour day cycles. Christmas to New years is 7 days. The ship arrived late in the LV-223 day. The crew slept then went back in the morning to look for Fifield and Milburn. That excursion was short, a few hours, then Holloway gets fried, Shaw has her baby, and Weyland is awakened. That is all in the same day, and Weyland is preparing to go back to the pyramid that day. Let's throw in another day just for the hell of it, even though we don't see anyone going to sleep again. That still leaves around 4 days from the Juggernaut crash to Shaw leaving.

That is definitely the same scene. How did Weyland get an image from the planet surface before the events in Prometheus?

why would anyone in their right mind go back to that life boat with an engineer and trilobite on it just cause she might need a coffee cup? even a star map wouldn't be valuable enough to risk it. she doesn't know who won the fight and she doesn't know the trilobite dies after impregnating the engineer. the fact that the crossing scenes may not be in any order makes me wonder how u can deduce she was looking at the star charts BEFORE putting davids head back on? if ur david, u play ur strong hand. u tell shaw ur not doing anything to help until ur head is reattached and that starts when shaw asks how to take off. so how does shaw know how to take off in the juggernaught? given that there may not be any chronological order to the crossing, what evidence is there david wasn't piloting the juggernaught from take off? the Prometheus landed on xmas day and left on new years day. to me, it wasn't there more than 1 day before it smashed into the juggernaught and we didn't even get how long 1 rotation of lv223 took. that cycle may take 20 hours or whatever but if it is less than 24 hours then shaw has at least 3-4 days from the point the Prometheus smashes into the juggernaught to taking off in the other juggernaught. the crash sights wont be that far from the life boat, maybe couple hours drive on the rover so the scene where she is reattaching davids head may be on new years eve and it is david piloting the ship. there is no indication of time they spend together on the ship before shaw goes to sleep except her hair which really doesn't make much sense unless davids turn to the dark side happened only after shaw went to sleep and he has learned more about the engineers or shaw is really the only human he respects. everything about the crossing is open to interpretation and that's how I think RS has wanted it. no one can truly answer any of it

@BigDave - She was just wearing the bra/tank top thing when she put her pressure suit on, not a t-shirt. The t-shirt must have come from the lifeboat.

After the Trilobite attacked the Engineer, Shaw looked back just before jumping out of the lifeboat and saw that the Trilobite had him locked in its grip. She jumped, leaving the door she passed through WIDE OPEN. She stayed there on the ground at the foot of the lifeboat door for quite some some time, and nothing came after her. Ridley even cut to show some clouds in the sky to indicate some time has passed as she laid there.

Then David called and told her there are other ships. She looks around and sees one of the tracked vehicles half buried in the dirt, right beside the lifeboat. In the next scene she is driving the vehicle to the Juggernaut, so she spent some time uprighting it right in front of that door.

All she had to do was look into the doorway and around the corner at any point to see the lifeless trilobite laying on top of a lifeless Engineer. It was literally just 40-50 feet away, so she knows nothing is coming after her this point. 

The Prometheus arrived late on Christmas day. The events in the movie happened quickly, probably in a span of about 48 hours. She left LV-223 on New years day, so she had 4-5 days to move anything she needed from the lifeboat to the Juggernaut and prepare for her trip. If she did not want to look at the dead engineer and trilobite while doing this, all she had to do was close the inner door :)

She also has rappelling gear when she is moving David's body. Where do you think she got that? Also, the deacon is shown being born AFTER she leaves, so that was not even a factor.

My bad, Shaw does say at the end of Prometheus that it is 2094 as they leave but I stand by a year approximately that it took them to get to Planet 4. I do not know when exactly in 2104 that the Covenant crew stumble upon Shaw's transmission, so I would say David's assessment of 10 years is correct.

The Prometheus mission was in 2093 and the Covenant took place 2104, so that's 11 years. I would assume the trip from LV-223 to Planet 4 took about year, hence Shaw's hair and Cryosleep. I assumed the equipment used to repair David were in his pouches as either precautionary measures or just excavating equipment. As to what David meant about 'learning their ways' is up in the air but I would assume their culture or more about the pathogen. It stated in the 'Art and Making of Covenant' that David kept her alive while he experimented on her and in the Collector's edition book it said he killed her to prevent Shaw from leaving him, androids have a funny way of showing affection.

it would be common scense to assume that any human expeditions that far out from earth would be a scientific one to hence the covenant being full of scientists.

david, though probably talking about the physical impact the juggernought had when crashing, may be talking about the impact HE had on the planet and its inhabitants when the juggernought arrived. as his statedment could have more than one meaning, he may be gauging the crew to see if they suspect or have found anything that leads them to conclude that someone killed the people on this planet, and the fact david is walking around unharmed, they have made him the prime suspect

#1 - After David briefs the crew in the cathedral, the novel cuts back to the Covenant, then back to David, Lope, and Cole on the roof. We don't know what conversations the crew had with David in the interim, but presumably there were more questions and answers on both sides.

#2 - No one had yet talked to David prior to him saying that, unless there was conversation with him when they were running from the Neomorphs, but that's not in the book. It is odd that Foster did not have anyone ask David how he knew they had come across the ship.

He showed up right when they were being attacked and mentioned the ship, so he was clearly following them. I assumed he had tracked them after hearing their ship flyover.

BigDave said... "I think we also need to consider David in this too, i find it hard to believe that David would be aware of the Covenants exact location in relation to where he would be, we have to remember the Covenant Mission was only starting its planning Stages by the time the Prometheus had set off."

David could have made contact with the data of the mission planning team either on the Prometheus and would at least be familiar with the mission and as soon as he realized he was going to be stranded on "Paradise" or even when he first realized he would need more victims, he altered the Covenant mission.  According to the novel, it took 10 years to plan the mission.  Alien: Covenant takes place around 10 years after the  Prometheus movie.  So, David could have been stranded on "Paradise" for maybe a few years.  That's plenty of time for a power-hungry, never sleeping AI to realize that he needs to get off that lifeless planet before the space traveling Engineers show up to see what he has done; plus, why wouldn't David want more test subjects in the process?  It's a win, win situation to get the Covenant mission to pass in the general area of "Paradise".  As long as David interfered with the Covenant data before they left, he would insure they go right where he wants.  All he has to do is wait till they find Shaw's transmission and be lured into Paradise after a stellar flare from a nearby star that was in it's active phase.  David just needs to change a few numbers in the computer that, if done right, most people wouldn't notice.  It's probably all done by computer anyways.  So, we could have a hacker AI.

To me, the whole situation is either one, big, super rare coincidence that falls perfectly into David's favor or David just simply changed a few numbers in the Covenant mission data before the Covenant left Earth (with the help of the computer, Mother).

Alien: Covenant was written with a prequel or sequel in mind.  Until the next movie, or possibly the next novel, we won't know for sure, but that is something to keep in mind.  Alien: Covenant is an open story at the moment, unlike Alien (which does raise the question of some hidden agenda).  Aliens had a hidden agenda.  I can't remember Alien3, but Alien: Resurrection had a hidden agenda.  Prometheus had a hidden agenda too.  Alien: Covenant would be the first Alien franchise movie which has an attached story planning on being released right after the movie is released.

Alien (1979)

Aliens (1986)

Alien3 (1992)

Alien: Resurrection (1997)

Prometheus (2012)

Alien: Covenant (2017)

Alien: Awakening (possibly 2019)

Of course, other people on this forum have watched the whole franchise writing and filming years much more than I have, so I could be wrong on how much was in planning at the time of the other Alien movies in the franchise, but from what I know, Ridley Scott is not letting us wait for our answers so there is no reason to have the story end in 2017.

After watching Prometheus, I was led into believing there would be a sequel, but it took them a planned for 4 years (an actual 5 years).  Still, maybe Scott is trying to tell one story in two movies.  If David is behind the Covenant going to "Paradise", that would be one hell of a twist.  (Except for the fact that I predicted it)  Who knows!  I can't wait for the Alien: Covenant Origins book!  It might end my awesome theory...

Maybe it will be revealed in another movie or novel?  Ridley set up Alien: Covenant to allow room for at least one more movie.  Alien: Covenant isn't a closed book like Alien was.

The hair of David grows and he even need a hair-cut in Covenant and discolours It in Prometheus. His hair must be organic or similar. I think he can use part of the food to create and repair parts of the body that easily get damage like hair, nails and skin. That is my theory.

BigDave so in a nutshell do you think Alien Covenant is basically FOX's version a re-boot/re-hashed Prometheus, done retrospectively their way (based on the viewer/critics response, performance & survey data).

Eg. FOX made Covenant based on their finding for why Prometheus "failed" 5 years ago. This may mean that had Alien: Covenant been released in 2012 it would have been received better, but it is not necessarily what the general public of 2017 want. 

So in trying to fix the mistakes of Prometheus (a film made 5 years ago) they are perpetually behind with the social climate and popular culture of the general public today?

If so, the next instalment is likely to share a similar fate.

#1 I can almost guarantee that this was a deduction or assumption, even. Or it is something that was revealed in their conversation that wasn't in the book or screnplay (just like a natural conversation or whatever). Either way, there is no other reference (as far as I know) in the book about this knowledge. 

#2 I think this is also just deduction on David's part. He knows that they probably saw the juggernaught (Shaw's signal is, really, the only way that someone would really find that place [I assume.] Shaw is the one who sent, but I would guess that David ended up knowing about it). There is also a (lesser) chance that David was watching them the whole time, but there is no other information in the book. 

@BigDave

David knows that it looks like he crashed on that planet, so if he is going to stick to that story, which he does in the novel (unlike the movie where we see him bombing the "Engineers"), than he most likely assumed that is why the Covenant crew is on the planet.  I guess that is a safe assumption.  Still, if he did assume that is why they are there, than his actions and words act like assumptions are fact.  That doesn't sound very logical to me, which an AI lives and breaths logical.

Maybe David was watching the crew for a long time on the "Paradise" and he noticed something Oram did which gave him the idea that he is a scientist.  With an action, Oram doesn't have to say anything.  I definitely could have overlooked a simple action since I didn't know David was watching him. 

Let me explain how David could have been watching the crew for a long time.

On p. 205: “There was no indication that the surprise had been intentional, or that his counterpart had deliberately crept up behind him. There was only the realization by Walter that there was another who could move as silently as himself.”  The importance of this quote is that Walter most likely has better hearing than any human that makes up the Covenant crew, but in this part of the book, David accidentally sneaks up on Walter.  If David can be too quiet for Walter to hear in a silent building, maybe if David kept his distance and watched his step, he couldn’t be heard while observing the Covenant crew shortly after they landed or even before they landed.  He could have only revealed himself because he had no other choice.  Some of the crew had to survive to help insure he would be taken off of “Paradise”.

'It does look a bit the same...' - No, BigDave, no! Not a bit. We see the same environment in the two stills. I don't claim that Planet 4 is the planet at the beginning of Prometheus, but the two scenes show the same planet:

Prometheus:

Alien Covenant:

I think maybe David assumed?  and also as far as the ship he could be lying.

But he would know they found where it crashed where there was evidence of the impact, but i think as far as how the Ship Crashed and how he got to Paradise.. David is clearly lying to the Covenant crew.

It does look a bit the same... but if Paradise was the opening Scene, i think its just Coincidence as far as Weylands back drop in the opening Scene.

This Scene is likely set in the year 2025, David 1 and so i cant see how Weyland would have knowledge of what Paradise looked like back then.

I think its RS putting some visual clues that we can maybe read into too much... we dont yet know where the Sacrificial Scene took place.. RS had said it did not have to be Earth,  but this does not mean its not Earth, so it could be Paradise or it could have taken place anywhere else in the Galaxy.

I am not sure if RS will ever confirm where the Sacrificial Scene Took place.. i think his comments are just to inform us that these kinds of Sacrifices take place on many Earth like Worlds.

I have lined them up and clearly the Engineer is taller, but then Billy Crudup is not that Tall, doing a calculation based on this shot then i worked out the Engineer is about 6ft 3 maybe 6ft 4" Tall.

But then Billy Crudup is standing a bit closer and so we cant be 100% accurate, someone did post a image of this Prop Engineer being worked on which i had estimated to about 7ft to 7ft 3" but then thats with out me knowing those in the Room working on the Props as far as their Height and then also discrepancies as far as how far away is the Prop to them.

But indeed some shots the Dead Engineers appear to only be a bit taller than Humans, and some of them seem Taller, from what i have studied it appears they vary from about 6ft to 7ft mark.

The Dead Bodies that is... The Actual Actors playing Engineers do seem to have a more varied height difference, between about 5ft 6" and 6ft 6" but then we do not know how tall the Engineers are intended.. and so the smaller Actors could be playing a 6.5ft Engineers which means the taller ones would be about 7ft 8"

So its hard to guess really, we can however confirm the Prometheus Engineers are 7.5" without the Space Jockey Suits because the Crossing Video clearly shows a Limit to Height of anyone fitting within the Cryo-Pod would be 7.5ft Maximum.  I will assume those Engineers are thus 7ft to 7.5ft Tall

But again it could be a Oversight by RS and Production as far as the Cryo-Pod Sizes in relation to how Tall the Engineers are.  Lindeloff had said the Prometheus Engineers are supposed to be 9-10ft tall.... his earlier drafts they was intended to be 12ft and Spaights Drafts 15ft.

Good questions!

'So a few of us came up with the theory, that maybe the planet at the beginning of Prometheus is in fact Planet 4.'

One thing is for sure, if we see Planet 4 at the beginning of Prometheus, then Peter Weyland knew that planet when David was born:

Still from Prometheus:

Still from Alien Covenant:

Alright friend!

I love your topic, I love your questions and I love that we are talking about the Covenant novel because it is currently my favorite thing to talk about.

HOWEVER! This is happening to me every night lately: I'm just about to go out for my evening jog, and then something REALLY INTERESTING catches my attention, either here or on Reddit.

I'm gonna go out for my jog right now. But, don't despair because, I've got my novel right here on the coffee table, when I get back later this evening I would like to rifle through it and try to help you find the answers you seek.

*Edit: (And, also, I love the picture of David you chose for the banner. ...Man, I love Covenant so much... )

I am not sure why the Posts had disappeared? I can chase this up if you would like.

I think we could be seeing something going on behind the scenes as far as secret objective of the company or the AI, but who knows if David set all this up from the Start?

Maybe he could have, maybe its  a case of WE ARE DAVID and so there are a number of collective AI at play, but i get the impression David is unique in this respect.

Who knows what kind of route they are going?  I do often wonder if those who write these Plots actually sit down and consider every possible angle and scenario that comes from the things they are trying to show... or a lot is a lazy oversight.

I think we also need to consider David in this too, i find it hard to believe that David would be aware of the Covenants exact location in relation to where he would be, we have to remember the Covenant Mission was only starting its planning Stages by the time the Prometheus had set off.

I think it ULTIMATELY Falls down to a Needed Plot Device to allow and explain how the Human Explorers/Colonist end up at Davids House of Horrors... and so it made sense as far as giving us a reason for it..  The whole Neutrino Burst

And so i dont think those who worked on the Plot really gave it deep thought to how all this connects, and so i think the Whole Draft needed someone to go and tidy up little such flaws and potential inconsistencies and Plot Holes..

Unless there really is a Plan behind it all, and after the Next Movie it will make Sense.  The Prequel ADF Novel out in a few months may even give some light to the Company Planning and goings on surrounding the Mission.

Potentially giving us any clues to what the AI or David could have known about it and if he is connected to it in some way.

I think the main reason is making $$$$ Sci-Fi in general is not as appealing to the higher % of Population, and so when they release a Movie they have to try and do things so it can cater to a wider Audience...   Why Prometheus was a PG-13 or abouts... having a Truly X Rated Horror, where the Age Restrictions would be 18+ does limit the Potential Viewers.

Making AC a Cert 15 means it opens the Box Office up to those aged 15-17, and the same applies for Run Time.

Prometheus was not well received by many, casual Sci-Fi fans may not have seen its connections to Alien, general population would not have and also not understood the movie, and Alien Fans.. well the Franchise was Split as far as Fans.. some liked it, some hated it etc.

So FOX wanted to make some $$$$ on this one and do better than Prometheus, and so it comes down to THIS they are making a Movie to try and please Prometheus Fans and those who did not like that movie.. so Every Single Passionate Alien Franchise Fan... which all have varied likes or dislikes, such as Queen and Cameron's haters and lovers, etc

The case was making Alien Covenant and then trying to gauge how many of the Hardcore Fanbase would go and see the movie?  Some may think "oh no not a Prometheus 2" and so would not want to sit through 3 HOURS of that.  Some may not want to sit through 3 Hours for other reasons.

And so its the Gamble... do they make a 3 Hour Movie that tries to please everyone?  Then who would go and see it?

Sadly they would feel that only the Die-Hard would Sit through a longer movie, and some fans who are not 100% sure about the movie would maybe be tempted if its 2 hours but pass by if its 3 hours.

Then we come to the more casual General Public, and getting them to see a 3 hour movie that some may connect is a Prometheus sequel and some may not... well its a case of how many of these would go and watch a 3 hour Alien Movie... especially at how disappointing the Franchise became overall to many after Alien 3

So having a Lower Screen Time, opens the Door to get more not so Hard Core Fans into the Box Office.  Sad Really.

But every person on this Site, and others like it and anyone who was discussed the Franchise on Youtube, Sites like this or any other kind of Social Media... Sadly if everyone of these went to the Cinema... the Question is would that be enough to break Even on the Movie?

And making it a longer movie may reduce the potential of viewers, and lowering the Age Content would open it to more viewers.

So its all about what way can get more Bums on Seats... and Sadly it seems AC did not do as well as planned.

CONSIDER HEIGHT DISCREPANCIES: 

so the intention was to have different eyes, and we have to go back to Jon Spaights again for the Origins.. his Draft the Engineers Eyes were different more Advanced and could see in more Spectrum's than the Human Eye

Now its  a case of is the Alien Covenant Engineers, different for a reason? Or was the intended to look the same as Prometheus but they just had to cut back on Budget and Time as far as Make up for such a short Scene?

We can assume they are different, and can think of reasons why, they could be Older Superior beings to those on Paradise, and so Descendants, or they could be Genetically Modified and Advanced/Evolved versions of those beings on Paradise.

Its quite open for debate...

RS referred to the Engineers as NOT A RACE... but a Civilization and even pondered that just how there are many different races/versions of Mankind and there could be many more, then there could be many kinds of Engineers.

So Genetically these beings are related to the Engineer in Prometheus but a bit different, but so are Humans they are also generically related to Engineers and these beings on Paradise.

We need to remember what Prometheus showed us, and RS comments on Prometheus.. these beings (Ones who dropped off the Sacrificial Engineer) use these Engineers to Seed Worlds and come back over and over Genetically Evolving us and thus creating Humans... but RS had said they had been doing this on many other worlds too.

We are thus a variation of the Engineers and the Humanoids they attempt to create via their Seeding Methods.

I think indeed the shots Kethol Shared are interesting, and it shows these Contact Lenses were not 100% really Black, maybe they was Specially made some Darker Color and the cost of doing so is more expensive than using Black Out Sclera Contact Lenses that can be Purchased for as little as $30 each.

Maybe this is why they did not choose to give those Actors such Cheap Contacts?  Maybe there is a purpose more than Budget or Oversight?

The Concept work does show us a Darker Sclera, here is some of the concepts with some of the Engineers including the Head Prop where they are clearly Dark, and so it could be the lighting that makes them appear not so Totally Black.

The intention was however there Eyes, are different to Humans and indeed those beings on Paradise/Planet 4

May have to view the images for details... and below is the Elder Engineer both with Contacts and without.

After reading your writing, I still think David has the opportunity to interfere with the Covenant mission, but only if Mother is working with him as well.  David wouldn't use a device to start the explosion because it is a natural star phenomena.  If a solar flare did cause damage to the Covenant, all David would have to do is interfere with the Covenant planning teams research.  He could have similar changed the data to show that "solar flares from nearby stars are similar to our own Sun" (when in reality, they are 1,000 of times more powerful).  He would also alter the passive and active cycles data that the planning team found and change them so the Covenant is traveling near enough to a star during it's (or their since mostly likely numerous stars data were changed to increase his chances) active phase, which significantly increase David's chances of the Covenant ship get struck.  So, the Covenant would travel far enough to avoid the expected solar flares, but then get struck by the solar flares real power during it's active phase.  This plan's chance of happening isn't 100%, but what does David have to lose.  So, in the story, it does happen. 

I think he does have some advanced Engineer technology on "Paradise" or at least in the juggernaut that he could amplify, if it was damaged, to reach human civilization.  The reason he doesn't contact humans is because they would come rescue him and take him away from his discoveries.  David can theoretically live forever, so he is in no hurry.  I think he would rather keep his discoveries of an alien race with alien technology that no human knows about to himself as long as possible.  This is why David communicating with Mother is important because she's a computer similar to David.  He can trust a programed machine, but he can't trust a human being.  He hates humans anyways.

I think it's a plausible theory.

I am going to throw a BIG BONE.. here to Chew on ;)

We maybe cant consider these Canon.... but unless its the TWO different Concept Artiest letting their interpretation and imagination running wild, to give us these Humanoids...  We have to then ask that at some point this Design was maybe discussed with them prior to them creating the Concept Work.

IRaptus  "and in hindsight we will be able to applaud and appreciate it for a master-stroke. time will tell"   <--- Indeed. We musn't forget that Alien itself, Bladerunner also, along with many others also weren't immediate classics. Like a fine wine some things need a little time - brandy also; so it's little wonder anything coming from Brandywine Productions will need time to settle and mature in the psyche.

BigDave  It's a crying shame isn't it that directors and production teams care so much about theatrical running times, especially considering how many classics and oscar winners are effectively epics (Saving Private Ryan, Gone with the Wind, Titanic, etc). I'm only hoping that Ridley, well known as he is for completely changing his mind about things, is in fact going to cut together directors cuts of both Prometheus and Alien Covenant, or indeed already has done given respectful consideration for his age, and that these may be eventually released in years to come. I know he has firmly stated that no directors cuts will be coming due to him saying the theatrical cuts are the cuts he originally intended, but we know what he's like for a bit of misinfo. Here's hoping anyway.

"It's also possible because the scene was fast that Ridley simply thought no one notice any 'flaws' on the makeup of the actors. :)"

Maybe... its not the first Oversight RS has given us and i dont think it would be the last... and so indeed and when we consider the Budget which with Inflation was about  ONE 3RD less than Prometheus it really shows where a extra $50M would have helped and so maybe the Engineer Scene on such a large Scale would have taken a lot of Budget and so a Cheaper Make-up job was done and the screen time so small that we are not supposed to notice?

But then RS had mentioned, and maybe this is due to noticing the differences? or if its his intention from the start who knows...  (i do think it was due to what the Source i had informed me about 2.5 years ago).

Ridley Scott had said the Engineers are NOT A RACE.... they are a Civilization he also said to the effect that while there are many versions of Humans, and there may be many more, that the Engineers do share a Genetic Connection so why cant there be many versions of them.

So if we go with this then its interesting as we have a Multi-layered Order of Creation and Evolution, which means these beings on Paradise could be Evolution's or they could be earlier versions, now RS had called them Original Engineers

And yet the Head Statues are the Hierarchy, Superior Beings, Wise Men and Apostles and so these beings in the Cathedral  most likely Predate those beings on Paradise and also they looked more like Engineers.

The beings on Paradise looked different, they seemed to have a more varied appearance, but then if we take some versions/races of Humans on Earth, even ones like Africans, Asians or Middle Eastern... while they do not look as diverse feature wise as some other races of Humans.. They still do not look all identical.

And so some of these beings for that reason could have more traditional Engineer features, while others do not have so predominant ones, they also vary in Height a bit.  But so do Humans.

They do however lack the Marble like Looks of the Prometheus Engineers, and those Eyes, but again is this a Oversight?  Who knows.

So we can speculate if these beings on Paradise are a mixed Race, where different versions of Humanoids have interbred to give us a more diverse Civilization.

The Prometheus Engineers could be older versions, they could be the ones whom these beings on Paradise share their Origins from... much like Mankind does.

Or these Prometheus Engineers could be a Faction that have Genetically tried to play GOD and Evolved themselves.

So this Topic is one that is HUGE and one that i hope we see covered and not brushed under the Carpet.   We see these beings have Females... and so we have to ask.. WHY CREATE us?  Or WHY we are created in the first place.

Jon Spaights idea, and he was the one to work on the very first ideas regarding these Engineers, are they was a Race very Ancient who at one time could Procreate but overtime had Evolved and Engineered themselves to the point they lost this ability and then had to come up with other ways to Create.

So its all very open, the Elders in Prometheus looked like Older versions of the Sacrificial and LV-223 Engineers, but these were removed from the Movie and RS did not want to Meet GOD in the first movie.

So the Look of the Elders in Prometheus, can not be taken as the way they intend the Elders to Look now...

so the Sacrificial Engineer and LV-223 ones could indeed be either a Genetically Engineered Super Humanoids... or they could be used to Create those beings on Paradise.

its all very open and has multiple layers and is a fantastic thing to cover and one i hope they decide to cover in future as we have seen enough Xenomorphs and do not need no Ripley back;)

Totally agree with the OP...

I also felt the movie seemed quite good until the point of Oram and the Egg Scene, it was just rushed after this. I actually also feel that between when David rescued the Crew until the Chest Buster Scene needed a extra like 8-12 Minutes of extra footage.

I also think the Covenant scenes at the end needed a extra few minutes and the Xenomorph Scenes needed to be about twice as long.

Having watched the movie 3 times, i came to understand why it had its Flaws...   it was trying to cover a number of different elements... from showing us more about David, and some parts about his Prometheus Mission and Engineers as they could not completely leave this BLANK.. but it seemed like a Brush under the Carpet Job.

They had to introduce the Xenomorph, Twice.. which i felt was not needed... One would have done.. and so the last Act with the Xenomorph on the ship i felt was rushed.. but they had to bring the Xenomorph into it and give us a kind of Alien movie vibe which the last Scene tried to do.

Then they had to introduce something New... the Neomorphs which again i feel needed a bit more time spent on them.

And then they had the build up that was slow and used to explain what this Covenant Ship was, and how they ended up going to Planet 4.... which was done as a more slow build so that we can get to grips with the Characters more, than we did with Prometheus.

And all of this was too much to be fitted into a 2 hr movie and have it done justice... and thus only the Start of the Movie until when David arrives after the Neomorph attack was done to any Justice.

They then had not enough time to fit the rest in and give it the same level of detail and attention.

I think these Statues are all a bit different, some looked like the Elder Engineer, some looked more like the Sacrificial and some looked kind of Middle Aged.

I think indeed we could speculate if this place was where the Sacrificial Scene took place, thats something we cant rule out.

I think the interesting thing from the Art Book, which i have to purchase is this part,  "This ground-level architecture in the city interiors is a break from the classic, curved, biomechanical, Giger-esque set design; there is a classicism that has more in common wit the European religious artefact, with the FACES OF THESE FALSE GODS watching over everything."

So those who wrote this book claim these beings are False-Gods, so that can mean they did not create Mankind but it could just merely be that these beings are not GOD's at all, which i think Prometheus kind of hinted to anyway..  I think this is a interesting point.. because it could mean there are another Hierarchy of Creation above these beings who created them, it could mean they stole the Technology to Create (Sacrificial Goo) or Found it and so did not Create this.

We do not know if we will be shown a direct Hierarchy of creation above the Engineers and if these beings or what ever had created the Sacrificial Goo, or if these Engineers have a unknown Origin and came across the Sacrificial Goo that allowed them to create and Play GOD's.

Ridley Scott had said these Hall of Heads are the Wise Men, the Apostles and someone from Production (cant remember who) said these Statues are the Engineers Hierarchy.

And so it will be interesting to see the Layers of Hierarchy as far as the Engineers, these Statues, the Elders, and those beings on Planet 4 

I think as Kethol said the Milk stuff is for Maintenance, and as for the other stuff, it would appear the Androids can eat and drink to a degree to fit in with Humans.

They would then need a compartment which applies Chemicals to Break down this Food and Flush it out of their System some way.  So some-kind of Digestive system but this does not mean its nothing Fancy... maybe only as Fancy as a Miniature Toilet System inside.   If they get some Floaters then maybe they have to Regurgitate them lol