What's the biggest mystery of the film?

Biggest mystery? [b]The often overlooked significance of the giant human head in an alien temple light years from Earth.[/b] Very few theories address this adequately, yet it is the one thing that hints to either a very protracted back story, or a recursive history with what is happening in this narrative. A big second, would be [b]the role of David8 and the significance of this human creation in the bigger picture[/b].

The primary mechanism of the Engineers’ genetic manipulation.

I want to see if they show a similar looking cavernous cargo-hold (the mostly matte painting with Kane being lowered on the right) as they do in the original Alien film directly below the SJ platform. I've always been troubled regarding the proposed inner dimensions of the derelict. Some light shed on that would satisfy me. We do see the hologram inners of the direlict, but I still can't make out that cavernous bomber cargo-bay.

My own 2 major mysteries are these - Whether we are seeing the actual 'derelict' that ends up in ALIEN, or not. A lot of scenarios are possible if it's not. And whether the 'big bald fellah' is a member of the only 'superior' race we'll see in the movie, or not. If there's actually another, as-yet-unseen 'superior' race involved too, then again, a lot of scenarios are possible.

I'm curious to see what happens after the derelict crashes. The trailers couldn't have revealed too much, I'm sure Ridley has something more up his sleeve.

@Cervantes: Yeah, a significant mystery of the film, to me, definitely centers around David and his role in things. There are two main questions that keep me puzzling over him. And the first is ... Was there, in fact, a kernel of truth in that fake leaked script synopsis someone posted on IMDb way, way back, in which David got infected by a bioagent, like some of the other crew members (Fitfield and Holloway, at least) appear to? Had someone actually constructed a reasonable facsimile of the [i]Prometheus[/i] plot? If people start getting infected and de-evolving, or re-evolving, it would make sense that David could present a new leap in the evolutionary process in that the bioagents in the urns (or whatever those things are) would now be encountering a new kind of life form, one that was wholly cybernetic. Is it crazy to think, then, that David might be the guy with the biomechanical skin (or armor) who we see standing over Shaw in the trailer? [img]http://www.empireonline.com/images/uploaded/newprometheus60.jpg[/img] I even think the Engineer standing over the waterfall with the weird black veins filling out in his head sort of looks like a bald Michael Fassbender from the back of the head. Take that for what you will (which I understand might not be much). [img]http://www.empireonline.com/images/uploaded/newprometheus2.jpg[/img] The synopsis said David got infected through his finger. If he had a Pinocchio complex and he wanted to be human, a real man, I could very much see him infecting himself on purpose, and then becoming sort of an android Christ figure, half-Weyland-robot, half-Engineer-god. And thus we get people at press conferences asking Ridley Scott to respond the rumors that David will somehow be the savior of humanity in the film. Maybe David is the pilot. He, with his Lawrence of Arabia voice and hair, is Prometheus. He tries to steal fire from the gods, and then he has to sacrifice himself by piloting away the ship full of bioweapons to a place where no one will ever find it ... until the movie [i]Alien[/i]. While in the meantime, he sits strapped to his space jockey chair, doomed to be punished, very similar to the way Prometheus was punished in perpetuity, by having something rip through his chest. Just one theory. Sorry for the length of this reply. More about that other question I have later.

The planet they land on has these ancient stone temples, these huge stone walls surrounding them. Crude tunnels and caverns. Yet amid all this, they find advanced bio-tech and a space craft . A civilisation that has this sort of technology, surely does not live in these ancient ruins!

what sorts of organisms will we see?

@ [b]TheSNARK -[/b] Well another major mystery to me happens to be whether these 'temple'/'derelict' locations are actually on the 'home'-planet of their creators, or not...or merely some other location that the humans are 'invited' to for some reason...

@Ripley8_David8 "Maybe David is the pilot. He, with his Lawrence of Arabia voice and hair, is Prometheus. He tries to steal fire from the gods, and then he has to sacrifice himself by piloting away the ship full of bioweapons to a place where no one will ever find it ... until the movie Alien. While in the meantime, he sits strapped to his space jockey chair, doomed to be punished, very similar to the way Prometheus was punished in perpetuity, by having something rip through his chest." I have a feeling this could be a possibility... I've had this feeling for a while now. This could potentially make a lot of sense for a multitude of reasons, especially of why the Alien is so biomechanical aesthetically.

"What's In The Suit?" and has the Derelicts Signal been "screaming in space" for 33+ years now?

Thanks, dsjohnson84. Okay, so now ... it took me some time to formulate my ideas, but the other question I have is: Is David more Ash or Bishop? The marketing materials seem to hint strongly that he falls somewhere on the Ash side of the spectrum. First we get him giving that creepy smile as he stoops down over the urn and watches the little living things dance. [img]http://www.empireonline.com/images/uploaded/newprometheus26.jpg[/img] Then the trailer ends on an that ominous note, with him smiling again, faintly, holding up his (pricked?) index finger, saying, “Big things have small beginnings.” [img]http://www.empireonline.com/images/uploaded/newprometheus61.jpg[/img] But the real clincher seems to come from the “Happy Birthday” viral video that was just released. In the video, David is flanked by two skulls (not a good sign), and he says that thing about how he can “carry out directives” that his “human counterparts might find distressing, or unethical.” [img]http://www.ifc.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/041712-prometheus-david-8-michael-fassbender.jpg[/img] Unnecessary violence makes him sad; he sheds a tear over the mere thought of it. It would seem David has a sensitive side ... yet he claims he does not feel human emotions. So maybe these tears are just his “facial mapping sensors” reproducing human emotion, to make the customer feel more comfortable, and disarm potential buyers into thinking this synthetic being is capable of showing empathy (reacting to the thought of war, poverty, and cruelty in a manner befitting a proper human, even though he is not one). [img]http://www.heyuguys.co.uk/images/2012/04/Prometheus-David-Michael-Fassbender.jpg[/img] On the Weyland Industries website, it says: “David 8 can be programmed to enter a default neutral state, devoid of emotional engagement. This state can be useful for applications where traditional non-feeling cybernetic behavior is required.” If the viral marketing is meant to lead us into the movie, giving us an idea for what we can expect, then I would say it suggests something like this. At some point in the movie, Peter Weyland or Vickers, someone with a fierce Promethean ambition or some shadowy corporate interests to serve, will likely activate David’s neutral state, at which point he will become an evil tool for them, the proverbial “Bad Robot”, as it were, of Damon Lindelof’s [i]Lost[/i]. [img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c3/BadRobotLOGONEW.jpg[/img] Let us say, just for the sake of scenario: this happens. It is done. David goes bad. I would not put it past [i]Prometheus[/i], however, to try and subvert our expectations, by making David into a good guy at the end, like Bishop in [i]Aliens[/i]. Maybe David starts to develop an android conscience, and rebels against his programming, overrides it somehow. This would go along with what Fassbender has said in interviews about David developing an emotional life of his own. The unforeseen glitch in David that allowed him to act independently, of his own will, might be what causes Weyland Industries to tweak their android design in an attempt to weed out all emotion. Keeping with the scenario, this what leads to their “twitchy,” remorseless Ash model. Again, just one theory. And now I am all talked out. Sorry again for the long reply.

My take is also on David, whether he is good or bad, or in between; the clue is what he'll do that changes the course of events and finally what happens to him. Just remember that Tom Skerrit was headlining the opening credits, has a prominent role and he is actually the 3rd person to be killed. So anything could happen

Well maybe the movie is misleading us... Ridley said there may be two Andriods well he said Synthetics? We kinda think Vickers because she seems cold and has a agenda, she also looks very unnatural in some scenes, like the push ups and the scene where she is waiting on her own as if she is a statue. This could give the impression she is a Andriod, and/or has bad motives. But then look how she seems to be human when she is going to the escape pod and she is running away with Shaw at the end. I asumed that David 8 would be the Hero who would indeed play the last card in the game that finally stops the Derelict. Maybe its all misleading... Vickers Cold, David Happy, Child like and Camp. But thats to make us think Vickers is Cold and has a Agenda, when really it could be David 8.

As far as the David 8 and Pilot theory... Well here is some holes... or maybe not. I cant see how he can be the Pilot and also be the bald guy in that begining of Time Scene. Someone had told me that David Changes. Into Something which again brings us to the Ridley saying there is maybe two Andriods. Now lets look at a Werewolf and American Werewolf in London, now that movie had a David who was infected (bitten) by a Werewolf and becomes one himself. Now do you consider the David and Werewolf as One/Same Person or as two different beings. Do you consider Jackal and Hyde as one person or two? Thus is David is somehow transformed into something/someone new would that be classed as being maybe the 2nd Andriod, making the everyone suspecting Vickers as a Red Herring? Other things related to the Engineer... Yes that one scene is a puzzle, where the Engineer is near Shaw, it does not look 9ft tall.... But in the scene where David is in the Star Map Room, you can make out a Engineer heading towards him, this guy looks 50% bigger than David and thus does look to be about 9ft. When we see the Engineer set off and activate the Pilot Chair to raise up and then walk over to it, you can see a SJ Helmet on the Chair as it rises up. The Engineer is big compared to that chair, when comparing the Humans in Alien walking upto it. I had estimated the size of the Alien Chair to be 16ft long and thus if this chair is the same size the guy sitting in it at the end would apear to be about 9ft tall. Yes maybe David can be changed into a Jockey and then grows, the Jockey in Alien was bigger than the Blue Guys in this movie or so it seemed, so maybe they keep on growing. But i still think that the scene where we see the Blue Guy in room with David and then same guy activate and then walk up to the Chair to me makes me conclude the same guy ends up in the Chair just after.

As far as the biggest mystery of the film goes. Well from Alien it was these.... 1) How did the Eggs get on that Ship and why? 2) How did those Eggs come to be or the Xeno? 3) Who was the big guy in the Chair? 4) What was the purpose of the Chair and the Ship. 5) How did the ship land/crash on LV426 6) How did something burst out of his chest (was it Chest Burster). But Ridley has gone to answer those but also base the movie on much much more. Thus. 1) Why the connection for our creation and the Engineers, did they create us? 2) Whats in those Urns, what is their purpose? 3) What is the Organisms we see i.e Worms what do they do. 4) What becomes of mutated crew members what are they changing into? 5) Whats the relevence of the Mural to the movie? 6) Whats the relevence to the Promtheus Myth and the Movie? 7) How did Shaw get pregnant and what happens to the Baby? 8) What role does Weyland and or David play? 9) Why are there what looks like Dead Space Jockeys who killed them? 10) Why are the Space Jockeys so upset with us, what do they want with us? Those 10 are the biggest mysterys of the film that are unrelated to the exact scene on Alien on the Crashed/Landed Derelict.

What is in those urns. And I will bitchslap the first person who says, "Bioformer".

@takka_takka_takka, It seems to me that the “4-lobed ‘thing’” that David is extracting in the trailer scene may be coming out of one of the urns. The proportion is correct. The vessel material seems that it could be the same as in the “dancing gray matter” scene. And, I think I detect some of the ancient Chinese-style writing faintly at the lower left. [img]http://masempul.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/urn-extraction.jpg[/img] The simple fact that it has so much opaque black in it makes me think that it may be related to the xeno. The fact that he’s clearly being extra careful with it reinforces that effect. @Everyone who thinks David may become the Space Jockey, Is David that ‘organic’ to start with that he could be so thoroughly transformed into another physical entity? Yes. We have the white ‘blood’ again, but there also seem to be many may components in Ash that are ‘purely artificial’ in the sense of a ‘traditional’ android made out of plastics, metals, wires, etc. I’m talking Stepford Wife on a stroll through Westworld here. If anything, I would expect Ash to be much MORE organic than David.

@takka_takka_takka, It seems to me that the “4-lobed ‘thing’” that David is extracting in the trailer scene may be coming out of one of the urns. The proportion is correct. The vessel material seems that it could be the same as in the “dancing gray matter” scene. And, I think I detect some of the ancient Chinese-style writing faintly at the lower left. [img]http://masempul.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/urn-extraction.jpg[/img] The simple fact that it has so much opaque black in it makes me think that it may be related to the xeno. The fact that he’s clearly being extra careful with it reinforces that effect. @Everyone who thinks David may become the Space Jockey, Is David that ‘organic’ to start with that he could be so thoroughly transformed into another physical entity? Yes. We have the white ‘blood’ again, but there also seem to be many may components in Ash that are ‘purely artificial’ in the sense of a ‘traditional’ android made out of plastics, metals, wires, etc. I’m talking Stepford Wife on a stroll through Westworld here. If anything, I would expect Ash to be much MORE organic than David.

"The simple fact that it has so much opaque black...." [url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/45180248@N07/6769510387/]Not in this picture.[/url]