The real nature of LV-223

what i was thinking about was the whole issue of the star map if a star map lead them to a particular star system how did they find the correct corrdinates to the pyrmaids.....and there is no proof that there isnt anything else there its a planet for god sake visiting the desert in nevada isnt indiciative of what the land scape is like in China...and the weather looks pretty nice from what i can tell until the sand storm comes and that seems to be a reaction to something done once there.....the planet looks pretty calm as they are crashing ships and shaw and vickers are running on the terrian>???

Well, it could look very barren and lifeless after it's been abandoned for millions of years. If they were the beings who started life, or even just human life, that would have happened hundreds of thousands if not millions of years in the past. I know that it doesn't mean that they went extinct or abandoned LV-223 right after they made us, but still, that leaves a whole lot of time left to leave the planet. I mean, just look at the civilizations that have been covered up simply from the amount of time it has been left alone. Also, if you factor in that the giant sand storm is a fairly natural and regular occurrence on that planet, then that is plenty enough to leave the place lookin' like my apartment if no one was there to clean it up after a couple thousand years.

I think the weirdest part is all the structures on it's surface seem to be made by a bronze age level culture. Look at all those stone temples and the weird idols inside them. What kind of high tech, spacefaring society builds those? I hope the film answers (or at least hints at) why this is so.

i did not read anything but the question, and that way I thought my answer would be true to you...and to myself...and what my answer would be is it is only natural for any number of random planets to not have rings or other defensive postures built into their nature. It's gonna be fun for me now to go back and see what everyone else answered.

I completely agree... Why such structures on the surface yet no signs of life. If that doesn't even barely get spoken of I will reject a lot of the rest of the plot personally.

Aliens can't have nostalgic aesthetics? ....

Yeah someone let it slip in an interview that it was an outpost and not the SJ's home world. I think the Engineers think about time much differently to us, they have infinite lifespans and while colonizing the galaxy (as we have seen from the star map) gazillions of years pass. Therefore LV223 is more or lees abandoned and left to decay/hibernate much like a lighthouse with a sleepy immortal evil lighthouse keeper.

Although I do not believe it to be the same planet, a NYT Online article says "The star map leads to the same planet that the ship in “Alien” will visit 30 years later" [url=http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/06/movies/prometheus-returns-ridley-scott-to-outer-space.html]NYT Article Here[/url] Most likely, jumping to the conclusion that it is the same planet.

Perhaps Human life started or was created there as most of the structures seem to come from a bronze age level civilization as someone here just indicated (@Juston thanks) but a much closer possibility is that this is a long dead city or complex or even a sacred site to the Jockeys or Engeneers.

@fanboy79, I suppose that an advanced exploratory ship like Prometheus would be very able to spot any kind of structures and interesting things over the surface of a subject planet. We still don´t know the specific conditions of Prometheus trip to LV-223, but if they landed near the Domes (I really prefer this to "pyramads", which these constructions clearly are not), probably they were the most interesting feature over the planet. @Athy16, Sorry but I don´t understant what you mean by "abandoned". Intelligent creatures can´t happens for nothing, they pressupose a biosphere and ecology to happen. Even if the Engineers left LV-223, the other lifeforms that evoluted there would still be there. @juston, I do agree. It was just after seeing the skull at the top of the dome, that I developed a sense that things will be very, very wicked at LV-223, and made me feel that the planet will be something very different of what we were expecting. @nate, Of course _ look at Vegas....

Hasn't someone "in the know" said that LV223 was an "outpost"? Might've been RS himself, maybe Lindelof. Either way, one of the "storymakers" has said as much, I just don't have a link...

@AlsoKnownAsNate: "Aliens can't have nostalgic aesthetics? ...." LMAO Now seriously, there are two things that don't fit IMHO: [list] [*] The planet is too deserted; shure, millions of years could have passed, but those particular structures survived, and no others? Odd (I do agree the Prometheus should have technology that would allow it to detect structures from outter space)... To me it looks more like the kind of place you'd conduct experiments on. If something went wrong, no arm done! [*] Ampules? Really? We're not a space faring society (I don't think going to the moon a couple of times counts...) and we have better containers!!... I'm really hoping for a good explanation on this one... [/list]

What if the top of each dome has a carving of a different species. One for every race that has been trapped. And there are a lot more than the hand full that we have seen in the trailer.

Not only is LV-223 an "outpost", it is the "tinkerer's off-world laboratory". Essentially, this is Dorothy (the "human race") going to a side room on the side of the Great Wizard of Oz and pulling the curtain back revealing "the wizard's closet". I believe we will see the SJs homeworld in the second installment following Prometheus.

@fanbot79...lol..."what the land scape is like in China..." @athy16...lol..."then that is plenty enough to leave the place lookin' like my apartment" @Juston... good question..."What kind of high tech, spacefaring society builds those?" @Freeze Him!...Can't wait to hear Your take on the plot..."I will reject a lot of the rest of the plot personally." @AlsoKnownAsNate...Huh?..."Aliens can't have nostalgic aesthetics? ...." @Xenophobia... Can you elaborate on how this pertains to the planets defenses for me?..."his is a long dead city or complex or even a sacred site to the Jockeys or Engeneers." {I think it does do this by the way} @centrosphere Right but the OP's talking about how it could have so little or No defenses at all. .."suppose that an advanced exploratory ship like Prometheus would be very able to spot any kind of structures and interesting things over the surface of a subject planet." @CouchJockey...What about the planet, shouldn't the planet have signs at least indicating if it ever did have defenses built onto it's structures or even it itself, such as rings? @Mungo...And..the fact that planet has no apparent defenses...?..."What if the top of each dome has a carving of a different species. One for every race that has been trapped. And there are a lot more than the hand full that we have seen in the trailer." @Otto...wow..someone is thinking hard in here..."Hasn't someone "in the know" said that LV223 was an "outpost"?..." @Enderwiggin...Brilliant..."I think the Engineers think about time much differently to us, they have infinite lifespans and while colonizing the galaxy (as we have seen from the star map) gazillions of years pass." @Anc...so if it is the same planet why does it have no apparent defenses?..."Most likely, jumping to the conclusion that it is the same planet."

oops missed one... abordoli wrote.."Not only is LV-223 an "outpost", it is the "tinkerer's off-world laboratory". Essentially, this is Dorothy (the "human race") going to a side room on the side of the Great Wizard of Oz and pulling the curtain back revealing "the wizard's closet". I believe we will see the SJs homeworld in the second installment following Prometheus." My answer...And the planet having No apparent Defenses...?... LMFAO !!!

Hey Centrosphere, YOU, were the "OP" I referred to up there and you came into your own post and proceeded to NOT answer your own question...LMFAO...YOU MADE MY DAY BRO. awesome thread you made by the way very thought provoking...... for some of us...lol.

I didn't mean to ignore the TC's question regarding LV-223's planetary defenses. I was simply adding my two cents in regards to the Topic title "The real nature of LV-223". So here goes: Why does LV-223 not have an orbiting planetary defense system? My answer: It doesn't need one. The defenses are down on the surface. In the "Silos" (yes, I'm calling the "temples" silos. ; ) )

@centrosphere I read your analysis and most of the other posts but I'm back to you to ask you if you see this planet as barren, primordial, no water to sustain life etc. Do you beleive possibly at one time that it did?....or if it had water that would change the conditions for life?

Perhpas the planets inhabitants prefer to remain elusive and hidden to the rest of the galaxy. I dont understand how they decided which planet was LV-223. There are 5 or 6 of them in the caves and temples on earth. Do all of them have life or just this one?? To build an a massive base inside a mountain takes some skill and technology. The hologram in Prometheus shows massive tunnels and rooms inside the mountain. Where is everyone that built it.