Engineer on LV-426 already long dead at start of Prometheus

Great point! This ties into another post I read which was a brilliant observation on the mechanics of the urns. They are basically synthetic eggs with the black goo being the catalyst (egg white) and the green vials inside (the yolk) is the dna of the Aliens. They would be dropped like bombs from the juggernaut's cargo hold chamber, and the vials would break on impact and mix with the primordial ooze creating the aliens. This means that they used to carry the real facehugger eggs in their ships but thousands of years later switched to the urn bombs thinking they would be much safer to transport.

It has also raised speculation that the spores are a creation of the '' living '' derelict since it is bio-mechanical. Collectively the spores are aligned in rows perhaps by the ship itself, a progeny of the ''living'' derelict. Take care everyone.

Honestly I think if they bombed our planet, teeming with life and all forms of organism with the goo, from the urns, it would effectively turn EVERY LIVING THING hostile against us and themselves. Look at the Hammerpede, the speculation is that they were orignally the small worms you saw in the movie, which were indigenous to LV-223, the things were no bigger than little grubs. When mixed with the goo, you got problems. BIG PROBLEMS. Also they changed within a single-digit number of hours, very fast. So I don't really think we'd get Xenomorphs per se if the urns were dropped on Earth, but we'd get a shitstorm of every possible species being terraformed into something impossible to defend against and much, much more deadly.

Kinda figured that already, but yes, good point. This also likely means that the "Proto-Xeno" from the end of Prometheus is not a progenitor to the classic Xenomorph, but is actually a new, possibly more advanced creature entirely. Think about it. If the Derelict has been on LV_426 for over 2000 years prior to the events of Prometheus, then that means that the Xenomorph eggs in its cargo hold have also been there for over 2000 years, making the Xenomorphs [b]old[/b] biotechnology. In Prometheus, the Engineers are determined to be no more than 2000 years old, making the Black Liquid a [b]new[/b] biotechnology. And the Black Liquid ends up creating the Proto-Xeno. So, even though its hard to wrap your mind around, the classic Xenomorph from [i]Alien[/i] may actually be older than (inferior to?) the new Xenomorph-like creature from the end of Prometheus, even though the events in Prometheus take place before the events in Alien.

@Xenojon Yeah that was what I was thinking. The original Xenomorph may just be the equivalent of old military technology (like civil war era weaponry for us).

Exactly. The mural in LV223 shows an Alien Queen on it. So the xenomorphs we all know and love already exists at the time of Prometheus... The older Engineers' skin also has those traits and details of a xenomorph skin... That clearly shows they are "related".

[quote]That kind of fossilization would take thousands of years in a non-volcanic environment.[/quote] Well, LV-426 is a volcanically active planet. A mere 59 years later when the Marines arrive, part of the ship is now covered by solidifed magma. I think it will turn out to be that old, but there is wiggle room as the declaration that is was 'fossilised' was made by Dallas, unaware he was looking at an Exosuit, not a skeleton.

Keep in mind however, that Aliens takes place 57 years after Alien, and 87 years after Prometheus. All that aside, Van Leuwen in Aliens states, and I quote, "They (terraformers) have been there for 20 years, and never complained about any hostile organisms". That leaves 67 years worth of elbow room for something to send a spark through the Company's head that makes them want to use either the Xenos or Proto-Xenos as biological weapons. It seems like Peter Weyland was more interested in the whole thing to permit eternal life rather than destroy it. My guess is, there is some unknown significance to the Proto-Xeno that we see at the end of Prometheus, which will be revealed in an upcoming sequel.

[u] It seems like Peter Weyland was more interested in the whole thing to permit eternal life rather than destroy it.[/u] He's at death's door (almost literally when he goes to the bridge). His desire to make more money by exploiting new technology will have to wait, until his desire to not be dead is dealt with. Or it may be the case, that he mostly cares about terraforming and colonising, and that it's his successors who are greedy for a bio-weapon. I think the end shot Alien was a 'money shot'