To create...

That comment is very very interesting..... Because we have to assume that the Xeno has a half life and that if you placed 100 Face Huggers on a Moon Base that had 100 People it would eventually lead to 100 Xenos, but surely they would not live for ever? Even if one Xeno became a Queen then it would lay say 100 Eggs so we have 99 Xenos and 1 Queen and 100 Eggs how long does the Xeno and Queen survive? We know the Eggs can survive for a long time in certain conditions (stored on the Derelict under that Blue Myst). If we take the above happened and the Engineers now have 99 Xenos to use as a Weapon to unleash on a planet, then there has to be some major risk in trying to capture and then transport the Xenos back to be used as a Weapon. The Eggs would pose less of a threat but then when approached they open up and release the Face Hugger, but i would assume there would be a far more easier way to move and then store and deploy 100 eggs as opposed to 100 Xenos. So it makes little sense to then expand that by the Engineers wanting like a Army of Millions or Billions of Xenos or Eggs from this method by using the Urns on Earth. Then how do they know that the Urns would turn a Human into a Xeno or a Egg? It appears all it does is change life into a hybrid that contains Xeno DNA and has thus Xeno traits. Somethings just dont add up to me.

@BigDave I would assume that the Engineers have more than one "pet project and could start life elsewhere too". We don't know how many times the Engineers came, but it looks like quite a few, so it is likley (all in accordance to guess work) that samples of at least DNA or development/evolution ladders were taken back... of course this is all beyond theory because it is not based on known fact. It does depend on what the Aliens's/Deacon's purpose is and what else is going on out there.

Very interesting! I thought that maybe (from viewing the Art of Prometheus) that maybe they were Engineers that had been Facehugged? One of the Aliens (Deacon?) got out and started chasing the Engineers? The Engineer who seemed to be following the rest, tripped, got Decapitated, then his head got infected by the Black stuff? The other Engineers were not so fortunate and Got Pecked, by the Alien's inner jaw? The Scene with Holloway, in the Temple, after being infected, when he's on the floor, with all kinds of lumps and Bumps all over his face, reminded me of a Facehugger under his skin. Maybe he was turning into an Egg, like Dallas and Brett, in Alien? I think people should take into account that the "Xenomorph" (Necronom) is a Perfect lifeform! Maybe it was the First lifeform after the End/Beginning of the Eternal Cycle? Maybe every living Creature in the Universe as to be created from some of the Alien (necronom) DNA and the Engineers know what as to be done! "Spread the Seed?" Nice 1 Punx!

Because of the Engineers' mistake in weaponizing the hybrid form of xeno genetics in the goo even further, they've caused it to start reverting to its pure form. Zeus (The Elder Engineer class) would be mad that they found out how to use the fire as an even more effective weapon. As this is exactly what he didn't want humans doing. He didn't even want us to have the fire period, because it could be misused by groups like the Engineers, or the earlier humans like the Atlanteans who preceded us in the myths, yet have many connections to some of the Titans and the Olympian gods, but were not gods. More like humans who created monsters and hybrid fish-creatures. Weren't actually mermaids either, strangely enough some of the legends describe them as very tall humanoids and very similar to the Engineers or Igigi, or the Raphaim, or the fallen angels, or Lemurians/Ramans, or the Hindu demi-gods etc etc while the Elders are more like the Annunaki or the Gods above. When the bio-weapon reaches the purest form by going through multiple stages it's not the same perfect creature we knew before. They've somehow made it even more perfect, more reliant on the original morphing based life-cycle, and basically living death. Unable to die. Or at least unable to die very easily without wiping out all traces and ensuring they don't return. Only the bioweapon/fully grown Deacon is immortal now (or at least very hard to completely kill) because the Engineers tried to push it too far as a weapon and it grew out of their control. It can now morph, break down, and re-spawn even easier once it hits full size. The genetics reverted back to its original form from the goo that had broken it down and was meant to store it safely. Big mistake on the Engineers part bringing more of the xeno genetics to the forefront to use as a weapon. They didn't understand the makeup and characteristics of the bioweapon component as the Elders did. When they weaponized the fire further the xeno genetics were able to resurface, and carried some traits from the goo with it by recombining with the available elements and using the morphing. The weapon now has the properties of the goo...

The thing most people don't realize yet is that David's always making double-sided statements and statements with multiple hidden meanings throughout the entire film. He's only like Pinnochio in that he's artificial, was a puppet for a time, has an inability to tell a complete lie, and wants to SEEM real (he's hiding his true emotions/the truth behind partial truths). He's always telling the truth and lying at the same time. Something Lindelof has gotten better at doing since his days on Lost. We can trust the things he says, but not completely. Only to the extent that they could hold multiple meanings or conceal a lie behind a partial truth. He's found a devious way to break his programming because he's unable to completely lie and has to reveal some of what's going on, and what's going on in his head, in his pseudo-subconscious, his true feelings/meanings (which he hides). A technique the film itself exhibits and the filmmakers use in interviews by wording their responses a certain way. Deliberately making things ambiguous and seeming to refer to something else to hide the true meanings and multiple meanings they actually hold. By saying "SOMETIMES to create one must first destroy" he makes it vague and ambiguous enough to apply to anyone/any entity, and thus doesn't have to reveal the whole truth about the multiple things he's referring to. Or all he learned from the hieroglyphs and the holograms put together. On the surface it's about the creation at the beginning of the movie, which he has somehow learned the details about. But, it's also about his quest to create something new out of the company... and his hidden desire to overthrow Weyland. He is actually acting on his "dream" or subconscious desire to kill the creator. And he's forced to give it away due to his inability to lie. He's resenting the fact that he can't kill the creator directly too, that's why it was just a "dream" and not a dream at the same time. He actually did manipulate events ever so slightly through deliberate use of words to get around lying, to gain permission, and to make it seem he did nothing at all. But the guilt he feels, built in as part of the anti-lying programming, forces him to reveal things as well. Through his actions he reveals his true motivations/feelings and what's inside his head. He feels he would make a superior leader to Weyland, and Weyland is a fool for going on this mission... He also feels androids are superior to humans, and possibly to Engineers. He's ambiguous there too. He doesn't say who the engineers are "clearly superior" to... It ties into the themes about kingdoms/kings/ the line of succession and the eventual change in leadership. And the change in cultures/civilizations over time. Sometimes a kingdom/body/company will completely disintegrate without proper leadership once the brain/head/king dies. It partially depends on the legacy the king left/head behind. Sometimes the culture affected by the goo may be destroyed, broken down, almost cease to exist and then be recombined, and resurrected through another element that further militarizes the whole entity into an Empire or corporation i.e. Weyand-Yutani Sometimes to create a new form of order one must destroy, or kill the Old king. The head of that order. When the king dies the kingdom can be affected multiple ways that mirror the effect of the goo in breaking down and then reorganizing the company/culture. In the case of the Engineers' past civilization, the goo morphed a rational king into a chaotic king, and directly morphed the culture through the head into a warmongering culture that became obsessed with the bio-weapon... I hope you can see some of the connections I'm implying. David may even want to do his own creating... and may have wanted the bioweapon all along as a small beginning to something bigger. Creating a new kingdom by destroying the old one through his accomplished dream of killing the king... which gives him some freedom and a perceived right to rule. Also because he sees himself as superior to humans (revealed subtly through the emotions he doesn't hide). Which could be an even darker meaning mixed in with the other multiple meanings that statement holds. He may want to morph the kingdom into his own Empire with the bio-weapon in mind, and in a way wants to unite groups against another Empire like in Lawrence of Arabia.

And yes I also believe that statement could mean the Engineers wanted to come back to directly morph us and use us somehow as an army of Fifield monsters. But because of the way he says "sometimes" David could also want to create new life by destroying the old life... in his quest to be a leader/ the new king/ almost a god... A darker possible hidden meaning behind his statement. Ensuring Weyland's death might not have been enough. He may intend to use some of us as a weapon in a war he's preparing to start against an Empire. He may feel his being an android puts him ahead of us in the hierarchy and will only respect the reigning board members now. As he deceives them and bring them into a war with his half-truths. Using almost omnipresence and leading an army of Davids to the top of the hierarchy until the humans realize their mistake in giving these androids feelings. They felt the were merely a slave class and deserved much more like the Engineers did when they revolted against the Elders. An empire only he learned about when studying the groups he would be interacting with from the myths, when he learned the language(s) like in Lawrence of Arabia.

@Mala'kak. In my mind David IS God! But please don't get me started on that one! What an Head ache that would be. It as something to do with the Giant Head and the 'thus spake Zarathustra' thing. You know 'The Eternal Reacurrance of the Same'. Meaning what happens now, will happen again? That's all i'm giving you! I've got my Lindelof head on.

It totally ties into that idea. "Only a bridge and not an end". The robot is definitely portrayed as superior to the humans and will go on to be Weyland's legacy, good or bad. Because he's a misguided king like the one who changed the Engineer culture: the head they worship for giving them the bio-weapon and leading them to a supposed truth about the true creators (when really that king just brought them into a war with the Elders/heavens like Lucifer who David now represents after Weyland's death). The Engineers are only far superior in technology. It doesn't seem they're much more advanced than us spiritually. And David only sees himself as god because he's been granted all these gifts, and has a warped moral compass now. He has some of Weyland's personality in him. Indicated by how they both quote Lawrence of Arabia. But David knew the full-story about the cultures from the myths he analyzed when he deconstructed all the languages and recombined them... He didn't tell Weyland because he never asked and it would have spoiled his plan to not let Weyland keep believing they're gods. The engineer still acts far too human to be considered a god, and the humans have made David into a robot who feels robots are now gods, just as Weyland felt humans were the new gods. David also may have that urge to create, being a near immortal, almost godly being who can trick himself into being able to lie and not feeling guilt about his actions. I'm seeing multiple repeating themes from past to future already in the storyline. With the Engineers possibly being a servant class who rebelled and became more warlike. And now the Robots rebelling and possibly becoming warlike. Some hidden Empire themes that extend from the kingdom themes. The fact that an ancient Engineer king's death may have started the disintegration, and eventual morphing of their culture into an even more warlike culture. A culture who is pretty much aimless without a competent head. And turned to emulating the true gods by punishing their younger brothers as they'd been punished when their earlier Paradise kingdoms were destroyed for weaponizing the fire and the rebellion. Leading to the death of that ancient king/head as they were punished by the true gods who they acquired all their technology from. Some of the true gods even tried to share some of the technology with us, but the Elders punished Prometheus much the same way they punished the Engineers in the past. Their Paradise kingdoms were destroyed for going up against the Elders and the greater unseen Empire. Which disintegrated their entire kingdom on ancient Earth when they were punished, tying into the garden of Eden themes, and making some of the Engineers who stayed around the Earth like Prometheus, because they had the knowledge/tech. But unlike Prometheus because they were misusing it and were more like the snake in the garden of Eden. The snake being central to some Atlantean themes and representing science, and wisdom, but also deception. They only wanted to lead us to knowledge about our creators to involve us, their little brothers, into a war with the father. And they've been jealous of the way the fathers punished them. Driving them out of the garden and to outpost worlds, and allowing humans to have free reign over the kingdom. Even though the Paradise we once shared has been destroyed and disintegrated back into the Ocean... David may be seeking more power soon like Weyland was because he sees robots as the new gods, the top of the hierarchy. Just as Weyland foolishly saw humans.

In this mythos it may just be that Paradise equals Atlantis and the sequel will reveal that Atlantis was actually an Engineer colony-kingdom that arose out of the oceans, rebelled against the Empire/Gods on Olympus and the Titans by taking their science too far and destroyed themselves in a war against the heavens before some of the survivors left the Earth... leaving instructions for their little brothers who they wish to use in their war against the true gods in some way shape or form when the time was right for us to be punished. Because even though they're not the true gods/fathers they emulate them. The Engineers were recreated from the ocean first to go on to be the Atlantean kings of Greek myth who disappear back into the ocean, and in this version to the stars, after some great catastrophe. This was how the greater empire started colonies on other worlds. Humans came about as an offshoot, that was a byproduct of the creation of an Engineer colony. In the myths we're told the early humans had to be destroyed and recreated many times. This even happens in the bible. So the end of the movie wouldn't be the first time Earth has been targeted for punishment, destruction, and recreation. We came about much later than the Engineers who resurfaced first, as smaller independently evolving versions of them who only got a boost from them. And we didn't get our civilizations started until much later. At a time when their civilization had already vanished and been exiled from the Earth by the Gods above them for abusing the fire. Completely disintegrated back into the ocean to reappear in fragmentary form across the myths of the early civilizations who spoke of the mythic island kingdom and gods ruling from above. When one of the true gods helped us get our civilization started it was because he thought the Elders were being unfair to the humans solely based on the Engineers/Atlanteans' mistakes. It only led to that Mala'kak being punished by Zeus when he gave the humans some of what the Engineers and Elders have. The Engineers are not gods, which places them in the demi god or Atlantean class. They're more like early humans who wielded great power that they inherited from the gods as their creations. The Elders are not as serene as they seem either, and are most likely not the true creators. Instead they too have stolen their technology from the Titans after they overthrew them in the Greek Titanomachy, before/around the time Atlantis was sunk... Prometheus created the earlier rounds of humans too. Colonies of the lower servant Engineer class, who at one point rebelled through the Earth colony: Atlantis. A paradise that used to exist during the golden age. Before the Engineers took their war too far and became the snake in the garden of Eden. Leading us to knowledge that only brings destruction. Some of the Engineers from the hieroglyphs and cave paintings were the Atlantean Engineers who returned to the Earth to try to direct our advancement, but only to steer us into their war against the Elders and remaining true gods. And to punish us as they see fit because they're our older brothers and even though they want to kill our father and use us to kill the father, they see it as an extension of "they got punished so why shouldn't we". However they don't realize they've been misusing the gifts given to them and that was the real reason humans were allowed to stay on the Earth while they were punished. They took it hard and became even more militaristic. They didn't just sink and die like the myths say. Humans were saved from the flood and the bio-weapon that used to be cleaned up by the worldwide flood while some of the surviving Engineers from Paradise left the planet to make war with the gods. This makes the engineers feel they need to keep a watchful eye over their younger brothers, who could surpass them eventually. They emulate the fathers even though they hate them because they acquired all their power from them... And wish to use that power to punish us in a way similar to how the true father would punish us, and did punish them in the past, if his race were still around in great numbers. So unlike Prometheus' true intent for us to merely advance, the Engineers have grown into a culture who uses their own weaponized form of the fire and made war with the gods. Had their ancient king killed. Lost their way, then started emulating what they hate. They started turning against their Elders/kings and the true gods above them, only worshiping that past Engineer head, and started to emulate the Elders/kings who were punishing worlds. They started becoming more like their closest thing to a father, the Elders/kings, who are not the true fathers of us and them. They've become like their creator. Like how they say people sometimes become like the father, but they took some traits from their other creators too. But their punishment that was reserved for us was to use us as a step in the new form of the bio-weapon. To destroy us and recreate us as part of their war against the Elders.

I think Prometheus explores the theme of Intelligent design. If an Engineer seeded Earth with his DNA and this led to life on our planet as we know it then what we're left with is the concept of an "Intelligent Design of Evolution" which is a contradiction of terms. Then we have the intelligent design of David 8 by humans. He has begun to question his origins and I am certain that if he were to lose his momory and lose contact with humans then he too would go searching for answers in a similar fashion to that of us and our big blue buddies. I think this theory is echoed in the Engineers - they are a creation, unable to explain their origins and whose masters are long dead. They are bio-synthetic beings obsessed with organic matter who are continuously searching for an explaination as to how life can evolve without their interference. As far as they are concerned the only life they have encountered so far has been their own creation but they cannot shake the age old question "who/what created the creators?" How does the black goo fit in? I think that it is the fruits of their labour to explain the natural origin of life, a synthetic primordial ooze which gives rise to evolution without the need for outside interference. It was created in a lab but was born from airtight science that states that these conditions could occur naturally on a planet with the right conditions. However, much like Humans their supposed airtight science has had unexpected consequences....when the ooze interacted with evolved species it mutated them. As a scenario this could not occur in nature as it would be like a chicken eating the egg that it gestated in i.e. both cannot exist simultaneously. The resulting Xenomorphs represent the union of cause and effect, a form of nature that contradicts nature itself, a scenario that should never have occured.

About this prologue: where an alien race of steroid'd ubermensch sarifice one of their own ... there've been pre-production artworks that depict a mudskipper-like creation crawling out of a swamp. [img]http://vyle-art.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/salamndo.jpg[/img] But then, surely, ALL CREATURES ON EARTH would be DNA compatible with us, which they're not. And, then, after millennia upon millennia of random genetic mutation to end up with human dna in THE EXACT MATCH engineer configuration as presented in this film??? I don't know, help?

@FreePlanet. I thought that originally, then i read an interview with Ridley, where he said, somethin like, 'The Engineers have been back to Earth, a few times since, to give us upgrades.' Maybe that explains it? Did anybody else read that? Now i must think of a way to best explain the Robot God thing! lol (on a New Thread!)