Purpose of Hammerpede Entering Millburns Mouth?

I suggest that the Hammerpede is not a facehugger. It's a killing machine. Death by constriction or suffocation. Maybe it can reproduce itself once in a body. The black goo is rather clever stuff, considering it could have been a spider or cockroach that stumbled upon it instead of a bunch of worms. I imagine that mutations of such creatures would be equally deadly.

Snake going into/coming out of a mouth, the head being attacked, the decapitated heads, tricking the head into thinking its alive, exploding heads, and the Hammerpede being decapitated and regrowing its head... these are all very purposeful recurring themes. Tying into David being a decapitated/attacked head that doesn't die, and the other head themes. Only here we see that the method these creatures use denies oxygen to the brain. The old facehuggers would breathe for the person. These things had all the appearance of trying to stop the humans from breathing. I have no clue what it did to Millburn while inside him, or why it wanted to kill him and get in there. I'll admit this is one of the mysteries that I've yet to attempt working out any specifics on. In a broad thematic way it could be connected to many recurring themes. This is gonna sound bad coming from me (someone who thinks there's an explanation for everything in Prometheus), but maybe this is something where the specific weren't fully thought out yet except for the connections to the death of the head themes... I mean it's the black liquid that mutates Fifield it seems, but even his head ends up being morphed and misshapen more so than his body in the final version of the scene...

..and with tho only surviving 'heads' in our story is Shaw,,and (representing man) David. This signifies a merging of two entities into one super race......and separate storyline that will be addressed in part 2 of our movie,, The beginning of a new 'fire' into the known Universe

Totally agree with you Indy John, David needs Shaw to make himself more like a true human because of her "survival instincts" and true emotions/morality. The only character who doesn't have emotional, ego, or personality disorders on the crew. If a competent psychologist had been on board analyzing the crew's heads they would have quickly realized everyone is suffering some form of mild disorder except Shaw. She's just a little bit too obsessed with religion, which is not only her perspective and doesn't give her the same ego problems Holloway, David, and Weyland have. What that look of disappointment on David's face tells me when Weyland says he has no soul, is that David wants to be as close to a real human as possible, while still more human than human.

@Mala'kak: [i]"even his head ends up being morphed and misshapen more so than his body in the final version of the scene"[/i] That's not correct. When Fifield makes his reappearance, his legs are impossibly contorted, and in any case he is still suited so it's not possible to say what was going on there. [i]"that look of disappointment on David's face"[/i] In the scene where Weyland introduces David, forgetting for a moment that he's a machine, the look on his face suggested mere reflection to me rather than disappointment. He actually states explicitly later in the movie that he's not capable of disappointment, and regards this facility as being "wonderful". OK, he can lie, but it would serve no purpose to be disingenuous on this particular matter. Also, I'd be a little wary of reading too much into a couple of decapitations and a representation of a head. Every member of the ship had a head. The Easter Island statues have heads. Even the ship itself has a head of sorts. @Indy John: I'd like to know what you're smoking to come to the conclusion that the survival of Shaw and David signifies the merging of two entities into one super race. I'll grant you that they both have heads!

Smoking..I gave that up years ago Now drinking,,welll that is another story. The threads on this ite show that there are are many ways to lo look at this story..so what does that tell us about us? In any case somehow there needs to be a connection between David's android brain and Shaw's human qualities..or there is no story... Too my mind a 'super race' ...something beyond what we as humans can concieve, Now taking into account that must be other entities 'out there' the result of the David/Shaw affair may not be super at all. Time for another Pint..of Stout..

i figured the hammerpede was either 1. eating his internal organs 2.sucking his blood from the inside 3.nesting, could have laid a ton of internal parasites inside him like when we get intestinal worms. mmmmm buttworms

After the hammerpede attacked Millburn,,is it assumed that Millburn just fell to the ground? Is that why his facemask was broken? I thought there were two hammerpedes swimming in the goo...with the second just busting through the helmet to join his friend..nesting. Most likely Millburn just fell down with his helmet cracked open..byut you never know..

Holy shit!! I hadn't realized that! And no way he fell- he was sitting on his ass with his back to the wall when it went down his throat! Does this imply something burst out?! Maybe it entered Millburn simply to multiply. Hmm- broken glass, hey. Well, now i hafta watch it again.

Just some random, nasty as all get out creature that attacked Milburn and messed him up. Plain and simple. No deep meaning. No nothing. Just Milburn getting a mouthful of Hammerpede, while Fifield's helmet melted onto his face. Bad things happened. Nuff said.

purpose is an interesting word to use... but on an more everyday level... nesting is probably a good enough "purpose" ...

no porpose..just for horror effects.. ..another plot hole.. great..

I do not see a plot hole in the hammerpede entering Millburns mouth scenario. Even thought the hammerpede grew dozens of times its original size, it continued its original functions. There are worms found in lakes that when swallowed by humans go straight to the brain and drill themselves into it. Some even go further then this and begin to lay eggs inside the whole body, including the brain. So what I conclude is that when the hammerpede was contaminated by the black goo, it not only mutated in size but also became more aggressive. So I really do not see a plot hole in this situation. Some of you have to come to the realization that not everything that happened in the film is a giant mystery, or an unexplained situation that needs to be explained fully. like Freud said, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

[quote]Just some random, nasty as all get out creature that attacked Milburn and messed him up.[/quote] Now, now, let's not blame the creature for messing him up. LOL!

Mailburn's rapid decomposition was interesting, no? I think the Hammerpede has a lot more going for it in the species timeline than is being let onto

If for some reason the Hammerpede was not disturbed by the returning crew,,would it have just stayed in Millburn's body till..? It acted like a parasite..till disturbed by the returning crew,,and instead of attacking them chose to hide. Acid blood is powerful stuff the Hammerpede could have learned from FiFild's destruction..but still it didn't attack any other crew members, THis species self preservation instincts are very stong,,and as you suggest,,has a future in our storyline,,,or some other plot. I aslo thought that it shape was similar to the tenacles that destoyed the Last Engineers..and wonder if each 'limb could become an independant Hammerpede.