Why the 'cocooning' scene and reproductive cycle concept in 'Alien' went unused
Svanya
AdminPraetorianDec-12-2013 10:25 PMAs some of you know by know, the famous deleted 'cocoon' scene is really one of my favorite subjects. I found this awesome article that gives superb detail about it. I urge you all to read the original work that I will source in this post. There is a ton of detail here, yes it's long but worth the read.
In Alien the biological origin of the creature is a question left unanswered – nobody in the film feels the need to discuss the exact nature of the monster, where it’s from, why it exists, or how it propagates itself. They are too busy trying to survive. James Cameron took the opportunity to fill this void in his sequel, and the Alien Queen has sat quite neatly at the top of the Alien hierarchy since. Of course, the original film had established, but never incorporated, its very own complex mode of reproduction that Cameron consciously ignored – the transfiguration of human bodies into Alien eggs, a process referred to by fans as ‘egg-morphing’.
To paint a simple picture, Alien’s version of the reproductive cycle came in two distinct phases: the first can only be understood through Dan O’Bannon’s original script. It was there that Dan outlined the Alien’s intricate life-cycle and how it related to the creature’s culture and religion. The second is the version that was prepared and even shot for the film, but ultimately discarded, and it is the most commonly known deleted element of the movie, namely, the scene where Ripley discovers the Alien’s nest and the remains of Brett and Dallas. While the script aimed to provide an entire social system for the Alien, the movie pared this back to give us only the horror of the ‘procreative’ process.
Dan’s Alien, as originally conceived (no pun…) was a member of a religiously-minded race who were implied to have a long history, a well-developed culture, pictorial language, and, we can presume, complex social behaviours. In his script the Alien’s reproductive system necessitated three sexual partners—two consensual (a ‘parent’ Alien and the facehugger), and one sacrificial body (the embryo’s host). Within their (now-extinct) society the reproductive process was undertaken within pyramid structures. Conceptual artist Ron Cobb explained that within these temples the Alien eggs were tended to “by the third stage adults and housed in a lower chamber of the breeding temple. When ready to hatch, the egg is placed in the middle of a sacrificial stone and a lower animal, the equivalent of an alien cow, is then led on to the stone. Sensing the warmth, the facehugger springs out, attaches itself to the animal and deposits a foetus into the stomach.”
So essentially: an adult Alien produces an egg; from this egg emerges the facehugger, which infects a third party with spore. This spore erupts from the body of its host, and a fully-fledged Alien is born. But how does the ‘parent’ Alien produce an egg in the first place? From the body of yet another creature, according to the script, in a process referred to by fans as ‘egg-morphing’. The entire process seems long, difficult, and intricate, and also quite wasteful in terms of bodies, since we have two corpses but only one newborn Alien. It’s easy to see why Cameron opted to use the Alien Queen, which would have exploited every incubator that it could, in less time, and with less variables endangering the cycle.
Despite O’Bannon’s effort in trying to depict an entire alien culture, time and budget concerns saw them cut from the film. The pyramid was merged with the derelict spaceship, which obviously changed the whole nature of the Alien. It was no longer indigenous to the planetoid, and no longer had a culture of its own. Instead it is implied to be the cargo of another alien race. Despite this major change, the cocooning and egg-morphing was still in. For now.
In O’Bannon’s original conception of the Alien, newborn Aliens are overcome with blood-lust, but this eventually subsides and the creature becomes rational and civilised, heralding its maturation and growth into a third-stage adult. Of the Alien in his script and its savagery, O’Bannon explained that “It’s never been subject to its own culture, it’s never been subject to anything except a few hours in the hold of the ship. Quite literally, it doesn’t have an education. The Alien is not only savage, it is also ignorant.” Once its blood-lust has subsided, “the Alien becomes a mild, intelligent creature, capable of art and architecture, which lives a full, scholarly life of 200 years.”
“What gave us the cocoon concept was that insects utilise others’ bodies to be the hosts of their eggs,” Ridley said in 1984. “That’s how the Alien would use Dallas and each of the crew members it kills. This explains why the Alien doesn’t kill everybody at once, but rather kills them off one by one: it wants to use each person as a separate host each time it has new eggs.”
One idea about how ‘egg-morphing’ works is that the human host serves as yolk for a growing larvae, rather than becoming the larvae itself, as is usually assumed. This isn’t explicitly explained in the script, but it can be inferred from the multitude of quotes from Scott and co. Still, yoke or otherwise, the process requires a ‘middleman’ that isn’t present in the Queen concept of the life-cycle.
Peter Voysey took over sculpting the cocoon while Giger was overrun with other details of the film. On September 11th 1978 he presented his work to Giger, who, ever the attentive artist and perfectionist, wrote in his diary: “It’s a bit of an overkill. The egg that is supposed to lend its shape to the figure [of Brett] disappeared underneath the bubbles and lost its shape. The two figures of the cocoon should be cast in wax and will be garnished with the latex scraps of Alien III [the third-stage adult]. Like the way a spider wraps its victim and sticks it to the wall.”
Several days later he wrote “[After the weekend] they want to film the burning of the cocoon. There’s two cocoons glued to the bottom of the aircraft. One is supposed to be a few days old, and the other is the partially eaten corpse of Alien III’s first victim. The corpse has acquired the shape of an egg and is supposed to look slimy and bloated. The colour should be the same as the egg’s. The second victim is also wrapped in slime and still alive and, according to the story, begs to be killed out of mercy by the flame thrower. So we have to replace the actor with a latex doll, in four copies, because they will play the scene four times, and one doll has to be burned each time. This promises to be an interesting Monday.”
Unfortunately, when the crew turned up that Monday morning “R. Scott turned up at the leg room and cursed. He doesn’t like the nest with the two cocoons at all. I don’t particularly like it either. It would have been better if I had taken a look at it on Sunday. A lot could have been changed.”
Giger spent the next week tweaking and repainting the cocoons. “The cocoon still looks shitty despite the fact that we worked on it all week. I should do more work on it, but I don’t feel like it.” The general dissatisfaction with the cocoons ended up pushing the shooting schedule back, and the production eventually elected to shoot the burning cocoon sequence later, at Bray Studio.
When the first cut of Alien clocked in at almost three hours, one of the cuts made was the egregiously long (almost eleven minutes) Alien nest scene. Everyone involved in the production has stated unanimously that the scene was cut due to pacing issues. Producer Gordon Carroll told Fantastic Films magazine in 1979: “We were under a lot of budget pressure and schedule pressure at the time, we had to postpone [filming] it. So when we got to it we never did get it right. So we dropped it. Although we liked the idea of that scene because it tells you just one more thing about the Alien – about it’s cycle and what it uses people for.” David Giler chipped in, ”But I think we were right in dropping it. Although I’ve always loved that scene.” That same year Giler told Cinefantastique, “It was removed because it simply didn’t work. It interfered with the pacing of the film. It looked terrible, awful. So instead of redoing it, we decided to write it off as a bad idea.”
Ron Shusett said of the scene and its excision: “We filmed it, and it was spectacular and cost a lot – we demolished the set with a flamethrower. When we ran it for ourselves, we found the climax wasn’t working because Sigourney couldn’t automatically know where Tom Skerritt was, so it took nine extra minutes to justifiably believe she could find him. That totally undid the rest of the ending. The audience would say, ‘Come on – get off the ship!’”
Shusett explained that when the scene was cut it did not harm the film’s narrative nor muddle the Alien’s life-cycle in any way: “When we took out that scene, the whole thing worked great, and nobody missed it … We could have made a terrible mistake: ‘Oh, look at that great idea we had, where he says, Kill me! and he’s growing into the egg!’ It’s like cutting off a little finger: no matter how good some scene or scenes are, if it hurts the overall movie, you have to have the willpower to take it out. The biggest dangers as filmmakers is we tend to get indulgent, and it’s hard to be objective.”
Giger himself was pleased with its excision, since he disliked the entire sequence. “It didn’t really fit with the rest of the film,” he told Total Film in 2003. “It used a strange yellow light that was a different colour to the rest of the film. I didn’t feel that the sequence was as horrifying as many people believe.”
One key element from O’Bannon’s egg-morphing scene that was filmed, cut, but survived into the sequels was the Alien cocooning its victims. James Cameron decided to include the feature in the sequel, but this time with no egg-morphing involved. Instead the Aliens would paralyse and abduct their victims, take them to a hive, embed them in the walls, and place an egg, produced by the Alien Queen, within reach.
In 1996 Cameron spoke to Starburst about his problems with the egg-morphing scene and concept. ”If you follow Dan’s original concept, the closure of the original cycle was the human host turning back into a cocoon … The Alien grabbed Harry Dean Stanton and presumably put him into a cocoon. It’s certainly no great logical detour to assume that it might have used him as another host, but I think it would be a bit odd that he turned into an egg. That’s something that would have been hard for the audience to swallow because it involved the transformation of the human host and although one can assume the Alien can metamorphose, to have its biological properties take up residence in a human being and change it, [egg-morphing] was going beyond the ground rules they set themselves.”
Cameron however was impressed by the idea that the Alien’s life-cycle was inspired directly by the horrors of the natural world. “One of Alien‘s great attributes was that it set up a very weird biological process but it has a basis in science fact all the way through,” he said, “like the [life]cycle of a digger wasp, which paralyses its prey and injects an egg into the living body to mature.” He stuck with the idea of a life-cycle inspired by the brutal insect world, but egg-morphing was out. “I dispensed with it because we never saw that in the film anyway. Had it appeared in the film I wouldn’t have violated any logic turbulence.”
Source: Strange Shapes *(2017 edit: Seems the post was deleted from the Strange Shapes blog.)
FREEZE!
Co-AdminMemberOvomorphDec-12-2013 10:53 PMWow, mind blown! “One of Alien‘s great attributes was that it set up a very weird biological process but it has a basis in science fact all the way through,” but of course! :D
Very impressive article Svanya, thank you!
Svanya
AdminPraetorianDec-12-2013 10:58 PMShows the Insect influence O'Bannon, Ridley and Giger all talked about as well. I did not write this I merely copy pasted from the excellent work of the people at Strange Shapes.
oduodu
MemberXenomorphDec-12-2013 11:01 PMThanks savanya !!
I disagree
Alien dc is a better movie because of that scene.
Svanya
AdminPraetorianDec-12-2013 11:03 PMI agree Odoudu, I REALLY would have preffered the cocoons rather than the Queen Alien. It's so much creepier.
oduodu
MemberXenomorphDec-12-2013 11:09 PMYes and as you said it clearly
shows the insect influence
much better. I dont think the
pacing suffered that much.
Svanya
AdminPraetorianDec-12-2013 11:20 PMSays original idea was that the Xeno needed sex for reproduction as well (3 partners?) so it could explain this Lambert scene. People have argued she gets raped for years. (This video is disturbing)
Redant
MemberOvomorphDec-12-2013 11:33 PMI just know an admin might come in here and might move the thread to the Alien blog.
This is posted in the Prometheus blog.
So we gotta be fast. LOL
Purely from an asthetic I like the orginal cut of the Alien film without the cocooning scene. To me it did not look or feel right, even after watching the film dozens of times. I have been watching Alien for some 30 years now. Every year I watch it a few times. Love the film. For some reason when I saw that cocooning scene it did not match up with the rest of the film.
As far as giving the Aliens more of an intellect based back story I am happier that they changed that and we are dealing with a bio-mech-machine that has everything programmed into it at the molecular level. Aliens as a chreature with a society could be ok I guess but I just like the enitre Engineer dynamic that they are completely synthesized organic non-organic production.
Svanya
AdminPraetorianDec-12-2013 11:36 PMAs far as giving the Aliens more of an intellect based back story I am happier that they changed that and we are dealing with a bio-mech-machine that has everything programmed into it at the molecular level. -Redant
@Redant; It's still a Biomech machine, Giger had a hand in creating the lore too. It's just a Biomech SEX machine in the early drafts. :P
FREEZE!
Co-AdminMemberOvomorphDec-12-2013 11:38 PMYes Redant, those admin are super scary. I try to act as fast as possible too.
I just know an admin might come in here and might move the thread to the Alien blog. This is posted in the Prometheus blog.-Redant
But the truth is Svanya is an admin, and I am as well... so, speed race for us both! If you check, there is an ALIEN section to this Prometheus site:) LOL
Redant
MemberOvomorphDec-13-2013 12:02 AM@Svanya
Hey thanks for bridging the gap there for me. I completely forgot about Giger's input in all of this. Easy to lose focus when there is this much complexity to these stories and art.
I am big fan of Giger's art work and a very long time ago I remember very clearly that these creatures are refered to as Biomech sex machines. Wow how far this all has evolved There is an amazing ammount of content for any sci-fi lover in these movies.
Seriously though I enjoy all these different ideas about the movies...great community here to try and get new persectives.
Svanya
AdminPraetorianDec-13-2013 1:26 AM@Redant; NP! Two of the images I posted with this story were Giger's drawings of the cocoons. It's really so interesting, all the collaborations and ideas that floated around during the creation of the movie. Giger had a huge part in creating the lore, he was involved almost as much as O'Bannon was. I am amazed at how much Ridley allowed them to participate.
Anunnaki50
MemberOvomorphDec-13-2013 3:06 AMPretty cool I just cannot believe how much stuff they went through for that particular scene of the movie that was cut out. The Alien is one creepy creepy badass creature with sexual conotations behind it.
The Anunnaki were on the earth in those days--and also afterward--when the sons of God went to the daughters of humans and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, mighty men of high reno
Lone
MemberPraetorianDec-13-2013 4:00 AMAH, thanks Svanya. I love that Strange Shapes blog!
I made a couple of posts over on AVP, in the Alien section, linking a couple of great articles, from the SS blog, about the Alien suit and a rare interview with Bolagi Badejo. I decided to post them over there, because the site had just been set up and I felt it needed some posts!
I can never get enough of the cocooning sequence either, the Alien showed a particular interest in Lambert, that deleted scene where it studies her, with the tail reaching, feeling for her is so creepy. Sure it had sexual urges! :D
"Let The Cosmic Incubation Begin" ~ H.R. Giger
Necronom 4
MemberNeomorphDec-13-2013 4:28 AMGreat thread! I LOVE descussing the cacoon scene! I don't agree with Cameron and the others on this, i much prefer it to the queen idea and i'm sure that most other ALIEN fans would prefer it also. Truely horrifying!
The poster was good though!
Necronom 4
MemberNeomorphDec-13-2013 4:44 AM@Svanya; quote, "It's really so interesting, all the collaborations and ideas that floated around during the creation of the movie. Giger had a huge part in creating the lore, he was involved almost as much as O'Bannon was. I am amazed at how much Ridley allowed them to participate."
I agree completely. That's the main reason that the film was such a success and remains the greatest sci fi/monster films ever made.
Ridley, O'Bannon and Giger, the dream team!
The poster was good though!
Necronom 4
MemberNeomorphDec-13-2013 5:03 AM"Conceptual artist Ron Cobb explained that within these temples the Alien eggs were tended to “by the third stage adults and housed in a lower chamber of the breeding temple." - Svanya.
Could this explain what the hunched over creature in the ceiling fresco (In Prometheus) is?
Could this be the creature that tends to the eggs?
The poster was good though!
djamelameziane
MemberFacehuggerDec-13-2013 5:33 AMOk looks like this is my only way to copy n paste :p :
“One of Alien‘s great attributes was that it set up a very weird biological process but it has a basis in science fact all the way through,” exactly...one of the down sides to prometheus.
I liked both ways of reproduction but the morphing was more creepy. After I saw the dc I loved it and as I loved aliens too I decided both ways can co exist. If you think about it they could simply have a back up way of maybe making a queen if none are around and that is what the alien in alien was doing I reckon. Well least it feels right to me. And again this sort of thing (creating new queens if there are none) happens in nature as well.
"It's almost as if they are making it up as they go along" :D
oduodu
MemberXenomorphDec-13-2013 6:08 AMdrones are the 3rd stage ceatures ? Warriors the 4th ?? Sounds like termite nest ,soldier ants and worker ants .
Necronom 4
MemberNeomorphDec-13-2013 8:10 AMOdu; i don't think that there is a 4th stage. The way i see it, it goes as follows:
Stage 1- Victim morphed into egg;
Stage 2- Facehugger implants embryo in another victim;
Stage 3- Chestburster exits victim, evolves rapidly and searches out another victim to morph.
But, what started the process in the first place?
Then we're back at stage 1? I think that is how it goes.
The poster was good though!
BigDave
MemberDeaconDec-13-2013 10:41 AMMyself i never liked the Cocoon sequence, it did seem a good idea in theory but end of the day the final product did not look so good, mainly the Bret Egg, i dont think visually it was as good as some of the other visuals...
Then we have the whole idea that the hosts are turned into a Egg, i think this is not a bad idea, just how does those Eggs end up shrinking down in size?
Unless the Eggs on the Derelict came from smaller host organisms, i can not quite grasp the idea that Bret may had ended up being a Egg the size of the ones in the Derelict.
Also this extra detail that the two of them was being turned into Eggs makes little sense for a perfection organisms way to procreate... i much prefer the idea that Dallas was to be Host to the Face Huger that would eventually come from Bret once the Egg Morph sequence was complete...
Now i think the Queen concept works well for a perfect way to procreate, having a Queen that can Lay countless Eggs is a much better way to procreate than having to go the hassle of changing a host to a Egg and then using another as a host for the Face Huger.
And even less practical if all that happens is both are turned into Eggs..
There is a slight difference in appearance and size of the Egg Morph and Eggs on Derelict and those laid by the Queen in Aliens....
Which is where if we look at the Xeno as a insect and more like a Bee or Ant, then these insects can change a Egg to produce a Queen if the hive/nest has ran low or out of Queens to procreate its kind....
They do this by feeding and nurturing a Egg differently and this Eggs produces a Queen and not a Drone or Worker...
Now why cant the Xeno do the same?
Its ultimate goal to procreate its kind, then maybe they need a Host to be Egg Morphed to produce a Queen, maybe thats how Queens are made, maybe it also needs something from a female in order to do this i.e what the Xeno took from Lambert.
If we take this route then the Xeno was changing Bret into a Queen Face Huger Egg, hence larger size? And then Dallas would be the host for a Queen....
This makes more sense as far as procreation, you see this route we would have ended up with at very least had the Alien got Ripley, we would have had a Queen and then at least two Xenos.
So that who ever came across the Nostramo would encounter at least 2 Xenos and a Queen and god knows how many Eggs, as opposed to 2 Xenos and a Spare Ready to Go Egg or 3 Eggs.
R.I.P Sox 01/01/2006 - 11/10/2017
Necronom 4
MemberNeomorphDec-13-2013 11:12 AM@BigDave; You have some nice theories there! Especially this one:
"They do this by feeding and nurturing a Egg differently and this Eggs produces a Queen and not a Drone or Worker..."- BigDave.
Maybe that's what the strange hunched over creature in the fresco does. In one image, it looks like it is sticking it's face into an egg. Maybe it's FEEDING the organism inside the egg?
P.S. STAFF; My copy and paste is working now, i just enabled the clipboard. Cheers :)
The poster was good though!
djamelameziane
MemberFacehuggerDec-13-2013 12:15 PM
Hmmm thats what I just said in my last post :( . Pretty sure someone in the alien team talks about this somewhere. ..
"It's almost as if they are making it up as they go along" :D
Svanya
AdminPraetorianDec-13-2013 1:22 PM@Lone; It's really very disturbing scene isn't it!? It always just creeps me out terribly.
@Necronom; Yeah just use the 'insert' option provided at the top of the response box. You can insert an image, video and links by adding the URL, or embed code for videos. Add the URL for a link then add a title, for videos ad the embed code and for images that are on the net just click 'copy image' and paste directly to the post, no embed necessary. It gets easier when you get used to the function. To copy paste just press CTL+C then to paste press CTL+V. Took me awhile to figure it all out too. :)
As for your question about if that creature was the one in Prometheus, I can't say, but I do know a LOT of the unused ideas were added to Prometheus so it is possible.
BigDave
MemberDeaconDec-13-2013 1:54 PMWell that idea is not from me, well i posted same thing a number of times ages ago on he same subject.
Ants and Bees that lose their Queens are not doomed, its not a case of no Queen no Eggs and the Colony is doomed, in this event they can specially look after a Egg differently and it then produces a new Queen.
Now this fact above, when combined with the Aliens Bugs idea, and dont forget Ridley did before Aliens refer to the Xeno as insectoid... gave me the idea to explain how to make a connection so that the Morph Idea and Queen can work together.
We had debates where some hated the Queen and said makes no sense, i think they just never liked how easy the Xeno became to kill compared to Alien one, but there are a lot of circumstances for that.... including, the Nostromo was not armed not trained to deal with such things and could not attack the Alien in fear of the Acid leading to a hull breech etc. in addtion to how the enviroment suited the Alien with all the tight corridors and vents etc and also how a person would be more cautious when on their own and out numbered as oppossed to how they would act if they was even numbers or greater than their attackers and more prone to take risks especially to protect a greater goal and agenda.
And the Xenos was to procreate, for a lone Xeno it had to be more cautious, and it had t make sure it could safely collect hosts to Egg Morph.
in Aliens there was a Queen and plenty of other drones and eggs to procreate so their agenda then was to protect the hive and capture more hosts at all costs....
Also the Aliens Xeno was by some considered brianless compared to the Alien one... well i beg to differ....
Anyway a long while ago i had a idea that would join and allow the Egg Morph to fit in with the Aliens Queen idea... and that was it made sense that maybe a Queen is produce via the Egg Morph route and thus the Aliens prime directive was to make sure it could create a Egg Morph so that a Queen could be created/born....
For the ultimate survival of its species and procreation this made sense.... when there was no Queen around, then simply a drone/worker could create one via Egg Morph.
This is similar to how Ants and Bees can create a new Queen when their Queen dies, they are the perfect surviving organisms, especially Ants.....
The Queen and Egg Morph Route to making one thus ties Alien and Aliens and fits in with the perfect way for a species to survive....
Mankind is flawed, if all Females died or all Males and their was no supply of Sperm, or better still all females died or could no longer bare children then mankind would die... What if there was a way to then change some babies or even adults to then change sex and become female and thus also be able to bare children....
We can not do that however, but Bees and Ants can... and maybe having the Xenos able to create a Queen via a certain route like Bees and Ants makes sense and more so if its the Egg Morph route......
R.I.P Sox 01/01/2006 - 11/10/2017
Svanya
AdminPraetorianDec-13-2013 1:57 PM@BigDave; I know what you mean, you are saying they create a Queen by feeding the embryo a special substance. Like when bees feed the Queen Royal jelly.
BigDave
MemberDeaconDec-13-2013 2:03 PMYes the Egg Morph would be disturbing....
Some hopped we would see it appear in Prometheus or maybe now one of its sequels, Fox could show us a way that the Xeno can Egg Morph, but dont think they would go against the Queen idea, but maybe combine the two.... maybe the idea i had would fit this bill perfectly.
However if for the future of the franchise the Egg Morph is to be considered not canon, well not how things go down, just as the appearence of the Elders and the Character of the Last Engineer from the deleted scenes may end up having to not be considered for how Ridley and Fox want to future portray them.
A lot speculated about what happens with the Deacon, and i did comment on the subject and even did a post on it, on how should the Deacon Procreate...
I had idea of what if the Deacon forgoes the Egg route be that Morph and Lay and simply produces Embryos it implants into a Host, in effect the Deacon acted like a Face Huger only one that carried a larger if not unlimited number of Embryos....
Then the subject of the Egg Morph came up and also how Gigers idea was for the Ship to make the Eggs from what looked like Pregnant Bellies on the walls of the Egg Silo....
That made me think how disturbing would it be if the Deacon could Morph Females into being just giant (well at least as large as Bret Egg Morph) Organisms that are just the females reproductive system, i.e just Morph into a gaint Pregnant Belly/Womb that then start to produce Eggs... that would be very disturbing..
R.I.P Sox 01/01/2006 - 11/10/2017
djamelameziane
MemberFacehuggerDec-13-2013 2:04 PMAh yes the same idea as me dave I guess maybe many thought this (both ways or reproduction n maybe more co existing).
Clown fish can change sex as another example...still cant copy n paste quotes savanya..I have to make them links but its not too bad..
"It's almost as if they are making it up as they go along" :D
oduodu
MemberXenomorphDec-13-2013 2:12 PMNecro
I agree now. I think I confused the ideas of Cameron in a earlier aliens draft of having warriors and drones where the warrior are well the warriors and the drones (being albino in colour and samller) does the cocooning and tending of the eggs.
BigDave
MemberDeaconDec-13-2013 2:13 PM@Savanya....
Yes as far as how Ants do it and Bees...
But with he Xeno its like maybe when there is no Queens, all they have to do is Egg Morph a Host to produce a Queen Egg... maybe Bret could had been one and Dallas thus the host.
This would then make a Queen and then they would not have to Egg Morph again, this Queen then just lays Eggs and the Xeno than has to simply capture Hosts for those Layed Eggs...
Makes more Sense....
Picture this the Nostromo was carrying a Lone Alien, had it won thats all would had seen... Unless we accept the DC then what we have is what looked like a Egg Morph and Host and thus idea was to make another Xeno, thus Nostramo would had 2 Aliens on it....
Unless Parker and Lambert was not killed and one used as another Egg and Host then we would have 3 Aliens, and if they got Ripley too then she would be a Egg, well we would have had 5 hosts (Dallas, Bret, Parker, Lambert and Ripley) which means maximum of another 2 Aliens and a spare Egg....
Unless we take what this extra info says in OP, which means had Ripley been stopped we would have had 2 Eggs, that need a Host and if Ripley was used then that makes another Alien... if she and all other crew was captured and Egg Morphed then we would had 5 tops Eggs waiting for a rescue ship to stumble on board and get infected... and a Alien.
Or alternatively a maximum of 3 Aliens and a spare Egg....
Now if the Egg Morph leads to a Queen then that Queen could lay as many Eggs as it needs, and Ripley and the other crew if not killed could had been used as hosts and thus Nostamo would be carrying in space upto 4 Aliens, a Queen and hundreds of Eggs.
Now which of them is more perfect as far as to procreate its species....
R.I.P Sox 01/01/2006 - 11/10/2017
