Bio Terror
Aorta
MemberFacehuggerMay-13-2016 9:31 AMHello everybody, this is the forum member formerly known as Major Noob.
I was having login difficulties (oddly, right after I upgraded my iPhone, though the issue was across all my devices) and wound up with a new account. So now I am Aorta. Hi!
For those who may wonder, I refer to the Alien as the Morb after a fun debate some years ago about what to rename the Xeno, given that some of us object to the nomenclature applied by JC. No offense to anyone who prefers Xenomorph!
There's been much discussion over the years about the Morb's efficiency as a bio weapon, and it's a good point. Why go to such lengths when any culture that could produce such a thing could easily come up with any number of less baroque alternatives?
If we set aside the argument that an ancient, alien culture would do inscrutable things for inscrutable reasons, and apply terrestrial logic, one of the ideas that pops up is that of aesthetics, expressed via terrorism. That Morb biology isn't just about death, but suffering.
Perhaps the Morb's creators (or poachers, such as the case may be) stumbled upon something they proposed to manipulate and weaponize in the service of making a BIG impression on something else, maybe even their masters. Not just warfare, but bio terrorism. Maybe the Morb was meant to be an exotic, unstoppable form of revenge that even it's creators couldn't control?
This could be consonant with the themes of overreaching and the hazardous pursuit of power that runs through the entire franchise. In a deleted scene from Prometheus, the Engineer speaks to David when asked to provide immortality for Weyland, and it's response was translated as "Why?".
Maybe they know, too well, that in this universe death isn't the worst outcome?
Necronom 4
MemberNeomorphMay-18-2016 7:59 AMXeno Shmeano! That was it, great topic.
@Dave; "They claimed this about the Goo. They said it was a Forbidden Fruit/Fire/Knowledge and a Tool to the creation of everything living... a Tool intended to be used under Permission of the Hierarchy and Engineers are tasked to use it with their consent."
This actually makes a lot of sense and could explain 1) Why the goo in the opening scene is different from the goo on LV223. And 2) Why the goo on LV223 turned on the engineers. It also ties in with the Prometheus myth.
Lets say, an hierarchy, which we have not yet seen, created the goo with good intentions, to create life but upgrading/evolving life was forbidden. But, a rouge element of the engineers (or one particular engineer) decided to take some of the goo to upgrade humanity.
The punishment for this theft of the fire/forbidden fruit resulted in the hierarchy changing it from a tool of creation into a tool of death which the rouge element were unaware of until it got out and destroyed them.
The poster was good though!
Aorta
MemberFacehuggerMay-18-2016 8:22 AM@BD-
Yes, this brings us back to punishment, or even revenge, which may be programmed into the Liquid itself. Tampering would bring dire consequences. Possibly the Engineers understood this, and possessed science that would enable them to get further than most in subverting it's functionality to their whim.
For me, Morb describes any physical manifestation of this idea. I agree that whatever was first encountered was likely the first order of Morb, and the ones we've seen so far are descendants of that DNA.
Michelle Johnston
MemberChestbursterMay-18-2016 8:33 AM@ BD "They said it was a Forbidden Fruit/Fire/Knowledge and a Tool to the creation of everything living... a Tool intended to be used under Permission of the Hierarchy and Engineers are tasked to use it with their consent.
Using the Tool in a way not intended can lead to disastrous consequences, and using the Tool against the Wishes of the Hierarchy results in Punishment for this Theft".
For me this is the kind of thematic positioning that the film makers will retain whatever the narrative chosen.
The catalyser (opening scene) is a rare and precious gift of the Gods to be used by the Engineers.
There is a fall and it surrounds the application and use of the Goo.
In any of the plot outlines discussed this seems to me a universal truth, a strategic view of matters. The question at a tactical level is how did the virus/zeno strain get into the catalyser was it on LV223 and taken to Paradise or vice versa thats for me where the mythos needs to be fleshed out through David who can tell quite quickly the story of the fall. Another way is a fantastic emblematic opening scene which shows the crucial moment when the zeno strain was stolen acting in the same manner as the opening of Prom.
As far as the planned attack on Earth armed with the Black Goo, the Engineers took it up themselves in an unauthorised action to redact mankind "because they could" and they did not like what their creations were up to. That shows in itself a lack of genuine authority because they were considering a "before you can create you must destroy" whilst they were in the middle of an uncontrollable plague. Hardly a "God sponsored moment".
Michelle Johnston
MemberChestbursterMay-18-2016 8:53 AMZeno strain verses Zeno.
I think were I am veering off from a number on this is the story so far is about the strain. We have seen a good deal of its impact in Prometheus and we know wedded to an Engineer (who shares our DNA) it produces a Deacon.
The big one now is are we :-
1) About to see a Zeno for the first time with the what why and how.
2) The story cocooned in time travel or flash back or
3) An ancient creature released set free in an unscheduled, from the Gods point of view, act.
If its one and the bio mechancoid element is part of its make up then its desire to bring pain and humiliation (@ Aorta) makes perfect sense. By taking the victim and transforming it through its deadly serum and convert it under hideously painful circumstances into an Egg equally feels like punishment on the creator by the created.
Necronom 4
MemberNeomorphMay-18-2016 9:56 AMThe once deleted scene from ALIEN which was re-introduced in the ALIEN DC, shows us that the alien is a creation of torture and pain. It terrorises the crew of the Nostromo, slowly picking them off one by one. Raping Lambert and making Dallas suffer a slow, probably painful transformation into more misery. So yes, this thing is not just a destroyer, it is a bringer of pain and misery.
The poster was good though!
