Are Engineers extinct?

Interesting one . . . if SJ and engineers are different then you'd think given their intergalactic abilities and seeding desire that there should be many still around.  But perhaps not close too Earth?!

If they are one and the same the above still applies but it makes me think any 'civil' war may have been quite catastrophic for the species given the nature of the weapon being used . . .

In short, I think some remain but we may never get to 'meet' them as it were.  

My gut feeling is we will see them again in AC- in some form or other

@Apex Predator

I think that scence you mentioned is that leaked set photo showing dozens of burnt Engineer bodies near an ancient structure.

@Deep Space

Indeed. They mastered space travel so it's unlikely that they are completly/absolutly gone.

The question is: How big of a role the planet Paradise is.

If it's really their homeworld than it would have a  massive impact in their presence near earth(relative position in the Galaxy) and the whole remaining galaxy.

If it's just a bigger (but older) outpost then for sure they are still plenty in numbers but have given up on their plans for this part of the galaxy.

Also an interesting point some of you mentionend:

Are there different types of them? Elders, warriors or are the Engineers themself a creation of a greater lifeform.

One is for sure. The species that sacrificed themself at the intro scene in Prometheus is the same kind the Human crew woke up from the cyro sleep. They have almost not changed over the millions of years physicalwise (have they changed at all? not sure). Same pale skin, dark eyes, demigod like body/strength.

@Gralen - I think the intention from Prom was to suggest the SJ and engineers are one and the same.  However, there are obvious scale issues and the ships are different in shape.  Some on here have speculated the derelict may have withered and decayed due to it being part bio which explains for the growth and differences.  Could be!

I'd be happy to waive that though tbh, but they could go a route of SJ being the Elder or 'creator' of the engineers.

I'm a bit torn on this issue and there aren't enough real clues or evidence to make a clear guess.

re your last point - I'm not so sure.  When I 1st watched it I assumed that was the case but on reflection I have doubts.  The look of the living engineer seems to be fused with biotech of some kind as opposed to a more natural aesthetic at the beginning.  The body language is also subtly different.  More in reverence early on but much more focused and commanding at the end (could be nothing though)  It could just be part of their space suit but I have a feeling we are seeing either a 'renegade' engineer or a different faction altogether.  Also, we don't know but Id assumed that a lot of time had passed since the opening scene and what we see in real time.  Who knows what had become of that race during what could have been millions of years ...

As I said though, it's all guesswork at this point which makes it so much fun :)  

I'm also with Chris and others above - my main focus and interest form here on in is the engineers and how and why the SJ /derelict and its cargo came to be.  The ALIEN comes along as a link in the chain, a part of the narrative as it were, rather than the focus.

Prometheus has opened a lot of doors . . .

Maybe if others who've proposed the engineers can no longer procreate, perhaps the idea is that they seeded us so that they could eventually use us as a means to procreate. Then maybe they went to sleep to pass the time while we evolved. Maybe all the engineers are asleep waiting to wake up. Maybe in one of these films we'll see the whole civilization of them come out of sleep (or perhaps that will be some threat that the protagonists end up having to stop before it's too late)

@Chris 

I do think as well that the classic alien is definitely not as scary as it once was, which is why, I THINK, that the Neomorphs and Protomorph are going to be front and center as the primary threat. I also think they will set up the Ultramorph and Deacon as the main threats in the next sequels

The Engineers are most definitely not extinct. What David killed in Alien Covenant may not be Engineers at all, but one of their creations. There also exists the possibility that this city was an outpost for rebel Engineers with limited access to technology. This might be the Last Engineer's "Paradise." 

I think there was the idea to show us more about these Engineers, but going this route does open up a few holes as far as the Alien Franchise and why we dont have Engineers mentioned or interacting with Mankind even as far forwards as Alien Resurrection.

Prometheus opened the Door up for a expanded universe it showed all these beings was killed of on LV-223 but left us to ponder where did they come from and what would Shaw and David find...

Finding too many Engineers would be a Problem... One basically took out 3 Humans and a Android with ease...

Ideally it would be to find only a few left, and explain some kind of event that saw the end to many of them....

But it was teased indeed there are beings above these Engineers we saw in Prometheus both LV-223 Engineers and Sacrificial.. The Elders Scene was cut because Ridley did not want to meet God in the first movie and he referred to those beings in the image above in the previous post as the Apostles and Superior Beings.

So their is a Hierachy above those Engineers. The Question is how many layers and where are they now?

I think with Alien Covenant they have realized most fans want to get back to what made the Alien Franchise and that was the Xenomorph and Eggs, the Company the Androids and the Humans who have to put up with the suffering caused by the encounters with these Alien Organisms (Xenomorph).

Expanding beyond to the Engineers, who created them where are they all at.. may be distracting off the Path that Fox feel is more relevant.

So it appears indeed all the Engineers are dead by the time the Covenant Arrives, Dead as far as within the limited parts of the Galaxy Mankind has visited in the Franchise.

This tidies up any Plot Holes as far as Alien Time Line goes with no Engineers turning up post 2104 to wreck havoc on Mankind.

Having the Engineers being Technologically not Advanced on Paradise, and having a Higher Race or indeed Higher Faction of Engineers, who visit those beings on Paradise now and again.  Makes more sense as far as to WHY no Engineers came back to Destroy us afterwards.... especially after Prometheus....

By having those beings not being Technologically Advanced on Paradise means they have no means to simply destroy Davids ship and then carry on their attack on Earth.

I would assume those beings on Paradise are not even aware of who Mankind is or the Engineers on LV-223 was.

So it leaves it open to see these beings/Engineers in Flash Backs if future movies cover some Plot from the Past.

It also leaves it open to explore those above the Engineers and those beings on Paradise in a future movie, if these Hierarchy of beings or Creators have created Life across vast portions of the Galaxy and even other Galaxies.

Maybe they abandoned Paradise thousands of years ago, and those Hierarchy beings are now not anywhere within thousands of light years of Earth and so out of reaches of Mankind though-out the Franchise.

We also can not rule out if any Engineers are on the Juggernaught that David and Shaw took off in.

Perhaps a form of racism or ageism is going on with the Engineers. The Elders were clearly the same species as the Sacrificial Engineer. Further, we should not forget that the Engineers may well have originated from a different galaxy. 

Great question Dark Nebula. And yes, bring on the Engineers as far as the story line content.

There is a good chance from what we have seen in Prometheus (and Alien: Covenant trailers) that the Engineers were reduced in numbers long ago.

It is very hard to know how many Engineers there were before the attack on LV-223, where other attacks of that kind happened, and how many were attacked on Paradise and elsewhere over time.

Those on LV-223 appeared to live more like a dedicated military populace opposed to a posh civilization. 

How many different places (planets) were the Engineers attacked on during the LV-223 attack shown in Prometheus and how long did this attack last?

I feel that the Engineers are not extinct, that they still exist in the universe in possibly several locations.

Janek made what i feel a true observation, when he announced that LV223 was not their home world but an instillation. It was clearly a military outpost of sorts.

It is possible that Paradise is also not their homeworld but home to an Engineer like race of beings or possibly a version of humans, as the petrified beings in the production photos and the glimpses of them in the trailers and tv spots appear smaller in stature than the Engineers from Prometheus.

I do feel that there is a much more powerful, darker and ultimately evil race of beings that we have yet to encounter that are probably the reason the Engineers and the black goo exist. Perhaps the dark deeds David has been up to calls out to them somehow, and they come in with a terrifying wrath to set things right or to regain control. Ridley did suggest in interviews that there was another form of life that may be the creator of humanity or Xeno's and it wasnt the Engineers.

I hope and wish that they do introduce another race of beings, something in control of it all, gods per se, terrifying and awe inspiring at the same time, an intelligent race of beings that are cosmic horror defined, and we find that they are behind everything.

@Lone I've become convinced that all those dead "things" that are burned to a char at the temple grounds are NOT engineers. Rather they are some humanoid derivative in the evolution process, more "Earthlike humanoid" than "Engineer humanoid". Their bodies are too small and underformed, it appears. Other theorists on youtube seem to agree with that concept as well.

I think it depends on how kind of Literal they intended Paradise to be in context to Paradise Lost.

In Paradise Lost we had Adam and Eve who after being lead astray by Lucifer/Satan and went against Gods Will, they was kicked out of Paradise.

We also have the Cherubim who are a High Ranking Sect of Angels who are tasked with Guarding Paradise and the Garden of Eden.

If we came from the Engineers and if they was the Forerunners to Mankind as Ridley Scott said so, then its possible the Engineers in Context are.

1) The Angels who was supposed to Guard Paradise hence the Engineer said he came from Paradise, as this was there purpose before they had Rebelled and became Fallen.

2) The Engineers are related to those beings on Paradise who some Rebelled and was kicked out of Paradise Thousands of Years ago or longer... and these who was kicked out Set up Shop Elsewhere and lead to the LV-223 Engineers.

I think there will be others in the Universe and maybe Galaxy but its a case of how Ridley Scott will cover these beings as far as in context of the Timeline of 2104 Onward... having them Wiped out for the most part does take care of any Plot Holes.

But leaves them to be covered in Scenes set way back prior to Alien Covenant if not thousands of years prior.

Extinct? Unlikely. Consider the navigational database David found...how many worlds?
You'd have to kill them off everywhere, every world, every ship to make them extinct, and I can't see that happening.
However, their numbers may well have been critically-reduced.

Indeed and it was not just Worlds...

But Galaxies..... those Arrows clearly point to Galaxies, and throughout this image there are what looks like Galaxies all over the place that however are not Circled by the Ships Navigation.

I would assume the Area in Green Circle, is the Bubble that David observes is our Galaxy, and so if Engineers can Travel to other Galaxies then this is Vast.

The Nearest Galaxy to our Milky Way is Andromeda  which is 2.5 Million Light years, at the Speed Prometheus took to get to LV-223 it would take it 130 Thousand Years to get to Andromeda 

So we can safely assume the Engineers can reach those Galaxies, if they are only of smaller number in our Galaxy or just our Quadrant that are no longer, but others remain in other Quadrant's this would cover any Plot Holes as far as No Engineers in the Alien Franchise after the events of the Prequels to Alien.

They could be to far away for Mankind to ever Reach.

The USS Sulaco could only Travel about 270 Light Years per year

BigDave

TY for pointing out the galaxies, as with my eyesight, they were very difficult to pick out until now!
Yes, that DOES change the Perspective a LOT, and I'd agree the 'bubble' is likely the 'Local' navigation database for our Galaxy.

Awesome analysis Blackwinter-witch and BigDave.

Another couple of images of the Engineer navigation room below:

There is a official short trailer to the film

Alien:Covenant Prologue: The Crossing

which is a bridge between the evens after the juggernaut left LV-223 and arrived finally at Paradise.

Dont expected what was the casue of their demise.

This confirms somehow that the Engineers are definitely not extinct and only one bigger outpost planet is lost in the near proximity of earth.

Watched A:C.

Nowhere they are extinct.

If you remember the control room of the Juggernaut in Prometheus you see they have data of hundreds of worlds in our and other Galaxies.

That planet in A:C was maybe a minor recreation planet/world for that species to meditate but nowhere the homeworld which would have much more surface structures and orbital structures.

If paradise was their homeworld then how could it contain such a small population from a race that has been around millions if not billions of years before humans? I means paradise looked like maybe 200-300 thousand maybe 500 pushing it. And their world looked lacking in technology and the buildings very like the middle East style of buildings and housing. Do you really believe engineers so advanced would live like this?