THE MURAL ROOM

@Thoughts_Dreams

I dont mean to come across disrespectful... but i think they did try and give clues... just yes its ambiguous and it takes a lot of study and re-watches to make more sense of it all.

I agree Characters where not well done... but then Lindeloffs draft is way better once you read that then the movie makes a bit more sense and then you will ask...!

Why did they not shoot those scenes like that?

Michelle once again i could not say it better..... what you touch upon does seem very similar to what the Source was suggesting.

Anyway far to hot for me... i am going to leave it to when i am much cooler.. right now i am sweating buckets lol and when  i am hot i cant really concentrate.

so i will add to the debate once its not so frickin hot and humid lol

are you in england bigdave?

Flipping dont feel like it Thanatos ;)

Very Humid.... to warm for me lol gone down to 26C in my place now... minus having fans on lol..... cant moan as my heating bills are none existent...

Thoughts_Dreams..

I can now try and address what i was on about now i have cooled down a bit... i never ment no disrespect i was trying to say that the more you watch the more you may understand.

But then i understand not everyone analyzes the movie in depth and if you gave the movie to a general person who saw Alien before a few times but was never a Avid fan... then showed them Prometheus without saying its connected they would maybe not know..

Then when you say they are connected they would maybe still not have a clue...

Few people i know who saw it once.. one twice and only one who saw it twice made a connection... they still overlooked most of the themes...

Just drawn to the Engineers being Space Jockeys who used the Goo to destroy us... but ended up creating a Deacon that killed them and then another at the end that may have gone on to then be the Queen in Aliens lol

Yep.. its true.. so they understood a connection but Totally misread it all... many non major fans would also conclude the Deacon at the end leads to the Xenos in the Alien Franchise.

The movie does not really spoon feed anything... and few things it kind of hints to.. we can counter ask.. does it really Spoon Fed Guarantee it..

And well the answer is No.. its a movie you have to really watch closely and use your brain and own interpretations and then no too people would come to the same conclusions.

But if you have been on here for a while, and watched the movie say 10 times or more and read drafts of the movie then a picture should maybe start to form.

i am in england as well i can't sleep because of the heat

"You wrote that it contains a Xeno strain but I think that it wasn’t very well explained in Prometheus or at least could have been done better (the Xeno connection)."

Yes it could have been done a bit better... but there was enough clues... if more time was spent on the Frescos and a bit of dialect from the crew on that scene or David would have helped.

Ultimately the Movies Cut and Edit was to blame for some of it... the alternative Fifields that was never used, the concept work all had more of a Xeno connection..

The Engineers Face Burn was most likely from the Acid off the Trilobite but we have never been shown the Full Scene as Shot and intended... and the re-shoot is flawed.

But it seems like yes the Burn originally came from the Trilobite.. i have covered this before in depth...  but i can cover it again if anyone wants to.

Too Right... but i say make the most of it as we all moan when it rains again lol been very wet summer so far...

But yeah i prefer the Winter... being used to nights in a chilled environment dont help, being 21 Stone and Hairy dont help and well being 2nd floor apartment thats insulated and heat rises from ground floor dont help

But then £40 a Month yearly dual Fuel Bill and still sometimes i dont use all that is a bonus..

Winter i have heating on for a hour in morning a hour in afternoon and 2 on the night, and sometimes i even turn it off and i am talking when its really cold.. most of the time i dont even need heating on at all even in Winter lol

TC:  Very good point about Weyland and his selfish behavior, which pretty much drives this whole expedition.  As much as Shaw is hated, you could argue she is the only half-way redeemable person in the whole mess.

On Gods n Engineers.  I am not arguing with you; I think a case can be made for "divine" beings being superior races.  But I can also guarantee you my father and grandfather would disagree violently.  You said it yourself, fundamentalist are under-educated, closed-minded, low rent individuals, right? They only believe what the Bible says and nothing else, including Ridley's theory on God n company. 

Again I'm not arguing with you, but I grew up with these people; I can tell you exactly what they think.  I'm not arguing their case, simply saying what they believe.  You don't have to agree or disagree.         

"i'm going to repeat myself here: weyland doesn't understand why death as a phenomenon must exist. he is trapped in his little world of earthly pleasures and 'power' and is blind to certain spiritual things or sufferings"

I have touched upon this before... Weyland is a Scientist, is he spiritual or religious? maybe not...

But there is ONE THEME ONE THING that is True for most of Mankind.. Regardless of how much you dont believe in a Higher Power, God or the Afterlife...

Once you are at Deaths Door and dying or a really close Loved on is at Deaths Door.... or in a serious Accident or in a situation where Death is a possibility.

How we change to start to pray and believe and wish in a God...

Because we are afraid of Death... not so much Death but what happens after...  and so Weyland knowing he has not long left... his life nearly over, all that he has achieved has no effect on how much more he has left.

So he is desperate and hopes and believes that Shaw and Holloway are right.. so that if they are.... then there is a chance for his Salvation..

Diz...

As far as Divine goes.. yes could it be Technology?

If you had advanced Technology the level of Star Trek and could heal people who 500 years ago could not be saved and you could teleport down and also had weapons that could kill like the Phasers etc..

If you went back in time 500 years ago... you would be seen as Gods.. but you would not be..

We dont know if the beings above the Engineers are just so vastly advanced that they are Godlike... or if there is indeed some Force something Divine or Supernatural at play...

Who knows.... i think its just a case of being vastly more Advanced and Ancient myself.

@bigdave: "I have touched upon this before... Weyland is a Scientist, is he spiritual or religious? maybe not..."

spiritual and religious are different things. one worships an idea, the other an institution.  i think science and spirituality should coexist, and should not be at war with one another.

@diz i'm not arguing either but i think what gets me is that all these absurd hateful and downright bizarre and irrelevant interpretations of the bible and what it's saying are just wrong. that's all. that's why i have such problems with the idea of a 'liberal' and a 'conservative' reading. the bible does NOT lend itself to political affiliation. a reading of the bible is either right or wrong.

also honestly i don't moan when it rains. i love it when it's grey and miserable.

@B D 

I am sure this issue of connectivity has been discussed very many times but it does come down to investment.

Ridley said time and again pre-release that Prometheus would have some of the "DNA" of ALIEN within it; it would exist in the same universe but it was not a direct pre equal.   

If you position the film on that basis the connectivity was just fine and much more interesting than a simple pre equal. But of course people ignore what the artist said and project their own needs on the outcome. 

Where I believe it gets complicated is that what Damon and Ridley said after the film was made was not necessarily consistent. They were reacting to questions about linear connectivity and because the connection were vague did not make the same ones.

Where they were on the same page is :-

Damon said he deliberately wanted to leave room for people to think for themselves. They were deliberately not spoon fed.

Ridley said we are showing how those things might have happened to create the circumstances that lead to A L I E N not the actual story itself.

Prometheus showed us

The A L I E N was the cat out of the bag in an Engineered unsentimental Universe.

It introduced us to the Space Jockey race and made the connection between us and them. The revelation that what we are seeing in A L I E N was a suit worn by a creature was a big deal and made it clear that LV426 has pre existing links with mankind.

Those are big answers but many look at the film for detailed linkage and it is not there.

As you know what fascinates me about A C is whether the Loganisation of the script and Ridders other comments (Backing in) does take us into pre equal territory and to what degree.   

Some of what we have seen suggests we are going to continue with the big picture back ground but with the intimacy of deliberate connectivity which is I think a reaction to the reaction of A 5.    

On the reactions to characterisation it is a question of "yes could have been better" but for some its a recurring big deal for others its a 5% issue, I am in the latter category. If I could I would suggest the real issue is Peter Weyland if his role as the self centred megalomanic who was devious and completely disinterested in anything else other than his personal agenda had been clearer then people might have understood why the crew itself were in the main a bunch of reckless opportunists and idealists. A scene very early on where a presence interviews several of the crew members and lets the audience know that presence has no real interest in them or dialogue between Vickers and Janek hinting at the duplicity of the mission would have positioned them all and made them more obviously like the expendable member of the crew on Star Trek that always beamed down and got killed. Put it another way the Hammerpede and Black Goo are key story telling points whereas Milburn and Fifield are just texture. 

TC: Good point.  Keeping the Bible A-political.  Yes, the labels conservative and liberal may arouse different interpretations in people.  Did not mean to call you a "liberal", per se, only your (and basically everyone's here) interpretation of the Bible is open to new interpretations as new ideas are explored.  Perhaps a better term would be "open-minded" because that's what I meant.  We are re-examining beliefs, in light of what Ridley is proposing in his story here.  Well, at least I am.  For some this might just be close to where they were already at. 

The arch-conservative would be horrified by our discussions here, and consider this line of thinking totally dis-respectful toward their religious beliefs.  Yes, that is the problem; different folks interpret the Bible in different ways, and some will not even consider different ideas, if it is not specifically stated as such in the scripture.

BTW I just returned from the Brecon Beacons, where I did the "Fan Dance".  I have to chuckle at the mention of the hot weather you're having at present, because a couple of weeks ago, it was nothing but wind and rain up there on the mountain, and I caught a lovely cold, as a souvenir of Wales, I suppose.     

MJ:  Yes you have hit the nail on the head, as far as the Prometheus expedition being nothing but a fool's errand (that was for you TC) of Peter Weyland.

So here's a thought.  If the engineer's first impression of us is based off this tool, what if OUR first impression of them is based off their "peter weylands"?  We are seeing this duality of our, and perhaps their, nature?

I still have this massive problem with the way the characters act.  If you look at the actual space travelers from our time, you see some of the best and brightest of our kind represented.  When you skip forward into sci-fi you get all these representations of the best and the worst of us. 

I suppose this is what causes problems and creates the story, but come on!  Look at what goes into astronaut training and preparation these days and then compare that to what is depicted.  How would some of these clowns ever pass muster?  The psyche eval alone would flunk half of them!

I guess I'm assuming if I spent billions of my own money to do this, I would train my crew just as well as NASA, and throw in tier one military security as well.  But then again I would be doing it for an entirely different purpose, with hopefully no "court intrigue" from my children and so forth!

"The arch-conservative would be horrified by our discussions here, and consider this line of thinking totally dis-respectful toward their religious beliefs.  Yes, that is the problem; different folks interpret the Bible in different ways, and some will not even consider different ideas, if it is not specifically stated as such in the scripture."

i'm sorry, but the 'arch-conservative' as you put it to me comes across as a trojan horse word for 'slavemaster'. i don't see anywhere in the bible that supports the actions of southern slavemasters and their treatment of black people for instance. in fact, i see a great deal of wrath stored up for those people.

Well I'm not sure why you would just single them out, as other people still consider slavery OK, even unto this day.  But yeah slavery is wrong and should be punished.  I'm not sure why other cultures are getting a free pass on this. 

But again, the Bible, or the black goo, or any inanimate object, or idea isn't the problem; it's the people who use them, for better or worse.   

hey diz,

i'm singling them out because the majority of those slavemasters were or defined themselves as 'Christian'. there is of course other slavery and forms in the world, but none where i can think of where supposed Christianity was such a qualifying or enabling factor.

Yes Michelle once again totally agree and see things very similar...

I think they had tried something different with Prometheus.. we have to look at the back ground story they are sending us down that some just never got and others was never interested in.

And Thus the Xeno Strand and Bio-Weapons was just one part of the Engineers Agenda and History it a bit like focus of a Movie on Mankind and concentrate on just Gunpowder Weapons... in various forms and History...  Mankind has more History than purely War and Conflict and how Gunpowder was a Game Changer.

Maybe the Xeno strand had another role...? But it seemed to be that its only a small percentage of what else we could tell about the Engineers....

And so the movie decided to give us  a movie that would give us a bit of a clue to about the Xeno strand... while also setting up a bigger picture for the second movie... as Ridley said.. one was to go off to Alien and the other something different.

But this does not literally mean the Deacon or other things on LV-223 regarding the Goo outbreak in 2093 leads to the Xeno...

Its a metaphor to show that LV-223 was linked to the Xenomorph and Bio-Weapons and thus LV-426 incident without having to go into detail of When, How and Why.... the LV-223 would link to Alien.

Then the other aspect would be to go to Paradise to discover a bit of the above, but also expand into the Engineers rather than the xenomorph.

But yes things seem to have been changed a bit now to link to Alien and the Xeno and more concerning Ripley.

"When you skip forward into sci-fi you get all these representations of the best and the worst of us. "

But i think we need to look at it as in the future when traveling across Space is as easy and sailing the Atlantic Ocean... then you will get the untrained and not best...

Nostromo Crew for example...

But i think the Problem is with Prometheus being a mission to a World that Potentially Holds key to Life...  then you would have thought they would be better....

But again maybe Vickers Sabotaged the Mission, if she was next in line for the Company she knew a Dead Weyand means she is now the Queen...  so why would she want her Father to succeed get his Immortality and thus she would remain where she is in the Corporate Ladder.

To be honest every Character seemed to be up to their Role apart from Milburn and Fifield... but if Vickers wanted to Hijack the Mission, would she also want to do the same with the other members of crew.

End of the day it was poor writting... Lindeloffs draft did explore it more and give better excuses....  but Spaights draft did touch upon more  as far as to also explore what Technology could be had... which fits in with the company Agenda

Prometheus was just about Weylands Agenda to be granted more Life.....  and Shaws about seeing how close these beings who may have created us are to her belief in God.

 Michelle J:

You mention the foolish behavior of for example military people which I think you refer to Aliens (1986), right? Correct me if I am mistaken but to me the characters of the militaries in Aliens were made somewhat likeable at least they were not made foolish while too many characters in Prometheus were just bad. I am happy that we agree that it could have been made a lot better.

I agree that the goo is biological warfare but since it is alien (no pun intended) it is very interesting. Hopefully they will not explain the goo that much in AC or any of the prequels so it will have some mystery about it after the prequels are done (the same goes for the Xeno). Sure they can explain some of it but not everything compare it to university courses in mathematics for example where you have the courses A-C (pun intended, LOL) and then if you want D-F. They could explain the A-D but not E and F so we will get a basic understanding of it but that we have to do the extra work ourselves to see how it is connected, I would prefer if they will keep it like that.

The goo has a potential to be very interesting, I hope that they will do something good about it in AC. A story where you have a group (Engineers in this case) that are creating worlds using a substance that they have created (I guess that we can make that conclusion) could be an interesting and frightening thing if it is well written and makes sense. One problem is that they made the Engineers too genetically close to human beings which make them too familiar. They should have made them more different than human beings DNA-wise but maybe that can be explained in AC that the DNA-match concerning humans and Engineers was an error in the technology that made the DNA match.

Biological warfare, what if the Engineers have a group that they are at war with? Maybe they could use the goo as a weapon against that group so while they are creating lives they also destroy lives. Maybe this is a lame idea but it is just something that I thought about when I read your comment about biological warfare but I realize that I could be totally wrong or off-topic.

Big Dave:

No problems, I don’t think that you are disrespectful. Sometimes debates can become a bit heated when you have people that have opposing views about things but that is alright as long as people have a rational debate.

The script by Lindelof was better than the finished movie but I still prefer Spaight’s version because it has the best characters by far. I am not sure why they didn’t shoot the scenes the way Lindelof’s draft was written (if that is what you refer to when you write “didn’t shoot the scenes like that”). Maybe Ridley or Fox interfered too much? This is just speculation since I obviously don’t know what went on. Whoever was in charge made many stupid decisions.

I watched a review here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSaKxB-8YlE where the person mentions that Ridley prefers pacing over a story that makes sense so maybe that is a reason why it is the way it is. Watch from 12:35- and a bit onwards and there it is, you judge for yourself if what she says makes sense but at least it seems interesting. This could be one of the reasons why the movie has a problem when it comes to making sense of the story.

A lot of people might miss things when it comes to making sense of the Xeno and the monsters so I am not sure if there were enough clues or maybe they were not well made. If many people think that the movie doesn’t make sense then there might be something wrong with it or at least something raises questions that should be looked into so they hopefully could learn to make it better the next time or make a new edition of it that could have been titled Prometheus: Corrections or something. What is needed is that the studio or bosses realize that they messed up and try to give it another try; I think that could have been a better thing if they would have done that.

The Fifield that was used in the movie is by far the worst (the Zombie versions), I didn’t like it at all. What makes it worse is that the other versions were far better so they should have used one of these. Most other versions that could have been made would probably have been better being that they are supposed to be professionals. Sure they wanted to make a less of a Xeno connection and that is both good and bad but that means that there is a time when you reach a point that if you reduce it too much then it doesn’t make sense so that is what they did IMO.

In the movie that I watched there was a face burn after he had bitten the Trilobite, the face burn was a good thing. Maybe there is a version where there is no mark but that is just a way to make the movie worse and (once again) makes the editing look dumb. Perhaps those that cut the movie should get a new job or those that made the decisions about it. The Trilobite was an interesting monster, hopefully they will have something similar in Alien Covenant and if I am remember it correctly I read somewhere that they will have one in AC but I can of course be mistaken about that.

As far as the connection to Alien goes I think that they made a mistake. I think that the connection to Alien should have been clearer. You shouldn’t need to analyze it hours and hours to see that they are connected. For me the connection was made either when I saw the Deacon at the end of it or when a friend told me that it was an alien prequel.

Over-looking the themes: well if many people didn’t see many of the themes in the movie it seems that it was badly made, we can hope that they (Fox and Ridley) have learned their lesson so they will do better the next time. When I watch the video I mostly focus on the Engineers and how it connects to Alien so I am not very interested in Weyland’s talk about immortality or his rivalry with Vickers either but that is connected to the problem that most characters are not well done. My opinion is still that they should have made it more of a straight Alien prequel with better characters and more of Spaight’s ideas. It is not that Spaight’s script was perfect but at least it was way better than what we got because Scott and Fox messed up and also they brought Lindelof in and although he is not as much to blame it didn’t help that he changed the script.

The Deacon and its eventual connection to the queen: I am not sure if Ridley considers the queen to be a part of his vision so I doubt that is what went on at least I never consider it to be very important to Prometheus. Perhaps Cameron looks at it in a different way? My guess is that it isn’t a direct connection to the Xenos but that it has DNA in common with the Xeno if that makes sense but I think that they are related but there are many steps between them.

Prometheus is a movie that I have watched many times but I still have the same problems with it as I had before. Now my understanding of how it is connected to the Alien movies has improved somewhat but I appreciate it better now than I did when I had only watched it a few times and hadn’t read very much about what went on when they did it and so on. I don’t mind movies where you need to think but they made it too vague IMO and what is worse most of the characters are very bad.

I have read the drafts, watched people review it, and followed some discussions here so at least it makes me understand the movie better but at the core of it my opinion is still the same.

Yeah herein lies some of the problem with this franchise.  I may not be the sharpest tool in the shed but I get by.  I did not get all this insight from repeated watching of the movie(s).  I totally agree, it was too vague.  If you haven't read any additional material, and/or visited these websites, the average bear would have no clue to most of this.  Now to some this is OK, as they want the story to be vague, and make you fill in the blanks, with additional research and discussion.  But at the end of the day, Fox has to make money on these things, or we're not going to see any more follow-up films.  So you're walking a fine line here.  Do you please the hard-core fans, or do you hit the general audience over the head with it?

On characters.  Oy Veh.  Yeah you are getting into more commercial "space freighter" territory with these stories, versus pure scientific exploration, but still, as discussed, the character development was atrocious.  Yes, Ms Vickers may have had ulterior motives to insure the mission failed and her father croaked.  But what struck me was the utter lack of any chain of command whatsoever.  Where is your "Mission Commander"?  Where is your 2IC (second in command), probably your tactical element leader? Why aren't the  "mission specialists" (Shaw and Holloway) slapped down when they attempt to run the show?  Why doesn't anyone object to this absolute Goat-____?

Regardless of mission objectives, or who funded it, or who's supposedly running it, you need a clear and coherent chain of command, and a clearly stated SOP of what's going to go down (or at least how you hope it will).  Having a megalomaniac and his creepy daughter in charge of the mission with two mission specialists nominally "in charge" is just a recipe for disaster.  Throw in goofy characters acting erratically and you have "Prometheus". 

Now all that being said I still love the movie, warts and all. 

"No problems, I don’t think that you are disrespectful."

Yeah what i meant was to not be disrespectful by suggesting that maybe the more you watch the movie the more it should make sense.... but i am not aware how many times you had seen it...  so it was like if you have watched it XXX amount times and visited this site a lot then the connections should be more clearer.

But even for someone who has studied the movie and franchise and every other little bit of information... the clues are vague still and i cant come up with a ONE PERFECT Answer... even now lol

"I think that the connection to Alien should have been clearer. You shouldn’t need to analyze it hours and hours to see that they are connected."

Exactly and i think that was your point, that ignoring everything but the Movie, even watching it over and over still its not quite laid out clearly whats going on.

Diz also sums this up the same... with "I may not be the sharpest tool in the shed but I get by.  I did not get all this insight from repeated watching of the movie(s).  I totally agree, it was too vague.  If you haven't read any additional material, and/or visited these websites, the average bear would have no clue to most of this."

"the movie that I watched there was a face burn after he had bitten the Trilobite, the face burn was a good thing. Maybe there is a version where there is no mark but that"

This was the cut we got... once they had gone with the re-shoot after the Original... instead of replacing the make up... they re-shot a shorter scene and by sticking with this one... there are a number of shots that had to be cut... included the Engineer from the moment of the crash... to running across LV-223 to then a shot of him studying Books on the Floor ... these where not even on the deleted scenes..

The Fight between Engineer and Trilobite if you watch it frame by frame the Burn is there, then not there... then there and not there etc etc.

You have to wander exactly how did the Original Shoot go and what clues it would have given.

"My guess is that it isn’t a direct connection to the Xenos but that it has DNA in common with the Xeno if that makes sense but I think that they are related but there are many steps between them."

Thats exactly what it is.. IMO

But general people would just assume the Deacon is what becomes the Progenitor to the Eggs in Alien... because its the closest thing to a Xeno and the movie is a prequel.

So this is what a lot of people was drawn too... Lindeloffs comments dont help either... he said it was a Progenitor and even made connection to the Hammerpedes and the eventual Xenomorph

I kind of got it more... due to the way i have a diagnostic mind... im good at analyzing things... maybe too much..

I am good at stuff like that, from clues and fault finding... like a Sherlock Holmes  ;)

But yes, they should have realized would the General Public be able to figure it out?  Ambiguilty is fine and Mystery but most people just never understood the movie and this does not bold well for a sequel if fans was not interested or confused with the first.

Hense the Changes in Name  (Alien: Prefix) more Xeno clues and Ripley link... to draw fans in... I would say most who went to see the movie on the BIG SCREEN would have had some idea its based in the Alien Franchise universe...

But i imagine many who watched it on TV, be that on TV Chanels or Specific Pay as you watch or packages... like Sky Movies in the UK

I think casual viewer who decides to watch it, not knowing its a Alien Franchise movie prior would well be totally confused to whats going on...

But this is what made Space 2001 a interesting movie and also Interstellar.

Make the Engineers and Ships different to the Space Jockey and Derelict.. removed Weyland Company and use different one...  make the Deacon and Murals different to the Xenomorph and then better acting it could have been a interesting stand alone movie.

Big Dave:

I think that I understand more about the movie compared to those that have just seen it maybe two or three times but since the movie is vague it takes time to understand things and opinions can change the more you watch it. You see details that you haven’t noticed before and that affect the way you look at it, and so on. Reading discussions here helps a lot.

Yeah I remember the scene with the Engineer reading some book but that wouldn’t be a scene that I would have been very interested in. I have seen a picture of that somewhere.

Yes it could be interesting to see how the original shoot of the Trilobite scene was. I will watch the Trilobite scene again and see if you are correct about that. They could probably have done it better. From what you write it seems that they weren’t sure how many Xeno clues they should have. Maybe they didn’t make up their minds before they shot the scene?

The Deacon maybe isn’t the exact progenitor to the Xeno but maybe people think that it is because like you say it was the closest to the Xeno that was in this movie. If they would have explained it better then many people wouldn’t have assumed that but it is probably because they did bad as far as the Xeno clues go.

I don’t think that the Hammerpedes and the Xeno are very closely related.  What seems to connect them is the black goo and nothing else (you mentioned something that Lindelof supposedly said).

As far as being confusing they should have had more Xeno clues and better characters. This was a huge mistake that they did. I wonder if they have made up their own minds about what they wanted to achieve?

That is good that they give it a clearer link to the Alien movies although I don’t think that we need it to be about Ripley (LOL). Hopefully they will be able to clear some things up in AC.

Yeah going back up to the OP, the mural room is a perfect example of the vague suggestions in the story line, which some really like, but most folks (including myself) totally missed. 

This is this problem you have with movies.  If you are trying to impress those in the industry (and I would include the hard-core fans in there), then you make these artsy-fartsy movies that the critics just love, but joe six-pack just scratches his head over.  On the other hand, if you are trying to make money, lots of money, then you pander to the masses and hit them over the head with it, so even the dullest bulb on the porch gets it. 

So yeah, as previously discussed, you have too many chefs in the kitchen sometimes.  Ridley has his vision, then you have the writers, the illustrators, caterers, janitors, and finally the execs.

The mish-mash that sometimes comes out of this is called Prometheus.  Look at the credits next time you watch it.  You have this producer, oh, then there's these guys, oh wait a minute, don't forget this guy. Then you have the writers cobbled together like they're a team (yeah, right!).  And on it goes.

So yeah the mural room is a perfect example of the muddled message that comes out from too many people stirring the pot.  It's like all the competing story lines are over-laid on it in various layers.  You see a peak of this, and a dash of that.  As MJ mentioned I believe, the mural seems to be changing in mid-story.  Yeah how fitting. 

"will watch the Trilobite scene again and see if you are correct about that."

You have to freeze frame it on a frame by frame basis...

"From what you write it seems that they weren’t sure how many Xeno clues they should have"

I think there was enough... they wanted to step away from Alien and i think a different Fifield... maybe the original Trilobite vs Engineer Scene... and a bit more time spent looking at the Frescos could have helped.

*Hamerpede..Mutated Worms that have Acid Blood and look a bit Face Huger. (we got)

*A Fifield who looked a bit more Xenomorph, maybe had Acid Blood. (never had)

*Shaws Baby, that acted like a Face Huger lead to a Chest Buster... (we got)

* If opnly the full scene was shown where Engineers Face Burn was from Acid from the Trillobite (never got)

*Deacon was similar to the Xeno in some ways but also Human in others, but for some it was hard to see this.

The Mural and Frescos had a connection they just needed more time spent on them.

"So yeah the mural room is a perfect example of the muddled message that comes out from too many people stirring the pot.  It's like all the competing story lines are over-laid on it in various layers"

I can understand that, but this is one thing the source said that with other clues gives us the answers in part.

I  think they need to be less ambiguous with what ever they show so as to clarify the clues.

When i consider what the source said, then in one way i get it but in another i dont.....   as to me it still seems that the DNA in those Urns/Ampoules are not Pure Xeno DNA  but something related and that there is still a Origin to what became the Deacon in the Mural whos DNA is in those Urns.

So its a case of what lead to the Xeno? was the Xeno first or after? And we dont yet have those Answers.

Maybe its something related to the Xeno was sent down to Punish the Engineers.... or just the Goo but the Goo got contaminated that lead to something related to the Xenomorph....   this punishment led to something related that the Engineers re-engineered.

But its a case of was the original more closer to the Xenomorph or is the Xenomorph a evolution?

I can try and break down what i feel the source had led me too and then what i thought prior.