Huge timeline plot hole! or will this be explained in the future?

where is my post?

never mind it was delayed for spam check.

The Alien franchise is not tied to the events in Alien Vs. Predator and the Predator films.

Nonsense they are from the same universe and there is no indication they are from alternate realities. At least not until something in a movie/show says so.

Right, both franchises are owned by 20th Century Fox, which allowed them to make a crossover film. However, Ridley Scott has expressed his opinions about Alien Vs. Predator as well as fans and their reactions weren't good. So rather than continuing with the crossover ideas, it felt best to separate the Alien and Predators into their own franchises. I view Alien: Covenant as Ridley's chance to establish the REAL origin of the Xenomorphs. Which he is entitled to since he created the first Alien.

ok even if we disregard any predator connections that still doesnt explain why the crashed ship they found in the original alien movie with the egg pods and the fossilized engineer pilot was thousands of years old.

GRIZZ

For the sake of saving you some time and trouble, this very thing you've brought up has and is still being heatedly discussed in a number of threads.

Thusfar the main argument against the derelict, jockey, and eggs being old is this:

We all base our assumption these things are ancient on

1. The appearance of the Space Jockey

2. Dallas' comment that the space jockey "looks fossilized"

So the rational for these is:

1. Our visual assessment of the space jockey is meaningless since things can look old but it's really not possible to know without carbon dating or some other scientific method of measuring.

2. Dallas was tossing a guess out there, but he never does any kind of testing, nor does his profession qualify him to make that assessment. This is why he specifically says "LOOKS fossilized". Because he knows he's just guessing.

You are correct for being confused like many of us were, because the idea of the "ancient derelict" has been the unconfirmed understanding in the lore since 1979. However, without ever having nailed this down as fact in the canon, Ridley has the wiggle room to abandon this concept in favor of a decades old derelict/jockey. 

Now if Alien had a scene where they took a chunk of the Jockey back to the ship and dated it with the on-board tech, it would be a completely different story. Ridley Scott would then have NO wiggle room. But because this never occurred in the film, he is currently operating within reason to go against our assumptions.

I love how so many still believe AVP is canon with the Alien films.

The aliens on the Engineer mural were protomorphs.

Also my theory is that the Engineers (Space Jockeys) fossilize not long after death so perhaps the Space Jockey being dead for 1000/2000 years belief might get retcon.

Don't get me started... XD

Fire and Stone

Life and Death

Rage War Trilogy.

I won't say more.

The "1000 year old Jockey" theory is just based on Dallas' assumption that it's been there forever and a Ridley Scott red herring in interviews over the years way before Prometheus was even thought of. 

It's a case of the cart coming before the horse. Ridley always used to say part of the appeal of the Jockey was that no one knew who he was or what he was doing with a cargo hold full of eggs.

Flash forward to now, where everyone has to know everything, and we get a shoddy explanation a muddle universe of partially explained things on our way to the Jockey on LV-426.

The xeno could be a genetic strain the engineers found somewhere and is so rare it is regarded as sacred. David has had the time and has the necessary skill to create them so he brings them back from the engineer archives i guess.

the space jockey might just be a very big engineer, they might not be chestbursted, it might just be the pressure suit. 

Somehow, an engineer has to get those eggs and for some reason crash it on that planet. If its crashed by the way, then why arent the eggs all over the place and smashed up?

@Babylonxeno

The Jockey that crashed was impregnated with a queen. Queen then goes into the hold and lays eggs, hence why they're not all over the place when it crashes.

theres no such thing as fast fossilization. Ridley Scott said that the engineers seeded worlds and would destroy them if they got out of control or went down a path they didnt like. So the simple explanation is that the goo eventually would get to the end result of the aliens because thats what it was designed to do and David was not the first and the engineers have used the aliens already in the past to wipe out other seeded planets.

I thought this was a great movie.  Can't wait to see the next one.

Well most plot holes can be wrapped up with a little time travel.

I think i read the next movies is intended to be The Engineers after David seeking revenge. Sling an alien infested Engineer ship back 50000 (pick a number) years and there you have your crashed ship and fossilized Engineer in Alien.

Thus populating the Galaxy with Aliens (pick a number) years before David created them.. Gives the predators something to play with. Possibly a whole series where the two races battle and Aliens are eventually subdued.

Nice for the Bump!

As i missed this Topic...

The Answer is simply they are ALTERNATIVE Canon...

The AVP Plot kind of contradicts Alien Franchise a little... but its Totally contradicts the Prequels.

They cant really Co-Exist for a number of reasons... and i would consider the AVP Plot as a Alternative Take!

I personally would NEVER consider the AVP's as Canon... and i would welcome a complete AVP REBOOT thats based more on the Comics Time-line and so set say 2150-2250 Time-Line.

I am not a FAN of using Time-Travel... as it would open the Franchise up to like a Terminator where they can just Ret-con stuff by Virtue of going Back in Time... and if the Engineers posses this Technology then why not Go-Back Thousands of Years and Undo Mankind in another way?

I would HOWEVER... consider Time-Travel via a ONE-OFF Event that Tears a  Hole in Space and Time, and so say LV-223 Gets Destroyed as the Derelict is leaving and the Destruction of LV-223 causes a Temporary Tear in Space/Time that sucks the Derelict into it and causes the Crash on LV-426.

This would explain WHY the Derelict/Pilot looked like it had been there for a VERY Long Time and would explain WHY the company only peruses the Derelict and they dont go back to LV-223 because this place is Destroyed.

This kind of LOOP-HOLE could also be used for Blomkamps Alien 5 idea... where the Destruction of Hadleys Hope Creates a Temporary Time-Loop... that causes the Sulaco to be Tossed into TWO Alternative Time-Lines.

One leads to ALIEN 3, the other ALIEN 5.