Xenomorph, a weaponized version of Neomorph?

@DarkNebula

I havent read the Jon Spaihts draft but from the information you have (and BigDave in a previous thread) i feel i need to read that. Something i would be very interested in.

When you say the Pathogen kills non-viable life outright and infects only viable hosts

What would be your reasoning for the Engineers being killed outright? This would mean they are non-viable hosts.

I have wondered, what reason are the beings on planet 4  charred bodies? Why are they not transforming into the hybrid?

It is debated that they turn but i have paused it many times and can not say for sure if they transform or not.

However, regardless of that, there ARE charred bodies for miles so these potentially are non-viable? For what reason?

It cant be that they were vaccinated so when infected they die and not turn? 

What do you think? I have wondered this since the first report of the bodies on set and am still no closer?

Indeed Spaights draft had some good ideas, it was a bit Robotic as the Characters where a bit bland, but they did things more logically more so than in  even AC.  I wont spoil the flaws i have with Spaights draft in case Sherris wishes to read it.

It was kind of open to debate about the Xenomorph though, but certainly they had been experimenting on various forms of the Organism and looking at how the Nano-Scarabs work (replaced by the Goo in Prometheus) its clear to see that they had Sacrificed something similar to the Xeno-strain Organisms in order to re-create/experiment on them to create the 7 other versions of it.

Prometheus has enough clues to suggest that they had came across some Organism that was also experimented on and Sacrificed (this is how they can use Organisms DNA to create Hybrids) and various Face Hugger designs came about and then Ultimately the Deacon Mural Organism was the Perfected form these Engineers had achieved and then decided this would be the more Perfect DNA base to upgrade Life with.

Alien Covenant is not so straight forwards.... until i have read the Novel and seen any extras and the Art of the Movie books, maybe we can make a better judgement.

It would appear after the crash some Urns had remained and emptied out into the Cargo Hold and no doubt infected Fungi/Mold that was around the Water Stream on the Mountain... and some of this Black Goo entered that Water Supply and then also infected Mold/Fungi to Produce more Spores.

David maybe saw the infections from these and attempted to Re-Weaponize and Experiment on them, but he also would have used the Black-Goo Directly to experiment on other Life-Forms.... and the Xenomorph it would be logical to assume was a further development of this that Shaws Eggs was required to be able to create them or Organisms that eventually was evolved to those Eggs.

The Whole Work Shop, and Black Goo effects in AC was a complete mess and completely incoherent IMO

When first images of the sets was released and then the 2nd Trailer, i wondered if the event was a Ancient One and the Cathedral Temple Acted as a Noah's Ark of Sorts.. this would explain some Life-forms remaining that could be experimented on and Engineers.

But alas... it was all the result of the Black Goo.. that killed everything... yet David managed to obtain some good Engineer Specimens and a number of Life-forms that was not infected so it seems....

So indeed the Franchise seemed to aim to me that THEY (Engineers) had likely encountered a Organism that caused a infection that lead to something very Xeno-strain related and they ATTEMPTED  to Genetically Re-Engineer and experiment on this and this is where the Black Goo came from...

But i am not so sure if this is the route they are now going.

The Novel seems to indicate that David had obtained a Xenomorph Egg, and did not create it... this would mean his Experiments are Evolution's which would easily explain the Faster Gestation/Growth Rate the more Fully Formed Chest Buster Rate and more Organic look.... as well as the Organism being more Faster and Aggressive and Agile.

But it seems RS is going the route that the Xenomorph we see in this movie is now a PROTOMORPH and we will see it Evolved in the next movie.

@Sherris

The Black Goo effects in AC are a contradiction of sorts, its like FOX/RS and Logan never even paid attention to Prometheus.

I think i know the Reasons for it.... as far as the change.

*RS/Fox wanted to distance themselves from Engineers and so having them all dead means, they can deal with the Covenant Crew only having to deal with David and his Experiments and also having them Dead means David is free to conduct his experiments.

*Dead bodies are to show us hints of a Dead Engineer Civilisation that the Audience can see and the Covenant Crew (they fail to even ask about them)   The only alternatives if they had gone for the Black Goo doing what it did in Prometheus would be.

a) Xenomorph/Hybrids AKA Engineer Fifields, that would either be running amok or maybe died out and only the remains are left... this would however cause concern for the Covenant Crew especially after seeing fellow crew members attacked by Alien Neomorphs.

b) No Engineer Bodies at all, just evidence of where Black Goo was, and this would mean either NOTHING or a complete break down of all Life to Basic Building Blocks that contain Xeno-strain DNA and thus a Re-start of Evolution on Paradise that would have Xeno-DNA but its a question of what Part of Evolution would the Accelerant had achieved within 10 years.

I like Plot Holes as it give me a chance to try and make some sense of them...

So i assume the Urns are activated and affected by the Weapon System on the Juggernaught and something happens to Weaponize those Urns in someway so when they are dropped they will simply Explode and Shower down the Black Goo that will just Attack and Kill the Cells of living Organisms.

It would be like how a Nuclear Weapon when Weaponized and Activated Causes a Nuclear Blast that Burns all Living Organisms within a Radius.... as opposed to the Radioactive contamination and mutation that would happen if a Living Organism came into contact with the Weapons Radioactive Components.  (not the detonated effects)

And so i feel the Weaponized Active Urns set to detonate have a different effect, compared to coming into contain with the components inside the Urns that have not been Primed and Detonated.

Thats the only Logical Explanation i have.

sherris

Read it. It's a lot of fun. Even articles reviewing Covenant have outright stated that Alien: Engineers would have been superior to Prometheus/Covenant.

When I read it, I felt like I was reading exactly what I expected from Prometheus before seeing the actual movie. It gave me the feel I expected anyway. Also I think Alien: Engineer's version of David is better. It's like a combination of Prometheus David and Covenant David. The description of the creatures also does a great job at provoking the imagination. I do agree with BigDave that the characters are a bit more robotic, but to be honest, it really doesn't bother me TOO much. Also Spaihts writing is great. The way he words things is far more eloquent than how Lindelof does. 

@BigDave. Yes.

My thoughts on how we can make sense of all this is exactly along the lines of what you where thinking.

The Juggernaut ship somehow activated these urns to release a weaponized version of the goo instead of the mutagen type...

This is similar to how some bombs loaded on jets are inert until activated for launch to target. Its my thoughts on why we have extra crispy Engineers strewn around the city instead of Blood-thirsty Xenogineers...

It still doesn't make rationale sense why David would do such a thing as he had much more to gain from these B-grade Engineers alive than dead....

Yes. I am still salty about this gaping plot hole...

Maybe the engineers were weaponising them so they could replace the human race with the Xenomorphs.

First question:

"The Gods have rejected mankind as cruel and unfit" something along those lines. Who are those Gods?

Second question:

Is the xeno related organism from the mural a god of some sort? Perhaps it is somewhat like Satan and the fallen angels "engineers" were trying to recreate it or something.

planets 4 and a storm that can last months. So i assume these plants can live without a sun?

QueenElizaboethShaw - Thanks i will read it. Is it something i would be able to find through google or do you have to order it?

@BigDave - Thanks to you for the theory. I felt for a while that i was missing something and the answers were in front of me. So to hear someone as clever as you had to theorise to get some clarity on these matters is reassuring for me!

I think your ideas on the explanation for Goo/Pathogen fit really well.  I just hope that the next film brings clarity and not  more inconsistencies.

My early thoughts, my thoughts in Prometheus were that the Goo/Pathogen was the constant in the franchise. Along with the AI - so it is a little strange that we are not certain what it exactly is after a:c.

So i was wrong i guess and the franchise seems to be AI, Xeno and not AI and Goo/Pathogen, which is a shame because it opens up the universe when dealing with the Goo/Pathogen, more so than the Xeno, alone and after being in so many films.

Im still looking forward to the blue ray release of a:c because we will have more detail at our fingertips, so more to debate, pausing and getting a clear image will be nice again!!

I think that Alien: Engineers is a pretty solid script. If they shot the movie based on it they would make a more entertaining film,even do some things that people complain about prometheus are explained in Alien: Engineers, still the script has some problems, for examples:

-The script states that the Magellan lands on LV-426 on December 31st, 2172. However, the Nostromo landed on LV-426 in 2122, which is 50 years earlier.

-At the end of the script, the pyramids erupt frm the ground and  transmit a distress signal into space, not the derelict.

-When David wakes the engineer from hypersleep the engineer gets mad that David "Killed him" (basicaly he was impregnated by facehugger thats why he entered the stasis to suspend his death), I don't know if all other hypersleep pods were functional but If I was him I would use another one.

Either way its nice to see they are using the unused ideas and elements from previous scripts for new projects.

But how are they going to explain the derelict crash on LV-426 and the eggs inside it, we shall see, but I think it will get retconned like when the SJ was first thought to be a skeleton then later it was confirmed to be a suit worn by humanoid engineers.

Neomorphs are more organic in appearance and animalistic, feral in terms of behavior. Their animalistic nature may suggest a lack of intelligence. The classic xenomorphs are biomechanical in appearance and more intelligent indeed.