So... about the Derelict

@Burke: I suspect if Ridley had been able to deliver his prequels as planned, the Derelict would be a ship knocked off its original direction and was part of a fleet launched to bombard Earth in a space invasion scenario.  One of the films would likely end up a space war.

It would have to have experienced trouble in flight due to an infection by a facehugger, since there's the exploded chest of the Space Jockey. But that could have also happened after it crashed on that desolate rock. Yeah, I can see that being the case.

Here's my take on the Jockey:

As a kid, long before Prometheus, I always liked to think that the Space Jockey was a lone explorer of space on a scientific vessel who happened upon the eggs on it's journey, not knowing exactly what it had stowed away in it's cargo bay.

Another idea I had was that the derelict might have had a bigger crew and the Jockey was the designated pilot, fixed into place on that chair, or as Dallas remarked, grown out of it. Maybe the rest of the crew didn't even look like the Pilot. And when the cargo got loose, the pilot was simply unable to flee with the rest of them.

As the "cargo hold" is so vast it is impossible it is inside the derelict. This is due to the fact that the eggsilo and derelict originally were two separate entities, but for budget reasons they had to do away with the eggsilo idea and the vast chamber became part of the derelict vessel. 

I've never liked this idea and clearly as the view above show, the chamber is vast. It goes on forever... 

So, my idea is that the entire planet has these chambers and they have been built by the same race as the space jockey as clearly the have the same biomechanics design. The chambers produce the eggs as per according to HR Gigers ideas, or if you will the space jockey race engineered them or is basically the same lifeform, but the space jockey is in a later stage of evolution.

Anyway, the derelict sits on top of this chamber and something has gone terribly wrong.

I also always imagined the Space Jockey to be a fixed part of the ship, they are one and the same. The rest of the crew being matured xenos or something. Remember HR Gigers name for the original xeno painting Necronom IV...:

Necronom I = Egg

Necronom II = Facehugger

Necronom III = Larvae aka chestburster

Necronom IV = classic Xeno (sort of juvenile)

Necronom V = something we haven't seen yet, but could be a non violent and intelligent lifeform capable of interstellar travel i.e. space jockey

Above are of course all my thoughts, but I think if done properly they could make a nice connections. If they always analyse Gigers work and the original Dan O Bannon and Ron Sushetts script and mythos if you so will.

The Engineers being matured xenos and David stumbling onto something that has to do with their race procreation that they since then have discarded in favour of the much more versatile and advanced black goo. The cave painting left by ancient tribes on eaerth are not invitations, but warnings since these beings come to earth and harvest genetic material (classic UFO myth) which they take back to their sciencelabs i.e LV223 and LV426.

I feel I am babbling now so I hold here, but in essence there are numerous ways to tie everything together :)

@Burke

Originally this was the case, the Space Jockey and his Derelict was just some Giant Race who explored a World and encounter those Eggs on it and attempted to take them to the Ship.

Originally after this Plot was changed, it was though the Space Jockey was connected to the Chair too.

Things have evolved along the way, prior to Prometheus even many years prior RS had confirmed the Space Jockey was a Space Suit. The Derelict a Bio-Weapon Carrying Warship.

Prometheus gave us a extension on this to give us the Engineers but then HR Gigers Concepts showed us Bald Humanoids in Space Suits.

A thing to remember is a lot to do with the Franchise and Especially movies that Ridley Scott has worked on, is there is a lot of OVERSIGHTS...

*Two Different Space Jockey Sizes (13-15ft/20-23ft)

*Cargo Hold much Larger than the Derelict.

These came from Alien.

Prometheus gave us a ship that looked different and Space Suits that was slightly different but a Smaller SJ Race

Alien Covenant then expanded on the Oversights to a greater level.. some parts of the Juggernaught looked close to the Derelict but then some parts matched the one from Prometheus.

The not-so Engineers on Paradise, and even the Altered Gestation and Growth rate of the Xenomorph.

Are all Oversights we are expected to not notice and just ignore.

The route they are going now is interesting because it now certainly means the Derelict was on LV-426 for a Maximum of 18 years and potentially much less.... due to David creating those Eggs...  and maybe when we get the Space Jockey Story we could end up seeing a 8ft Space Suit worn by a Human or Synthetic and a Derelict that looks like a Juggernaught.

And we just have to accept these things are the Space Jockey/Derelict in Alien despite the differences.

Here's my take:

1.) The SJ wasn't alone (Alien: River of Pain)

2.) The Derelict crashed/landed roughly at the time of the 223-breakout (R. Scott, take it with big grain of salt)

3.) It is unlikely the SJ is fossilized, the conditions don't meet the requirements for fossilization. In theory fossilization can occur within months, given the right circumstances. Therefor it is not suited for age determination.

4.) Peter Weyland knew of the 426-signal before the Prometheus-mission (Weyland-Files).

5.) The signal contained a brief description of the organism (Weyland-Files or WY-Report, Im not sure wich).

6.) Capt. Marlow of the Inisidora deactivated the signal roughly 15 yrs after the Nostromo-incident (Alien: Isolation, yes, that game is canon).

I doubt that RS may change his Mind again about the Xenomorph Origins.... as originally indeed it was created by the Engineers well they played a key Role (yet Source i had 2.5 years ago claimed that actually the Engineers did not create the said Xenomorph but Mankind played a bigger role).

But now we have it as David creates it using a Human in the Process, and with the Engineers Black Goo Bio-Weapon.

There are a few Flaws from Alien to Prometheus/Alien Covenant.

*The Difference in Aesthetics between Juggernaught/Derelict

*The Difference in Size between the Space Jockey and Engineers.

*The Cargo Hold being to large for the Derelict.

And so these things can be changed as far as what has already been established, we could have for example.

*Derelict/Space Jockey are a Ancient Race and those Engineers Re-Engineered the Technology.

*The Cargo Hold in Alien is actually a underground Silo.

*The Engineers Re-weaponized Black Goo off those Eggs, and David merely Re-Created and Evolved those Eggs.

So it still can be changed, FOX/RS did take onboard some critics with Prometheus and thus gave us Alien Covenant, they could maybe change things again... but i think a lot was to do with how they FELT that a Prometheus 2 would not do well because people wanted Xenomorphs and was more interested in Blomkamps Alien 5

@Tiwaz

Indeed they could explore any route really, i think Ultimately However..... what is on Film is Canon and anything else can be De-canonized.  Even as far as any W-Y Report Books, the Viral Marketing for Prometheus etc etc.

So i think once RS has made his 1-2 other Prequels we should then have a clear answer and then we can look at other works and finally see which has to be scrapped from Canon.

Right Now.... RS has a certain Vision and AI plays a Large role in this, and i think he wants to make 1-2 more Prequels and then 2-3 Sequels to his ALIEN movie... which means by the time he is done we could even see ALIENS and the Queen De-Canonized we just cant be 100% sure.

I think we have to accept and overlook some Oversights, and we also have to maybe not take anything else as 100% Canon, we can consider them but not 100% be sure we can use them to determine a Theory.

One thing thats maybe not a Oversight... but could be... and hopefully is not because that would be Totally Lazy.. well actually Potentially 3 Things.

*The Hole Kane went down into the Egg Chamber, was made via Acid Leak... its a Pretty Large and Deep Hole through the Bulkhead.   How did this Happen?  surely a Xenomorph did not cut his Finger lol.

*The Chest Buster in Alien Covenant, this could be a Oversight if we are never shown another different Chest Buster by the time we get to the Link to Alien.. but if they do show us a Final Stage Xenomorph then surely they would have to go back to the Original Alien Chest Buster Design.

*Another maybe potential Oversight we may have to accept but also maybe something that would be covered and so will not be a Oversight.. could be seeing the Final Piece of the Puzzle that gives us a Bio-Mechanical 1979 Xenomorph.

Noted, til it actually IS de-canonized by released material. 

You know what I think bout Ridley-Mumbles, BD. 

I just hope David was not the creator as such but has built on what has already been created.

I still think the engineers should play a bigger part ion the movie and possible another race we don't know about? maybe a more advanced race who have been at war with the engineers? maybe the black goo creators themselves. ?

Agreed, S1m0n.

"I just get get my head around how the prequels would ultimately connect to the derelict on LV 426"

There does not have to be any direct connection to that specific ship in Alien. The overall connection has already been made, in that we know who the Engineers are and what they do. That was just another Engineer ship in the same system. We don't need to know specifically what happened to cause it to crash and how the pilot got infected. I can guess, but would rather that one remain a mystery.

If Ridley and Fox decided they want to lead directly to that specific ship, there are all sort of ways they could do it with David's story.

I still think Tiwaz that some elements from the Novels could be used as inspiration to how they would handle this... so they can bring the Engineers into it at a future time but one that deals with a Timeline closer to the event of Alien

If they do make a direct connection, I hope they factor in the fact that the chamber in the screen shot above could not fit inside that Juggernaut. That cavern would be well below the hull, and the way it twists and turns in the distance does not follow the Juggernaut shape either.

It has to be structure under the ship. Possibly a facility it was docked to.

An idea that I've had is that The Engineers technology along with the black goo mutagen reaches a kind of "singularity".  They meld with with their machines and their world becomes the 'biomechanical' one hinted at in the original Alien movie.  So, you get space vessels wherein you can't tell where machinery ends and flesh begins.  You have Engineers that are in fact, part of their vessels and other technologies.

Yes, at this point it's hard to get from point 'A' to point 'B', but that is one of doing it.  Sir Ridely doesn't seem to be overy concerned with continuity between the films at this point, so he's probably not losing any sleep over it.  But, it would be nice to put it all together.

Those are all very interesting points/theories.

In regards to the cargo bay being to big to fit inside the vessel, I've been thinking:

So, the pilot's room is located at the very top of the vessel, as indicated by the dome on top of the ship and the shape of,the pilot's room with the light falling through the ceiling.

The egg chamber is located directly underneath the pilot's room. We know this, because this is where Kane enters the chamber from.

Now, as you can see in the shot above, the chamber has a slight right curve and the does a sharp left turn, as if following on into one of the protrusions or arms of the ship. This should also be the case for the other side of the chamber.

So, with a little stretch of the imagination, the chamber could potentially fit inside the ship, if we assume the vessel to be practically hollow.

I hope this makes any sense to you. Here are some pics for better understanding:

I think that's a good explanation.  In the recent movies, the juggernaut has been proven to be a very large ship... 300 meters long/across... that's 1/3 of a kilometer.

@ Ripleys_Ghost

Exactly. Do you remember the shot in Alien, when Dallas, Kane and Lambert are walking up to the entrance of the derelict and we see the ship and three tiny little lights in front of it? It's huge!

Not huge enough. See below. This does not even account for the long shaft Kane travels down BEFORE he enters through the ceiling of the egg chamber. The Derelict was simply not deep enough to fit it all in. I think even Ridley acknowledged this at one point.

It's a production mistake, due the the way the script kept getting revised because of budget limitations, but it is still in the movie this way, so if they do go back to this ship in a future film, I hope they don't ignore it. 

@ Kethol

Yes, absolutely true. I think part of the size differences is also simply due to the egg chamber being a matt painting and them wanting to make the set look truly massive.