The Bioweapon on LV-223

Well, it's interesting what they wanted us to imagine, isn't it? They find a heap of dead bodies with chestholes, and cryopods with dead bodies with chestholes and they also find a skin which has been shredded. Where have we seen this before? I think they have dabbled with chemistry and tested on humans/engineers and guess what they came up with . . .

The common ancestor is an interesting and frightening concept . . .

It's also interesting that the pathogen can change from one movie to the next. In Prometheus, the pathogen is not airborn (David says to Weyland that he can remove the helmet). Wheras in Covenant the pathogen reacts with air and spreads like a cloud.

@BigDave, "I can see a Accidental Spillage/Outbreak infect a CertainNumber of Engineers, but i find it unlikely as to HOW it would get to other Complexes."

I would say infected worms would be an easy vector for moving the infection between complexes.

Something that bothers me in respect of there being "an outbreak" on LV-223 is that within a short period of opening the Head Chamber, the urns went all loopy and started spewing black goo all over the place. Placing a large assortment of urns around the Head statue like this is/was clearly a very dangerous thing to do, so what purpose does that serve? Was it a trap? If so, it's a very effective one. But it hardly resonates with the facility being an outpost built for the express purpose of building a bio-weapon, unless its purpose was to prevent any inquisitive visitors taking the bioweapon off-planet.

Was it a tomb meant to be sealed for all time, like Egyptian burial chambers stuffed full of afterlife goodies? Probably not, because David figured out pretty quickly how to open the door, and the door wasn't hidden in the first place.

Or something else?

@Chli

Firstly indeed we could look at the Engineers Bodies and be led to ASSUME this is a Xenomorph or Similar Outbreak and you would NOT be incorrect in being Drawn to that Conclusion.   A thing to remember is that Prometheus had began Production at the Time that Lindeloff came in to Re-Write the Story.. so some of the Props may have either been Worked on, or decided to keep the Designs for Prometheus.

By that in Alien Engineers, indeed some of the Engineer Bodies had died from Chest Busters and other from Wounds by the Xenomorphs.

The Props where Hollow which makes them Lighter to Carrier about and Produce.... but then this also FITS with Prometheus and the Pathogen and what we had seen from the Comments by Dr Shaw, the Exploding Head and Sacrificial Engineer, to then look at the Space Suits containing the Violent Reaction of the Black Goo that broken down the Engineers Molecular Structure and would Eventually then Explode from out of the Space Suit.

The Shredded Skin was Ambiguous it could indicate the Worms changing to the Hammerpedes, but its also open to Debate about it being the Skin of some other Horror that had been released on the Outpost in the Past ;)

Regarding the Pathogen Changes.... well we did get that Viral Data Sheet about the Black Goo that kind of contradicted Prometheus and indicated it was Airborne.

Things also get Changed from Movie to Movie sometimes without taking a lot of the previous Movie into Consideration.

I can only Speculate that the Bio-Weapon is like a Atomic Bomb, in that inside are Multiple Components that when they are Activated in a Certain way leads to the Atomic Blast, and so on Planet 4 we see the FULL EFFECT of the Intended Atomic Weapon if you would.... but on LV-223 what we got was a Leak of the Radioactive Material. 

So its like LV-223 was like a Fukushima and Planet 4 like Hiroshima

@Hox

Indeed i find it Interesting to HOW those Urns became Activated, when we look at the Movie it seems the Engineers had attempted to RUN to this Room, so does this Room offer some Sanctuary from Infection, seem ODD as there are Loads of the Urns in the Room.

However the Engineers Head seemed intact, Long Dead but well Preserved, yet the Space Suit was Hollow!

The Device that Dr Shaw and Dr Ford used on the Head would Trick the Head to become Alive again... we then saw that the Head Started to Change (its Cells were Changing) and then it Exploded....

Now the Complex was Terra-formed so it could Support Life and Cleaner than Earths.... (Oxygen etc) yet our Engineers wore those Suits which they never needed OUTSIDE...

So we have to then look at what is Different Between the Engineers and the Humans.... and i would SUSPECT that the Removal of the Helmets that allowed the Humans to Breath and then Exhale is WHAT likely effected the Room and Urns... if this Assumption is Correct then it would give Good Reason to WHY the Engineers wore those Space Jockey Suits.

Going back to the Head, the Engineer would soon had Died after being Decapitated and so his Respiratory System would NOT be Active and thus NOT effect the Room... and the Infection seemed Halted in the Head and so its LIKELY the Rooms Environment Conditions would keep the Urns from Leaking!

There are Inconsistencies but this is mainly due to those working on the Movie not Considering some Conflicts... that being the URNS on the Juggernaught, we can only assume they are Loaded in Somewhat that Prevents them from being Activated as per in the Big Head Room (that got affected).

As FAR as a TRAP!

Who knows, call it a Trap or a Safeguard we cant rule that out...

It comes down to the Star-Maps they WAS NOT a Invitation, some Speculate it was a Deliberate Trap i am not sure on that, surely it is some Safeguard but you would also be WISE to assign some kind of Sensor Alarm for Intruders and some Guards to awaken if someone Stumbled on the Outpost?.

But our Engineer was still FAST ASLEEP... how long would he had remained if David had not Operated the Buttons on his Cryo-Pod?

We maybe have to look at the other Outposts... we can only Speculate to what Condition they are in..... we have to look at a Few Things from Prometheus.

Clearly Dr Shaw was heading towards one of the other Outposts to Obtain a Juggernaught, where as the Outpost they had Visited was Closer... do we ASSUME that Each Outpost has ONLY the ONE Hangar or Ship?  Maybe that Outpost had MORE ships that had Taken Off?

We have to ASSUME the Outpost Hanger from where they took the Juggernaught from had NO Engineers on the Ship, so if the Outpost has ONE Ship, and this Ship had NO Engineers then this makes Sense... IF the Outposts have more than ONE Ship then surely would Dr Shaw not want to Awaken any Engineers if some Ships had the in Cryo-Sleep so its a Quicker way to get her Answers... or does she think going to their Home-world where they are in Greater Number would allow her more chance of NOT getting her Head Pulled Off?

So i would assume either the other Outpost had ONLY the One Ship (No Engineers) or that other Ships around that Outpost had No Engineers.

So we have to Wonder IF and WHY there was just ONE Engineer remaining... and IF any Ships had Left at the Time During/After the Outbreak

We can but Speculate....  IF however the Last Engineer was a Saboteur.... (or part of a Group of them) they could have Contaminated some Water or Similar, and then Gathered the Engineers for a TOAST to their Mission, a Tainted Toast at that... MUD IN YOUR EYE!

Well, the pathogen, or rather mutagen, reacts when the sealed door is opened. It could be either because there is a vacuum in the chamber (which would explain why the Engineer head doesn’t rot) or it reacts on microbes from the human bodies. The latter makes you associate with the xenomorph egg which reacts when a life form is close by. However, that the mutagen reacts when the door is open, doesn't mean it can spread through the air which David tells Weyland that it can’t (because he knows how it spread to Holloway).

Why did the Engineer head explode? There are a number of possibilities, I suppose. Firstly, it was subjected to a current which, they hoped, would sort of bring it to life. Perhaps it became overheated and therefore exploded?

On the other hand, the skin on the head seemed to mutate suggesting that it had been exposed to the mutagen (but why would it explode?) But how could it? The running Engineers had their suits and helmets on. Wouldn’t they be protected? It also seemed that they were running from a creature (the scream) rather than from a mutagenic cloud? Or were they running from terrorists? Or perhaps they were the terrorists?

I think Certainly the Room could have been Vacuum Sealed

I would also NOT rule out the Human Prometheus Crew with NO Helmets having a effect on the Environment, something we Exhale during our Respirator Process, which could give a Good Reason for the Space Jockey Suits too.

The Engineer Head went through some Changes, it seemed the Synapse Stabilizer had brought some Activity to the Head which then made the Pathogen/Mutagen become Active in the Cells, the Result seemed like a Accelerated Process before it Exploded... the Head also only Exploded after they attempted to Quarantine it and Spray it so maybe that played a Part in the Explosion?  I would assume the Engineers went through like a Accelerated Process of Holloways where eventually they maybe broke down like the Sacrificial Engineer but being contained in a Suit this caused a Build Up/Pressure of the Chemical Reaction and it Exploded from the Suits. With Holloway getting himself Torched before the Effects Advanced.

when it comes down to the Running Engineers, well who knows how many were Infected... and those who are could have been Infected prior and been Unaware..... especially if INDEED they had a SPIKED Drink or their Oxygen Supply in their Suits was Infected as a act of Sabotage/Terrorism.

We did hear that Screech as the Hologram was Activated, which did SOUND  bit like the Deacon at the End... so we cant rule that out....... but it could be a case of making such things so that it gives us that Ambiguity so we cant really come to a Water Tight Conclusion... which if that the Case it is in Part Genius as it means Endless Debates, but on the other such Ambiguity and Conflicting Clues can be Frustrating.