Welcome to my first “proper” blog entry now that I have some time off and what better way to kick off things than with a post motivated purely by annoyance! While I don’t have anything controversial to say about Alien: Romulus, (its fine, we’ll probably do a McYapandFries podcast on it eventually) I have to admit saw red when I read this article over at IGN “Alien: Romulus – The 10 Biggest Burning Questions”. Look, we all know that movie websites are going to hell these days but even bearing that in mind this post felt a little light. The “10 Biggest Burning Questions” do seem important though, so I thought I’d have a stab at it answering them myself! Spoilers for Alien: Romulus ahead.
What Happened to the Xenomorph From Alien 1979?
Contrary to IGN’s post, it doesn’t look like the crew of the Nostromo pick up a “fossilized xenomorph”, which was then later collected by the Weyland Yutani probe at the beginning of Alien: Romulus. In fact when that Xenomorph is later revealed in the lab with Rook (in it’s subtle Christ-like pose), a keen spotter noticed that it still had the harpoon embedded in it’s exoskeleton from it’s confrontation with Ripley at the end of the first Alien. (I remember seeing a post on this on twitter but I can’t seem to find it!)
So why the big, fossilized casing?
Well, if there is one thing Xenomorphs love to do (apart from cracking heads with their little mouths and impregnating victims with facehuggers) it’s to secrete. Some of the most famous images of the Xenomorph are excessively moist.
While it’s never seen on screen, it’s heavily implied that the Alien Warriors use their… gunk to cocoon their victims for facehuggers and they probably build their hives this way too.
So given all of the above, it’s not too much of a stretch to assume that, stranded in deep space, millions of miles from anything, even the “perfect organism“ couldn’t survive indefinitely. The Alien would probably need to go into some kind of hibernation to survive. And what better way to protect itself than to build a cocoon and take a little nap until it makes planetfall or some hapless humans come collect it?
Could this have been clearer in the movie? 100%
Why Do the Heroes Have a Spaceship if They’re Not Allowed to Leave the Planet?
Credit due to to Fede Alvarez and the makers of Alien: Romulus, for giving their audience some credit. There are quite a few parts of the movie that they don’t spell out everything for you and instead just expect you to pick up on them.
I’ve only seen Alien: Romulus once but I believe it’s Archie Renaux’s Tyler who explains to Cailee Spaeny’s Rain, that he and Navarro (Aileen Wu) only discovered the beacon for the Renaissance Station station when they were “dropping off a load”. As can be seen by the material in the ship’s cargo bay, their ship is primarily used to load up some kind of “product”, mined from the surface of Jackson’s Star, for delivery to Company ships waiting in orbit.
Basically the Corbelan is the spaceship version of a forklift. Intended only for short range delivery runs, it is completely unsuited to interstellar travel.
Would you try and cross the continental United States in a fork lift?
The trip to Yvaga,which I believe was the closest habitable star system, ( or closest, habitable, non-company star system) would take 9 years. Even with a minimal crew there’s no way you you could fit nine years of supplies inside the ship. I think the teens also mentioned that the cryopods are “controlled” or “regulated” tech, implying that even if they had the money, “normal employees” wouldn’t be able to get their hands on them.
Factory owners don’t expect people to steal their forklifts drivers and drive cross country (although I guess it does happen occasionally). With no access to cryopods, there is no realistic way for any of the loader pilots to escape the planet or their contracts. It’s simply not something the company has to worry about normally.
Why Did No One Else Notice the Derelict Space Station?
As mentioned above Tyler and Navarro only noticed the beacon from Renaissance Station when doing a supply run. It could be assumed that either the beacon was damaged when the Alien’s blood damaged the station, the first time, or it was a black ops station that only had a short range transponder. Only those who had a rough idea of where to look for the station would be able to find it.
In case you need reminding:
The unique weather patterns on Jackon’s Star could also also have something to do with it. As would the fact that life on the sunless surface is such a drudge that no one would be looking.
Why Is There No Alien Queen on Romulus?
Ok. This is one area where I think more explanation was definitely needed, as there is a little too much left up to the audience to piece together.
It’s correct that there was no Alien Queen.
The reason why is kind of explained by Rook in conjunction with some set dressing in the cryo chamber where Tyler and Bjorn find and accidentally release the facehuggers. It ties the the Alien movies even closer to Prometheus and Covenant.
As the boys explore the Cryo Chamber, along with all the vacuum packed facehuggers without eggs, at one stage the the camera passes by what looks like a 3D printer and a half printed egg. On its own this makes little sense, but as Rook says later, after examining the Alien Warrior from Alien, the company scientists were able to extract and recreate the “Black Goo” from Prometheus. On the way to discovering the Aliens primordial nature it looks like the company scientists were able to user the Aliens genome to “print” more Alien eggs/facehuggers at will.
Alien Romulus a a horror story about Genetically Modified Organisms.
With all the eggs, facehuggers, and Black Goo reverse engineered from a single Alien warrior, any parts of Alien: Romulus that don’t line up with established lore can be explained away.
How come the first chestbuster matured so fast? Something didn’t copy so well or the scientists “improved” the Alien’s genome. All other deviations from Alien physiology or behaviour can similarly be explained away by this.
Brilliant!
Why Didn’t the Xenomorphs Attack En Masse Until the Third Act?
I’m guessing they were just chilling and playing cards until the humans entered their territory. If I recall correctly the nest was in the Romulus section of the station and Rain and our heroes had to make it through Remus and the rest of the station to get there, passing into the Aliens territory.
Also as the station was dark prior to the arrival of Rain and her friends, presumably the doors between sections were locked until Andy the android (David Jonsson) started opening doors with his magic finger.
What’s the Deal With Ian Holm’s Character, Rook?
Ok this is one the author of that IGN post almost got right:
“Yet what Rook’s purpose is in the story isn’t completely clear. Yes, he gives some vital exposition about what happened on the station before the main characters arrive, but why is it an extended reference to Ash? Especially since making him resemble Ash means we know not to trust him?”
Rook is Basil Exposition; there to explain the plot in the first half and provide a secondary antagonist once Rain and her friends don’t follow his orders in the second. Why this had to be a digitally resurrected Ian Holm., rather than just an actor in make-up is beyond me.
Why Did Andy Start Glitching in the Blue Light Room?
I might be wrong about this but I thought an Alien Warrior hit Andy? In the comics and books it’s implied that the aliens generally don’t bother with Androids (or at least the facehuggers know that they can’t impregnate them) but they do respond to threats. Andy seemed like a threat at that time.
Why the blue laser light is in that room at all I have no idea. I always assumed that the effect in the first Alien was used to imply some kind of seal around the eggs. A seal that Kane broke when he fell in.
How Fast Does the Prometheus Mutagen Work?
Short answer: as fast the plot needs it to 😉
First of all, as this was reverse engineered mutagen/Black Goo, differences in behavior can be handwaved away as mistakes in the cloning/sequencing process.
Secondly Ridley has avoided explaining exactly how the the Black Goo is supposed to work.
What we know:
- At the beginning of Prometheus an Engineer takes what might be the pure form of the mutagen to break down his body in order to form the building blocks of life on a barren planet.
- Human life eventually evolves from this (which is why humans share DNA with the Engineers)
Now, as humans are derived from Engineers + Black Goo, adding Black Goo to Humans seems to cuase some sort of “error” that leads towards Xenomorph-like creatures but the effects can be unpredictable.
- Fifield takes a Black Goo facewash and, depending on whether you watch the theatrical release of Prometheus or the deleted deleted scenes, mutates into a space zombie or a proto-xenomopth.
- While Kay injects her self with Compound Z-01 it’s not shown how it affects her over the course of the movie as the movie focuses on her fetus.
- As the fetus is already a developing state, it can be assumed that the Black Goo turbo charged this process resulting in the… thing we see at the end of the movie. As shown by what happened to the rat I the science lab, we can only imagine what horrors would have awaited Kay if she had survived.
Basically exposing the Black Goo or it’s derivatives to humans, who were already the product of the Black Goo eventually heads towards Xenomorph-like creatures but the effects can be unpredictable.
As for Elizabeth Shaw, in her case the… um… “delivery method” for the black goo was different as she had unprotected sex with Charlie Holloway, who was already undergoing mutation from the goo, adding even more variables into the mix.
Until Ridley gets to make his final film in the Prometheus and Covenant sequence, and explain how the Black goo, Engineers and humans and all relate to one another and he gets to finish David’s creation myth we can only guess how its all supposed to work.
How Many Black Liquid Mutagens Are There in This Universe and How Do They Connect to Prometheus’ Engineers?
While this is indeed confusing I think that there is only 1 mutagen/Black Goo in the series and it’s effects vary depending on how it’s administered and to who.
If Engineers take it they become the building blocks for life which can eventually result in Humans.
If humans are exposed to it, it doesn’t quite have the same effect. It basically tries to make Xenomorphs any way if can using it’s host.
Compound Z-01 is a derivative of the real Black Goo so it’s effects can be different with any differences chalked up to how it was extracted from the Alien. the IFN article asks “Kay injected the mutagen directly into herself, so why doesn’t she mutate?”? She was starting to. In another blink and you’ll miss it scene, after the birth she reaches to her breast and pulls away a hand of clear sticky fluid. The goo has affected her, just not in such obvious ways, as can be seen in her “newborn” seeking nutrition from her.
If she had lived survived she probably would have mutated even further.
Why Didn’t Weyland-Yutani Get More of the Mutagen From LV-426?
Probably to protect corporate secrets, the details of the mutagen likely wasn’t broadcast from the Renaissance station before it fell to the Aliens. Something that’s easy to forget about the world of Alien and Aliens , is that they were designed in the 1970’s and 80’s. A time when real time communications over great distances on this planet could be spotty enough. Things went missing.
Maybe company headquarters only knew about the Alien but not about the Black Goo/mutagen? pretty much everyone who comes into contact with the Alien suffers from a severe bout of hubris and never entertains the idea that their face will be the one to get caved in by Xenomorph. In this corporate environment it could be assumed that no one told the compay about the goo. Hence why Rook was so adamant that Andy had to get it off the station.
Also, as the events of Aliens proved, trying to get anything from the Aliens on LV-426 is extremely difficult.
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I hope you got something out of reading al that. I feel better having written it. keep an eye out for more nonsense from me on whatever tickles my fancy and check out my social media links below.