Ridley Scott’sPrometheusset out to shed light on some ofAlien’s biggest questions, but – 12 years on – it’s finally time to accept that the movie’s main mystery will never be resolved. Despite being the only film in the series not to feature the iconic xenomorph design,Alien’s fingerprints are evident throughoutPrometheus. The film featured multiple nods to Scott’s hallowed original, from shared narrative elements to haunting visual cues. However, while the movie (partially) answered where the franchise’s iconic monsters come from, oneAlienquestion that the film pledged to solve remains frustratingly open-ended.
When developingPrometheus, Ridley Scott set out some important parameters for its success. In an interview withMTVahead of release,the director revealed that the movie would contain “strands of Alien’s DNA,“while original writer Jon Spaihts suggested that the film would explore unanswered questions from the 1979 film – in particular “the elephantine titan that was called the ‘space jockey’'” (viaForbes). When the movie was released, it was clear that the space jockey was a core component. However, while this plot point promised toaddress a majorAlienmystery, fans were (and continue to be) disappointed.
We’ll Never Know How An Engineer Ship Got To LV-426
This Aspect Of The Original Alien Remains Unclear
AlthoughPrometheusrevealed that the space jockey creature franchise fans had long puzzled over was, in fact, an Engineer – an alien race responsible for humanity’s creation – the movie did not actually answer the main question about the space jockey posed byAlien. Namely, it’s still a mysteryhow an Engineer ship, with a cargo hold full ofAlieneggs, managed to end up on LV-426 in the first place.
By the movie’s end, there were no alien eggs, and Shaw and David’s ship was traveling to a completely different planet.
Prometheusfeatured all the elements necessary to answer this question. The movie explained what the space jockey was, introduced a proto-xenomorph in the form of the sinister Deacon, and showed how the Engineer ship could travel through space. However, none of these plot threads ever came together. By the movie’s end, there were no alien eggs, and Shaw and David’s ship was traveling to a completely different planet. EvenPrometheus' sequel,Alien: Covenant, saw the first facehuggers bound on another ship, even further from LV-426 and the first movie.
All this means thataudiences still have no clue how an Engineer ship laden with eggs ended up on the franchise’s original planet. This creates an uncomfortable plot hole, given how the series has insisted on trying to unravel what had once been a satisfyingly enigmatic puzzle. However, whileAlien: Covenantstill left a sliver of hope that, having re-opened the case with two prequels, the franchise would at least offer some sort of resolution, the current state ofAlienmakes it clear that we will never get an answer to this central issue.
The Alien Series Has Moved Beyond Prometheus' Set-Up
Romulus And Earth Are Taking Things In A Different Direction
With its story set betweenAlienandAliens, Fede Álvarez’sAlien: Romulusrepresents a literal and metaphorical “moving on” for the franchise. While the movie was careful to acknowledge theAlienfranchise’s complete history(with the android Rook even explicitly mentioning “Prometheus fire”),the story has little narrative connection to the events of Scott’s prequel. Not only does it not involve LV-426, butRomuluscompletely eschews the space jockey creature, making the Engineers seem much less central toAlien’s overarching story.
It’s clear from plans for the franchise’s future thatRomulusis not an anomaly.Noah Hawley’s upcoming seriesAlien: Earth(which itself has pledged to rewrite aspects of the series' lore canonized inPrometheusandCovenant)will offer a new origin for the franchise, with its earthbound setting indicating a similar lack of space jockeys and “black goo”. For fans who foundPrometheusandCovenant’s exposition unnecessary – even damaging – this is a welcome development. However, the inevitable consequence is that audiences will never know how the Engineer ship arrived on LV-426.
The Alien Franchise’s Future Proves What A Mistake Prometheus Was
Trying To Explain Alien Made Everything Too Complicated
Given its status as one of the greatest sci-fi movies ever made, it’s perhaps understandable that filmmakers and storytellers want to continually revisitAlien’s lore. The 1979 movie’s introduction to worlds and civilizations completely unrelated to our own was both haunting and awe-inspiring – highlighting humanity’s insignificance in the vastness of the cosmos. The quest for answers around things we don’t understand is a very human instinct, creating a neat metatextual parallel betweenPrometheus’s characters and its creators. Wanting to know more about the space jockey is a natural instinct for both.
…Alien’s greatest strength is its terrifying serendipity.
However, this inclination completely misunderstands what madeAlienso powerful to begin with. The key to its success comes not from the rationality of its plot. Instead,Alien’s greatest strength is its terrifying serendipity. There is no answer to how the alien eggs arrived on LV-426. As far as the characters know (at least, until the reveal about Weyland-Yutani’s underhand involvement),it is a horrible twist of fate that brings them face to face with the perfect organism.
In seeking to give everything an explanation,Prometheusand its sequel undercut a core strength of the franchise.Alienno longer posed open-ended questions about the mysteries of nature beyond Planet Earth, and instead became disappointingly prosaic and artificial. It’s telling thatRomulusabandonedPrometheus’expository approach – instead opting to put a new group of characters in a horrifyingly alien situation. ConsideringAlien:Earth’s pledge to rewrite the franchise’s origins, it’s increasingly clear that the determination to solve the original space jockey riddle was always hopelessly misguided.
