Prometheus certainly raised many questions and many of which surround the mysterious Space Jockey, now more accurately known as Engineers. The beginning of Prometheus showcased a massive circular Alien space craft hovering over (what we believe to be) Earth. Moments later, an Engineer is introduced to us in nothing more than a robe and shorts. This Engineer sacrifices himself to create life on this new planet. After which, the massive, circular vessel leaves the planet's atmosphere never to be seen again.

Later on in the film, we are introduced to another Engineer, who sports a much "darker" look than the first Engineer from the beginning of the film. This Engineer has an agenda to wipe out Humanity by means of unleashing a deadly bio-weapon upon us.

One Engineer's goal is to create life, the other seemed to be bent on destroying life. This of course, raised much speculation among fans in the Prometheus Movie Forums. A theory was raised that there were two different factions of Engineers spread out across the Galaxy, one creating life, the other, destroying it. A classic battle of good and evil.

This week saw the rocky release of the highly anticipated FPS Aliens game by Sega and Gearbox Software, Aliens: Colonial Marines. Whether you liked the game or not, you have to appreciate the level of detail the game took to recreating specific events which took place in the films which it is based on. From the trike seen in the opening scenes of Aliens to the Facehugger clamped behind a table, sprayed with bullets in the Med Lab. A:CM houses many Easter eggs for hard core fans of the franchise to discover and one of these is particularly interesting as it directly relates to the mythology created by Prometheus.

David Activates the Orrey in Prometheus

"Good" Engineers' Space Vessel

"Evil" Engineers' Space Vessel

• Tags: Prometheus, Movie, Aliens, Colonial Marines, Game, News, Theories, Easter Eggs

Awesome!! I saw this same easter egg video a few days back but didn't make the connection. I recognized the derelict ship but the saucer had too much detail(they should have left the underside smooth & color matched it to its screen version a bit better).
Your definition makes too much sense. Especially the upgrading from eggs to vases. Nice post,thanks

Thanks! It's just a theory of mine, but I think it makes sense. Eggs are triggered by movement, making it hard to keep them contained. Urns are much more stable and easier to store I imagine. Always room for upgrades I suppose.

I too feel the ampules are an upgrade from the eggs. Beyond that, I'm not so sure.
The vehicle at the beginning of Prometheus appears to be seed shaped, when it takes off. The one in the ACM animation seems clunky by comparison, about the same size as the Derelict and with a sort of protrusion coming out of it. Of course, it could just be a smaller craft from the same family. Also, the thrusters throw me off, not just their apparent disconnection from what the ships are actually doing but that they exist at all, though from an art direction standpoint maybe they make them easier to see, but still...they don't fit.
What else doesn't fit is a Star Wars style shoot out, I guess I'd hope for a more bizarre type of defense, something more otherworldly and ominous. The Juggernaut doesn't fire on the Prometheus, which I thought was really cool and weird and unexpected. When all is said and done I just hope the sequel doesn't revolve around some huge space war, at least not the type we're accustomed to. That's the trouble with sequels, they up the ante in predictable ways. I'm hoping for something strange and marvelous. I'm also hoping the real bad guys are the giant Space Jockeys, so maybe it's me who's out to lunch!

"i guess" now i might know how my film would start....maybe

it s make sense the delerict have the shape of 2 Horns like evil angels and the first ship like the circular thing on the head of a the good angels,and this will drive to god that will the xenomorph and the engineer is nothing that angels in my opinion

Hey Chris, the way you've put it into context does indeed make sense and I can't appreciate this truly great article enough. Kudos for writing this up, and all I can say is that I totally agree with every single point you made. Very well done!

Although I'm not into gaming myself, I do feel sorry for all those who had high expectations towards the long awaited release of ACM. That battle sequence really does remind of Star Trek, it looks tacky and that's a real shame. But I'm still keen to hopefully see more easter eggs being revealed over time.

I'm so curious if this feud between the two split parties of Engineers and how Dr. Shaw and David get tangled up in this really is what we'll get to see in Prometheus 2: Paradise. Looking at those two characters, they're also somewhat split parties, so who will take what side or will they unite in their battle for mankind, in their hunt for answers? All that really does make a great and dramatic storyline, so let's all keep fingers crossed that an experienced and visionary script-writer under Ridleys guidance will deliver it. Now the connection to the potential title fits even better, as Paradise isn't always what it seems...

Forgive me if this has been asked or discussed before, but I do have one burning question on my mind: Where does ACM tie in with the Aliens storyline? If I remember correctly, at the end of Aliens, LV-426 gets nuked by the USCM from orbit and only Ripley, an injured Hicks, (a later damaged) Bishop and Newt make it to the Sulaco to eventually go into hypersleep. In the above mentioned battle sequence we also see the derelict Juggernaut, but obviously a sort of scaffolding and lab has been built around it. Who did this? Was it a second-wave rescue party that arrived on LV-426 before the remaining crew could even depart for their way back to Earth?

I do realise the answer could contain massive spoilers for some, so I'd be happy if someone could otherwise PM me, alternatively to posting it here.

Cheers guys!

[EDIT]: As of now I'm not sure whether LV-426 was finally nuked or devastated by the exploding atmospheric processor. I do remember Hudson suggesting a remotely triggered nuclear strike. Obviously, I have to re-watch it for the 101 th time. Haha! It's been a while...

Only one thing that goes against this argument that I just thought of and thats the directors commentary Ridley himself says something like: "the Juggernaut is at least 10 million years after the saucer ... technology has changed" or words to that effect :S . Also I am not sure if anyone from Ridleys camp had anything to to with this computer game no? So it might all be red herrings as usual. It was these types of Easter eggs I expected in the viral campaign instead of the nothing we got .

To be honest I think Ridley is way out on how much extremely intelligent organisms would change/evolve over such staggering time gaps but that's another matter...

Jesus God, what the Hell is this, i.e., "Noooooooooo!!!!!!!!!"

PS: any real Prometheus 2 news, other than this pseudo-star wars shoot out at the SJ corral?

Good post Chris. One thing I have not seen yet is the connection between the cave drawing on the Isle of the Skye (and the other carvings etc..) and the evil engineers. It makes sense now in light of this new information if we can accept it as such and I do believe it was intended that we do. The evil engineer would be the ones who lead us to the bio-weapons facility on LV223 as opposed to Paradise. Why would they do this? As a fail safe in case we ever developed the technology to follow them to zeta II retuculi. They would wind up in a dangerous bio-weapons facility instead of home. But then again if they wanted to kill us already at this point, then wouldn't they simply do it instead of sending us out into space to do it. Of course we could say it is politics and maybe it would have been politically incorrect to directly kill us back then. It opens some new questions it would appear.

I watched all 5 in a row, starting prometheus through alien 1-4. Every alien movie depicts with great acuracy from prometheus. Oddly the idea of good and evil to me seems unlikely. To me its more like the book of genesis with the two brothers Isac and Euseu however they are spelt lol.

Simply Issac being one race of engineers and the Euseu being another race of engineers. That said the evolution. As you see through the Alien movies, the creation seems to evolve over time. First birth of the queen came from an engineer as shown in Prometheus from a squid that was conceived by a human womb. Then Ripply produces a queen, inevitably due to cloning etc they bring a new queen in alien 4 which now does not lay eggs like before but gives birth.

What came first chicken or the egg, could it indicate that its the egg that came fist lol. In both cases the black goop needs an existing life force to consume into.

What i dont get is how the worms(earth worms) on the planet got their.

If the engineer made all life on earth, worms included how did earth worms get into the tomb that they first discover the vesels in and wtf was the rock that they seen and never touched.

Wonder what prometheus 2 will give clues too further on the rock and worms. Also will number 2 show how the pyramids were made lol. just kidding i am eegerly awaiting to see more.

No amount of Easter eggs will lure me to play the steaming pile known as ACM.

@f1r31: there is no evidence that the "deacon" is a queen/egg-layer. Also, there is quite a bit of evidence in Prometheus that suggests the "deacon" is far from being the progenitor.

Ridley stated that the deconstructed genetic material of the sacrificial engineer combined with terrestrial genetic material (helix portion of the opening scene of prometheus). Engineers didnt necessarily create all life on earth (you can see basic flora on the ground in the opening sequence). implication is that engineers guided, manipulated, and continued to come back to manipulate a portion of life on earth.

Who knows if the worms seen in the head room were indigenous to lv223 or not? i didnt get the impression that the worms in the headroom came from earth?

No clue what the green rock/mineral is all about. very perplexing. i want to know too! cant wait for prometheus 2!

@unadan: although ACM is a massive missed opportunity and the graphics are subpar to say the least, once i allowed myself to just play the game without all of the emotionally charged baggage (resentment/anger etc.), i actually am really enjoying it. despite its many flaws, its still fun and still better than the 2010 AVP game. Dont misunderstand, im displeased with the way gearbox and time gate handled the game...be that as it may, im having some fun w it. It feels like the unfinished shell of what could have been an incredible game. sad.

@f1r31c3r: Ridley also stated that the location of the opening scene does not necessarily have to be earth. Joeyjoe is right, he might not have created ALL life, but manipulated certain, specifically targeted strands of existing DNA.

The idea was that they engineered us, not all life on earth. Also while it was meant to be ambiguous in terms of what primordial planet this was, the implication was that it was earth. I just thought of another potential plot twist to the above Parasise story: The faction that sent their 'space Jesus' emmisary, who we crucified and angered, was the same ones that want to destroy us, and those would be the proChristian ones. This means Shaw, who is an overt Christian is going to be at odds with those engineers who sent Christ!!! This could really get interesting:) . What could she possibly say to the ones who sent Christ and now want to destroy us because we killed him: To error is human; to forgive is divine?

Ah the old arguments come back again and again. Though if you watch the bonus material it all becomes clearer - at one point it was earth at the beginning but later on in production it became 'any planet' it was also the idea that the engineers created life on earth and other planets but this again was not put in the final film – left vague. Also if you look there is some kind of plants in the background in the film at the beginning and he also breaths though this is uncertain if there is a humanly breathable atmosphere anyway life had clearly started unless this was a mistake in filming (would not surprise me). There were also other versions one with a salamander one with scarabs and humans in an earlier script anyway its all in the bonus etc. including Ridley saying theres 10 million years in-between the saucer and juggernaut – you really should try watching/listening to them...one funny part was lindelof saying the saucer and juggernaut were just different aircraft essentially in the same period of time. Just showing how solid the ethos behind this whole thing was – no one knew what it all was about – not even the makers!

ok......and now there is this.....why are there "pups" (fifield's tracking/mapping balls) in Aliens: colonial marines?
I was cruising through the derelict craft towards the end of the game (the second time you go through the derelict....after the aliens have started to infest/cocoon the craft) and i saw the little red strobing lights bathing the interior walls of the derelict. The noise they made was the same and everything. Very strange. I dunno if Wey Yu is just using similar technology to map the derelict or what, but devices almost identical to the pups are in the game. Not sure what this is supposed to mean?? just thought id mention it.

Probably means the creators of the game were so devoid of ideas they had to throw in Prometheus stuff to make it slightly more interesting - most likely all random stuff - no real links or anything !

No I agree with the use of pups in Aliens CM since it takes place sometime after Prometheus suggesting that the technology is already in standard use by Weyland-Yutani. Therefore it is completely appropriate to use them in this context. View the Weyland site and you will find under the Electronics menu the mapping spheres in their catalog, along with the computer cube and other pieces of technology displayed so prominently in Prometheus.

Ok - not played the game so didnt know about it...I was thinking links as in what we see in the game means nothing in relation to prometheus i.e. the fight with the 2 craft. Yes the game is borrowing from Prometheus but the game designers probably know nothing about the story line prometheus will take in the future - in fact I am not sure even Ridley knows yet! So thats what I mean in terms of 'no real links'.

That's an awful idea. Hopefully that is left completely behind when scripting part 2.

Shane - if you are referring to the 2 faction idea, then its debatable how well this idea could be scripted. If properly written it does, imo, provide a strong support matrix to build a solid foundation from. This could result in an excellent script that would answer some of the most important questions raised by the Alien / Prometheus movie series. It really depends on the writing at this point. This is really not so bad a foundation for a potentially good script. We will just have to wait and see. I personally think it has possibilities and am hoping for the best.

I hate the idea. But I liked the Jesus was the last engineer on earth and we killed him idea. The 2 race thing just doesn't work for me. It sounds was to dark horse comics.

I like the 2 faction idea - sounds solid as part of many other things going on. But like I said probably same chance of it as anything (Ridley saying there is a 10 million year gap in between the saucer and jugger). I am more interested in this god like being Ridley mentioned. It is an incredibly hard subject to tackle (the whole subject not just this) - if they nail it it could be amazing...but my hopes are low after the first one...

Isn't that juggernaut (in the game footage) flying the wrong way round? I'm failry sure (although my old brain might be letting me down) that the 'prongs' on the juggernaut are the engines, when Shaw and David fly off the thing spins and ignites the two prongs, so flys off with them at the rear, which I thought was kinda cool as everyone assumed the prongs were the front.

The makers were having fun. If you study the circular ship, you can see that it is the pilot chair and base, upside down, with the "gun" moved to the outer edge. Just a joke, I guess.

God you are right genjitsu. It is the flight chair and base. It looks like they cheated to make the job easier by cobbling together two parts of another item rather than designing things from scratch. It wouldn't have been that hard to create a new design based upon the old ones without actually stealing parts of the old one like this. Really poor workmanship here but I do think they were not just kidding around like you are suggesting, more like they were lazy!

Like I was saying

I just viewed it for the nth time and you're absolutely right it is the chair and base flipped upside down and moved forward to look like a saucer-shaped craft with a gun! Man talk about having good eye sight, that was cool though but like what nostromo001 said they got "lazy".

Interesting information. I have to play the game, after I complete Arkham City.

A well written article, but I must disagree the big revelation in the story is going to wind up being about good engineers, who enjoy creating life, butterflies and flowers because, they are good. And these good engineers are trying to fight the bad engineers who absolutely hate life, despise butterflies, stomp on flowers every chance they get because, they are bad. I'm sorry, but I feel like shooting the Space Jockey in the head to see the ships in a goofy laser battle reveals the big mystery of the Engineers motives is connecting dots that are not part of the picture. Im pretty sure its just a small joke thrown in the game. I think Ridley has a little more creative talent than this. Also, If the good guy bad guy thing were true, than all of the religious references, symbolism and dialogue setting the stage for something else would wouldn't make sense.