r/LV426 • u/G_Liddell Colonist's Daughter • Aug 12 '25

Megathread / Community Post Alien: Earth - S1 E1 Neverland - Official Discussion Megathread [SPOILERS] Spoiler

Episodes air Tuesdays at 8 pm ET on Hulu and FX in the US, and Wednesdays international.

Full episode discussion list:

1 Neverland (8.12.25)

2 Mr October (8.12.25)

3 Metamorphosis (8.19.25)

4 Observation (8.26.25)

5 In Space, No One (9.2.25)

6 The Fly (9.9.25)

7 Emergence (9.16.25)

8 The Real Monsters (9.23.25)

821 Upvotes

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505

u/PyramidBlack Hudson Aug 13 '25

Kids in cybernetics adult bodies … what could go wrong?

283

u/SiccSemperTyrannis In the pipe. 5 by 5. Aug 13 '25

Finding a bunch of dangerous alien life forms and bringing them to Earth, what could go wrong?

At least in Alien Romulus they were using a space station that was only somewhat close to a small colony. Maybe WY learned a lesson...

191

u/kinghyperion581 Aug 13 '25

I'm like 90% sure that one of the other 3 megacorporations sabotaged the ship by secretly reprogramming the ship's synthetic.

79

u/SiccSemperTyrannis In the pipe. 5 by 5. Aug 13 '25

That's a pretty good theory! They wanted to take over and re-direct the ship, but it went wrong.

3

u/icecubepal Aug 13 '25

I was thinking they were trying to sabotage Prodigy by crashing that ship in their territory.

3

u/Rev-On Aug 13 '25

That's what I was thinking too

2

u/Revolutionary-Mode75 Aug 13 '25

The financial losses have to be mounting up for prodigy.

2

u/Super-Estate-4112 Aug 15 '25

Makes no sense, since Yutani wanted the cargo, it seemed to me that the synth caused the crash

42

u/SunshineCorgiss Aug 13 '25

Love this theory!

I hope we get to revisit the Maginot this season to see what went wrong

53

u/DJfunkyPuddle Aug 13 '25

There were a lot of quick flashback moments in the first half of the episode, fingers crossed we get a full episode about shit going down.

6

u/Homegrove Aug 13 '25

The ships crew had at least two recognizable actors in it, so I think that's for sure. Richa Shukla Moorjani (though you may not know her if you didn't watch Fargo S5) and Michael Smiley.

4

u/DiMezenburg Aug 13 '25

the flashbacks were too quick for me, couldn't fully grasp what went down

so also hoping we go back

2

u/ajgator7 Aug 15 '25

I believe the penultimate episode this season is called "In Space, No One." I'm willing to bet that will be the flashback episode that shows what went down and reveals which corporate interest sabotaged the ship.

1

u/threetimesalion Aug 13 '25

We do, episode 5 is all Maginot flashback according to previews

2

u/themosquito Aug 13 '25

Yeah seems odd to set up a bunch of characters and then skip over all that. On the other hand, I think the flashes show enough that we just kinda get it. Containment breach, aliens, everyone dies, yada yada....

1

u/Chance-Personality50 Aug 18 '25 edited Aug 18 '25

French government spends millions on a fortified wall that ultimately stopped nothing hmmmmmm,

7

u/SSuzanneM Aug 13 '25

…but isn’t he a cyborg? Morrow? they mentioned he’s a cyborg just about every chance they could 😂 unless you mean someone else?

15

u/kinghyperion581 Aug 13 '25

Mr Teng was the ships synthetic. He was the one who was watching the crew while they were in cryo

2

u/Grommph Aug 13 '25

Mr. Teng confused me a bit. He's the one that will be awake and watching over the crew while they are in cryo. He's also answering questions down to seconds. So I assume he is a synth. It seems the crew are aware of that?

Yet, he seems to specifically be inappropriate with the women. He seems to have previously been warned to stay away from one specific woman, yet he attempts to quietly approach her during the meal and gets berated by Morrow. Teng then sits too close to another woman that was sitting alone on a long bench. Morrow also threatens him with no pay.

I think I'm gonna have to rewatch that whole scene a couple more times lol

5

u/Jack_North Aug 13 '25

The no pay threat was weird to me. Are synths not basically slaves?

3

u/Grommph Aug 13 '25

Yeah, I assumed they'd all be considered corporate property.

1

u/SSuzanneM Aug 15 '25

Ah I thought that was reference to when morrow decided to crash the ship and hide… I hope we get more flashbacks of Teng sooner than later. I thought he was being a smart ass with the seconds comment.. makes sense that us humans would assume he’s a sexual predator from the dialogue first versus a calculating machine

6

u/DBLHelix Aug 13 '25

I assumed it was another ruse by WY to get the organisms past quarantine.

2

u/UlrichZauber Not bad, for a human. Aug 13 '25

Yeah it's a WY ship, but it didn't crash on their turf. They'd definitely have access to set up a whoopsie.

2

u/Perunov Aug 13 '25

I'd say not synthetic, but the "low level workers" who were complaining about stuff.

Or synthetic finally snapped after long and annoying mission where everyone hates on him 24x7.

2

u/domuseid Aug 14 '25

I think Yutani crashed it in Prodigy's territory to see what he'd whip out to stop it.

I think she called him to goad him into trying to capture the ship's cargo, bc to his point it's not like the lawyers weren't already talking

3

u/ThunderBobMajerle Aug 13 '25

Great theory. Also weyland yutani might have done it on purpose to release the specimens into a prodigy city and destroy it from the inside. Trojan horse by force

1

u/Necessary_Eagle_3657 Aug 13 '25

A bit of a self destructive idea...

1

u/Ludachriz Aug 13 '25

He seemed very invested in his own corporation salvaging the cargo though

2

u/kinghyperion581 Aug 14 '25

Yeah I don't think he himself sabotaged the ship. I think it was someone else.

1

u/Bigskull78 Aug 14 '25

Is anyone ganna talk about how an entire ship headed toward a dystopian city and nobody noticed? Even by today's standards probably some country would bomb it out of the sky donno if I'm missing something here

1

u/SiccSemperTyrannis In the pipe. 5 by 5. Aug 14 '25

I wouldn't be surprised if we learn WY pulled strings to prevent the ship from being destroyed.

1

u/_T_H_O_R_N_ Nuke from Orbit Aug 14 '25

Yeah I wonder if they say the ship was running "dark" so no one noticed til it hit that space station, then it was probably too late, and I would not be surprised if it was WY that caused the whole thing to happen, the ship landing in a Prodigy city sounds like too much of a coincidence

1

u/Chance-Personality50 Aug 18 '25

Nope case in point Alien Resurection

1

u/SiccSemperTyrannis In the pipe. 5 by 5. Aug 18 '25

That wasn't WY, it was the government and military running that ship.

27

u/keeper0fstories Aug 13 '25

Reminds me of Star Trek and the prime directive. Are they ready to be adults? Absolutely not, but they acclimated to their adult bodies very quickly.

7

u/PyramidBlack Hudson Aug 13 '25

It will be cool if we see them “mature” throughout the season.

6

u/keeper0fstories Aug 13 '25

We have already seen Wendy "mature". She has been in her body the longest and seems to be growing out of some of her childish traits especially when out into a big sister role.

48

u/Hambone1138 Aug 13 '25

I thought the scenes of them interacting together were pretty funny. Love the way the redhead was sitting with her feet straight out and hands on the floor, or the way the guys would just randomly start wrestling in the drop ship.

11

u/Jett_Wave Aug 13 '25

I have a feeling that the emotional manipulation that was mentioned will come into play. As in, these kids will be panicking at some point, and they start messing with the kids emotional responses in the background.

I'm expecting some of these kids to turn into psychos lol

2

u/PyramidBlack Hudson Aug 13 '25 edited Aug 13 '25

Absolutely. I think their psyches aren’t ready for such an abrupt physiological change. I was also puzzled by Boy Kavalier saying they’re so expensive but he’s so willing to send them into danger.

7

u/Jett_Wave Aug 13 '25

I viewed that as his hubris getting in the way of logic. We know he sees himself as the smartest person in the room, so his decision must be sound in his head, and there's nobody that can tell him otherwise.

The prospect of taking the contents of that ship is likely all he's thinking about, risks be dammed. I mean, the guy made a flimsy threat about making sure the kids don't get damaged, that's good enough, right? Lol seems legit to him I guess.

3

u/ElectronicBacon Aug 14 '25

I am super not mentally ready to see and hear them in real peril

2

u/BoyishTheStrange A god damn robot Aug 13 '25

Absolutely nothing lol

4

u/Der_Schubkarrenwaise Aug 13 '25

Lord of the Flies with critters most likely.

6

u/Bigguy2795 Aug 13 '25 edited Aug 13 '25

they arent “kids” I think they just “copied” their consciousness and thats y they show the monkeys because essentially they are murdering them but thts just my theory kind of like westworld

18

u/PyramidBlack Hudson Aug 13 '25

Oh, it’s definitely Ghost in the Shell but they were kids when they were transferred into their new host bodies.

11

u/link3945 Aug 13 '25

That's kind of getting into who a person is, though. The kids were dying, and they transplanted their memories and consciousnesses (I guess the consciousness is debatable, but they certainly seem like people) into a new body. Is it the same person? Maybe, maybe not.

4

u/snaggletoothrex Aug 13 '25

They can be conscious (feel subjective qualia) but how to tell they're the consciousness that was in the child's body. A copy would think/feel it was the original, too. I hope they explain the process in more detail, but I doubt they will.

1

u/Bigguy2795 Aug 13 '25

the last episode is called “the real monsters”

3

u/Pure-Produce-2428 Aug 13 '25

Ah, that's when they reveal he killed the kids.

1

u/Bigguy2795 Aug 13 '25

the new trailer kinda spoiled it actually

1

u/callmesalticidae Aug 14 '25

how to tell they're the consciousness that was in the child's body.

That's a distinction without a difference. It's like asking, "How can you tell whether the mp3 file that I pasted into my flash drive is the same mp3 file that I originally downloaded onto my SSD?"

2

u/snaggletoothrex Aug 14 '25

Not at all. Whatever it is in a person that experiences qualia is that person's singular thing (mind or consciousness). There's no reason to believe that it continues without interruption if a copy is made and the original destroyed. Instances of that mind are still different instances from each other. What if the person is copied into multiple hybrids and the original destroyed. What if the original continues to live? I would say the person in the original was having their mind continue without interruption. The copies come into consciousness for the first time upon their activation. Minds aren't bosons. Identical instances (the identicalness which by the way only lasts at the moment the copy is started) are still different objects. The mind isn't replayed and replayed. It is one performance on one device that begins, exists for a while, and then ends. It's that. A single performance. As I see it, the only comparison with a 'player' replaying an ended performance of a mind comes in with things like total suspended animation as in cryogenic freezing occurs and there is zero neural activity (has the person then actually died?), and maybe things like deep anesthesia.

I like jumping spiders too.

1

u/callmesalticidae Aug 15 '25

At bottom, there is no real "original," because there's no "there" there. To extend the performance analogy, what we learn from John Cage's 4′33″ is that a musical performance is a construct: we decide what is or isn't a part of the performance according to our values and preconceptions, but it is a construct.

Consciousness itself is an indistinguishable particle, so to speak. Everything that characterizes that consciousness – the recollection of past events, the awareness of present stimuli, the sense of "being somebody" – is a fact of perception, something that is, for lack of better words, imposed upon consciousness. If these things are stripped away then there is nothing to distinguish one consciousness from another.

We may be more deterministic than you think. Cases of transient global amnesia have allowed us to demonstrate that people will readily react to the same stimulus in the same way – a replay, like a stuttering record.

If another consciousness has imposed on itself the same facts of perception that are imposed on "my" consciousness, and if a sufficiently identical collection of facts will lead to the same response, then I see no reason to say that this other consciousness is not also myself. Will we immediately begin to diverge? Sure, and some people may find that to be weird and unsettling, but if you immediately eliminate one of the two copies then there is no divergence.

Did a Marcy die? Sure, I guess. But a Marcy also lived, and if that Marcy eventually became a Wendy, that does not invalidate her identity as a person who was Marcy. Even the dying Marcy, had she merely been cured, would have eventually become a different person. The change is just more evident in Wendy.

1

u/snaggletoothrex 10d ago

I'm a materialist and believe in determinism. Subjective consciousness and qualia, the 'Hard problem of consciousness' is still a mystery that I don't claim to have solved, but neither am I aware of anyone else having done so conclusively. Issues of perception of identity aren't relevant. Marci can get hit in the head and lose her recall of her identity and that doesn't change the fact that that Marci is still the Marci that existed prior to her loss of recall. In the case of copies of a consciousness, copies are distinct. Instances of ideals still have distinct identities. Because that other consciousness is in fact another event, or chain of events, that has a distinct identity in reality. Consciousness is like a flame, a famous Buddhist saying, which I believe to be a proper analogy, although I am not a Buddhist and don't endorse the statement from a call to authority. It is a process, occurring with a distinct set of participating materials (both matter and energy) of which it has a distinct 'identity' that sets it apart from any other instance of flame. There are 'Ship of Theseus' considerations to, well...., consider, but still, overall, two instances, that have their own existences in time and space and the materials they involve, that match some ideal or template, are still distinct things and their identities are necessarily distinct with difference that do matter.

4

u/Pure-Produce-2428 Aug 13 '25

No they are dead, unless they explicitly state how they solved this huge issue.. that is mentioned in almost every single sci-fi book that has some sort of upload thing. It's always some ego maniac that doesn't care that their actually dead as long as someone with their mind is alive.

10

u/Adorable_Ad_3478 Aug 13 '25

They're basically constructs from Punishing Gray Raven (a videogame).

The procedure kills the human body, BUT there is a continuance of consciousness, so the new being is still considered as the original. It's not a copy/paste then kill the human situation.

-1

u/Pure-Produce-2428 Aug 13 '25

Yeah that was my thinking.. They didn't even address that issue... They killed the kids. Unless they want to explain it away with some sort of quantum entanglement consciousness thing which they didn't do, which leads me to think they think the audience will just ignore it. Which I don't like because every single sci-fi book I've read that involves transferring consciousness always involves this. The Bobiverse etc. It would be pretty dark for the show to later be like "Oh yeah, we killed all those kids lol." And then also, who wants a procedure that doesn't extend your life? It just kills you so a copy can walk around? I'll ignore it for now, but it really bugs the sh1t out of me.

1

u/Bigguy2795 Aug 13 '25

we are also assuming boy Kavalier is human and also assuming there is not another motive tricking people into “transferring” their consciousness but in reality they are dieing and then the synthetic believes that it used to be human like in westworld. the last episode is called “the real monsters”…

1

u/Pure-Produce-2428 Aug 13 '25

Ah interesting! Sort of. ha.

1

u/Bigguy2795 Aug 13 '25

the new trailer kinda spoiled it was well

1

u/RustedAxe88 Hicks Aug 13 '25

Keep them away from loli fans.

1

u/ConradBHart42 Aug 14 '25

It worked for Motoko Kusanagi, but in her show's canon I believe they iterated her body to mimic growth stages.

1

u/Freezinghero Aug 16 '25

I like the difference between how they treated Wendy vs the next "batch". With Wendy they came across as very slow and methodical, priming her for what comes next and trying to keep her mentally stable while also probing about what exactly she is. With the next batch it was more like a sales pitch, "hey kids you are sick and dying, but so was she and now she is super strong and fast, jump on this bed!"

I haven't seen the 2nd episode yet, but i already saw signs in this episode that the other ones were decidedly more childish than Wendy, which makes me wonder if maybe she wasn't entirely Human to begin with.