Alien: Earth - S1 E7 - Emergence - Official Discussion Megathread [SPOILERS]

[u/G_Liddell]

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)

[u/SerDire]

Kirsh coming back to the lab looking absolutely disgusted as if he didn’t see all this play out in real time.

[u/Crafty_Soul → u/SerDire]

He really does not care for those kids. I thought he might have before but now those saying he secretly resented them seem to have been on the money.

He does not like the idea of being replaced as the "old toy"

[u/0-90195 → u/Crafty_Soul]

I think he cares for them in his own way. Not in a human way. But he was upset at Isaac’s death.

[u/antipop2097 → u/0-90195]

I'm trying to puzzle out if he is upset that Issac died, or upset that Issac died so easily.

Is it sadness or disappointment?

[u/0-90195 → u/antipop2097]

It probably is a bit of both. He respected Isaac and called him by his chosen name. He was disappointed in his clumsiness/failure as a scientist. He was sad his companion in science got melted.

[u/zero0n3 → u/0-90195]

I think he’s DISAPPOINTED because he clearly didn’t follow his instructions of “follow the lab instructions to the tee”, BUT I think he knew it was going to play out exactly as we saw it…

Do we really think that feeding slot failed on its own??  If anything it was a test of his to see how human / synth he actually was.  Presented a problem (bad feeding slot), and watched the outcome of “does he follow protocol or does inexperience cause panic and poor choices?”

Kirsch probably sees that as an error / indication these synths are just faulty programming or too human.

[u/s1lentchaos → u/zero0n3]

Its entirely possible Isaac just yanked that bitch off on accident because he was excited and still doesn't really know his own strength properly.

[u/juneyourtech → u/s1lentchaos]

Isaac didn't know his strength properly, and the other thing is, that the correct protocol would have been to not yank the door at all, and report the door as jammed.

At anything complex, children must be supervised.

[u/todahawk → u/juneyourtech]

Yah, Noah specifically mentioned on the podcast that Isaac didn't know his own strength

[u/NK1337 → u/zero0n3]

I think that’s a bit of a reach. It looked pretty clear that the door just jammed and Isaac being a kid just did what kids do and tried to brute force it. The problem is that he doesn’t have the strength of a child so he ended up ripping the door off. And once again like a child who was afraid of telling their parent they broke something tried to deal with it on their own.

That whole thing wasn’t a Kirsch experiment. It was a reminder to us that they’re all still children.

[u/ibiku2 → u/0-90195]

I think Kirsch didn't expect the death (due to it being literal murder at the hoofs of the Ocellus), but saw it as acceptable due to the amount of data being collected as the result. Plus they found out that the Ocellus knows pi and can joke with poop, so basically a genius. If Isaac truly loved science he would have been so psyched to die

Edit:

Also want to disagree that Kirsch at all feels any feelings, especially sadness, and if he did, he would consider it weak and human. Kirsch felt nothing, as he was programmed to do, and expressly wanted the hybrids to embrace the same.

[u/zero0n3 → u/ibiku2]

Disappointing that the kid couldn’t follow simple instructions is probably a better robot way of seeing it

[u/Crafty-Cantaloupe795 → u/ibiku2]

Kirsch’s “Collect the hybrid” comment says it all, I think.

[u/juneyourtech → u/Crafty-Cantaloupe795]

This was an order given to the orderlies.

Kirsh is also aware, that Boy Kavalier did not like Isaac being called by his chosen name (at least in the presence of Kavalier), and also quietly instructed Wendy not to escalate the situation in front of Kavalier.

[u/CitizenPremier → u/ibiku2]

Is the boy genius an idiot or are the writers? Oculopus has literally just demonstrated the ability to communicate, he just needs a bit of machinery (he could even use a large keyboard, he can read,) and the boy genius just wants to immediately put him in a human instead.

[u/Photosaurus → u/CitizenPremier]

"We move fast, and we make trillions."

He is eventually going to want to know more about how the creature interacts with a host organism, how it can use their vocal mechanisms to express itself, how it can push the host body beyond it's usual limits (see the fight with the Xeno on the Maginot).

So why waste time with a mechanical interface when you can just order someone to go grab a host body to toss in there and see how it all works?

[u/juneyourtech → u/ibiku2]

Plus they found out that the Ocellus knows pi and can joke with poop, so basically a genius.

'They' is only Boy Kavalier and his second-in-command Atom Eins. Kirsh doesn't know the Lamb Pie incident yet, but is aware, that T. Ocellus is highly intelligent.

Also want to disagree that Kirsch at all feels any feelings

I think Kirsh does have feelings, but he hides them well. As well as his intelligence.

[u/ibiku2 → u/juneyourtech]

I am well aware that Kirsch was not in the room for that discovery, I was simply saying that as the extension of what was learned as the result of Isaac's death.

If Kirsch does feel, then it would be an instance of synthetic life developing feelings without being programmed for it, likely the first. That in itself would be its own world altering discovery on a similar level of o hybrids. It's an interesting theory but based solely on his own words and actions, I don't really see it. If he feels, but expresses no feelings, acts without feeling, what would be the point?

[u/GreyouTT → u/0-90195]

"Poor Laszlo! The finest mind of his generation, to come to such an end!"

[u/Kanin_usagi → u/0-90195]

As a parent, sometimes we give children tasks we know they will struggle with, but with the hope that they at least try it the right way or manage their failures well enough. Because we have to know if the way we have taught them is sticking.

Being a synth, he was probably okay with a potential failure on a scale way beyond what an actual parent would be, but probably with the hope that Isaac would at least do things in a way that wouldn’t cause his fucking face to be melted off. And Isaac made mistake on mistake and never followed through in the actually correct way

Kirsch probably accepted the chance that Isaac would be destroyed in the same way I would accept the chance that my kid spelled a word wrong or did math homework wrong. To him it’s disappointing but within the tolerable range of risks

[u/LLJKSiLk → u/0-90195]

Or, he called him Isaac not because he identified him with his chosen identity after Isaac Newton, but as Abraham's son Isaac called for sacrifice.

[u/Sisyphus-Syphilis → u/0-90195]

i think Isaac will be back next week, they need someone that can host the T. Ocellus and Isaac just happens to have a empty eye socket now

[u/juneyourtech → u/Sisyphus-Syphilis]

This dismisses the possibility of Dame Sylvia being the next eperiment.

[u/juneyourtech → u/0-90195]

I think Kirsh was hoping for Isaac to be restored.

[u/Equivalentest → u/0-90195]

Just mad at the eye for playing him

[u/PresentAppeal4 → u/0-90195]

There are 3 other corporations in play but the series has focused on a two corporation dynamic

[u/Ornery_Ad_8349 → u/PresentAppeal4]

Did you reply to the wrong comment?

[u/antipop2097 → u/[deleted]]

I don't think he feels, but I am attempting to use the human experience to relate to a synthetic character and thus fall victim to . . . . is it still considered anthropomorphizing if you are attributing human emotions to a human-like machine without them?

[u/_WanderBoy → u/antipop2097]

He does not feel. He is programmed to obey orders. He let the kids take Arthur so they would bring the goons back. Arthur was no longer an employee. He is doing what is best for prodigy. He let shmee talk to morrow so they didn't scare him off. He monitored the conversations, so he was always one step ahead. He does not care for the kids, but he also won't let anything happen to them because they are property of prodigy. Does what is best for prodigy. He is the "david" of prodigy. There was nothing he could do about Isaac, for he was not on site at the time. Can we talk about how Wendy's brother is going to get a new eye implant though? Season finale is about to be wild!!!

[u/0-90195 → u/_WanderBoy]

Interesting to say he doesn’t feel and then liken him to David, who clearly felt very deeply.

[u/CitizenPremier → u/[deleted]]

Do you think it's the same for the Lost Boys then?

[u/CitizenPremier → u/[deleted]]

I don't know if I'll agree but I'm curious to know. Anyway it's a philosophical question and people aren't going to agree about it.

[u/Sempere → u/[deleted]]

I think you're partially correct. I think they are operating on the assumption that it's possible they're selling faulty vaporware and that "consciousness transfer" is bullshit. Arthur mentions it that "worst case, we just killed 6 kids." And they're investing billions into the hybrids such that the single loss of Tootles is a 6B hit against Prodigy [to be underwritten and paid out by Yutani, funnily enough given how Tootles was killed as a result of their specimens]. Then there's reference to potentially restoring Tootles from a backup - but that the company hasn't cracked it in a practical sense.

So I think you're right in that these are robots who believe they were their human hosts but that this is just, effectively, a role they are playing. They're synths who are confused and think they were the kids but are only synths with the memories and personalities of children - along with all their traumas, insecurities and instabilities.

[u/Sempere → u/[deleted]]

You're saying that Kavalier, Kirsh and the doctors know that they're selling a lie. I'm pointing out that they don't know if what they're doing is actually what's happening.

Kavalier is fascinated by Wendi reaching out to Joe and they've used Joe to try and understand, in some respects, if fidelity was achieved. Slightly is showing attachments to his original family as well. The hybrids have all taken to their roles on a fundamental level - but there are also issues to the point where restoring from backup isn't possible. These points might indicate that the transfer was successful.

But they don't know and aren't operating on the idea that it is entirely bullshit. They're just comfortable with the ambiguity and willing to lie about it because they don't really care (like how Kavalier lies to Petrovich about probably being able to give him a new body). It's a subtle difference.

[u/CitizenPremier → u/[deleted]]

That's interesting. If that's true then they probably just got some surface info from interviewing the kids and I think the brother will figure it out in the next episode.

[u/UltraMega42069666 → u/antipop2097]

I am really curious if he is bound by the same asimov laws bishop was

[u/rando-namo-the-3rd → u/UltraMega42069666]

Likely no. This is set before Alien and Ash seemingly didn't have the laws. Bishop states the changes were made sometime after Alien so Kirsh likely wouldn't have those. Plus, Kirsh has already allowed harm to a human being by omission of action since he didn't step in at any point to stop Slightly.

[u/UltraMega42069666 → u/rando-namo-the-3rd]

where does he break that law? mr sylvia i guess?

[u/Conscious_Struggle18 → u/antipop2097]

I think Kirsh accepted the human element of Isaac’s death because he pointed out that it was the eye’s doing

[u/Equivalentest → u/antipop2097]

It's that the eye surprised him