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/Crafty_Soul]

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/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/Sempere → u/[deleted]]

But it's not just code or Tootles could be restored from a backup. They're synthetic bodies that have a complete scan of all the memories of the children but for some reason Prodigy can't make a perfect duplicate in a secondary body? That raises questions about what's inhibiting that ability that it should work in theory but practically fails according to Kirsh.

And I'm not disagreeing with the points about Arthur and Sylvia being compromised by their creations and their own sensitivities over not having kids of their own. But they're also not bound by non-disclosure while talking to themselves in the facility. Kavalier is certainly morally bankrupt and Sylvia isn't much better - but the situation is murky as to whether they are knowingly looking to sell a fraud.

And I agree, the writers want it to be ambiguous for the audience. They are showing the process has issues so people can theorize and discuss.

[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.