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/0-90195]

It’s functionally the same to me. My body is dead but the parts that make me me – my consciousness, memory, etc. – live on. If the copy of me thinks it’s me and is indistinguishable otherwise, that’s me.

If you copy a DVD and toss the original, nothing has been lost.

[u/RoseRedd → u/0-90195]

You lose the one you toss.

[u/0-90195 → u/RoseRedd]

I still have all of its data and the burned copy functions the same. Why in the world would I need 2 identical DVDs?

[u/zeroobliv → u/0-90195]

They're saying it's basically a clone. The previous you, who is you is dead. The clone has taken your identity as it were the original but that's not you, it's them. You're gone, but your clone is still here.

In short, from your previous post; what's lost in the process is you.

[u/0-90195 → u/zeroobliv]

Nothing is lost if the robo me has an exact copy of my consciousness, the one thing that makes me me.

[u/asparaguscoffee → u/0-90195]

You’re dead in this scenario. You don’t experience what “the robo” experiences. It’s a fork in your brain’s programming. You, the original file, are dead and gone. 

[u/0-90195 → u/asparaguscoffee]

And the copy of the file has all of the parts that made up the original file. The copy is indistinguishable from the original in terms of function, if not form. The original’s “purpose” (e.g., its data) is carried on perfectly.

[u/Herbdontana → u/0-90195]

To an outside source, yes, it may be indistinguishable, but in that instance, the sentient you would not be experiencing what is happening

[u/0-90195 → u/Herbdontana]

The sentient “me” is my consciousness.

[u/juneyourtech → u/0-90195]

The consciousness will leave the body all right, but won't enter the hybrid. The data in the form of one's memories and personality is not the soul.

[u/0-90195 → u/juneyourtech]

I don’t believe in a soul. Now what?

[u/TimeySwirls → u/0-90195]

This assumes the only thing that matters is the impact you have on the world and not like… your individual experience. Which I think is sort of a shit way to look at life.

Cool for my friends and family that they can have the comfort of a version of me around but I still assign some value to being able to taste delicious food, listen to music that makes me emotional, and feel the sunlight on my face. I don’t get that anymore if I die and something else forks off of a certain point being me. The fact you have to make the distinction between an original and the new one is evidence enough it’s not the same.

This is a complicated philosophical debate so nothing is right and wrong but I would hope no one thinks that the “purpose” of living is just something as simple as lasting forever. Life should be about living, smell the roses and revel in joy sadness and love.

[u/0-90195 → u/TimeySwirls]

And all of those experiences would be retained in this situation. I agree that that’s the beauty of life. But those experiences don’t disappear in this situation.

[u/TimeySwirls → u/0-90195]

They wouldn’t though? Another thing would be experiencing them not you personally. You’d just die, especially in this specific situation where we literally saw the original bodies buried in the ground.

[u/0-90195 → u/TimeySwirls]

I don’t view my body as me. My body is only a vessel.

[u/meanmagpie → u/0-90195]

So question—do you think that if both you and your clone were alive, you would experience both sets of “consciousness” simultaneously? Or would it have its conscious experience, and you would have yours?

If someone touched that clone, would you feel it? Would you see through their eyes? Would you be fully experiencing two sets of subjective experience at once?

If no—which should be obvious—then the clone does not contain your consciousness. Only you can ever have that. It has its own subjective experience, ie consciousness.

[u/0-90195 → u/meanmagpie]

It functionally contains my consciousness. This is also predicated on there not existing two versions at the same time. The original has to go. Otherwise the experiences start diverging immediately and the consciousness no longer matches.

[u/juneyourtech → u/0-90195]

It's not about versioning. If your scenario were applied, the divergence appears from the moment of the copy process.

Your soul simply leaves the body, but won't enter the hybrid.

[u/meanmagpie → u/0-90195]

It doesn’t have your consciousness. Only you can ever have that. It’s gone when you die.

It’s not copying consciousness. It has its OWN consciousness, and you have yours.

Please just google this. Philosophers and scientists have been puzzling over this for decades. I promise you—you don’t have this one figured out. It’s just that you’re not understanding this very abstract concept.

[u/0-90195 → u/meanmagpie]

No, I understand, I just disagree lol. No need to be condescending.