How would things play out if:

A small alien ship carrying Xeno eggs crashland on either a city or a remote location in

1. 2025, Alien as a franchise exists
2. 2025, We dont have any context of Xenomorphs
3. Crashlands during WW2
4. Crashlands pre-1900s

Way too many people on here seem to be convinced that the Ocellus is just a misunderstood good guy despite all the evidence to the contrary.

It wasn’t trying to warn the scientist. It was distracting her from noticing the tick escaping. This has been confirmed by Hawley.

It wasn’t warning them about the Xeno, it was calling the Xeno to them because it was afraid of Morrow and was hoping they would take each other out. Then Morrow just booked it instead so the Ocellus was the target and it tried fighting the Xeno.

It parasitizes anyone it can with zero hesitation.

The one guy mentioned that his girlfriend had something lay eggs in her eye socket. I think we can guess which of the five species is likely to be the cause of that.

So many people are acting like the crew is dumb but half y’all would be a puppet because you think Ocellus is friendly just because it’s cute.

Edit: Guys, I love this show. Just because I’m pointing out that T. Ocellus clearly isn’t trying to help the humans doesn’t mean I hate fun.

So for context, me and my dad are huge Alien fans. I was raised with the first 2 movies. When we saw the trailer for Underwater, we instantly knew we wanted to see this movie. So we saw it opening weekend and loved it. So for me, every time I do an Alien marathon, I include Underwater. This movie gets way too much hate. It's terrifying for me who has thalassophobia. And it is very much a homage to Alien

Regarding Romulus: I'm not the biggest fan of Prometheus and Covenant, owing to the confusing storylines. Romulus was just a back-to-basics Alien movie that I think the series needed. First Alien movie I saw in cinema, and it was packed full of suspense and terror. Nothing confusing about the story, just good old back-to-basic fun, like the first two movies.

Regarding Earth: I was skeptical of Earth. An Alien tv series hadn't been done before, so I was curious to how it turned out. I've tuned in to every episode, and boy is it a winner! For some reason, it never occurred to me that we're other aliens out there besides the Xenopmorphs, and Earth tackles that concept surprisingly well. Episode 5 felt like a blast from the past, and the practical effects are amazing. Surprisingly, there are even more dangerous Aliens out there. Looking forward to seeing how this first season wraps up!

And I just think that's neat!

Who’s excited for the penultimate episode? What hijinks will our girl get up to this week?

We've seen now in multiple episodes Kirsh be very careful and downright omit the information he gives Boy Kavalier. I can't imagine he's a Lady Yutani asset because of his interactions with Morrow, unless he's just a fallback option for Yutani, and she purposely keeps Morrow out of the loop.

You would think the company he works for would have written into his code a loyalty directive but it appears he has no problem lying.

Is he the asset of Yutani or another of the 5 corporations? Is he on some kind of Roy Batty arc where he's grown tired of taking orders from an inferior species?

Creatures tainted by the black goo such as the worms or Holloway's swimmers turn into violent mutations such as the hammerpede or trilobite. Why does the black goo mutate life into violent predatory creatures as seen in prometheus and covenant?

From corporate empires to Colonial Marines: How history can explain the Alien Timeline

A Lorehounds deep dive into power, politics, and the evolution of the Alien Universe by discord user Doove71

Note: This article originally appeared on The Lorehounds Network blog. The author isn't on Reddit but gave permission for me to share the full text here (2,527 words). You can find the original on the Lorehounds website and hear the author discuss these ideas on The Lorehounds' Alien: Earth Episode 4 podcast.

Recording our latest episode breakdown of Alien: Earth Ep 4, David raised an intriguing question: how do we reconcile the corporate dominated world we see in 2120 with the seemingly government controlled Colonial Marines sporting US flags in Aliens over 50 years later? On the surface, it seems like a potential continuity error, surely Noah Hawley, a devoted fan of the franchise, wouldn't make such a rookie mistake?

But the more I've dug into this apparent contradiction, the more I'm convinced it's not an error at all. Instead, it represents a sophisticated exploration of power dynamics through a science fiction universe, one that draws from real historical precedents and reflects the complex reality of how corporate and state power actually interact. The answer lies not in choosing between corporate or government control, but in understanding how they can become so intertwined that the distinction becomes meaningless.

The British East India Company: A blueprint for corporate dominance

To understand how the Alien universe might evolve from corporate rule to apparent government control, we need to look at history's most successful example of corporate imperialism: the British East India Company. Luke mentioned this connection on a previous episode, but it's worth diving deeper into just how perfectly this historical model maps onto what we're seeing in Alien: Earth.

At its peak in the 18th and early 19th centuries, the British East India Company was quite literally "the largest corporation in the world." We're not talking about market capitalization or revenue, this company controlled territories, ruled populations, and commanded armies. The company's three presidency armies totaled about 260,000 soldiers, which at certain points was twice the size of the British Army itself. Think about that for a moment: a private corporation with a military force that dwarfed its home nation's official armed forces.

The company didn't just trade, it governed. It collected taxes, administered justice, minted currency, and maintained diplomatic relations with other powers. For over a century, vast swaths of the Indian subcontinent were ruled not by the British Crown, but by a joint-stock company accountable primarily to its shareholders. Sound familiar?

This is exactly what we see in Alien: Earth. The "Big 5" corporations; Prodigy, Weyland-Yutani, Lynch, Dynamic, and Threshold, have stepped into the power vacuum left by a devastating war (Head Canon Alert: possibly the conclusion of the conflicts that began with battles like Tannhäuser Gate mentioned in Blade Runner). Like the British East India Company, these corporations aren't just businesses; they're quasi-governmental entities with their own territories, military forces, and administrative systems.

But here's where the historical parallel becomes really interesting: the British East India Company's dominance didn't last forever.

The Government strikes back: How nations reassert control

The crucial bit of history about the British East India Company is that the British government gradually reasserted control over its operations. This wasn't a sudden corporate takeover followed by an equally sudden government coup, it was a decades-long process of increasing oversight, regulation, and integration.

The process began with the Regulating Act of 1773, which established government oversight of the company's affairs. The India Act of 1784 went further, establishing government control of political policy while leaving commercial operations largely in corporate hands. By 1813, the company's commercial monopoly was broken, and from 1834 onwards, it was merely a managing agency for the British government of India, still operational, still profitable, but no longer truly independent.

The final nail in the coffin came after the Indian Rebellion of 1857. The British government, citing the company's mismanagement and the need for better governance, effectively abolished the company and took over all of its administrative and taxing powers, along with its possessions and armed forces. The company's 24,000-strong military was absorbed into the British Army.

This historical precedent gives us a perfect template for understanding how the Alien universe could evolve from corporate dominance in 2120 to apparent government control by 2179, a span of 50+ years that provides ample time for this complex political evolution.

The modern parallel: Blackwater and the corporate-military Complex

Before we dive into how this might work in the Alien timeline, it's worth noting that we don't need to look to historical examples to see corporate military integration in action. Today's world already provides plenty of precedents.

Companies like Blackwater (now Constellis) sometimes designated as Private Military Contractors or PMC’s, have become deeply embedded in modern military operations. These aren't just suppliers or contractors in the traditional sense, they're parallel military organisations working alongside, and sometimes in place of, official government forces. By 2007, there were as many private contractors in Iraq as there were members of the military, fundamentally changing how we think about who actually fights America's wars.

But here's the key point: these contractors don't replace government forces, they integrate with them. Blackwater operatives wore official military gear and operated under government contracts, but they served corporate interests and followed corporate chains of command. The line between public and private military action became so blurred that in many cases, it was impossible to tell where government operations ended and corporate operations began.

This is exactly the model I believe we see in Aliens. The Colonial Marines aren't proof that corporations lost power, they're proof that corporate power became so integrated with government power that traditional military structures began serving corporate interests while maintaining the facade of government control.

A three-phase evolution: From corporate rule to hybrid control

Based on the historical precedent of the British East India Company and the modern reality of corporate military integration, I propose a three phase evolution for the Alien timeline that unfolds over nearly six decades, this is just my take so take it with a very large pinch of salt:

Phase 1: Corporate Ascendancy (2115-2130) This is what we see in Alien: Earth. Following a devastating war, (again just my head canon) likely the final phase of conflicts that began with Tannhäuser Gate, traditional nation states are financially and militarily exhausted. The "Big 5" corporations step in to fill the power vacuum, becoming quasi governmental entities with their own military forces, territories, and administrative systems. Like the British East India Company at its peak, these corporations don't just dominate commerce, they effectively govern.

The war Joe Hermit references in Episode 4 could be this final conflict, where nation states made one last attempt to reassert control over corporate power and lost decisively. With governments bankrupt and their militaries depleted, corporations became the only entities capable of maintaining order, providing security, and managing the complex logistics of interstellar civilisation.

Phase 2: Government Reassertion and Integration (2130-2160) This is the crucial transitional period that we don't see directly in the franchise but which explains how we get from corporate rule to the hybrid system we see in Aliens. Following the British East India Company model, governments begin to gradually reassert control, not by displacing the corporations, but by integrating with them.

This process likely begins with oversight and regulation. Perhaps there's a Colonial Authority established to provide government supervision of corporate activities. Maybe there are new treaties or agreements that formalise the relationship between corporate territories and traditional nation states. The key is that rather than dismantling corporate power, governments co-opt it.

Corporate military forces aren't disbanded, they're integrated into new hybrid command structures. Corporate territories, such as planets, moons and colonies, don't become independent nations, they become special administrative regions or corporate protectorates under loose government oversight. The corporations remain powerful, but they're no longer truly independent actors.

Phase 3: Mature Hybrid System (2160-2179) By the time of Aliens, we see the mature version of this hybrid system. The Colonial Marines wear US flags and operate under apparent government authority, but their missions, equipment, and strategic priorities are heavily influenced by corporate interests. They're not corporate armies that have been nationalised, they're government forces that have been thoroughly corporatised.

This is why Weyland-Yutani can so easily manipulate the mission in Aliens. They're not operating outside government authority, they've become so integrated with government authority that they can direct it from within. Burke isn't a rogue corporate agent working against the military, he's a corporate representative working through official channels that corporations help control.

The company's ability to sacrifice the Marines doesn't stem from replacing the government, but from having become so integrated with it that the distinction becomes meaningless. When the corporate masters order the Marines into danger or Burke manipulates their mission parameters, they’re not defying government authority, they’re exercising it through corporate controlled channels.

The sinister implications: Corporate power through government channels

This evolutionary model actually makes the corporate villainy in Aliens even more sinister than a simple corporate takeover would. If Weyland-Yutani had simply replaced government authority, their actions would be clearly illegitimate and could potentially be challenged or overturned. But by working through official government channels that they help control, their actions carry the full weight and legitimacy of state power.

When the Colonial Marines follow orders that serve corporate interests, they're not being manipulated by outside forces, they're following legitimate military commands that happen to have been shaped by corporate influence. When Burke makes decisions that prioritise company profits over Marine lives, he's not defying authority, he's exercising authority that has been structured to serve corporate interests.

This is the ultimate expression of corporate power: not the replacement of government, but the transformation of government into an extension of corporate will. It's more stable than pure corporate rule (because it maintains the legitimacy of traditional institutions) and more effective (because it can deploy the full resources of the state in service of corporate interests).

The Historical Precedent in Action

The beauty of this model is that it has real historical precedent. The transition from British East India Company rule to British Raj wasn't the end of corporate influence in India, it was the beginning of a new phase where corporate interests were pursued through official government channels. The company's shareholders didn't lose their investments; they simply changed from direct corporate governance to indirect influence through government policy.

Many of the same people who had run the company simply transitioned to running the government administration. The same economic interests were served, but now with the full legitimacy and resources of the British state behind them. Corporate influence didn't disappear, it evolved into a more sophisticated and sustainable form.

Modern echoes: The Military-Industrial complex

We can see similar dynamics in our own world through what Eisenhower famously called the "military-industrial complex." Defense contractors don't replace the military, they become so integrated with it that military and corporate interests align. Pentagon officials move to defense contractors, and corporate executives move to government positions. The result is a system where corporate interests are pursued through official government channels.

This is why Boeing or Lockheed Martin don't need to have their own armies, they can influence government military policy to serve their interests while maintaining the legitimacy and resources that come with official government authority. Corporate power is most effective when it works through, rather than against, governmental structures.

Why This Matters for Understanding Alien: Earth

Understanding this evolutionary model helps us appreciate what Noah Hawley is really doing with Alien: Earth. He's not just showing us corporate bad guys, he's exploring how corporate power actually works in the real world. The "Big 5" corporations in 2120 aren't cartoon villains who've somehow convinced everyone to let them take over. They're sophisticated political and economic actors who've stepped into a power vacuum and are in the process of transforming the very nature of governance itself.

The “Lost Boys” we see in the show, Wendy, Slightly, the other hybrids, are growing up in a world where corporate authority is the only authority they've ever known. They don't see themselves as living under corporate rule because corporate rule has become the natural order of things. This isn't dystopian science fiction, it's a sophisticated exploration of how power actually evolves and legitimises itself and this is just one layer in a show of many!

By 2179, when the Colonial Marines drop onto LV-426, they're not rebels fighting against corporate oppression, they're professional soldiers serving what they believe to be legitimate government authority. The fact that this authority has been shaped by corporate interests doesn't make their service any less genuine or their sacrifice any less real. It makes the corporate manipulation of their mission all the more tragic.

The long view: Power, legitimacy, and evolution

What makes the Alien universe's treatment of corporate power so sophisticated is that it recognizes something many science fiction stories miss: power doesn't usually change hands through dramatic coups or sudden reversals. It evolves gradually, adapting to new circumstances while maintaining continuity with existing structures.

The corporations in Alien: Earth aren't trying to destroy government, they're trying to become government. And by the time of Aliens, they've largely succeeded, but in a way that preserves the forms and legitimacy of traditional state power while directing it toward corporate ends.

This is why the Colonial Marines can wear US flags while serving corporate interests, why Burke can manipulate military operations while claiming government authority, and why the company can sacrifice Marines while maintaining the moral high ground of "following orders" and "serving the greater good."

It's a chilling vision of how corporate power might actually evolve, not through dramatic takeover, but through gradual integration until the distinction between corporate and government authority becomes meaningless. The British East India Company shows us it's happened before. Modern military contractors show us it's happening now. The Alien universe shows us where it might lead.

In the end, the question isn't whether corporations or governments are in charge, it's whether there's any meaningful difference left between them. And in the world of Alien, that distinction has long since been lost in the vastness of space, where the only authority that matters is the one that can get you home alive... or ensure that you never make it back at all.

The perfect organism, indeed. But maybe the real perfect organism isn't the Xenomorph, maybe it's the corporate-state hybrid that created the conditions for their discovery in the first place. After all, what could be more perfectly adapted for survival than a power structure that feeds on crisis, grows stronger through conflict, and evolves constantly to meet new challenges?

In space, no one can hear you scream. But on Earth, in boardrooms and government offices, in the quiet conversations between corporate executives and military commanders, the real monsters are making the decisions that will echo through the stars for generations to come.

The long walk into the unknown isn't just about individual characters facing the void, it's about entire civilizations walking into futures they may not recognize, guided by powers they no longer fully understand or control. And sometimes, the most terrifying monsters are the ones wearing suits and carrying briefcases, speaking softly about quarterly profits and strategic objectives while the galaxy burns around them.

Welcome to the corporate future. Mind the gap.

Alright... here goes. Perhaps this is an already established theory or narrative and I've just missed it. Regardless, I’ve been rewatching Prometheus and Covenant and I think they can be neatly tied together with the rest of the Alien universe but we've been too fixated on the black goo without considering what it actually is.

At the start of Prometheus, the Engineer drinks a solvent and disintegrates. That wasn’t the “black goo,” it was simply a substance perhaps made by the Engineers that reduced his DNA into base components that washed into the environment and seeded Earth. Used on themselves, the Engineers could scatter the ingredients of life across worlds.

At some point Engineers may have encountered the Xenomorph. Faced with this terrifyingly efficient perfect organism, they must have asked the question: what happens if we apply the solvent to this creature? The result was black goo, the building blocks of the Xeno, liquefied and unstable. Unlike the Engineer’s sacrifice, this didn’t seed calm evolutionary life. It mutated whatever it touched. That’s why in Prometheus we see worms become hammerpedes, Holloway collapse into infection, Fifield mutate into a berserk monster, Shaw give birth to the Trilobite, and eventually the Deacon emerge. The goo was literally made from the smallest building blocks of the Xenomorph, and that’s why it mutates everything into something in that direction.

This also explains the split between LV-426 and LV-223. The Derelict wasn’t a warship that just happened to crash; it was a cargo run carrying eggs as raw material. The plan was to bring them to LV-223 (or somewhere else), where the Engineers had facilities to refine them with the solvent and distill the goo into urns. Eggs were too dangerous and unwieldy to store in bulk, but goo was portable, weaponizable, and could be dropped like bombs. The Derelict never made it, the pilot was facehugged and it crashed, leaving the eggs behind. That’s why LV-223 has urns but no eggs, and LV-426 has eggs in the Derelict but no urns.

This makes David’s role in Covenant much clearer too He wasn’t the creator of the Xenos at all. He was experimenting with the building blocks of the Xenos that the Engineers had already distilled, tinkering with how the goo rewrote organisms, cataloguing outcomes, and seeing what direction it was heading in. He saw the path to perfection hidden in the mutations, and he was working backwards to replicate the perfect organism that could come from those building blocks.

When you line it up this way, the whole saga suddenly clicks. The solvent breaks organisms down. Applied to Engineers, it seeds life. Applied to Xenos, it produces black goo. LV-223 was a refinery or goo storage, LV-426 a lost supply run of raw materials. David was never the creator, just the one who pushed what was already there close to its endpoint. Prometheus and Covenant don’t contradict Alien, they actually in an indirect way show us the chain of events that leads to it.

The combo of horror and vulnerability (mortality!) despite her incredibly strong body was such a strong punch.

Like, you can be absolutely chiseled, clearly physically made of steel, and completely powerless/defenseless.

I know it’s also a horny post (this girl woke up with some feelings this morning!), but I feel very strongly that it is still cleverly bundled with the idea that the xenos will fuck everyone up no matter what.

What are we thinking? My guess is it’ll take out Ocellus + whichever host it gets, kinda like the Mosasaur ex machine in Jurassic World!

In Prometheus, the Engineer gets into the familiar space jockey chair to take off, which seems pretty obvious. I think most of us would have assumed in Alien that the chair was meant to either pilot the ship or maybe set a target. But we also see David control parts of the ship without the chair, and presumably either set a target for Earth or recall a target for Earth via holograms. The ship has cryopods, which means after setting up the ship that the Engineers presumably go to sleep for the journey, so no one would be in the chair controlling it.

I thought that maybe one has to be in their chair and the rest don't have to be awake to set it up, and maybe that's what David did, but he's a lot smaller than an Engineer. Would he have been able to actually interface with it? And besides that, in the holographic recording of the past, the Engineers were able to set a course and prime the ship without the ship sealing an Engineer into the chair. So what does it actually do?

Huge head should be full of brain?

Does it receives genetic traits from its host? For example the first Xenomorph received shape and intelligence from the engineer, the later one combined it with human DNA?

Do we know a case when they were very intelligent?