#alien:covenant

[khalix-hyetology]

Anyone notice that David and Xeno-Ripley both share the number 8?

[hug-your-face]

My friend finally got around to watching Alien:Covenant

[vexica]

The Poem David was Probably Thinking Of

David continually references ‘Ozymandias’ by Percy Shelley in ‘Alien:Covenant’, on the face of it the words seem appropriate, “look upon my works ye mighty and despair” certainly conveys his inflated sense of self importance. But surely if David had a true grasp of the meaning, he would understand that ‘Ozymandias’ is intended to be ironic, it is the inscription on a fallen statue in the middle of the desert, no kings, nor empires, nor life to be seen. Perhaps that is David’s limitation, despite how human he evolves to become, he does not understand irony and double meanings. After all, he also idolises T.E Lawrence and fails to realise the man was ultimately undone by his own hubris and arrogance.

We all know that David misattributes ‘Ozymandias’ to Byron, curiously Byron did write a poem in that exact same year, it is simply called ‘Darkness’. Perhaps this was the poem David was attempting to recall, I would argue it is far more fitting, wouldn’t you?

Darkness

Lord Byron 1816

Poem below cut

I had a dream, which was not all a dream. The bright sun was extinguish'd, and the stars Did wander darkling in the eternal space, Rayless, and pathless, and the icy earth Swung blind and blackening in the moonless air; Morn came and went—and came, and brought no day, And men forgot their passions in the dread Of this their desolation; and all hearts Were chill'd into a selfish prayer for light: And they did live by watchfires—and the thrones, The palaces of crowned kings—the huts, The habitations of all things which dwell, Were burnt for beacons; cities were consum'd, And men were gather'd round their blazing homes To look once more into each other's face; Happy were those who dwelt within the eye Of the volcanos, and their mountain-torch: A fearful hope was all the world contain'd; Forests were set on fire—but hour by hour They fell and faded—and the crackling trunks Extinguish'd with a crash—and all was black. The brows of men by the despairing light Wore an unearthly aspect, as by fits The flashes fell upon them; some lay down And hid their eyes and wept; and some did rest Their chins upon their clenched hands, and smil'd; And others hurried to and fro, and fed Their funeral piles with fuel, and look'd up With mad disquietude on the dull sky, The pall of a past world; and then again With curses cast them down upon the dust, And gnash'd their teeth and howl'd: the wild birds shriek'd And, terrified, did flutter on the ground, And flap their useless wings; the wildest brutes Came tame and tremulous; and vipers crawl'd And twin'd themselves among the multitude, Hissing, but stingless—they were slain for food. And War, which for a moment was no more, Did glut himself again: a meal was bought With blood, and each sate sullenly apart Gorging himself in gloom: no love was left; All earth was but one thought—and that was death Immediate and inglorious; and the pang Of famine fed upon all entrails—men Died, and their bones were tombless as their flesh; The meagre by the meagre were devour'd, Even dogs assail'd their masters, all save one, And he was faithful to a corse, and kept The birds and beasts and famish'd men at bay, Till hunger clung them, or the dropping dead Lur'd their lank jaws; himself sought out no food, But with a piteous and perpetual moan, And a quick desolate cry, licking the hand Which answer'd not with a caress—he died. The crowd was famish'd by degrees; but two Of an enormous city did survive, And they were enemies: they met beside The dying embers of an altar-place Where had been heap'd a mass of holy things For an unholy usage; they rak'd up, And shivering scrap'd with their cold skeleton hands The feeble ashes, and their feeble breath Blew for a little life, and made a flame Which was a mockery; then they lifted up Their eyes as it grew lighter, and beheld Each other's aspects—saw, and shriek'd, and died— Even of their mutual hideousness they died, Unknowing who he was upon whose brow Famine had written Fiend. The world was void, The populous and the powerful was a lump, Seasonless, herbless, treeless, manless, lifeless— A lump of death—a chaos of hard clay. The rivers, lakes and ocean all stood still, And nothing stirr'd within their silent depths; Ships sailorless lay rotting on the sea, And their masts fell down piecemeal: as they dropp'd They slept on the abyss without a surge— The waves were dead; the tides were in their grave, The moon, their mistress, had expir'd before; The winds were wither'd in the stagnant air, And the clouds perish'd; Darkness had no need Of aid from them—She was the Universe.

[thecopperkidd]

I just want a movie about this two idiots in space... also this is payback for putting David's head on backwards

[aquitainequeen]

My most burning question after watching Alien: Covenant:

...

...so who did plant the wheat?

[ellenripleys]

The path to paradise begins in hell.

[vexica]

A fascinating essay exploring the Gothic and Romantic themes of Alien: Covenant.

[aldebaranarfeiniel]

DAVID'S EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT FROM FASSBENDER'S INTERVIEWS

❤️ @gothic-fiction-in-space •Do we see more emotional levels in David, more levels of rage? •I think just human, more sort of engaged in all sorts of human characteristics, insecurity, ego, I mean rage might come out of insecurity, I don’t know though of rage as just an emotion. Playing those kind of things is tricky. But pride, envy, you saw a bit of that with Logan Marshall Green’s character in the last one. And you know he likes to feel important, comes back to pride again, I suppose, so it’s just all a mix of those things and they are definitely more prominent in him as time as passed. 🌌ON DAVID X SHAW RELATIONSHIP •We did shoot a prologue to the film with Shaw, and we pick up where we left Shaw and David. They’re in one of the Engineers’ ships, trying to find the origin of the Engineers, and their home planet. We could sense that the time that’s passed has caused things to become a little bit fractious between the two of them. You get the impression that Shaw is wary of David, and I think he just wears on her nerves. He’s like this lovesick stalker in space, which is an interesting concept. But Shaw does have sympathy for him, and she does put him back together.He killed her, essentially, to prevent her from leaving him […] David, I think, finds these strong female characters attractive, and he’s really an old romantic. So he’s a little bit confused. He does have a scene with Daniels where he tries to simulate sex. He’s got a strange sexuality. He’s in a very confused state, because he feels these human characteristics— jealousy, vanity, pride— but he also has these sexual desires, which he obviously can’t act out, but wants to.” •How has David’s relationship with Shaw changed (post Prometheus)? Like any good marriage it’s, you know, there’s a real affection there between the two of them. I think they get on each other’s nerves, well he gets on her nerves rather, but I suppose they went through quite a lot together in Prometheus, so there is a bond there for sure. http://www.denofgeek.com/us/movies/alien/262464/alien-covenant-michael-fassbender-on-playing-two-roles-david-shaw-s-relationship-10-years-later