Was the enginner in the first scene using himeself as a test subject to black go

Hi Kant (or is that Can't - just jokes), go to "plot explained" conversation and join in - the first scene of this movie is THE clincher!!

Any thoughts on why they just left jars of goo laying around everywhere? Obviously they knew how to stack them neatly in other rooms.

Yeah, Kant, you've got some interesting takes on what you saw, but some of your thoughts, although valid, aren't exactly going along with the mainstream consensus of what happened in that scene. Interesting take though.

I think this take on film looks way better IMO.

[i]Any thoughts on why they just left jars of goo laying around everywhere? Obviously they knew how to stack them neatly in other rooms.[/i] Well the ones that were stacked were in the cargo hold of the Juggernaut in a similar type area as the ancient xeno eggs were stored in the cargo hold below the derelict juggernaut on LV-426. I believe that the stacking of the urns in the ampule room was ritualistic in nature and was in the tradition of storing the ancient xeno eggs. The big head not only represents the engineer race, but also the ancient way in which the ancient eggs contained face-huggers that needed a face on which to attach. The shrine to the left of the head with the ancient mature xeno in crucifix pose with the green gem/stone/rock/amber on the alter was probably a container holding the source DNA for the ancient egg/face-hugger/xeno.....from which the more advanced urn/body-hugger/bigger, better, faster, smarter super-xenos were created over the course of 1 million years of tinkering.

[i]I think this take on film looks way better IMO.[/i] I agree. I like the OPs version a bit better than what we saw, not that I disliked what was shown.

Abordoli - what are you smoking dude?!!

Makes sense, here's my theory. Why did the Engineers create us? The opening scene of the film is perhaps the hardest to interpret. We know that the suicide of the Engineer was the event that propagated human life on earth, but was this an accident or an attempt to create a new subordinate species to the divine rule of the Engineer? If we take the scene at face value, it would appear that the engineer was some form of dissident or maverick who was exiled by its own species for an unknown crime. Rather than live out its life in solitude, the engineer decides to take its own life through ingestion of the black goo (see below). It falls into the water and human life is started by accident. Either that, or the creation of new life was a last act of defiance against the regime. Another possibility was that the engineer was a test subject for the effects of the black goo, and its implications for the creation of new life. The engineers must have hypothesised the effects, and it would therefore make sense that these experiments in life giving were conducted away from their home planet to minimise risk. However, the third- and most likely- possibility is that the engineers knew full well the effects of the black goo and created life on earth simply for the same reason that we created David- because they can. The parable of Prometheus could therefore be applied as much to engineers as to humans- the experimentation of the engineers resulted in the creation of a species that would one day evolve to match their own 'divine' power and omnipotence. Hell, if we have the same DNA, whats not to say that the engineer species is the end product of the current human cycle. What was the black goo? The goo appears to be some form of biological weapon designed by the Engineers to catalyse mutation on three levels. If ingested, the goo would serve a self-destructive purpose (e.g Holloway and the Engineer at the very beginning of the film). If contracted, the effect appears to be enhanced physical strength and uncontrollable aggression- even towards those of the same species. However, the third level- infection through intercourse- can be seen to have quite a different result altogether: the propagation of a new species. A new species that, if allowed to develop, would result in the creation of a Xenomorph. Why were the Engineers planning to use the weapon on us? In other words- did the Engineers want to wipe out the human race completely, or was there an other purpose for their visit to earth? The first option would present a very simple reason. The engineers planned to release the biological weapon 2000 years before the events of Prometheus, a time when Christianity was cementing itself as a dominant world religion. Perhaps the weapon was punishment for 'worshiping false idols' and losing sight of the real creators, a parallel to the story of Noah and the purging of sin from the world through destruction. Secondly, the engineers could have realised the mistake of leaving a star map for the humans to find and were returning to wipe us out before we became powerful enough to challenge them. This would tie in nicely with Weyland's statement 'we are the gods now'- the engineers wanted to destroy humanity before humans became strong enough to challenge their dominance. Unless... The earth was always just a biological testing ground and humans had reached the correct evolutionary stage for such testing. Maybe it was the breeding of a new weapon, a new, Alien shaped weapon... Why would you run directly in the path of rolling space craft rather than side step it? No idea.

Hi Graeme, I too was intrigued by reference to the beginning of Christianity in the ETD of 'weapon'. I still maintain that this 'weapon' was accidental and that the cannisters contained cloning material for a new advanced human inhabitant of Earth...but, who knows. Riley Scott obviously a genius - look at how much we're talking!

In the dream sequence with Shaw they noted that the Indian people of that area served another god. Their world view prevented them from being able to stop a plague. The mindset is the limiting factor of what a group can accomplish. Prometheus and the early Christian reference has a thread of dissidence against the prevailing culture. It appears the Engineers may have had a very religious structure do to the display of jars and the Giant head. We're they a cult of death not representative of the larger group of Engineers? Was the first Engineer in the first scene Prometheus and he is seeding a people to supplant the death cult? I don't see a lot of Engineer handy work around. Stupid "Lost" director opening up all possibilities and not giving any clues. Nagging questions are awesome but we better get some facts in the sequel.

Hello all, new to this forum and discussion. I'm not convinced the Engineer in the first scene, aka Sacrificial Engineer is seeding the Earth. In fact, the planet may not be Earth at all, but could be the very home world of the xenomorphs. This act of "seeding" (an incredible level of dissolution -- all the way to the very genes) would some how result in the production of us humans with an exact match of dna seems unlikely. Nor may we be their descendents or they ours, but brothers from an even more ancient stock (even older gods). The complete dissolution of the genes - they are totally wiped out, smashed and then somehow they re-assemble. By what action -- this is bordering on if not square in the arena of paranormal manipulations. Unless the goo is some type of nano-fluid (is that small enough) that has been programmed to take the Engineer apart and put him back together from the resulting dissolution. Either nanos or metaphysical powers -- or both. Scene could have shown they were working on resurrection technology, or the Engineer became the ancestor of the xenomorphs, who have strange humanesque qualities, but also viral type ones, as well as parasitoid. I don't think that's Earth. The Engineer fell into the water and maybe the nano-fluid brought something different out - according to program?

I've found several points of similarity between the Engineers and the Nyarlahotep. Even the flute playing in the movie connected to the operation of the bridge. Everything being inside a "cavern". These Engineer guys would seem to belong to the group referred to in Christian scriptures (cf Book of Ephesians) as for we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers and against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. In the Necronomiconic material Nyarlhotep is an esteemed and amazing Engineer, but he is also a terrifying monster and a servant of even greater dark entities. He is called the soul of some of these other forms and he takes many forms. The Engineers worship the Xenomorph (as the Dragon) aka Satan.

According to an interview with Daniel Twiss (the actor who plays Sacrifice Engineer) in [url=http://www.prometheusnews.net/movie/daniel-twiss-engineer/]here[/url] [quote]My character is that of a fairly young ‘Engineer’ who ritualistically sacrifices himself in the opening scene. This sacrifice is very different to any others as I have to drink an ancient mix which causes my body to literally disintegrate into the water around me. This then provides the first building blocks for new life to form on the alien planet. [/quote] Conclusion .... He sacrifices himself to create life on that planet