Was "The Covenant" a pact between David and WY prior to embarking?

Great topic sherris.

I also thought the name had significance...and still do (image below from related topic in May). 

My question was in relation to the attack on LV-223 and did it have anything to do with a mission approximately 2000 years later with a manifest that appeared to me like an offering (above post). 

I believe that there is something to the name "Covenant" and it may be linked to the kidnapping described in the prequel novelization. I also believe that the name is linked to the "if you do this" reference from David 8 in Advent (advent is defined as an arrival of a notable person, place, or event).

David 8 was under multiple special orders (example below) while on Paradise (seen in Advent connection with corporate) and still focusing on acquiring and reporting back findings on Engineer technology and it's applications. 

And it does seem like he was preparing a place for an event.

sherries and Ingeniero I also agree, there is definitely deliberate ominous connotations and religious overtones attached to the ship being called the Covenant. 

Is David's hostility to humanity symbolically linked to Upworth and Ricks?

I would not be surprised if the next film features some form of analogy to Dante's Inferno and the 9 circles of Hell; and that David's treachery (the 9th and deepest circle) will depict him as the Devil, and the xenomorph his snake (temptation).

Given that in the Divine Comedy Inferno is succeeded by Purgatorio (purgatory) and Paradiso (Paradise) there may be a reversal of the story. Daniels and Tennessee have left Paradise, and are currently now in stasis between worlds (Purgatory), and that David is taking them to hell (Origae-6) to judge them for humanities sins.

I was playing with the idea that each member/couple in Covenant represented a circle in hell, eg. as trokanmariel suggested in his thread Ricks & Upworth represent the sin lust. But it doesn't seem to fit together??

sherris - Yes, something similar can be in the background.

I think the name of the ship, the "Covenant", will be released in the prequel novel.  The movie would have to have been made with the prequel in mind, so, really, we only got a large piece of the story.  There is much more to come with regards to the Covenant and it's mission.

I got a theory on how the neutrino burst was created by David and I think it makes a lot of sense.  David hacks into WY Research facility and changes a few numbers to alter the course of the Covenant to pass by Planet 4.  He also changes a few numbers on the stars in the surrounding area around Planet 4.  The event which struck the Covenant and caused the crew to wake up was a solar flare.  There some people on this website who don't think it was a solar flare, even though it says it was a solar flare twice in the movie (once as a stellar flare (which is the same thing as a solar flare) and once as a solar flare).  There is a neutrino burst during a solar flare, yet our real life science is still working on detailing this.  This is important because what I think David changed with regard to the nearby stars info was that he changed the passive and active cycle data of the stars.  There would be no way someone would watch stars to detect solar flares like we do with our own Sun.  We get around a 2 day forecast IF WE ARE LUCKY.  Solar flares are spontaneous events in reality.  SO, instead the planners of the Covenant mission figured out the passive and active cycles of the stars and expected MOTHER to detect problems through neutrino bursts because a neutrino burst happens during a solar flare. David could hack and change the data so the Covenant planners think the ship is flying by a star nearby Planet 4 during a passive phase, but it was actually in the active phase so there was a VERY high chance of a solar flare.  A solar flare happened and cause damage and well, you know how the rest goes....

Also, I will add that neutrino's travel faster than the other spectrum released by the solar flare.  The other spectrum is what causes the damage.  So, if MOTHER can pick up a neutrino burst, that means there is some time to get prepared for the impact of the other spectrum.  I'm not going to explain the science behind this theory because it would just take to much time and I just don't have that time right now.  I did explain it in another thread.

That's a summary of my theory.  I hope I didn't forget anything...

If it is so, why is David reporting as Walter at the end of the film? Like Paradise expedition never existed after the solar flare accident?

I very much doubt that david and the company have had any contact since the Prometheus mission. I also don't believe the company hold any kind of authority over him either. he was built to serve weyland, no one else. with is death, as he states in Prometheus, he will be free. it is also pretty obvious with the olive branch message that no contact or pact has been opened between david and the company as why would david send an olive branch message if there was already an agreement in place? doesn't make sense. plus the message was sent after david acquired the covenant and had left the planet. im betting even when weyland was alive david was not contacting or reporting to the company as he had no need to as the owner was on board. if the incident that caused the covenant to alter course was in fact davids doing then im betting it was just his escape plan and taking into account he wont die, he has plenty of time to wait for any passing ship, manmade or even alien.

Covenant is not just the name of the ship.

There has to be more.

Since seeing the transmissions sent in "Advent" they could of easily been sent not as one file, but several small files detailing progress, nuggets if you like. This shows Davids evidence for WY to see. If it was sent over years, perhaps WY sent back the mapping for Covenants flight path so David has assurities he is getting what he wants. WY plan on sending Colonial Marines incase of double cross and David has his own things going on. This would sit with RS quote of the 3 or 4 different players to visit the "planet"

Seems like it ticks most of the boxes to be plausible. even if not 100% correct. we are no where near that point yet but i think we on the right tracks guys !!

Thanks for the input its awesome !!  ;);););) As always !!

don't get me wrong, I like the idea. it adds something and would tie in with the company as iv always wanted to see a bit more of the WY companies behind the scenes shenanigans and whether or not there is indeed a synthetic influence at the highest levels of the company. It just feels to me that narration in the olive branch message is complete and not edited. I believe david has catalogued everything with the intention of approaching the company but the first contact is after he has acquired the covenant.

I may be wrong but didn't the message seem a little off? he starts out by saying I offer you an olive branch, which seems to me like he is looking to work with the company and trade. but I don't remember him making any demands or any hint at what he is looking for in return, which one would probably do in this instance. yet david just basically tells the company, my creations will rule this galaxy. so hes saying I come to u to make peace but ur all going to die.... not much of an olive branch is it haha

David doesn't make demands but he hijacked a Weyland-Yutani property, the ship and he is into negotiations. Not sure what he would want at this point from Weyland-Yutani. His creations would rule the galaxy if Weyland-Yutani does something ("if you do this...") not specified in the Advent video. Probably not accepting his olive branch in exchange for the 2000 colonists.

Just now it came to me: what if David's message as Walter at the end of the film is for the wider audience, for the media as part of a cover up by Weyland-Yutani? In this case David might have agreed with Weyland-Yutani on something. But it does not necessarily imply he was working for Weyland-Yutani since he was on LV-426. Just part of their fresh agreement, his olive branch.

true, it could just be for the audience. what we need to remember is though the folk on here get right into all the additional material, not everyone who has seen the movie has read the novelisation or seen the extra material so to them AC finishes with just the david-walter switcheroo and are unaware of any contact with the company. the more its talked about on here and the more material that is released, the end message where david is logging as walter seems completely pointless

perhaps to keep up appearances.

Granted they are all asleep on Covenant and WY are aware. But perhaps only top level execs. Mission needs to be "on course" in the boardroom 

some good points here...

I think a lot does make us wonder if its a case of make it up as we go along, instead of having a Actual A-Z plan for how every piece can fit together like a puzzle.

I think RS had put a lot into the whole AI, even praising the idea of our own AI being behind the Iconic Xenomorph is a more interesting kind of Cureball.

So i will not rule out the potential revelation that Rogue AI is actually running things behind the Scenes..  i think this could well had been something RS was willing to run with.

A lot depends on what they choose to do now, given the mixed reaction to Alien Covenant