Another prologue video has been released for Alien: Covenant, connecting directly to the conclusion of Prometheus. In Covenant, the crew of a colony ship finds what they believe to be a pristine planet upon which they can establish a new home-world for humanity. They soon find out that the planet already has several interesting inhabitants, including the android David, who was last seen at the end of Prometheus leaving LV-223 with Elizabeth Shaw, in search of the Engineers' planet.

What happens when the crew of the Covenant encounters David and the other less-than-friendly denizens of their would-be new home planet, is something we will find out when the movie hits theaters next month. As for what happened to David and Elizabeth on their journey from LV-223 to the Engineers' planet, that's something we don't have to wait to learn.

20th Century Fox has released an Alien: Covenant prologue sequence that neatly fills in the blanks between the end of Prometheus and the events of the new film. In it, we see Shaw (Noomi Rapace) and David (Michael Fassbender) flying to the Engineers' home-world on board the Engineers' circular ship. In voice-over, David refers to the "injury" he sustained in his battle with the Engineer; in fact, he was decapitated. We see Shaw repairing David, while a conscious David walks her through the delicate surgery. David talks about the compassion he feels from Shaw, and clearly there is a connection growing between them (David even draws her picture).

In order to survive her journey to the Engineers' planet, Shaw must go into hibernation. This leaves David alone on the ship, studying the technology of the Engineers and "learning of their ways." We then see the ship arriving at the Engineers' planet, and somewhat mysteriously, we are given no idea if Shaw survived the trip. The ship hovers over a massive city, and we see Engineers massed in some kind of public square. The clip ends with David looking down on the Engineers from his perch inside the ship and quoting Shelley's famous line from the sonnet "Ozymandias": "Look on my works ye mighty and despair."

The Shelley quotation provides a hint as to the role David takes on in Alien: Covenant. The sonnet details a traveler discovering the remains of a once-great civilization and reading an inscription on a ruined statue, and we are meant to think about the impermanence of even the greatest of empires. The Engineers are the most powerful race in the galaxy, the ones responsible for creating human life, but David seems to be saying that their time is at an end.

In an international Alien: Covenant trailer and Covenant teaser images that have found their way onto the Internet, we see what happens next: David bombards the Engineers with pods full of their own black goo, and they are wiped out in an apocalypse that may also give rise to the Xenomorphs. It would appear that during his long time alone on the Engineers' ship, David not only learned the ways of the Engineers, but decided he needed to wipe them out. That would leave David as the only one in the galaxy who possesses the secrets of the Engineers and their knowledge of how to create life. Alien: Covenant will pick up the story, and we will find out just how far David has gone down the road of turning himself into a god.

NEXT: Michael Fassbender Explains What Makes His Covenant Android Characters Different

Source: 20th Century Fox

Key Release Dates

  • alien covenant
    Release Date:
    2017-05-19