MovieChat Forums > Prometheus (2012) Discussion > Why was David (the android) killed so ab...

Why was David (the android) killed so abruptly by the Engineer?


1. Why did David intentionally infect Holloway with the ampule substance?
[The 'do no human harm' ethics setting on this android are clearly off.]

2. Why did the Engineer (the recently stasis-sleep woke proto human) kill David so abruptly?

Setting: David speaks an alien language to the Engineer, asking him why they made mankind and asking him to extend the life of his own creator, Mr. Weyland. The Engineer responds by ripping his head out and killing Weyland and Ford.

It struct me as an unexpected plot twist and happened suddenly. Grumpy from his nap? Insulted by the questions? Disrespected by juvenile life forms addressing him? //all Earth culture jokes, so rhetorical questions //

3. Is the plot theory by Janek correct?
That the moon they are on was used by the Engineers as a military base until they lost control of their biological weapons, namely the cylinders and the black fluid they contain.

4. What is the Engineer's motivation to leave?
4a. Fundamental survival?
4b. Is the still-active David conspiracy that the Engineer is going to release the ampules of
black fluid on Earth, thus killing every living creature on the planet valid? (What is the
proof of motivation beyond a star map?)

reply

These questions will never go away... I remember there was a lot of angry discussion on the old IMDB boards when Prometheus came out. I present my answers based on what I saw in the movie.

1) Human guinea-pig. David is in a race to save Weyland so he went straight to human trials. Note that the events in the movie do not allow time for Holloway's contamination to be investigated, otherwise David would almost certainly be deactivated.

2) If the characters and the audience can accept that the engineers created human life on Earth, then being kicked out of bed by someone demanding immortality isn't exactly diplomatic.

3) Correct in the sense it's more forced on the audience by Janek saying so, and his 2 co-pilots accepting it without question. How he knows this is unexplained, but the effects of the goo were well known by now and you definitely don't want that reaching Earth. There's no other explanation of what the base is used for ( I mean there is the main temple with the huge head statue and altar and all that but...)

4) If you pay attention to the screen when the Engineer starts up his ship, the room is filled with CGI star system. Look for the line tracing a route to Earth (good luck in spotting that in 3D). His motivation to bomb Earth is not explained, especially when you realize he's 2000 years behind schedule. Going back to question 2, if David knew the Engineer's intent at this point then why didn't he warn Weyland?

reply

> David is in a race to save Weyland so he went straight to human trials.

The point is doing trials methodically is to get understandable and valid results, not to slow the process down. This sounds like Trump logic. Dropping something you know nothing about is someone's drink is hardly an experiment or a trial - it's just homicidal hatred for humanity.

> being kicked out of bed by someone demanding immortality isn't exactly diplomatic.

Stupid to murder someone who may beholding your life in their hands because you got up on the wrong side of the bed.

> There's no other explanation of what the base is used for

True, you cannot make the conclusion that this places was a military base without any evidence. On Earth anthropologists and archeologists have been studying certain cultures for decades if no centuries and we still do not know what was going on with many of the ruins left on planet Earth by human beings.

> His motivation to bomb Earth is not explained, especially when you realize he's 2000 years behind schedule.

His motivation to bomb Earth is to keep the viewers in the theater awake because otherwise they would not care about who the hell he bombed. The whole idea that they needed all of that stuff to take over Earth was kind of funny since they have much more developed technology.

I've already faced the realization that everything in this movie was just for confusion and to get people to see it again and again to try to make more money. The concepts and behavior of people in these movies has been so irrational and stupid it ruins the whole movie, and poisons any follow-n sequels.

reply

>The point is doing trials methodically is to get understandable and valid results, not to slow the process down. This sounds like Trump logic. Dropping something you know nothing about is someone's drink is hardly an experiment or a trial - it's just homicidal hatred for humanity.

Weyland could die at any moment. Having him hidden away from a bunch of scientists who could have helped him makes no sense. Also, if Holloway didn't die, how did David expect to perform follow-up tests without arousing suspicion?

>His motivation to bomb Earth is to keep the viewers in the theater awake because otherwise they would not care about who the hell he bombed.

The whole plot bombed. Practically none of the events in Prometheus were addressed in Covenant, which was an even worse movie.

reply

Hard for me to call which movie is worse.

reply

ProgsReturn & brux: thank you both for helping explain.

reply