[SPOILERS] Prometheus Theories Thread [SPOILERS]

[TheGreatDanton]

Yeah, sorry, I forgot to add 'ringed' the second time. Other than that I forgot that the rest have rings, even if they're insignifficantly small.

Insignificant? Small? Just because they aren't bright and dandy like Saturn, does not make them small nor insignificant!
I was eagerly awaiting Mountains of Madness...its a shame that if any Lovecraft epic suddenly were to appear, it would probably be called out for looking like Prometheus

[prince0gotham]

Yeah, sorry, I forgot to add 'ringed' the second time. Other than that I forgot that the rest have rings, even if they're insignifficantly small.

Insignificant? Small? Just because they aren't bright and dandy like Saturn, does not make them small nor insignificant!
I was eagerly awaiting Mountains of Madness...its a shame that if any Lovecraft epic suddenly were to appear, it would probably be called out for looking like Prometheus

But they are so insignifficant compared to Saturn's rings. The rings around the rest are smaller and revolve so slow, they're basically just a 'debris field' or I dunno how to call it. Details, details.

[sunshine]

I'm not as into theorizing as the rest of you, but I saw this at another forum and thought people here might be into it:

I’m sure there are many of you out there who, like me, have a million different questions after seeing Ridley Scott’s Prometheus. And some great analysis and theory has been mulled over with a fine tooth comb, see Brad Brevet’s great article at Rope of Silicone. But only so much analysis can be performed before you hit a stumbling block, and require a little more in-depth research. I am of course referring to the mysterious monologue that android David speaks to the alien ‘Engineer’ in the final scenes of the film, which left many in the dark. How exactly do you begin to translate alien-speak? The clue lies in an earlier scene where David learns about linguistics, while the rest of the crew are in stasis.

In the scene David is learning the building blocks of language and we see him taking a lesson in Proto-Indo-European (PIE) Linguistics, where a holographic professor, takes him through the ABC’s and recites Schleicher’s Fable. An artificial text composed in the reconstructed PIE, in 1868, to demonstrate the language’s use.

hjewɪs jasmə hwælnə nahəst akʷunsəz dadʳkta (Translated as: a sheep that had no wool saw horses) – Excerpt from Schleicher’s Fable – The Sheep and the Horses

The ‘Professor’ in the clip is in fact the real-life linguistics consultant used for the film and taught Michael Fassbender (David) the dialogue. I managed to track down the consultant, a Dr. Anil Biltoo of the SOAS Language Centre in London, to see if he could shed some light on the mysterious final scene. He was most helpful and provided the following:

The line that David speaks to the Engineer (which is from a longer sequence that didn’t make the final edit) is as follows:

/ida hmanəm aɪ kja namṛtuh zdɛ:taha/…/ghʷɪvah-pjorn-ɪttham sas da:tṛ kredah/

A serviceable translation into English is:

‘This man is here because he does not want to die. He believes you can give him more life’.

Thanks Doc!

So basically David just asked what his master, Peter Weyland, requested. As the good doctor pointed out, there is a longer sequence which Ridley Scott filmed, but ultimately cut.

We’re all going to have to wait for the Director’s cut to see if the conversation between the Engineer and David – and there was indeed originally a conversation, not merely an utterance from David – yields any fruit.- Dr. Anil Biltoo

So were going to have to wait for the Directors cut to hear what the ‘Engineer’s reply was to David’s request. Of course Dr. Biltoo is keeping quiet about the details regarding the cut scenes – I’m sure there are plenty contractual reasons he cannot spill the beans. But once we have the DVD release and isolate that audio, it wont be long before some hot shot linguist translates it, and perhaps we’ll know the answer to Shaw’s question – “Why did they change their minds about us?”

Dr. Biltoo also revealed that Fassbender spent 17 hours reciting Schleicher’s Fable, committing it to memory, only to have Ridley Scott use the first line in the film.

[prince0gotham]

wait, was that what he told the engineer out loud or what he whispered in his ear?

[Addicted2Movies]

After reading through all these great theories and continuous pondering about the amazing lore and possibilities revolving around the film's universe, I've really had to change my thoughts behind the "connection" between Prometheus and Alien, and also the answer to Shaw's question about what humanities purpose was and why the Engineers changed their minds. Originally upon walking out of the theater I reflected on Prometheus as its own standalone film. There's enough within this film's own solitary stories to provide us endless speculation on the various interconnecting ideologies, philosophies, and inspirations. However, as a huge fan of Scott's prior masterpiece Alien, the very inkling of an idea that the universe is connected is just too tempting for to not try and find a connection between the films. Anyways, my initial thought was that perhaps the Engineers used the black mutagen (or as I call it "life serum") to create the original face-huggers/xenomorphs as a form of infestation based biological weaponry against whatever opposing force they may be facing (most likely in my opinion amongst each other). However, sacrificing one's own society to breed these monsters isn't exactly the most efficient or intelligent way of warfare. This is where humanity comes in. We learn in Prometheus that both humanity and the Engineers have the exact same genetic makeup. They created us in their image. What better way to build a hive of the most vicious killing machines on the planet than to simply produce a genetically identical twin species of its food source as a means of harvest? So basically, in this theory, the Engineers designed humanity simply as an efficient means of breeding the xenomorphs. This provides a shocking, horrifying, and perhaps faith crushing answer to the question of humanity's purpose. And this leaves several possibilities for why the Engineers decided that humanity ultimately had to be destroyed. Perhaps they did not intend for us to evolve as quickly as we did and we had rapidly become dangerously close to being a threat to them. Or perhaps the xenomorph had become increasingly difficult to control and there was a risk that they could somehow reach humanity and become impossible to manage. Honestly though, I believe that this theory is way too simplistic now and is obsolete. With all the seemingly endless possibilities involving the "life serum", the xenomorph appears to be simply one of the many organisms capable of being produced. Also, the end scene is fairly ambiguous. The creature appears to have a likeness to that of a xenomorph, but according to the various concept arts on the OP and the following explanations it may be something else entirely. Anyways, hope my rambling was at least a bit entertaining. I must see this film again.

[oracle86]

The proto-Indo-European language has no script, as it was never written.

So the Engineers speak the proto-Indo-European language BUT write in cuneiform script?

[Fooled]

I love the film, but geez I cant stop laughing.

[mchekhov 2: Chek Harder]

So prince did you figure out prometheus yet?

[ComptonTerry]

It's too deep. Cant be comprehended. Close thread.

[NoMoreDeadCops]

It's too deep. Cant be comprehended. Close thread.