Were you smart enough to survive?

Actually BigDave and I speculated on 'the switch' last year....When we learned there were 2 Davids. Assumed there might be some hank panky. .....And later in the year,  we learned the shuttle was destroyed....and the mother ship was in orbit with colonists...sort of wrote itself......cool to think about David in charge of those colonists.

During the movie...I was 100% when RS didn't show the ending of the David / Walter fight.

I Moon Girl its an interesting point. As viewers, we knew about David's nefarious activities from Prometheus and were pre-conditioned to suspect him. I began to suspected it was David instead of Walter during the lander battle simply on the basis that there was no way David survived through 1.5 films to be cheaply killed off-screen. By the time he was 'helping' Daniels and Tennessee trap the xeno I was fairly certain it was David, he was too intent, almost anxious watching his pet being tested.

But from a Covenant crew member perspective, they would have no clue, or reason to suspect it was anyone but Walter. Even Daniels. She would have been so high on adrenaline and relief from her rather hectic and frantic battle with the xeno to be suspicious. Walter was a superior model, who had the upper hand last she saw him and David battling. When he returned, he was dressed, groomed and missing the hand like Walter, and her main concern would have been to get back to the Covenant and get the hell out of there. Even if it did cross her mind, she probably concluded that David was creepy but a hell of a lot less threatening than the Neomorph, Xenomorph infested city full of dead Engineers. Worry about it later.

Lope and T were on the Planet but missed Daniels revealing encounter with David, and Ricks and Upworth were completely out of the loop.

So I guess if you were on the Covenant, you'd all be at David's mercy.

@MonsterZero

Personally, I'm against spoilers, so I tried to stay away from anything to revealing of the A:C story. 

Get this!  When I first saw the trailer for A:C, I saw the David looking android coming off of a space ship wearing gear and leading the pack of people.  When I first saw this, I figured that Alien: Covenant was supposed to take place before Prometheus and that David knew of the Engineers before he ever arrived on Planet 4.  I got really excited and did a little research.  I found that the David looking character was actually Walter, another android.  I found that out about a month before I watched Alien: Covenant.  I never really suspected that David would switch until I was watching the first encounters with David.  But as I said, I got caught up with the story and that idea just slipped from my mind.

@IRaptus "By the time he was 'helping' Daniels and Tennessee trap the xeno I was fairly certain it was David, he was too intent, almost anxious watching his pet being tested."

That's what I like to hear.  What you said is just that slight unWalter-ish character that David messed up on that I was talking about.

Yea, we could all just safely assume that David is going to switch places as soon as we see two similar looking androids because we know a lot about the characters and some of the story before we even watch the movie, but your statement could basically be a viewpoint of anyone who watched the movie and doesn't have that background information (kind of like a fellow Covenant crew member).  Still, David's character in A:C was still pretty suspicious. With what you said though, it's evidence that we could tell the difference between Walter and David.  The question is, when?  You did on the lander.  I did too, but I didn't say to myself, "That is 100% David".  

The point you mentioned could be from a perspective of a fellow Covenant working crew member.  They would all know Walter very well.  Some of them would even know David.  So, if you were on Planet 4, you would be able to tell the difference between Walter and David and would be able to prevent him from reaching the ship.

Of course, you also bring up the point of all the stress the Covenant crew members were experiencing and the willingness to get off Planet 4.  I am a little surprised that Lope didn't have any suspicion being a security officer.  Especially since everyone knew that Oram and Rosenthal had to be dead if they were leaving them behind.  I can't remember how Lope found out though.  Lope pretty much just sat that from my memory and had "Walter" take care of his face.  After reading the prequel novel, I thought of Lope as being tougher than that, but he doesn't have to be. 

"there was no way David survived through 1.5 films to be cheaply killed off-screen."

I mean, in the movie, Walter is on top of David and David is looking pretty messed up.  It looks like Walter is going to win to me, even if David grabs the knife.  Still, that is a good point.

I Moon Girl a good point about Lope, I'm interested to watch the film again now, to watch these characters more closely and if they have any reason to suspect David/Walter.

Having read the Origin novel you know Lopes character is very switched on and alert, a very intelligent and experienced officer with keen instincts. And yes tough as nails!!! But in the film he falls to pieces after Hallet dies, which is fair enough given their relationship. His mind wasn't on the job. 

But you're right, there's no way he would have left Rosenthal behind, not after she saved his life in Origin, they had a very close bond. After losing Hallet you would think he would be doing all he could to at least save her.

I suspected the ole changeroonie, but the victor of the fight was implied and not clearly seen.

To answer the OP, I survived since I predicted it and was apparently correct. I was not smarter than David, except for possibly being unmoved by the protomorph attacking the camera- that seemed to genuinely set David aback.

 I was not genius than David and the situation he created and the game he played nobody can't survive it. neymar 10 brazillian player

I, such as dk, smelt the switch from the moment they cut away from the fight. When I realized we wouldn't see the ending of it, it was too obvious. That doesn't make it any less horrifying though! Since they kept it going for the last, what, 10-15 minutes I almost started to doubt it. Plus, Fassbender and Waterston combined for an absolute chilling reveal. I lvoed it!

prior to AC a large percentage of members got the switch theory bang on. I understand it, can accept it but the way in which it was executed on film? very poor. it signifies everything that people are complaining about in the 2 movies so far. doesn't make any realistic sense. its sci-fi n I get things don't have to always make perfect sense but saying that, the viewer still has to buy into what their seeing. it just wasn't done well enough for me. people on here are still contemplating if it is indeed Walter and that's even after RS has confirmed its David which only goes to support the opinion it was poorly done. one argument is that David simply didn't have time to fight Walter, beat him, change clothes, cut his arm off, fix his voice and still catch up to the survivors before they reach the ship for rescue. he has a realistic 10 mins. RS says he cheated. ok I can accept that but imo that's just lazy.

for me, it should be Walter AND David. I think it would be more interesting if in fact David has managed to convince Walter to join him and that both personalities reside within Walters body.

but shouldn't Daniels have twigged earlier when she sees 'Walter' stapling his cheek? he can self heal and im guessing she would have been aware of this yet she even helps him lol

@ali81

You're right. The switch wasn't well done.

After reading other peoples comments in this thread, I would also like to suggest that the switch wasn't well done from the point of view of it being just to obvious.

There is this movie with Tom Cruise called "Oblivion".  That movie has a FANTASTIC switch and leaves you wondering at the end... who is who.  With A:C, it was almost given to us.  Then at the end, it was spelled out for all the viewers.  It was like the switch was there just for story purposes and not to be a real, mind-bending ending.  Apparently I'm the only one who was fooled.  Of course, I did stay away from almost all spoilers, so I was learning of the story as I was watching.  I guess that could explain it?

Still, I wish the switch could've been done better myself after hearing and reading what people have to say about it.  It could've been more of a... who is who moment... and just ended like that.  That is one thing about the A:C novel.  The ending concerning the David-Walter switch wasn't spelled out.  I liked that.  If you don't think about it, you might not realize that David was in control of the ship.

moon girl, I didn't see the twist coming in oblivion either.