A few things I picked up during my time away...

Lawrence of Arabia

I bought the Art and Making of Alien Covenant ($40 bucks, that was expensive!), the Alien Covenant Collectors book, and the Alien Covenant Novelization (loving it so far, on page 70). I also picked up the Funko Rock Candy Ripley from Aliens :) The Art and Making and the Collectors book is so informative. Ridley is aware of the faster cycle than it was in the original with Kane, also that David killed Shaw because he's afraid of things he loves leaving him and that he kept her alive while he was experimenting on her. There's a lot of fun tidbits in these things, has anyone else picked these up?

Nathan Adler

@Lawrence of Arabia: Haven't read it. Does Ridley provide a reason for the faster cycle and what experiments in particular he conducted on Elizabeth?

VivisectedEngineer

I WANT THAT ART AND MAKING BOOK!!! Where did you find it!? <_< Maybe I can drop some hints and wind up getting it for my birthday.

HOW ARE YOU LIKING THE NOVEL??? WHAT PAGE ARE YOU ON NOW??? ISN'T IT AMAZING???

BigDave

I intend to purchase these... when finances get better... maybe i need to stop my hobby of drinking Beer lol... and should stick to Brewing more Batches to save some cash lol

I certainly think they are interesting (these Books) and i hopefully will purchase one of them next month ;)

BigDave

The keeping Shaw alive while he experiments on her is interesting, and because he was afraid of losing her.

This means at some point she would have indeed Technically not have been Dead ;)

Lawrence of Arabia

@VivisectedEngineer
I found the book and novel at Books-A-Million :) And I LOVE the novel, I haven't gotten any further from page 70 but from what I've read so far I've enjoyed. Especially the part where Walter tries to get Daniels high by handing here a joint XD

@BigDave

I feel you man (the beer money!), I pretty much spent my whole allowance on this stuff lol The books are rather interesting as they flesh out the characters and their motivations better. Like David and his feelings towards Shaw. He fell for her but in his own morbid way. He didn't want her to leave so he incubated her. 

@Nathan Adler
He doesn't explicitly state why but since he is acknowledging it so maybe it has more to do with the Protomorph/Xenomorph not being perfected yet.

VivisectedEngineer

@Lawrence of Arabia

I think I just found it on Amazon. Is it by Simon Ward?

Nathan Adler

So if Elizabeth was still alive when he experimented upon her, was he just able to ignore her screaming at him for doing so, etc.?  That's rather odd that he wouldn't end her suffering sooner if he claimed to have loved her.

VivisectedEngineer

@Nathan Adler

I think the term "love" is kind of a nebulous concept for David.

Even in Prometheus he was very fixated on her, but mostly expressed his interest by inflicting suffering on her.

E.g.: Taking her cross necklace under the pretext that it "may be contaminated" (when in fact he just kept it in his utility belt as a sort of souvenir because he's a little sicky). 

Making psychologically tormenting comments like drawing parallels between her father's death and Dr. Holloway's death...and saying "You must feel like you're God has abandoned you".

...Spying on her dreams while she was in hypersleep, in order to get fodder for such comments.

...His entire reaction to her being impregnated with that...non-traditional fetus.

...David's version of "love" is a little...different.

BigDave

I think we need to consider David had become a Psychopath.

I would assume he started to get Emotionally unstable and he took Shaws treatment and care of him in the wrong way, he grew fond of her, this lead to more than Platonic and so in a way David thought of them as more than Friends and wanted to take it to beyond Platonic which must have freaked Shaw out.

David would have taken the Rejection bad... we dont know how many times he may have made inappropriate Advancements before Dr Shaw was so freaked out she maybe tried to get away from David.

But this could then lead to David being so much in Love, but seeing that now Shaw has become afraid and disturbed by Davids Feelings and Actions towards her that she would not want to be around him and he ULTIMATELY could have taken this Badly and he could not allow her to escape or to Live her Life without him being a part of it... and so Ultimately if he could not have her that way.. then no-one can.

I think many movies have used a similar concept, and indeed its something that happens in real life, i knew someone who was so in-love with someone who was a close friend, she did not feel the same way.. once this person had the courage to make a move and then explain his feelings, the Female was freaked out and started to distance herself.. it effected the friendship and then he got Jealous and picky when she had other interest of other Males... he got very bitter and hurt and well Love Turned to Hatred for her Fast... this is what Rejection did.

I think in part David had taken Rejection the Wrong way, i think there could be more to it than this... we also do not know if Shaw was ill... be it from Nutrition of other factors, we dont know if she tried to Escape and got infected or Ill while trying to escape or hide from David.

VivisectedEngineer

@BigDave

I think David's interest in Shaw was already more than platonic, long before she reassembled him, at least since the very beginning of Prometheus when he was spying on her dreams. 

-David's interest in Shaw may have been partly fueled by his resentment towards her romantic partner. Holloway was constantly condescending to and belittling David.  

-After he saves her from the storm and Holloway was berating her for her risky behavior, David showed concern for her and Shaw was polite to him in turn.

-When David found out she was pregnant from a recent encounter with Dr. Holloway, he reacted with jealous indignation. (Just watch his facial expression and listen to his accusatory tone when he says "My my. You're pregnant."

In the novel, he expressed a similar interest in Daniels, as sort of a replacement for Shaw. "She was my most beautiful test subject. Until now, of course.

VivisectedEngineer

Also, Dr. Shaw acted pretty well creeped out by David, ever since the whole pregnancy-diagnosis fiasco.

She also seemed to have some suspicion that he had a hand in what happened to Holloway -or at least, that he knew more about it than he let on. (When they're on their way to meet the Engineer, David reassures everyone that the contagion that infected Holloway is not airborne and she accusatorily asks him how he knows.)

Even in The Crossing, when he complimented her while she was reattaching his head, she scoffed and rolled her eyes...

It's hard to see how he could have misinterpreted her as reciprocating his interest.

But, based on his interaction with Daniels in the Novel, it's hard for me to believe that he cares one way or another about whether his interest is reciprocated.

Starlogger

@Lawrence Yes, I have that book...preordered it and posted about it the day I got it, in fact. YES, it is a collection of information and beautiful pictures as well. Almost as good as a novel with footnotes!

A L I E N 4 2 6

Mahaps the experiments were davids sick way of bearing children through her. Perhaps he views the Xenos as his children, hence him coddling the chestburster