WEBVTT - The Monstrefact: Alien, Part 1 - The Engineers

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<v Speaker 1>Hi, my name is Robert Lambin. This is the Monster Fact,

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<v Speaker 1>a short form series from Stuff to blow your Mind,

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<v Speaker 1>focusing in on mythical creatures, ideas, and monsters in time.

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<v Speaker 1>In this episode will begin a multi installment exploration of

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<v Speaker 1>the various strange forms found in the Alien universe leading

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<v Speaker 1>up to the debut of the new Alien Romulus film

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<v Speaker 1>in August. I previously wrote about xenomorph biology in the

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<v Speaker 1>article how the Alien Xenomorph Works back in twenty twelve

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<v Speaker 1>for the website how Stuff Works. That article is still

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<v Speaker 1>there in full, accompanied by illustrations authorized by the hr

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<v Speaker 1>Giger Museum, and as I work up to various considerations

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<v Speaker 1>of how natural world biology is reflected in or matches

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<v Speaker 1>up to the xenomorph, I'll likely draw on some of

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<v Speaker 1>the same ideas, but I also plan to touch on

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<v Speaker 1>various additional natural world and mythological connections, as well as

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<v Speaker 1>such sources as the twenty seventeen film Alien Covenant and

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<v Speaker 1>the excellent Alien RPG source books from Free League Publishing.

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<v Speaker 1>I want to add the caveat that I am not

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<v Speaker 1>setting out to wrangle all the lore here or to

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<v Speaker 1>provide you with a one hundred percent canonical take on everything.

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<v Speaker 1>You have no shortage of wikis and lore videos for that.

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<v Speaker 1>The Monster Fact Journey will touch on a lot of

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<v Speaker 1>the same themes and information, but will also reflect my

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<v Speaker 1>own thoughts and obsessions as a fan. With all that

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<v Speaker 1>in mind, let's start at the beginning with the Enigmatic Engineers,

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<v Speaker 1>an elder race spacefaring humanoids. The Engineers have largely vanished

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<v Speaker 1>from the portion of the galaxy traversed by twenty second

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<v Speaker 1>century terans. It is unknown what they call themselves, but

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<v Speaker 1>accounts whisper the names Malacak and Ossians, while informal names

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<v Speaker 1>such as space jockeys and universal pilots also abound. The

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<v Speaker 1>term engineer, used by doctor Elizabeth Shaw of the Doomed

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<v Speaker 1>Prometheus Expedition, has stuck in the few circles allowed to

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<v Speaker 1>know of them. Pale, hairless giants of uncanny statuesque perfection.

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<v Speaker 1>The Engineers are thought to have worn modest clothing on

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<v Speaker 1>their home worlds, but donned more exotic, biomechanical space suits

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<v Speaker 1>during their interstellar voyages. Suits that seemingly melded with their bodies,

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<v Speaker 1>fused with their organs, and via their strange helms, gave

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<v Speaker 1>them the outer appearance of a trunked elephantic head. They

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<v Speaker 1>were or are masters of not only interstellar travel, but

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<v Speaker 1>also biotechnology, able to generate new forms of life, program genetics,

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<v Speaker 1>master evolutionary process augment their own bodies and craft, terrifying

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<v Speaker 1>bioweapons beyond the scope of even the most advanced whalen

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<v Speaker 1>Utani weapon lab. Within the wrecked Juggernaut found on planet

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<v Speaker 1>LV four, twenty six, crew members from the Nostromo encountered

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<v Speaker 1>the long dead remains of a very large engineer, with

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<v Speaker 1>evidence of an explosive emergence from its chest, as well

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<v Speaker 1>as thousands of eggs. Prior to this, the crew of

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<v Speaker 1>the Prometheus encountered even more artifacts of the engineers, and

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<v Speaker 1>even a lone living specimen preserved in some advanced form

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<v Speaker 1>of suspended animation. The android David, one of the few

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<v Speaker 1>survivors of that mission, went on to study their works

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<v Speaker 1>more exhaustively, decimating one of their inhabited worlds in the process.

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<v Speaker 1>As such, we have much more to go on than

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<v Speaker 1>the crew of the Nostroma, but much about the engineers

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<v Speaker 1>remains clouded in mystery. Members of their species seemingly seated

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<v Speaker 1>the planet Earth with life long ago and as such

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<v Speaker 1>are our progenitors, and then much later members of their

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<v Speaker 1>species seem to decide to end that life instead. The

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<v Speaker 1>rationale for either impulse is a matter of debate, but

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<v Speaker 1>we find many ideas in the realities of human nature

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<v Speaker 1>and our own impulses to murder and create. We know

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<v Speaker 1>from various engineer artworks that they held their own form

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<v Speaker 1>in high regard, perhaps even worshiping themselves or deities drinpt

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<v Speaker 1>of in their own image. But they also held strange

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<v Speaker 1>and dangerous forms of life in seemingly high regard as well,

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<v Speaker 1>forms that resemble the xenomorphic creature spawned from their biotechnology.

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<v Speaker 1>Did they use their advanced understanding of life to create

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<v Speaker 1>life forms that reflected their dark beliefs? Did they harness

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<v Speaker 1>the raw biological power of some pre existing life form?

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<v Speaker 1>We simply don't know. The Alien RPG source book ruminates

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<v Speaker 1>on these questions as well as others. Is there indeed

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<v Speaker 1>a single engineer species and or culture or many? Are there?

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<v Speaker 1>Different breeds? Are there different casts? Is the space jockey

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<v Speaker 1>individual found on LV four to twenty six merely a

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<v Speaker 1>large specimen, a subspecies or something else? Again, all of

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<v Speaker 1>this is shrouded and delicious mystery, as it should be.

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<v Speaker 1>The Engineers are often invoked as gods, demigods, or, indeed,

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<v Speaker 1>as the invocation of Prometheus implies, Titans. The Titans of

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<v Speaker 1>Greek mythology were, of course, the pre Olympic gods cast

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<v Speaker 1>down by Zeus in the epic war known as the Titanomachi. Afterwards,

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<v Speaker 1>the gods imprisoned many of the Titans in Tartarus, while

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<v Speaker 1>others remained free. The individual nature of the Titans varied

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<v Speaker 1>from brutal Chronos to the culture bearing tricks, to Prometheus,

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<v Speaker 1>who in some tellings created human beings but is also

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<v Speaker 1>credited with giving them the gift of fire or fire technology,

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<v Speaker 1>and this is a common trope in many different cultures.

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<v Speaker 1>Even in invoking the engineers as Titans, a certain mystery remains.

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<v Speaker 1>Are they our creators? Are benefactors, cruel former masters of

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<v Speaker 1>the cosmos? Maybe all of the above. In the film Prometheus,

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<v Speaker 1>the engineers are explored in a manner clearly partially inspired

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<v Speaker 1>by the pseudoscientific ancient astronaut hypothesis, and I personally think

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<v Speaker 1>science fiction is the right place to deploy these concepts.

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<v Speaker 1>While the idea that aliens visited the Earth in ancient

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<v Speaker 1>or prehistoric times carries no weight in serious consideration of history, mythology,

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<v Speaker 1>or science. Please see our past Stuffable your Mind episodes

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<v Speaker 1>for more on this. It's all fair gain. In a

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<v Speaker 1>twisting tale of futuristic fictional space horror, the Engineers provide

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<v Speaker 1>us with a great elder race for the alien universe,

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<v Speaker 1>shrouded in mystery, ultimately unknowable and untrustworthy. In the films

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<v Speaker 1>that follow the life of the android David, they also

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<v Speaker 1>serve as a fitting contemplation point for humanity's own place

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<v Speaker 1>in the universe as a creator of artificial life and

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<v Speaker 1>an expansionist terraforming civilization in decline. Look on their works,

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<v Speaker 1>Ye Mighty and Despair. This alien centric monster fact series

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<v Speaker 1>will continue on Wednesdays, with episodes of The Artifact and

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<v Speaker 1>Animalia Stupendium set to return after that. I'd love to

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<v Speaker 1>hear from any alien fans as we proceed. There's a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of alien media that I haven't consumed, so you

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<v Speaker 1>may have additional details and your own analysis to contribute,

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<v Speaker 1>so send it on. As always, you can email us

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<v Speaker 1>at contact.

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<v Speaker 2>At stuff to Blow your Mind dot com.

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<v Speaker 1>Stuff to Blow Your Mind is production of iHeartRadio. For

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