WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS ahead for Alien: Earth episode 3.
The ending ofAlien: Earthepisode 3, “Metamorphosis,” leaves viewers with a mind-bending development that reveals what Boy Kavalier is having Kirsh do with the newly acquired Weyland-Yutani alien specimens. Strangely, it involves a small fish-like alien taken from a specimen within a Xenomorph egg and one of Joe’s surgically removed lungs.
AfterWendy, or Marcy, ran off to save her brother, Joe, at theend ofAlien: Earthepisode 2, the two fought the Xenomorph that had been terrorizing a plethora of characters throughout the first two episodes. Using her paper-cutter blade, Wendy successfully killed the Xenomorph by slicing its head off, but was injured along with Joe in the process.
While the closing montage ofAlien: Earthwas eerie and shocking, Boy Kavalier may have actually saved Joe’s life, much like he did with Marcy and the other hybrids, in his own twisted way. All signs point to Joe’s alien-infested lung being inserted back into his body and him living on, at least for a while, but the effect of the “experiment”, if you will, is wildly unpredictable.
What Boy Kavalier Is Planning With Joe’s Lung
Even upon an immediate rewatch of the last scene inAlien: Earthepisode 3, it’s hard to believe, and even more so to understand, what exactly Boy Kavalier and Kirsh are up to with Joe’s lung in their Prodigy lab. It is clearly an experiment, since neither of them has interacted with this alien specimen before, one that should spell disaster for Joe if his lung is put back inside his body.
The fish-like alien within the Xenomorph egg will likely take Joe’s lung as a host, which it appears to be doing at the end of episode 3. That means,if Joe’s lung is returned to him, he will have a Xenomorph growing inside of himand will undoubtedly die from it.
Since Wendy is “obsessed” with Joe, as pointed out by another hybrid named Curly, who records the procedure with a camcorder, Boy Kavalier could be using this experiment for scientific discovery and personal gain. With Joe dead, Wendy can get back to being the Prodigy innovation she was designed to be.
However, it’s no secret that Wendy is Boy Kavalier’s favorite of the Lost Boys, so he may not want to devastate her by Joe’s death (or may actually want to so that she’ll focus more on him). Since extending human life is kind of Prodigy’s thing, what could end up happening is thatJoe has no choice but to become a hybrid like Wendy in order to save himself from the invasive alien.
Why Wendy Fainted Again In The Prodigy Lab
Wendy, who is essentially theAlienfranchise’s Ripley replacement, heard the screeching alien on her way to the Prodigy lab, which pierces her ears and causes her pain. It’s unclear if she is somehow connected to the Xenomorph offspring after her encounter with the Xenomorph, which left her “bleeding” a white liquid, butsome type of unspecified neural connection seems possible.
Wendy’s struggle walking into the lab before fainting could just be a result of her healing procedure and an indication that she needs more rest to recalibrate. Her body twitches next to the Prodigy logo on the lab floor, indicating that she is not permanently dysfunctional. She will likely spend some more time recovering at the start ofAlien: Earthepisode 4. If she is somehow linked to the Xenomorphs, then she and Joe could be in a similar boat.
What Is Going On With Nibs
The other hybrids are given more of a spotlight inAlien: Earthepisode 3, most notably Nibs (played by Lily Newmark). Already freaked out by an alien attacking her, she also appears to be havingan existential crisis about her synth body and no longer being human.
Nibs is also unsettled by her new “home” at Neverland and the fact that she no longer actually has one. Because her human self is actually dead, she struggles to ascertain a grasp on her reality, surroundings, and self. While her despair could be in part an error that occurred during the consciousness transfer process, it acts more as evidence of Nibs' retained humanity, or a copy of such.
Morrow’s Plan To Befriend Slightly Explained
Morrow (played by Babou Ceesay) becomes a more prominent and complex antagonist inAlien: Earthepisode 3 after his encounter with two of the hybrids, Slightly and Smee. Morrow realizes these synths are not a threat when they strangely behave like children in adult bodies, which piques his interest in who, or what, they actually are.
Kirsh arrives to scare Morrow off and returns with the hyrbids, specimens, and Joe back to Neverland. Morrow, however, is able to communicate with Slightly after planting a bug on him, asking if they can become friends. As he does so, he does some background research on Boy Kavalier, suggesting thathis feigned interest in Slightly has much more to do with his actual interest in what Boy Kavalier is up to.
Morrow continues to confront Slightly with a riddle, asking, “When is a machine not a machine?” Slightly has yet to come up with a response to this philosophical inquiry, but whatever the answer is, it will likely reveal Morrow’s true intentions with their “friendship” in future episodes ofAlien: Earth.
