Alien: Romulus
Alien: Romulusis the newest movie in theAlienfranchise, telling the story of a brand-new group of characters who find themselves trapped aboard a spaceship trying to survive an attack by a group of Xenomorphs.Romulusis one of the best-reviewed filmsin the verylong-runningAlienfranchise’s history, due to its storytelling, characters, and writing, but one aspect of the film that has garnered a lot of attention is the inclusion of Rook, a character who imitates the likeness of the late Ian Holm, who played Ash in the original film.
Rook is a Weyland-Yutani android, the same as Ash, and he also occupies a similar role in the film as a secondary antagonist someone who doesn’t actively work against the characters, but very clearly doesn’t have their best interests at heart.
Regardless of thecontroversy that Rook’s inclusion inAlien: Romulusgenerated,he is still one of the driving forces behind the plot of the film, and the situations thatAlien: Romulus' charactersfind themselves in are often due to Rook’s overarching plan for the station and its occupants.
Rook’s Plan Is To Get The Black Goo Back To Weyland-Yutani For Further Development
The Company Wants To Keep Studying The Xenomorphs
Alien: Romulusfeatures a return of theblack goo first seen inPrometheus, which has remained one of the most important and mysterious elements of the franchise since its reveal, and Rook’s plan revolves entirely around ensuring that it is retrieved and returned to the company.
The goo is stored in the space station’s lab, which Rook, in his destroyed state, is unable to reach, sohe sends the main characters off to fetch it for him, with the promise that he will unlock the station’s docking bays and pilot the Corbelan back to Jackson’s Star himself.
…Rook remains steadfast in his commitment to the company, constantly reminding the characters that they have to bring the vials back to their ship, never wavering from his purpose.
Custom Image By Yailin Chacon
The specifics of his plan naturally have to change over the course ofAlien: Romulus, as characters diein increasingly gruesome and bloody ways, and situations arise that the characters hadn’t predicted.
Conceptually, the plan remained quite simple, even as Navarro and Bjorn tried to escape by themselves, withthe main difficulty coming down to actually surviving the Xenomorph assault.
However, Rook remains steadfast in his commitment to the company, constantly reminding the characters that they have to bring the vials back to their ship, never wavering from his purpose.
Alien: Romulus is the seventh film in the Alien franchise. The movie is directed by Fede Álvarez and will focus on a new young group of characters who come face to face with the terrifying Xenomorphs. Alien: Romulus is a stand-alone film and takes place in a time not yet explored in the Alien franchise.
Rook’s Plan In Alien: Romulus Is Driven By His Primary Directive
The Driving Force Behind All Of His Actions Is The Same
As a Weyland-Yutani android, Rook’s primary directive throughout the entirety of the film is to do what’s best for the company, just likeAsh before him, and inRomulus, Rookbelieves that bringing the black goo compound back from the station is the best thing for the company.
While Rook has no real need for reasoning beyond his primary directive, as androids exist to do exactly what they are told and not much else,he does explain why retrieving the substance is so important for him and Weyland-Yutani.
Rook’s reasoning is that the Xenomorphs are the ultimate life form, creatures that are the pinnacle of evolution, but that humanity should be the ones to take that spot.
In theAlienfranchise, humanity is often not in a great spot, andRomulusis no different, with Rook explaining how the human colonies are dying, and thatthe black goo is a way for humanity to evolve and finally become truly equipped to deal with the hardships of living beyond the boundaries of Earth.
Rook Wanted To Use Andy To Finish His Plan
Andy Received The Same Directives As Him
Rook beganAlien: Romulusvery much on the back foot, having been ripped in half by theXenomorph from the originalAlienafter it had ravaged its way through the station.
He was in no position to accomplish the task himself, but luckily for him, he was able to use Andy to help him complete his mission.
The module that Rain and Tyler implanted into Andy was directly from Rook, and sohe was able to overwrite Andy’s previous primary directive of doing what was best for Rain.
Fede Alvarez’s Alien: Romulus features some truly terrifying and very scary moments with several scenes that will make you jump out of your seat.
While Rook had no direct control over Andy, the new module forced him to act in the same way as Rook due to their shared primary directive, allowing them to essentially act as one while Andy had the module.
However, he did still have leverage over Andy and the humans by way of controlling the station, soeven when Rain removed the module, Andy was still an important part of his plan to retrieve the Alien compound, as without it, Rook would not allow any of them to leave.
Rook Was Willing To Save The Compound At Any Cost
The Only Thing That Matters Is The Company
In another similarity toAlien’s synthetic character Ash, Rook’s primary directive took precedence over everything else, including saving the humans, the station, and even himself.
Rook’s threats of not letting the characters leave the space station were not empty, as clearly, the only thing he truly cares about is completing his primary directive.
While Navarro is being implanted with the Xenomorph parasite,Rook’s only piece of advice is to kill her before it hatches, and to not let her anywhere near their ship.
This aspect of Rook’s character is shown to its greatest effect inAlien: Romulus' ending, when he leaves Rain and Andy to be killed by a swarm of fully grown Xenomorphs.
Rain and Andy ask for Rook to open a door that will let them escape, but he knows that doing so would potentially endanger the compound’s safe return,resulting in him denying their request to leave and leaving them to die.
He then lies to Kay about them having already died, trying to manipulate her into turning the autopilot on and sealing their fate.
Why Rook’s Plan In Alien: Romulus Failed
Andy Was The Most Important Part Of His Plan
Unfortunately for Rook, his plan did not end up coming to fruition by the end ofAlien: Romulus, although it did come extremely close to happening.
The main reason why the plan failed is thatthe module that caused Andy to gain his new primary directive was removed, thus allowing him to return to his original programming of doing what is best for Rain, though Rain changes the directive to be doing what is best for both of them, which eventually includesAndy and Rain leaving for Yvaga III.
While Rook’s plan has failed for the time being, there is still the possibility of Weyland-Yutani getting their hands on the compound in anAlien: Romulussequel.
If Andy had remained fully committed to bringing the sample back to Weyland-Yutani, he would certainly have ensured that the ship was not diverted to Yvaga, and instead brought back to Jackson’s Star.
It is also possible that Andy would have abandoned Rain entirely, sacrificing her so that he could make it to the ship and back to the company.
Rook’s plan inAlien: Romuluswas hinged entirely on Andy remaining loyal to the company, so when he was able to regain his old programming, Rook’s plan had no chance of succeeding.
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Alien: Romulus is the seventh film in the Alien franchise.
The movie is directed by Fede Alvarez and will focus on a new young group of characters who come face to face with the terrifying Xenomorphs.
Alien: Romulus is a stand-alone film and takes place in a time not yet explored in the Alien franchise.
