Since 1979, the Alien movies have left an enduring idea in our minds about a realistic and decidedly fraught state of affairs in the future. But what created this famously grim status quo? With Prometheus and Alien: Covenant, Ridley Scott gave us a glimpse of this future history of the years 2093 and 2104. But neither of those films spent much time on Earth, and neither fully caught up with the 2120s of the original Alien.
But now, with Alien: Earth, we’re finally learning exactly what happened to Earth in the future, and why only a handful of corporations — not countries — rule the entire world. In Alien: Earth Episode 4, “Observation,” one character gives us a brief history lesson of “the five” and how both Prodigy and Weyland-Yutani fit in. Mild spoilers ahead.
