"Now We Rule": How One Line Set Up the Future of the 'Alien' Universe

Last week, we all watched the climactic end of Alien: Earth season one, and heard the final line of "Now we rule," delivered by the hybrid Wendy.

It wasn't just a statement of victory, but a harbinger for what was to come in the series and in the franchise world.

Series creator Noah Hawley recently spoke with The Hollywood Reporter and explained what Wendy's declaration means, and why it might be in alignment with Boy Kavalier's "anarchist" worldviews.

Let's dive in.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

"Now We Rule"

When you build an entire season of TV around one line, you need to have a lot of confidence in it, especially if that line is a cliffhanger for what's coming down the pike.

It's safe to say Noah Hawley built Alien: Earth to be multiple seasons, and he wasn't too worried about betting on that.

All he wanted to do was deliver a great season of TV.

He told THR:

"Obviously, I had to plan and execute a story that that’s going someplace. And then, this whole thing is a proof-of-concept experiment to see if enough people on the planet want to watch an Alien TV show to justify the expense of a second and third season of an Alien TV show. So for me, I never hedged my bets. This is not a closed-ended season. This chapter is closed, but Yutani troops are landing. The balance of power has shifted. These children have no idea what’s coming. The last line of, “Now we rule” is triumphant and uplifting. But cut to 10 minutes later … what is going to be happening? So I like that it has that real-time urgency to it.
It’s also worth looking at some of the structural elements. I’m used to working with 10 hours and I had eight hours here. And because of the way the story unfolded, I had two-and-a-half hours at the crash site. Then I came back to Neverland for an hour and a half. Then I had a spaceship episode [the show’s fifth], and then I had three episodes to pay off the Neverland story. There was a lot that had to be accomplished in a constricted period of time. So there were a lot of structural challenges to make sure that it’s not only immersive on a character and thematic level, but that [the show] can set and pay off a story while setting up a future story. What’s gratifying to me from the critical response is that this high-degree-difficulty dive seems to have landed."

So, What Does the Line Mean?

In the season finale, "The Real Monsters," Wendy leads her fellow hybrid "Lost Boys" in overthrowing Prodigy CEO Boy Kavalier. After imprisoning Kavalier and the other adults who controlled and experimented on them, the hybrids, along with two seemingly tamed Xenomorphs, are in full control of the island facility.

When asked what's next, Wendy looks at her former captors and declares, "Now we rule."

You can take it literally, like, yeah, now they definitely rule.

But this is science fiction, so you know there's another layer. These hybrids with human consciousness have taken over where humans have failed, and maybe even tamed the most dangerous creature in the universe.

Are they the future and not humanity?

What if that's what Boy Kavalier wanted all along?

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

The Creator's Victory

For this line to work, you also need to show a real power shift. We want to be rooting for the hybris to take over. In order to do that, you need a figure like Boy Kavalier.

When it comes to him, Hawley was also confident in the way he's drawn.

"There’s this word that was coined in Northern California: Disruptor. Boy Kavalier has real anti-authoritarian issues from his father, and came into this world where there were four major corporations, and, in the span of six-to-eight, years became a rival to these people. Everyone else is invested in maintaining a status quo. And he is an anarchist, I feel like. So I think there’s something about this moment where he realized that not only has he created this immortality product, but that his best invention is this self-aware machine. If you’re Peter Pan and you want death to adults, how great is it that the children are going to rule now? Who knows what will happen? So I do think he certainly has a low point when Wendy holds up the mirror and shows him who he really is. But then there’s delight in the fact that she’s picking up the matchbook and is ready to burn it all down. It’s so exciting what’s going to happen next."

In a fun and subversive parallel to Peter Pan, Kavalier wanted to see "death to adults" and for the children to take power.

He craved the anarchy they're providing.

Wendy has inadvertently become the agent of the very chaos her creator wished to see. Her victory is, by proxy, his victory.

Summing It All Up

This is what I love about complex TV writing. You get a whole season to extrapolate meaning. Hawley is one of my favorite writers. He does everything with intention, and I feel like he layers meaning into every line of dialogue.

"Now we rule" is a multifaceted statement he planned from the first scene to the last. And the show unravels in a way to support that mission.

It's beautiful to see at the end and fun to be along for the ride.

Let me know what you think in the comments.