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As a part of his routine aboard the Covenant

before the cataclysmic event that damages the ship

the android Walter checks the stored embryos. Nothing special has happened by that point, the colony ship and its crew and cargo (~40 crewmembers, 2000 colonists, a number of frozen human embryos) are still supposed to be safe (not just presumably so, but actually safe and unharmed - unless I missed something really important in the plot, that is).

However, Walter finds one of the embryonic capsules tainted black and disposes of it in a container labeled Biohazard.

Why? What has happened to that embryo?

Is it supposed to be a normal part of the ship's operation that a few of the embryos do not survive? If so, why is it disposed of as a biohazard?

Does this have any significance to the plot?

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    I haven't seen the movie, but human tissue that needs to be disposed of is often a biohazard. extranet.fredhutch.org/en/u/ehs/hamm/chap6/section8.html
    – Forrest Venable
    Commented May 25, 2017 at 17:47
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    Based on my memory, it looked differently than the rest - presumably it died.
    – void_ptr
    Commented May 25, 2017 at 17:49
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    @void_ptr: Yes, I figured as much - but is that supposed to be a normal event among the ship's embryonic cargo?
    – O. R. Mapper
    Commented May 25, 2017 at 18:28
  • No help from the novelisation. That scene simply doesn't appear. "Time to check the embryo containment unit. Opening one of the drawers, each of which held a human embryo at a different stage of development, he sampled the readouts. All were green and, as Mother had observed, all was well. He allowed himself a smile."
    – Valorum
    Commented May 25, 2017 at 18:45
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    Walter did not look surprised or concerned when he tossed that embryo into the waste jar, so it seems to be within the margins of normal operation. Then again, he does not look surprised nor concerned the rest 99% of the time.
    – void_ptr
    Commented May 25, 2017 at 19:17

1 Answer 1

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The reason for the inspections is to ensure the health of the embryos. This one did not survive and was disposed of. Walter doesn’t need to hibernate, this was his duty.

Dead embryo

(Walter disposes of dead embryo)

His disaffected response when he casually discards a human life shows us his inhumanity.

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