7

Motivation: I was watching Wall-E with my daughters (again) and there was a part where the Storm came upon them both, and Eve was caught up badly. I thought "how would she have survived without native/local help?"

This has stayed with me, and I keep seeing things that suggest there were many (many) probes sent, that few returned, but that all were intended (possibly by Auto) to fail.

I'm suspecting that Wall-E saved Eve as much as she saved him.

Question: Was Eve engineered to fail? Was she sent there with the intention that she would be destroyed?

I'm not talking about "not sending her and saying you did" but I am talking about subtle but 99.99% effective planned obsolescence. It is clear that Auto can command robots against the explicit wishes of the Captain and therefore all other human beings, and it is clear that Auto is trying as hard as possible to never ever go back to earth.

Details:

Things that suggest failure:

  • Eve carries a very big gun and she is a "shoot first ask questions later". That is a great way to blow up something fragile like a plant. The scene with the tankers shows the level of destruction she can casually and remorselessly inflict. That is not "scientist" equipment, but it really is "blow everything up" equipment.
  • the flight tracks suggest the probe delivery vehicle and eve-like probes have visited earth enough to carve vast canyons with their thrust-wakes. There is an alternate question that could be asked why Wall-E hadn't seen the landing before, but that is not this question.
  • they send ships with (five?) multiples of the probe. Why would they need more than one if Eve made it back all the time?
  • The captain says that they never come back with a sample, but they have been going for 700+ years. In the final picture, back from the city, there are many plants shown.
  • She is unprepared for the storm, having no advanced warning. When in the storm she has no navigation and struggles to even gain bearing. In order to endure it, she is taken into Wall-E's "home". Without that shelter, and given her lack of protection, given how overwhelmed she is, and how destructive the storm is, her damage/loss is a reasonable expectation.
Improve this question
12
  • 7
    The plants appear to be growing in a relatively small area. I think the implication is that the planet has recently become sufficiently restored that it can sustain life again.
    – Valorum
    Jun 30, 2021 at 17:03
  • 2
    I'm asking about intention for one character. This isn't about the pea plant. I'm wondering if Wall-E saved Eve as much as Eve saved Wall-E?
    – EngrStudent
    Jul 1, 2021 at 11:31
  • 2
    Are you asking if Auto was the one who maybe engineered the failure? Or if Eve was intended to be unsuccessful by the story writers? It would be helpful to edit the title to be super clear.
    – AncientSwordRage ♦
    Jul 1, 2021 at 11:47
  • 2
    @AncientSwordRage - I'm at a loss how to answer this jumbled mass of questions in any coherent way. No, Eve isn't being set up for failure by Auto. No, she's not been designed to fail because of her arsenal of destruction, she's merely the Cadillac of space exploration. Multiple EVE probes were sent because they want to cover a reasonable area each time. No, there's no sign that other EVEs have come back with samples in the past. No, she wouldn't have been destroyed by the storm if Wall-E wasn't there, etc etc etc/
    – Valorum
    Jul 11, 2021 at 16:21
  • 2
    And I'm not through even half the questions being asked here.
    – Valorum
    Jul 11, 2021 at 16:21

0

Reset to default

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.

Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.