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Dr. Shaw (and her boy friend) told the crew of Prometheus in their presentation that Engineers left - as far back as 35,000 years - clues as to the location of their planet in the form of a star pattern in images found all over the globe.

"They want us to find them" - Dr. Elizabeth Shaw

Enter image description here

When they researched the pattern, they found LV-223.

Except that:

  • LV-223 was NOT their home planet, it was their secret military base dedicated to project "Kill 'em all!"

  • The base on LV-223 looked to be a temporary installation from 2000 years ago, NOT a permanent colony from 35,000+ years ago (I don't have canon proof, just the impression I got from the movie).

It seems like the wrong place to leave directions to on both accounts.

Is there some canon explanation (movie detail I missed, interviews/deleted scenes) that explain this seeming contradiction?

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  • Maybe this was the planet the were seeding life from (rather than from their home planet)? And it was more a biological research station with a military presence than a strict military station?
    – thegrinner
    Jul 1, 2013 at 14:59
  • It may not have been originally been a 'secret military base' when the message was sent. Perhaps it was an experimental genetic research lab, where they made humans and others? I actually think the writing was pretty decent, if it was so bad, there may not have been so many people contemplating what the meaning of the events in the movie are. On the other hand, Lindelof's star trek into darkness was the worst kind of drek.
    – Mark Rogers
    Nov 9, 2014 at 2:14

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The only thing we know from the movie is that about 2000 years before the crew arrive at the planet some Engineers were planning on using the black liquid to destroy life on Earth.

The military base was certainly not a "secret" as primitive cultures dating back 35000 years were told about its location by the Engineers.

It is safe to assume that the Engineers did not always intend to "kill 'em all" but that at some point prior to 2000 years before the crew arrive they changed their viewpoint on humanity. Shaw and David say as much at the end of the movie

Shaw: "They created us. Then they tried to kill us. They changed their minds. I deserve to know why."

David:...Does it matter why they changed their minds?

As far as why they told them the location of one of their outposts, rather than their home planet we can only speculate, though it seems likely that it was just a precaution.

Note: I reviewed the scene that had the "invitations" from the primitive cultures and all but one* of the drawings were dated BCE (from before when we know that the Engineer's at the outpost were attempting to kill all humans). This seems to corroborate the theory that these drawings really were invitations to meet, and that the Engineer's just hadn't changed their minds about us yet.

The last is Hawaiian, and is dated 680 CE which does not make much sense in any interpretation of the movie.

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