How Intelligent is the Xenomorph Queen?

In this video I take a look at some examples and theories of the Xenomorph Queen's intelligence. It surpasses her drones, but, does it surpass humans?
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ELLEN RIPLEY TIER OF EXCELLENCE: Lady Anne ^^ö^^(Jessica M Kandal, PhD)
WEYLAND YUTANI EXECUTIVES: Nicholas Butta, Frank
QUEENS: Brandon James, XenoshadowMorph, XenoZip
PRAETORIANS: Gregory Ford, John Griggs
DRONES: Matthew Coleman, Stuart Hull, Tom Painter, Yunners
CHESTBURSTERS: Abrosia, Andrew Clarke, Anne Mac, BWXenogears, Colby Stiller, David, Frank Hrisomalos, Graham Paterson, Hazagul, Henry Misner, James Aponte, Joe Edens, Logan Wood, nitind, Nora Armozel, OC Steve, Pedrom Symons, Plantrobber, Rich Mellen, Robert Johnson, Thomas Watvedt, Tim Lowe, Trevor Schechtner

[@garthhancock3373]

Small detail I think a lot of people will miss because it's only noticeable for a brief moment about the elevator deal, is Ripley hit both buttons for both elevator banks. Hence the Queen saw the other shaft car open up and hopped in, then the elevator under the evacuation parameters rose up to the platform. Don't believe me? Watch it again for yourself and pay close attention with a keen eye. Now I won't dispute how intelligent the Queen is.

[@RonMarden]

Great catch. I think that's the most plausible explanation I've heard so far.

[@HumanHamCube]

I believe you. Ha I always felt elevators should respond to urgency (more times I crush that button the faster it should come)

[@charlesanderson533]

I just read your comment didn't realize you already posted this

[@c0t0d0s7]

I do that at work all the time. If the elevator doesn’t arrive within two seconds of me pushing the button, I lose my shit and start pounding the button while screaming “COME ON, GOD DAMN IT!”

[@jneilson7568]

​@@c0t0d0s7same 😄 basically impossible not to hear and/or say it when waiting for anything urgent.

[@faeembrugh]

I've had cats and dogs who were dangerously smart - and a parakeet who worked out how to use a telephone.

[@clinttaylor4032]

I prefer to hold that g

[@BigHeadClan]

Aye my first cat was like that could open doors (even one with round knobs), new how to unlock latches to get out of a cage I even watched him pressing the electronic button on a can opener we had on the counter to get my attention and ask for wet food after we had him on dry for a long period of time. Your Parakeet figuring out a phone is equal parts funny and scary though lol.

[@gabrielrodriguez821]

My mom's cat can open doors, to the point where she locks certain doors she otherwise would not.

[@Ag3nt0fCha0s]

Big deal; I had a pet rock smarter than i

[@jpa5038]

From the comics, it was estimated that a Queen has an IQ of over 140. That's significantly intelligent fully capable of a deep understanding of problem solving, adaptation and strategy. The Queen controls her drones through some form of telepathy.

[@danielefabbro822]

An average human have an IQ of 120. It's quite intelligent.

[@zealot777]

I always thought not telepathy but some form of ultrasonic communication, like a dog whistle.

[@chination1796]

​@zealot777 In the comics the zeno queen used telepathy to communicate with her drones & warriors

[@letsburn00]

Also interesting is that she's only a few months old in the film.

[@john-Ro]

@@letsburn00 (got this from ChatGPT so take it with a grain of salt) Newt's father discovers the Facehugger specimen on LV-426 on June 12, 2179. The colony then loses communication with the Weyland-Yutani Corporation on June 27, 2179. Therefore, the colony lasted for approximately 15 days after the Facehugger was discovered. After losing communication with the colony on LV-426, it takes the Sulaco approximately 17 days to reach the planet. This duration is mentioned by the character Bishop in the movie.

[@padawanmage71]

I remember getting the Dark Horse Comics Aliens #1 and found it interesting that the Queen was telepathic in ‘ensnaring’ humans to worship her and ultimately be hosts for her children…

[@jneilson7568]

Very Cthulhu -esque, the way she could affect sensitive people's dreams.

[@Sporkmaker5150]

There was a lot of silly stuff in the comics and novels, telepathic magic being one example.

[@VBSuper]

One of the interesting things of the game AVP 2010 was the Queen constantly giving Six missions to complete, through telepathy.

[@BeKindToBirds]

I think that was just representative, we do see them talk to each other in the movies.

[@VBSuper]

@@BeKindToBirds Yeah, it's reprentative, but the idea is there.

[@Dragonesa_Kel]

@@VBSuper It's not representative! It appears that he is telepathic, and the scientist himself says so. Especially in the first mission that Six had never met that Queen in person.

[@RevanBartus]

Queen was a survivor of a home invasion, no wonder she wanted revenge.

[@decibelfilm]

Stand Your Ground and Castle Doctrine only extend so far though - pursuing her intruders all the way into upper orbit miiight put the Alien Queen on shaky legal ground.

[@H1vey]

@@decibelfilm She could argue she was kidnapped lol

[@john-Ro]

@@H1vey She could argue temporary insanity considering her egg's got exploded.

[@Cyborg_Auto]

Her species invaded first , she was just a squatter.

[@H1vey]

@@Cyborg_Auto So she gets squatter's rights 🤪

[@justinriley]

I'm really hoping she makes her return in Romulus. We haven't had a proper Alien Queen since AVP or Alien Resurrection if you only count the stand-alone movies.

[@NotMorganFreeman.]

You mean the goofy versions of the queen.

[@ianthorpe1925]

I've got a good feeling about Alvarez's Alien.

[@Zeithri]

How about an Empress like in AvP2? ( _game_ )

[@kabirh3626]

Romulus= diversity woke BS

[@shadow-squid4872]

@@Zeithrithe Matriarch in AVP 2010 was so interesting to me

[@_JackNapier]

That moment when you realize the Alien Queen was giving Ripley nightmares in an attempt to influence her to stay away😱😱😱

[@jollygoodfellow3957]

Nope. Not across interstellar distances.

[@E.V.A.N-COProductions]

@@jollygoodfellow3957 Especially since in between that moment, the Queen didn't even exist.

[@michaelgarfield]

@@jollygoodfellow3957 PLENTY of Alien Queen communication across interstellar distances in the comic books.

[@_JackNapier]

@@E.V.A.N-COProductions When? Ripley started having nightmares immediately after being woken from cyro sleep, just because the Nostromo never found the Queen doesn't mean she wasn't already there laying eggs or is there an introspection I'm not aware of?

[@E.V.A.N-COProductions]

@@_JackNapier When Ripley woke up, they had claimed that in the what, 50 years or so of her drifting in space, that they had a colony on LV-426, at that point in time, the colony hadn't been infected. Presumably, after a few days, (after the meeting scene, where Ripley is in her room) They then told her communication had been lost with the colony (when the infection started) then, the queen is either born, or at that point, grown to a full-sized queen. We're not really given a measure when exactly that happens, but we know for sure, that the queen did not exist until the colony's infection, which is after Ripley was awoken.

[@TheCorpsehatch]

I need to re-read Earth Hive, Nightmare Asylum, and The Female War. They go into wonderful detail on how intelligent the alien queen is.

[@cahillp3]

Could you give me a few recommendations to read? I have never read any of the material

[@donaldpingleton2382]

​@@cahillp3start with Earth Hive and then Hive Wars

[@theparrishshow9803]

Any animal, real or fictional, that knows how to operate an elevator is intelligent enough in my book

[@robertagu5533]

Imagine the commercial to sell that elevator too "It's so easy an Alien can do it...!"

[@lisabagdonjones1950]

Came here to say that

[@ThatSoundedScary]

Not only that, but have the knowledge that their blood is acidic. That's pretty intelligent.

[@Killkillkilldiediedie]

You wrote a book too??

[@ferdinanddaratenas3447]

I've seen dogs and even cats doing that with proper training

[@xenomorphqueenqueenalien6501]

In Nightmare Asylum Queen showed emotions when General Spears torched her brood front of her forced her to obey his orders then she acted she was listing to his orders and he sent them to earth to fight other hives but Queen and her hive turned on him and outsmarted him he got what he deserved

[@jonathulhu]

I've always liked the idea of the Queen being telepathic and affecting humans. A nice little bit of eldritch horror in the Aliens universe.

[@t-800skynet8]

Queen Mother also can create nightmares for humans though she cares for those side with her😉

[@rojaws1183]

Especially as its on a subconcious level. The mind of the aliens are too different to humans to understand.

[@seanwhitehall4652]

yup

[@AmericanMephistopheles]

Moshi Moshi...Jesus Desu

[@Aquascape_Dreaming]

Nah, I think turning the Xenomorph queen into some eldritch horror that can manipulate humans telepathically as a norm is an awful idea when inserted into the franchise. As a form of primitive communication between the queen and her hive is however, fine. We see in Alien Resurrection how the queen, by inheriting human traits from Ripley's clone, is able to express herself more profoundly, in addition to inheriting a womb. This worked because the DNA samples they had left over 200 years after the events on Fiorina were damaged and had to be pieced back together and filled in where needed. They essentially created an abomination, an amalgam of human and Xenomorph. It was still a disaster of a movie (and the novel wasn't much better), but at least they had a reasonable explanation for the intelligence of the queen and her telepathic abilities. Important to note, that the only human she was able to communicate with and impress influence upon, was Ripley 8. Because Ripley 8 shared Xenomorph DNA because of the reconstruction process. The aliens should remain, for the most part, simple, sci-fi creature monster. I've never liked all the line crossing and muddying the details that they tend to do nowadays in film. Meta sci-fi has it's place. This one should remain what it was always intended to be: a creature feature.

[@williamcook3663]

Don't forget about the prisoner from ALIEN 3, Golic. Although he had psychological issues, he "communicated" with the Alien by knocking out one prisoner and killed another one, only to free the alien from the trap that Ripley and the other prisoners made for it. And as he freed the Alien, Golic asked the Alien, what else did it want him to do for it. At first when I saw Alien 3, I thought Prisoner Golic was doing this of his own accord, but with more thought on this, I think the Alien was communicating with the prisoner Golic before the Alien killed him.

[@2020-p2z]

I didn't consider that he was anything other than a murderous lunatic until I read your comment. But it makes a fair bit of sense.

[@eddieolshefski6467]

Makes complete sense. After all, Golic did develop a fascination of The Beast as well. So with that and the Beast communicating with Golic, the Xenomorphs have a wide variety of intelligence. No matter the variant.

[@BigHeadClan]

The Queen picking the safest spot under the cooling ducts could be chance or intent, the Queen from Alien Isolation also made the same choice on Savastapole near the reactor although we never see her in game. That aside the Queen was immediately able to strike a bargain with Ripley and call off her drones in the nest based on a few short actions. That wasn’t an instinctual reaction, she also presumably directed her drones to cut the power to the command Center before attacking. Other notable showings of intellect include the Queen ordering her drones to attack her in AVP to cause the acid to destroy the chains holding her. Aliens 4 Queen has Ripley brought to the nest to witness the birth of the Newborn which is immediately able to use rudimentary door controls and some form of language. At the very least the Queen has shown to have advanced problem solving skills a grasp on cause and effect and understand language in some capacity without training or prior exposure. Something not even the smartest animals are capable of. Personally I think Aliens inherit at least some of the memory’s and intellect of their hosts as the Runner from Alien 3 didn’t seem all that smart being trapped multiple times and was based on a dog or ox. This is also supported by Aliens 4, Ripley 8 wasn’t supposed to have any Memories of the original and it’s implied it was an unintended result of Alien DNA being mixed with the sample they used to clone her and she inheriting those memories thanks to the Queen.

[@Robert_Douglass]

It can be observed that alone, a Xeno is quite intelligent,because its survival requires it to be so. Within the hive, a drone acts purely on instinct or impulse, only following the command of the Queen otherwise. The Queen, likewise regarding her role in the hive, requires her intelligence in order to guide, direct, defend, and grow the hive. I think this suggests, and somewhere it's been cited, that the Xenomorphs require whatever intelligence their survival requires at the time. Its structural perfection must obviously include a highly modular brain structure with the ability to upgrade or downgrade its cerebral functions as needed to fulfill whatever role it needs to serve.

[@hagnerlands]

Aliens is among the 10 best movies ever. I wonder how miraculous it was to come up with a movie so good as its classic predecessor, while expanding it with new creative ideas so good that would make it a classic per se.

[@CinnamonGrrlErin1]

I wonder if Queens inherit some basic primal intelligence from their human hosts, and that's what separates them from the regular drone chestbursters.

[@t-800skynet8]

Queens are able to carry memories from hive's past memories

[@raptros]

Drones in theory are also extremely intelligent, but when they are "imprisoned" in the hivemind they kinda drop that intelligence in favor of a collective consciousness, take SIX from AVP2010, it's a game but if you think of Six's skills as an extention of the human playing it, if you're a good Xeno player always zipping around, have good reflexes and guns don't scare you because you know you can close in faster than a human can blink and a gun pointing forward at you is an open invitation to the back, you can, again, in theory see how intelligent a xenomorph can be. It's differen if you're playing a dino survivor for instance and you're playing a dinosaur and expect the human playing that dinosaur to act like an animal, it'll never happen and it will always break character because you will always see things that would not happen in nature. A Xenomorph is no animal. It's a literal biological weapon born from a human.

[@nintendojoe2958]

You said it before me! 😀

[@denifnaf5874]

Maybe the alien in 1979 alien spared the cat because the host loved cats.

[@juanausensi499]

@@denifnaf5874 It had no reason to harm the cat.

[@jcarley1]

Pure uncompromising terror. Cameron should do another Aliens film.

[@keefriff99]

I’ve never understood people who say Aliens is “just” an action film. Of course it’s not nearly as terrifying as Alien, but it still has some very strong horror elements that creeped me out as a kid.

[@markchristian3249]

​@@keefriff99 it's action only, not a single thing scary about aliens. But that doesn't mean it isn't a great movie!

[@LanceyKersti]

@@keefriff99 Id say its just as terrifying as Alien if not MORE.

[@norwegianblue2017]

@@keefriff99 Alien is sci-fi/horror/action. Aliens is sci-fi/action/horror.

[@bucknasty69]

James Cameron has unfortunately lost his touch. His last few films have been pretty crappy, if you ask me.

[@gonzaloNMF]

She's smarter than 85 for sure.

[@_JackNapier]

Nice!!! "Don't call me that." 🤣🤣🤣

[@blackcellagent]

Epic comment!

[@Amaroq64]

But I did have humans for breakfast this morning.

[@rprince418]

"WELL I'M ALL OUT OF IDEAS!"

[@RandyBaumery-s4i]

Ohhhhhhhh good one

[@veelkus5417]

Not to mention that in Aliens the xenos cut off the power before they attack. This was probably done by queen's order

[@theOriginalGamester]

Alls I gotta say is. Just finished Alien: Isolation. Amazing. Starting Aliens: Dark Descent tonight. Ready to take on the hive and the queen!

[@crowbar_reed]

I don't believe the Queen actually operated the elevator as such. I feel like she learned to get in the elevator after just witnessing Ripley's narrow escape, but then the elevator defaulted back to the top floor due to inactivity.

[@RonMarden]

I agree, Read @garthhandcock3373's explanation a few comments above. You and he make logical sense of the Queen's action.

[@S-T-E-V-E]

I prefer to think of the Alien Queen having a highly evolved level of Instinct rather than Human like Intelligence. Xenomorphs have no complex language or ability to pass on knowledge through education, their abilities are genetic and instinctual.

[@richt7525]

This is true if there is no telepathic exchange. Because if there is we are suddenly discussing language- or something rudimentary enough to even interface with separate organisms like dreaming humans. So if we consider the comics canon then intelligence is a given. What would be a more interesting question is: are the Xenomorphs sapient? And if so, how does that compare to the self awareness of, let's say, a human? Being intelligent doesn't necessarily imply sapience, particularly if their instinct is good enough.

[@BigHeadClan]

The Queen had a full on silent negotiation with Ripley, that alone is human levels of intellect in my books. An animal can understand cause and effect but it would have attacked or tried to flee in a similar situation not barter. AVP, Aliens 3 and Resurrections all seems to indicate some form of rudimentary mental or psychic link as well they can communicate. That said I personally think a lot of their intelligence is a result of inherited memories from their hosts. It would fall perfectly in line with their strengths being based in genetics and adapting to the host environment.

[@steverussell9947]

The Elevator returns to the top automatically hence why it wasn't there when Ripley got back to it.

[@BigHeadClan]

True Elevators are programmed to sit on a particular floor or pre position themselves in high traffic areas. Although the Queen could have just as easily hit a button by accident when cramming himself into the elevator, she would have no idea what floor Ripley would have gone to. The odds of all that working out in favour of the Queen is slim to none, everything points to it being intentional.

[@golgothasterror703]

i've been an alien fan all my life, but it is in this video where i too pondered the true horror of the alien queen, not only thinking it a badass beast but a sentient one, an intelligence potentially older than the earth, to think a creature like that exists solely to spread her domain of death and pain and warped fucked up sexual violence truly frightened me, i've got chills. there lies the brilliance of the alien queen and of the xenomorph species.

[@Fulgrim2]

I would believe she has some problem solving skills, to what extent is unknown and very dangerous considering she’s a bloody queen. As for the dreams? It simply be whatever method she uses to communicate with her hive messes with a person’s mind if exposed too long. As for the next being in the heat exchange maybe it’s simply the most comfortable place temperature wise at the plant.

[@imjustadog1897]

The queen from AVP was my favorite. She wakes up every hundred years to breed and when all of her brood is killed, she’s put back to sleep for another century. Based on how angry and vengeful the Ancheron Queen was when her hive was destroyed, you can just imagine how the Antarctic queen felt after centuries of sensing her children die and not being able to do anything about it. Having her children make her bleed to escape her bindings shows how intelligent they can be. Maybe it was Grid who gave her the idea. Likely her fallen children from previous hunts never managed to melt Yautja metal or passed the knowledge on. I don’t think that Xenomorph queens can communicate telepathically with humans, but if they could, I highly doubt it would be about working things out for the benefit of both species. Hoping we get to see another queen in action or see a yautja party capture one on the big screen someday.

[@t-800skynet8]

In the book Antaratic Queen saw her eggs and brood even her main son Grid got killed by self destruct that is why we see her angry as running in fast speed

[@brianevans6423]

Yes, I rewatch your videos.. Yes.. I love this channel.. but foremost I appreciate your love of this franchise, and all of your hard work putting all of these interesting theories out there. It's just amazing

[@Shadoweclipse1386]

I like the idea of a Queen's intelligence being a case-by-case thing. Maybe they've got a base intelligence, but the longer they live, the more mature they get, or the more outside stimulus/problems they need to solve, the smarter they get. Maybe colony queens genetically pass on things they've learned, if the species is allowed to exist in a place long enough, where successive generations are smarter than earlier generations (almost like the collective knowledge from *Other Memory*, used by the Bene Gesserit in Dune).

[@wtfsalommy3250]

The older the Xeno,the more intelligent it gets? Just going off of A1 & A2 Xeno life spans

[@DeSpaceFairy]

Elephant or Orca level of intelligence, self aware, assess and anticipate target behaviour, capable of complex problem solving, coordinate group's action, and spiteful.

[@jakep1979]

Higher than any animal on earth which isn't human. Whether you buy into that the Queen knew how to use the elevator isn't given. What is given is how she was able to sneak onto the rescue ship manned by Bishop, find a way to be protected from space and when she got safely to the main ship decided to finally seek revenge on Ripley. That takes lots of cunning and planning before seeking out the revenge. Not even a chimp can be this intelligent especially when he enters into a new environment where he isn't familiar with.

[@DeSpaceFairy]

@@jakep1979 Your views on intelligence is either too low or too high, with a little searching online, you found a enough example in the wild and captivity demonstrating, that at least for both elephants and orcas are ingenious and deliberate killers hold grudges for life.

[@HenryGreenEngine3]

I'm going to say the Queen had no idea the true function of heat exchangers and merely chose the warmest spot available for her nest. Then again, its possible she had access to base schematics or something?

[@t-800skynet8]

Any Queen needs heat and sleep to lay eggs she probably hasn't learned much about reactor other than it's heat to lay eggs

[@PandemoniumVice]

Could have been a sort of "inherited knowledge" like is discussed in Resurrection. That would imply that the Queen was incubated from someone who knew the layout of the reactor. I'd say either maintenance or a scientist who would have understood more in-depth how the reactor functioned.

[@DarthIckus]

In "Sea of Sorrows" (at least in the audio drama - I have to read the book again!) they discuss the critters setting a trap for Decker and friends in the silicon tube, and also that the Queen almost turned Decker by "getting into his head" and projecting thoughts and images and shit when he was about the blow her away with Adams's plasma rifle. I reckon her highness has intelligence, especially since the genetic memory aspect of their evolution became canon. They'd have to be pretty dense not to learn a thing or two from their host.

[@Franky_Sthein]

I think the Queen is highly intelligent, just not in a way humans can understand. By that I mean that was she does or how she does it will have result favorable for her hive and herself in the end. But to us humans her actions seem confusing because we don't think like she can. We see the slice, the Queen sees the pie (and eats it)

[@steven7936]

Smart enough to : OPerate an elevator , tell warriors to fall back when eggs were under threat from flame thrower, and sneak on board a drop ship and wait for the best moment to strike.

[@denifnaf5874]

And hide a couple eggs there

[@backwash69777]

Technically speaking, the queen never figured out how to use the elevator. At the scene where Ripley is at the elevator, there are 2 lifts and she pressed both buttons hoping that one would come before the queen did. (Facing the screen) the one on the right came up first, Ripley and newt made it before the queen got there and was held off by the last remains of the flame thrower. Seconds after the elevator went up, the one on the left came up and automatically opened the door, it's here that the queen put it together that if she went in there she will get them. Intelligent to a degree she may be, but still insect mentally driven. It's also I believe clever writing in design, they couldn't/didn't want the conflict between Ripley and Queen to end so abruptly after it started, so Ripley on purpose (survival chance and script) brought both elevators for escape and to bring the queen to continue the plot script.

[@ralalbatross]

The Queen understood implicit threat when Ripley pointed the flamethrower at the eggs and also attempted to catch her offguard.

[@darrancoyle8394]

Really enjoy this channel. Gives me hope that there might be a non-crap Alien movie in future

[@davidlasby4702]

Great video! I definitely believe the queens are intelligent. I sometimes wonder if it was Cameron’s link to the first film in which the Big Chap appeared intelligent, particularly in the alternate ending. Whereas Cameron’s Xenos seem mostly like bugs. Either way, I like it.

[@BigHeadClan]

Aye the Queen being big and intimidating is one thing. But it’s how smart she is portrayed in the film and how she is shown to actively be out for revenge that makes her truly terrifying for me.

[@quintonbaran]

I not only like the idea of an intelligent queen, I like the idea of an intelligent drone, which is implied in the novelization of the original movie Alien. I believe that the release of Aliens pretty much quashed that idea, but for me, it is very entrancing.

[@BurritoM87]

I've always seen a queen's intelligence to a drone's intelligence down to a case by case but with age as the determining factor. The queen in Aliens she does have a level of intelligence (i.e. opwrating the elevator), but the queen of all queens in Female War has the ability to peoject her "will" to thousands of people on Earth and almost influence "Hicks" into opening the door when she was locked behind when she was captured.

[@Ro-fw3lc]

Shes smart enough to know how to divide by zero /s

[@wtfsalommy3250]

Rome has entered Chat😂

[@HumanHamCube]

It's widely believed to be smarter than the dialogue writers of AVPR

[@Ro-fw3lc]

@@HumanHamCube believed? It's just factual

[@shadows.82]

I could only imagine if the Queen waited until they gone into stasis before revealing herself.

[@mr.voidout4739]

My all-time favorite Queen moment is in the AvP arcade game. You confront the tubby captain guy on the bridge of his ship, then you see a bladed tail slowly linger down and stab him right in the back. And there she is, ready to throw hands.

[@adammotschenbacher8473]

Maybe the elevator was on auto pilot. The queen just got in and rode that baby up.

[@she-venom9842]

Would loved to see Empress and Queen Mother in more Aliens games as Alien story Zeta Empress is still alive she is one of intelligent Empresses in her species in AVP 2

[@Siderite]

There was a nice episode of Love Death and Robots about a large alien hive that people discover and want to study and exploit. The hive is mindless, made out of multiple species all living together, but when it detects something unexpected is happening, it breeds its intelligent specimen, which is more intelligent that anything ever encountered and quickly deals with the humans. Maybe that could be borrowed by the Alien mythos: xenomorphs are perfect because they don't need intelligence. If and when they need it, the queen just becomes as intelligent as it needs for the moment. Just like the drones can lie in wait for a long time expending no resources until prey comes along, the queens can bury their intelligence until the need arises.

[@blitskreegdeantioch5851]

They cut the power.

[@YodaOnABender]

Please do a video on the genetic/cloned queen. Everyone talks about the newborn but not the queen herself

[@pmarkerson70]

I like the idea that the hosts intelligence and knowledge are adopted by the queen. So as the drones are borne from sicentists and military. That the queen takes these 'coded memories' and thats how the intelligence increases.

[@PELTIER5]

It's been a while since I've seen one of you're videos. Good to be back.

[@tiffanynajberg5177]

The queen is much smarter than your average DMV worker

[@we-must-live]

now that's just dmv-cist

[@tiffanynajberg5177]

@@we-must-live 🤣🤣🤣

[@ukmediawarrior]

I think the Queen in Aliens based her hive out the of desire to stay warm. I very much doubt she would have intricate knowledge of an atmosphere processing station :) I have always found it odd how Hadley's Hope was overrun by the aliens though. I mean the one facehugger brought back attached to Newt's dad maybe succeeded in laying its embryo and that embryo may have burst out of the guy and survived to grow into an alien ... but then what? That's just one alien. So ok the colonists go back and get more eggs, they must of to have those facehuggers in the medlab. But they wouldn't have loaded up with them and brought a ton back to the colony. So in no way can I logic this out that there would suddenly be so many warrior aliens to overrun the place and do all that they did.

[@imjustadog1897]

Probably because the first chestburster was the queen and the next batch were drones that could bring back more and more host for her eggs. I think it takes less than a week for her to produce eggs. She likely snatched up a few people on her own before she got too big to navigate in the vents, and her children helped her out once she went into egg laying mode.

[@ukmediawarrior]

@@imjustadog1897Hmm, could be. So they just had bad luck and the one egg that got Newt's dad happened to be a Queen? Assuming that there was an egg just laying in among the others that was a Queen egg, so we would have to throw out the similarities with bee's and how they add royal jelly to an egg to produce a queen. But ok, so the embryo hatches and grows into a queen, on the way it grabs some colonists and takes them to the APS? And no one notices? In that week where she is laying up, growing and producing eggs all alone no one wondered where the missing people went? No one checked where their ID tag things that were implanted were at on the scanners? And lets say that she grabbed 4 people on her way to the APS at the start, unlikely considering her size, but lets be generous. So ok she now has four warriors to do her bidding, finding more people. None of the other colonists saw the aliens grabbing and carrying them to the APS? None of the security force killed any of them?

[@imjustadog1897]

@@ukmediawarrior The first chestburster could’ve started out as a warrior or drone, then molted into a queen. One xenomorph could’ve captured half a dozen people in a few days. When the other victims that were brought back with facehuggers showed up, that increased the number of xenomorphs to the brood. With a queen coming up and producing eggs, the xenomorphs were bound to keep catching people since the tools and weapons they had weren’t strong enough to take them down. Hadley’s Hope wasn’t equipped to deal with xenomorphs. It’s not like they were expecting aliens or terrorists. The security team did try to rescue those that were kidnapped, but they got overwhelmed.

[@Volkaer]

Always wondered why Ripley torched the eggs after getting to the exit though - the whole place was going to blow within minutes, all she did was piss the queen off and remove any incentive for her to stay in that chamber, waste ammo she would need to get to the elevator, and waste the time she would potentially need to get to the evac point before the place explodes. Just a very strange choice on her part.

[@jneilson7568]

Catharsis. It was satisfying to destroy the mother of her nightmares.

[@joshuacampbell289]

The queen can be bargained with or even bullied into doing a persons bidding because it is capable capable of weighing risks and making decisions based on those factors. Like when Ripley threatened to destroy the hive if the queen didn’t call off the drones

[@davidplank7108]

It’s great to see content from the amazing RPG being included! I’d love to hear your thoughts on the evolution of the Abominations depicted in the Heart of Darkness!

[@JamesB-mg9pk]

I believe the Queen is very tactical intelligent. Looks like every decision or move is tactical and thought out and ahead. Would love to see more of the Queens intelligence on screen. Awesome video!

[@nathanb5579]

Love your channel. Every time i come back, i get sucked into the rabbit hole lol

[@warrenharris4467]

Hey, Can you look at the Alien Queen from the 2010 game ALIENS VS PREDATOR, Please.

[@badrabbit9703]

If we're really delving into this Alien: Rogue has some interesting implications to the Queen's intelligence as well. Pretty good book and worth the read.

[@silversnakeproductions3241]

I believe that the Queen is only as smart as the situation deems them to be(not just as a movie or comic but in it makes sense in a life setting). For example, in Aliens the Queen probably did choose the reactor for the heat and instinct but it also knew to call of its own protectors which showed great intelligence and reasoning. When the nest is destroyed it attacks Ripley off of anger and less likely instincts. However, it did not understand the danger of the situation with the site about to be nuked. In the Earth War they are incredibly smart as they have to be which is why they make their nests smaller and even the drones have to adapt.

[@TimothyMark7]

I wished we had more films or games or even live action shorts that show the xenomorph queen and her intelligence, I think to have more scenes showing human communication in the threat of danger like ripley threatening to burn her eggs if she doesn't back away would be fantastical.

[@MrRugbyloosehead]

This was a well timed video, as I'm about to sit down and watch my brand new 4 K version of Aliens and will watch all the extras and such,so a good night of TV ahead!❤😎👍

[@mik3952]

Love to see a VERSUS: Xenomorph species agains The Flood (Halo). Both are work of geniuses

[@josiahstoehr1297]

Thanks for the video, as always! I have a couple of thoughts: - The elevator in Aliens seemed automated from what I recall. As in, at the press of the buttom, they would come down and then go up to the platform. As Ripley ran from the Queen and reached the elevator entrance in a rush, she pushed BOTH elevator buttons, so that's how it opened to the Queen and how she was brought on top... a simple unfortunate mistake from Ripley's part. - I am wondering if in Alien³, the Queen embryo could already communicate with the the Xeno. That could be why Ripley was spared during her encounters with it during the events. Also, in the Assembly Cut, wasn't it hinted that the Queen was also messing with Golic's mind? It was truly fashinating.

[@LadyAstarionAncunin]

I think of how the drones, when they couldn't get through the pressure door, decided to take an alternate route (inside the ceiling). If drones are that smart, and the queen showed she was smart enough to know what Ripley communicated with her flamethrower (basically a bargaining action), enough to tell her own guards to get back, I'd say she's pretty intelligent.

[@jamib7970]

I’m sure others have brought up a similar theory, but here goes. In Alien 3 we see our first xenomorph not incubated in a human being. It takes on some of the physical traits of the dog that was its host. If the drones do modify an egg so that it will produce a queen, what if there are other changes to the embryo? Why could it not also tap the nervous system of its host and gain some impression understanding of things in the host’s environment? The use of an elevator? That this locale is warm and very protected? Scary possibility depending on how far that learning could go. “What you've done is taken God's oldest killing machine and given it reason and will.”

[@jeffmello4887]

My friend you produce the highest quality aliens and predator related content on KZbin. Though i cannot directly support your efforts every piece of content you create i view multiple times and always look forward to more thank you so much for all that you do

[@chanimpresario4968]

I never subbed you but your vids kept coming up. I fell asleep to them. I've subbed now.

[@AlienTheory]

I appreciate it. Sweet dreams.

[@AngryDuck79]

The one thing that makes humanity capable of outperforming the limits of our soft squishy bodies is our intelligence. Any animal that can defeat us in physical conflict, which is nearly all of them, cannot hope to overcome us in any way because of our intellect. That is how we win. In the Aliens universe, the idea that there's a creature that not only far outmatches us physically (there's no way a human could physically over power a xeno-drone with his bare hands; hell, he would be hardpressed to overpower a facehugger) but also outmatches us in intellect is a terrifying prospect and is what pushes Aliens from the level of slasher horror and into the realm of cosmic horror.

[@SpartanFlashSentry]

Now I'm just picturing the Alien Queen speed running video games and quick solving rubik's cubes lol.

[@Slowgroovin]

I would imagine the nest location simply had the correct temperature and humidity for the Queen. However, if the queen's host had structural and engineering knowledge of the reactor, she could've inherited some of that knowledge as an embryo from the DNA crossover.

[@LanceyKersti]

Queen is Definitely intelligent, i would say the Drones are intelligent as well. In the movie Alien the xenomorph was smart, and he beat Ripley to the escape ship without her even knowing. Many other examples of the drones being smart.

[@Hondarc51red]

Excellent episode!

[@t-rexraptor7553]

Hello Alien theory, love your voice 🤗

[@BigWired]

I remember reading the novelizations of humanity taking Earth back, and they really, strongly believed in the idea that the Queen was telepathic. I like to think she communicates like a radio, with the drones receiving her thoughts and instructions on one frequency, but not us, unless we dream and then kinda... stumble upon it, hence the nightmares so many people had when near a queen. As for how intelligent, I think any kind of intelligence just makes the race seem that much scarier. Like a drone knowing to regrow the hive if seperated by making captives into literal eggs, or a queen figuring things out slowly, methodically. It means one just can't go in there and blow them up the same way all the time. They grow and adapt.

[@Harrkin]

This was a great video, perhaps a good template for future videos; i.e. How Intelligent is/was the Red Alien Queen/Ripley Abomination/Predalien etc :)

[@scrappydoo7887]

Yea I instantly thought about the dreamers. That's definitely a very clever thing to produce

[@bigsarge2085]

Fascinating!

[@zoltanvereczkei6372]

I always thought that the Queen did not operate the elevator as it automatically returned to the platform due to the emergency. I imagine she just entered the elevator, doors closed on her and went up to the platform. Great video again though, thanks a lot! :)

[@Trailerparkbubbles]

FUCK YEAH! Trailer for Alien: Romulus is here!!!

[@venturefray]

I wish Ridley Scott and James Cameron made an alien masterpiece together.

[@chrisd2170]

How did Hadley’s Hope get overrun with facehuggers when only one was brought back from the Derelict? This puzzle just hit me the other day after watching Aliens for the 100th time since it came out.

[@RitaMcCloud]

Love all of the work you put into your videos dude! ❤

[@adammotschenbacher8473]

Does anyone think if the Nostromo crew just went back into hyper sleep and locked the door after the Alien was on board, they would’ve made it back to Earth? They would’ve survived but Weyland Utani would’ve got their bio weapon.

[@ROCKINROBIN7791]

can the queen mother or the worker drones gain the memories of the hosts after maturing? and if so, can the memories be shared with the hive. maybe that could also contribute to the queen using the elevator and stowing away in the cheyenne landing gear. intellegent? i say yes.

[@georgehouliaras7239]

I wonder if we ever going to see the Xenomorph King, I'm talking talking about Rogue, but the actual Xenomorph King. He has an action figure and he looks awesome. Like a Praetorian but even more terrifying.

[@johnhaleii208]

When Ripley goes to the hive to rescue Newt, the elevator automatically returns to the top floor after she exits. After destroying the nest, Ripley hits the buttons for both elevators. Taking that into consideration, the queen did not have to do anything except enter the elevator for it to take her to the top floor. I do like the idea of an intelligent queen, but how she learns is still mysterious.

[@Demigod_3scrub]

I wholeheartedly believe that the Queen chose the Heat Exchange towers , to support viable fertile egg growth.. Somewhere hot, with moisture and little light sources. It's perfect. Also in Alien 4 , a drone showed it was highly intelligent when it came to being inflicted by pain.

[@Boyer316]

Not long after the elevator reached the sub basement and Ripley had stepped out of it, the doors automatically closed and it returned to the platform level. When she was escaping, Ripley pressed the call buttons for both elevators and got into the first one to arrive, the queen didn't need to operate anything because it's automated but she did have the intelligence to realise that by getting into the elevator she could pursue Ripley and Newt.

[@jeremybr2020]

One part about this whole exchange between Ripley and Bishop and them wondering where the eggs come from, that confuses me. They conclude that there must be an alien queen. But wasn't there hundreds of eggs on that derelict ship? Couldn't it have been the case where the drone would've retrieved eggs from that ship and return them to Hadleys Hope? Or even take some of the captured people over to where the eggs are at, and when they have enough drones, they could transport many of the eggs to where the colonists are located. But for some reason, no one ever mentions the fact that there are hundreds of eggs on that ship.

[@stevennavarra3209]

There were no other buttons besides up and down, and we saw Ripley already press both elevators. The queen could also have just been following her scent. It already saw the elevator go up, so it already knew that much.

[@Emcron]

the queen was so awesome that i was disappointed that there wasn’t more queen action in the sequels

[@reecey1504]

8:51 does this explain Ripley’s nightmares in the opening scenes?

[@ryanmarquez3556]

She didn't manipulate the controls on the elevator, but she understood that the elevator would take her where she wanted.

[@bryondevine4224]

I wasn’t scared for Ripley or Newt until the Queen used the elevator.Thats when I knew it was going to a battle of Wits..Stay Frosty

[@seanjohnson637]

Hey bro love the videos they are really good love your love for the series and the lore

[@HumanHamCube]

Queen pressed the like button in the elevator.

[@syntaxed2]

I always assumed their inteligence depended on the host dna but well...too many unknowns of the acheron hive/original derelict eggs to make a conclusion. If David did tamper with the original derelict eggs or if the mutagen is part of their dna etc etc etc Its like every new movie adds more questions and answers none :)

[@Ant_105]

your content is amazing man keep it up