In the 45 years of the Alien franchise, most films start with a large cast, and then by the end, you’re left with a handful (or one). Only Ellen Ripley and her cat Jones survived the Nostromo in Alien, and only she, Newt, Bishop, and Hicks survived Aliens. Ok, so three of those died in their cryo-sleep between the second and third movies, so maybe we don’t count them. (We’re still bitter about that). But in short, most folks don’t survive their encounter with the Xenomorph. And Alien: Romulus is no different. Here’s the kill count for the latest installment, as well as who survived to the finale.
The Victims
Navarro (Aileen Wu)
When the crew of the Corbelan accidentally awakens the alien facehuggers, the evil critters scramble for a host to plant their eggs. The first victim is Navarro, the pilot of the cargo ship. In traditional Alien fashion, once the facehugger plants its eggs, the offspring bursts out of Navarro’s chest and scurries away. RIP Navarro. We don’t know your first name, but you seemed the coolest of the crew. But someone had to go first.
Bjorn (Spike Fearn)
Navarro’s boyfriend Bjorn had a very thick Cockney accent, so we didn’t always know what he was saying. But we really didn’t like him anyway, he kind of seemed like a jerk. Sorry, you just can’t be that mean to lovable android Andy (David Jonsson) and have us like you. In any event, he stumbles on the gestating Xenomorph as it grows to maturity, and he dies when its acid blood drips all over him. Even he didn’t deserve such a gnarly fate.
Tyler (Archie Renaux)
Tyler is next on the Romulus kill-list. When the Xenomorph takes his sister Kay (Isabela Merced), he goes after it in hopes of saving her. Rain (Cailee Spaeny) finds his sister Kay alive, and then the Xenomorph goes to kill Rain. Tyler jumps in front of the attack and the Xenomorph impales him on its tail. He doesn’t die right away and is dragged into the Xenomorph den where he gets a Xeno appendage right to the head.
Kay (Isabela Merced)
Poor Kay. She got pregnant by some jerk she clearly didn’t even like on the planet Jackson’s Star, decided to leave that hellhole, then endures the grossest death of all in Romulus. After narrowly surviving the Xenomorph attack, she chooses to use the experimental Prometheus formula on herself to increase her chances of survival. Unfortunately, it transforms her DNA and she gives birth to an egg that hatches a terrifying part human/part Engineer/part Xenomorph offspring. As if that wasn’t bad enough, it then drains its own mother of her blood, killing her. Usually, pregnant women, children, and pets are safe in horror movies. But not in this one.
Rook (Ian Holm/Daniel Betts)
Rook is a Weyland-Yutani synthetic, a scientist working in the Romulus lab on the space station. He’s the same model android as Ash from Alien (played by the late Ian Holm) and also a worker in their science division. As a synthetic, he was cut in half by the Xenomorph, but he survived—barely. He finally dies for real when the station is ripped apart by the rocks of Jackson’s Star’s rings. Considering he’s the movie’s actual villain, he deserved a grislier fate if you ask us.
The Survivors
Rain (Cailee Spaeny) and Andy (David Jonsson)
That leaves our two survivors, escaping on the Corbelan—Rain and her synthetic brother Andy. The Xenomorph injures Andy badly, but he clings to synthetic life at the end. The pair get away after destroying the Kay’s grotesque hybrid offspring and slipping into cryo-pods, hoping to sleep their way to a better world. Given this franchise, we doubt they’ll wake up to anything pleasant.