Start:
Ok, I'm pretty sure I have nailed all of the mysteries of Prometheus.
Let me preface this with some important points to contextualise my hypotheses:
1. Prometheus predates the timeline of events in the Alien franchise
2. I believe the "goo" at the start of the film is different to the goo in the jars.
3. The engineer at the start of the film is on earth, millions of years before the events in Prometheus.
Now the answered to some questions:
Why did the engineers make us?
As Holloway alludes to - "because they could".
This leads to the next question - What was the point in making us?
Much like the reason we make robots, the answer is - to do something we cannot, or do something we can but faster and better.
What did the engineers want us to do?
The answer is quite simple: Evolve.
The context for this answer is that the engineer race is millions if not billions of years old and it is apparent from their appearance at the start of the film compared to the end that they have ceased evolving.
What is the goo?
The goo at the start of the film is a biological agent that deconstructs DNA and then recompiles it.
As the engineers cannot evolve further (and it is suggested that the engineers no longer reproduce sexually) the only way to create life is "sometimes to create you must first destroy".
Given such an act meant the death of an engineer, it is not unreasonable for such an event to become something spiritual.
Why earth?
I believe (and it is suggested by the orrery) that the engineers seeded many planets.
Why conduct only one experiment? You would perform many to advance the results and see different outcomes.
What is the black goo in the jars?
It is evolution in a concentrated state.
The engineers over millions of years developed the original goo further to a point where they did not have to destroy in order to create.
They progressed down the avenue of mutation, or forced evolution.
All experiments have variables, and all experiments have unexpected outcomes.
But essentially the black goo is a mutagen.
What we're the cave paintings?
They were an invitation, that once humanity had achieved a certain state of evolution (know by the engineers to be as far as you can develop biologically - as technically they have not evolved much more than us) we would then meet the engineers at this facility - where the experiment would continue with mutation.
This is why the jars are present, why the mural is on the wall and why the air is breathable (for us).
The pyramid was meant for us.
Why did the engineers want to kill us?
They didn't. Something happened 2000 years ago (Ridley has suggested that Christ was an engineer and we killed him which pissed the engineers off) that caused the engineers want to bring forward the experiment and mutate us.
Sometimes to create you must first destroy.
What is the result of the mutation?
A xenomorphic creature being highly evolved.
This creature is noted on the mural wall and on the ceiling (which also alludes to mutation / evolution).
This is also suggested by the mutation which Fifield experiences.
What happens to holloway?
The same thing as Fifield, mutation. However remember he only had a drop.
What happens to Fifield?
The purpose of the goo - mutation / forced evolution. Fifield evolves in a short period of time.
What happens to shaw?
An unexpected outcome of having sex with someone in the process of mutating.
The outcome being not a mutation but new life - the essence of the black goo in a life form combined with human DNA.
Cuddles is a rapidly evolving embryo.
What is the Deacon?
The deacon is the ultimate evolution of the human / engineer race.
From the mural it is apparent that the deacon is the epitomised, idealised and ultimate end result of their experiments.
It can be seen that the xenomorphs seen in the subsequent alien films are even further evolved versions of the Deacon.
It is important to remember that in the first Alien, the synthetic notes when they first discover the chestburster that it is the ultimate being, the pinnacle of evolution.
Something which the engineers were striving for.
Why did the engineers abandon the planet?
Because they lost control of the experiment, and either were wiped out completely or quarantined the area.
Why did the engineers visit us after the outbreak?
Because they abandoned the mutation attempts and decided to continue with the original experiment.
Why did they eventually stop visiting us?
Perhaps they have given up on us, or perhaps they were all wiped out by the mutation.
Or you could say that they intentionally wiped themselves out as part of their evolution and the engineers ARE the xenomorphs now.
Why and what is the ship on LV-426?
The same thing that was going to be done to us. A ship was going to a planet to evolve the species, but something went wrong.
Why are there eggs in that ship and not jars?
Because it is an earlier development of the black goo, before it was developed into a concentrated liquid.
Or if you want to go way out there, the jars were there so long that they evolved into biological material and the goo evolved into the face huggers.
What happened to the engineers head?
"It's cells in a state of change"
They sampled the mutagen, one became something similar to what Fifield was morphing into and went mental on the remaining engineers.
The beheaded engineer sacrificed himself as he was contaminated and saw what happened to the other engineer.
Why wasn't there a body of the monster?
Well, we didn't see all of the ship or the pyramid, nor did the crew of the Prometheus, so it's not surprising.
Ok, I'm pretty sure I have nailed all of the mysteries of Prometheus.
Let me preface this with some important points to contextualise my hypotheses:
1. Prometheus predates the timeline of events in the Alien franchise
2. I believe the "goo" at the start of the film is different to the goo in the jars.
3. The engineer at the start of the film is on earth, millions of years before the events in Prometheus.
Now the answered to some questions:
Why did the engineers make us?
As Holloway alludes to - "because they could".
This leads to the next question - What was the point in making us?
Much like the reason we make robots, the answer is - to do something we cannot, or do something we can but faster and better.
What did the engineers want us to do?
The answer is quite simple: Evolve.
The context for this answer is that the engineer race is millions if not billions of years old and it is apparent from their appearance at the start of the film compared to the end that they have ceased evolving.
What is the goo?
The goo at the start of the film is a biological agent that deconstructs DNA and then recompiles it.
As the engineers cannot evolve further (and it is suggested that the engineers no longer reproduce sexually) the only way to create life is "sometimes to create you must first destroy".
Given such an act meant the death of an engineer, it is not unreasonable for such an event to become something spiritual.
Why earth?
I believe (and it is suggested by the orrery) that the engineers seeded many planets.
Why conduct only one experiment? You would perform many to advance the results and see different outcomes.
What is the black goo in the jars?
It is evolution in a concentrated state.
The engineers over millions of years developed the original goo further to a point where they did not have to destroy in order to create.
They progressed down the avenue of mutation, or forced evolution.
All experiments have variables, and all experiments have unexpected outcomes.
But essentially the black goo is a mutagen.
What we're the cave paintings?
They were an invitation, that once humanity had achieved a certain state of evolution (know by the engineers to be as far as you can develop biologically - as technically they have not evolved much more than us) we would then meet the engineers at this facility - where the experiment would continue with mutation.
This is why the jars are present, why the mural is on the wall and why the air is breathable (for us).
The pyramid was meant for us.
Why did the engineers want to kill us?
They didn't. Something happened 2000 years ago (Ridley has suggested that Christ was an engineer and we killed him which pissed the engineers off) that caused the engineers want to bring forward the experiment and mutate us.
Sometimes to create you must first destroy.
What is the result of the mutation?
A xenomorphic creature being highly evolved.
This creature is noted on the mural wall and on the ceiling (which also alludes to mutation / evolution).
This is also suggested by the mutation which Fifield experiences.
What happens to holloway?
The same thing as Fifield, mutation. However remember he only had a drop.
What happens to Fifield?
The purpose of the goo - mutation / forced evolution. Fifield evolves in a short period of time.
What happens to shaw?
An unexpected outcome of having sex with someone in the process of mutating.
The outcome being not a mutation but new life - the essence of the black goo in a life form combined with human DNA.
Cuddles is a rapidly evolving embryo.
What is the Deacon?
The deacon is the ultimate evolution of the human / engineer race.
From the mural it is apparent that the deacon is the epitomised, idealised and ultimate end result of their experiments.
It can be seen that the xenomorphs seen in the subsequent alien films are even further evolved versions of the Deacon.
It is important to remember that in the first Alien, the synthetic notes when they first discover the chestburster that it is the ultimate being, the pinnacle of evolution.
Something which the engineers were striving for.
Why did the engineers abandon the planet?
Because they lost control of the experiment, and either were wiped out completely or quarantined the area.
Why did the engineers visit us after the outbreak?
Because they abandoned the mutation attempts and decided to continue with the original experiment.
Why did they eventually stop visiting us?
Perhaps they have given up on us, or perhaps they were all wiped out by the mutation.
Or you could say that they intentionally wiped themselves out as part of their evolution and the engineers ARE the xenomorphs now.
Why and what is the ship on LV-426?
The same thing that was going to be done to us. A ship was going to a planet to evolve the species, but something went wrong.
Why are there eggs in that ship and not jars?
Because it is an earlier development of the black goo, before it was developed into a concentrated liquid.
Or if you want to go way out there, the jars were there so long that they evolved into biological material and the goo evolved into the face huggers.
What happened to the engineers head?
"It's cells in a state of change"
They sampled the mutagen, one became something similar to what Fifield was morphing into and went mental on the remaining engineers.
The beheaded engineer sacrificed himself as he was contaminated and saw what happened to the other engineer.
Why wasn't there a body of the monster?
Well, we didn't see all of the ship or the pyramid, nor did the crew of the Prometheus, so it's not surprising.