Lawrence of Arabia references...?

strella777
MemberOvomorphApr-27-2017 8:14 PMSo I watched the new prologue for Alien: Covenant, and I have been dancing around in raptures of joy all day. :) No joke, I am that psyched about David NOT performing horrible experiments on Elizabeth like so many speculated! Right from the start, I read his attitude toward her as being one of of affection, possibly even love, and now I am thrilled to see that I was not wrong! I've never been able to see him as a villain. Hurting, yes. Embittered, yes. Mistreated, absolutely. And definitely being used for selfish purposes. But I just could not get my head around him being truly evil. Of course it remains to be seen how his actions will play out in the rest of Covenant, but even if he does do something "evil," I get the sense that it will be out of desperation or pain, not simply because he is nefarious.
Which brings me to the latest topic which sprang into my head. It is pure speculation and there is absolutely nothing in the previews to back it up, but I thought it was worth mulling over a little.
I'm simply wondering how much David's obsession with Lawrence of Arabia is still influencing his psyche, and how much that obsession might possibly influence his later actions in the movie. (Specifically his apparent genocide of the Engineers.)
If The Engineers are in anyway responsible for hurting, or causing the death of Elizabeth Shaw, or even if David in "learning their ways," has realized that they mean harm to her and to humanity, he might very well take a cue from T.E. Lawrence. I think it's no debate any longer that David loves Elizabeth. Probably desperately, since she is the only person who has ever shown him an ounce of kindness. And I think he would go to any measures to protect or revenge her. If he is a true Lawrence fan, he would not only have watched the Peter O'Toole movie, he would have also read Lawrence's own masterpiece "The Seven Pillars Of Wisdom."
Consider the opening poem written by Lawrence to a person unnamed, but clearly someone he loved:
"I loved you, so I drew these tides of
Men into my hands
And wrote my will across the
Sky and Stars
To earn you freedom, the seven
Pillared worthy house,
That your eyes might be shining for me when I came.
The rest of the poem is a grief-stricken reflection on the death of the person Lawrence loved. Later in the book, (and in the movie) Lawrence commits a massacre of a Turkish regiment after he and his men come across the remains of a village it had rampaged through. The Turks had slaughtered women and children and burned the village. Lawrence was so horrified at the savagery, that he ordered his men to attack the Turkish column and to "take no prisoners." They killed nearly 2,000 Turks.
How far would David go to "earn" Elizabeth "freedom?" (From the Engineers? From sickness? From death?) I think it would appeal to his ego to "write his will across the sky and stars." And it would certainly thrill him to see her "eyes shining for him when he came."
Even more importantly, how far would he go to avenge her death if his version of the Turks slaughtered or mutilated her? To whom would he look for answers? My guess would be to the only man he ever admired, T.E. Lawrence. And the answer he would receive would be to "take no prisoners."
Cue bombardment with black goo...
Anyway, I know, a truckload of speculation and lot Lawrence geeking-out, but I just couldn't help myself. :)

Starlogger
MemberChestbursterApr-27-2017 9:26 PMI like it! Not a HUGE Lawrence fan, so I'll have to explore that work more. Never got through the book, unfortunately. Thanks for the insight!