In an unseen story and sequence of events,
Rebecca Jorden, also known as Newt, suffered unimaginable trauma on LV-426,
losing her entire family to a brutal, unstoppable alien force. In the original
version of Aliens, we never actually meet Newt's family. By the time the character
is introduced in the theatrical cut, Newt has been found to have survived the xenomorph
outbreak of Hadley's Hope, and, we can assume, her family has suffered the same fate as all the
other colonists found coccooned within the hive. In the years to follow the release of the film,
more would be revealed about the ill-fated Jorden family. The special edition of Aliens depicts a
brief glimpse of life on the colony before the alien creatures would completely take over.
Newt is shown travelling with her father, Russell, her mother, Anne, and brother,
Tim, to the coordinates of the derelict ship sent by Carter Burke. Russell volunteers
for this expedition with the hopes of plentiful remuneration from Weyland-Yutani, not knowing
the dangers that awaited him. Newt and Tim wait inside the family tractor as Russell
and Anne search the ship -- once returned, Newt is shocked to find an alien parasite attached
to her father's face, while her mother screams frantically for help on the radio. The focus
of the film's story then returns to Ripley, but there would still be much more to tell of
the Jordens in the extended universe media. Aliens: Newt's Tale, the 1992 comic from
Mike Richardson, and Alien: River of Pain, the 2014 novel from Christopher Golden, delve
deeper into this unseen story. While produced years apart and quite different in many
details, the sequence of events leading to outbreak and last stand of Hadley's Hope are
consistent and don't necessarily contradict each other. Russ Jorden is patient zero to
the alien plague, and Newt witnesses the alien burst through her father's chest in
the infirmary in a gruesome display. Anne does her best to protect her children, hiding
within baracades of the sub-level storage area, which, of course, does not hold long. During the
attack Tim grabs a gun and shoots at an alien, succumbing to the burns of acid blood that
followed. This is heard, not seen, by Newt. Numb, Newt turned away, but still
she heard the scream—the last sound her brother—her best friend—would ever make. It's the fate of Anne Jorden that might be the
most deceptive in the telling of this story. In the comic, and the novel, it seems clear
enough that she's killed immediately after Tim. In the aftermath of the storage area
breach, Christopher Golden's novel literally describes her as a corpse, lying six feet
away from her dead son, gun still in-hand. Despite the vicious nature of the alien, we know
it's within their best interest for the species propogation to keep hosts alive, especially
if unarmed and not a substantial threat, such as Anne was. This is a trait of the
alien Ripley is well-aware of when she makes the decision to search for Newt when
she's captured by one of the creatures. And, it's within this section of the story that the
true fate of Newt's mother is finally revealed, at least, in Newt's Tale. The comic,
while showing the events unfold on Hadley's Hope prior to what's seen in
the film Aliens, also works as more of a straight adaptation of the film, credited
as being based on James Cameron's screenplay. Newt is taken to the hive and we see her awake,
cocooned with an egg nearby right before Ripley comes to the rescue, just as in the film. In the
comic version, however, Newt's eyes flutter open as she becomes aware of her surroundings, and she
looks over to see her mother, dead and cocconed across from her. She screams out in terror, crying
out for her mom, just before the egg hatches. Just like the other poor souls on the colony, Anne
Jorden eventually found her final resting place in the alien hive. There are a few possibilities
as to how this may have played out. One being that she wasn't actually dead after the attack,
but close enough to it to not show any visible signs of life. After bringing the majority of
the colonists to the hive for harvesting, the queen may have sent her drones out to re-assess
the aftermath of the storage area massacre, finding and bringing back those who were barely
alive, but still viable hosts. It's unclear from what's shown in the comic if an alien burst from
her chest, but, another possiblity is that she was taken there regardless. Gorman's marines find
no bodies, so whether certain colonists were killed in the last stand, or used as hosts, they
were still brought to the hive. Either as food, assuming the aliens eat humans, or, to serve as
contribution to the twisted, obscene architecture of the hell these beasts use as their home,
rotting away and fusing to the hive's walls. It's also a possibility that seeing her
mother cocooned right across from her was just in Newt's mind. Maybe
a fear-induced hallucination, and she mistook the body of another
dead colonist for that of her mother's. Newt's Tale, being based on Cameron's
screenplay, depicts scenes that were scripted but removed from the film, some of
which returned with the Special Edition cut such as the Jorden's discovery of the
derelict and the use of sentry guns, and others like Burke winding up in the hive
which remain as deleted from both versions. Newt discovering her mother in the alien
hive is a moment entirely exclusive to the Newt's Tale comic. It does not appear
in the screenplay, or novelization, or any other media related to the colony on
LV-426. Likely, this was something written by Mike Richardson, not James Cameron. I think
it's an effectively eerie moment, though, and I wonder if it could have worked within
the film version. Too many stops along the way probably would have hurt the pace of the last
act, and I feel the removal of a scene such as Burke being discovered in the hive was probably
for the best-- but, to have a brief moment of Newt seeing her mother last no more than a few
seconds, then cutting right to the egg opening, could have been pretty chilling. But, maybe
that's just too grim. Maybe Newt has already been through enough. But, what do you think?
Could a brief moment like that work, or is it better suited within the pages of the comic, and
only there? Comment below and share your thoughts. As always, I'd like to Thank you very
much for watching. I really appreciate it, and If you enjoyed this video, please make sure
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