Alien: Earth's 'Now We Rule' Line Explained By Creator Noah Hawley

This post contains major spoilers for FX's "Alien: Earth."

Noah Hawley's "Alien: Earth" ends with an emphatic declaration. "Now we rule," says hybrid Wendy (Sydney Chandler), right after she locks up five morally ambiguous adults with the help of her brother, Joe (Alex Lawther). Among them is her creator and Prodigy leader Boy Kavalier (Samuel Blenkin), who is quick to realize that he cannot manipulate Wendy anymore. Thanks to her newly learned ability to communicate with Xenomorphs, Wendy is now in control of the status quo to the point that she can completely demolish the aspirations of other global corporations. However, she says this as Weyland-Yutani troops arrive at the island, possibly with the intention of confiscating the creatures and taking advantage of Kavalier's compromised position as a prisoner.

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Hawley explained what Wendy's declaration means, and why it might be in alignment with Kavalier's "anarchist" worldviews despite not coming from an opportunistic place:

"Boy Kavalier has real anti-authoritarian issues from his father, and came into this world where there were four major corporations, and, in the span of six to eight years, became a rival to these people. Everyone else is invested in maintaining the status quo. And he is an anarchist, I feel like. So I think there's something about this moment where he realized that not only has he created this immortality product, but that his best invention is this self-aware machine. If you're Peter Pan and you want death to adults, how great is it that the children are going to rule now?"

The show's "Peter Pan" parallels have been pretty blatant since the first episode, and Wendy's declaration inadvertently validates Kavalier's obsession with letting children have the onus (as opposed to adults). But what does this mean for the show's future?

In the season finale, Kavalier reveals that his deep-rooted hatred for adults stems from the trauma of having an abusive father. Forced to take matters into his own hands, Kavalier had to kill this violent authority figure with a synthetic he had built as a child. This explains why Kavalier chose dying kids as test subjects for his revolutionary hybrid project, as he holds them in higher regard than he does most adults. But Kavalier's intentions are far from pure, as he views his creations as stepping stones for his ambitions and is dismissive of human life (or artificial ones, for that matter). Wendy emerges as the unintended anomaly, but Kavalier underestimates her ability to empathize, which leads to his predicament towards the end.

This recontextualizes Wendy's "Now we rule" line, as it is perfectly in keeping with what Kavalier wants to establish, even though his intent is more morally dubious than that of Wendy's. Hawley explains Kavalier's triumph by proxy in the same interview, possibly teasing the advent of a more lawless world once Wendy shatters the equilibrium:

"I do think he certainly has a low point when Wendy holds up the mirror and shows him [Kavalier] who he really is. But then there's delight in the fact that she's picking up the matchbook and is ready to burn it all down. It's so exciting what's going to happen next."

Wendy's motivations might not stem from ill will, but Yutani's (Sandra Yi Sencindiver) presence complicates matters, as she is an adept businesswoman who knows how to exploit situations in her favor. Even with aliens at her command, Wendy has a difficult path ahead of her, as the natures of apex predators cannot be infinitely deferred with nurture.