On the bluray there are multiple screenshots of versions of both Spaihts & Lindelofs scripts. I have transcribed some of it below. Very interesting to see the different styles of writing on essentially the same scene.
FYI some sections were missing as noted.
Spaihts version
The Engineer removes his helmet.
His revealed head is as handsome as the helmet is grotesque. Heavy-featured like a Greek statue. The hairless skin bone-white, the serene eyes entirely black.
The Engineer extends a hand to the dark opening.
BLACK INSECTS boil out and swarm over his glove. Glittering scarabs that chitter and bite. The swarm grows.
Under the swarm his hand dwindles and melts away. They are devouring him.
FLASH ON:
A fevered glimpse of the microscopic: cells rupture and bleed. Protein chains unfold. A DNA spiral unravels.
The scarabs fill their bellies with genetic material.
ON THE ENGINEER
As he spreads his arms. Stands cruciform, his head lifted.
His arm is engulfed by the swarm. His hand is gone, his forearm dwindling. The swarm reaches his shoulder.
The Engineers serenity falters. A flicker of troubled thought. He turns his head. Looks up.
Behind him a PYRAMID hangs in the sky, huge and ominous. It recalls the Aztec, the Inca, the Egyptian...but its dark surface is ribbed and veined almost organically.
(section missing)
Where the Engineer fell, nothing remains.
The pyramid drifts weightlessly away across the sea.
EXT. FOREST - DAY
Majestic old-growth trees. A pristine wilderness.
At the foot of a giant tree, a PRIMITIVE MAN squats, digging grubs out of the bark with a sharpened stone.
Lindelof version
The Elder rises, joins the other Engineer. One last look between the three -- a sense of IMPORTANCE -- Something MEANINGFUL is about to happen here. And then --
The TWO ENGINEERS depart -- Walking back up the GANGPLANK into that enormous VESSEL that we NEVER SEE. And as we begin to hear the IDLING HUM of a RISING ENGINE --
The Engineer left behind slowly begins to remove his clothing. Somehow...there is something SAD about it.
Now the MIGHTY SOUND of SOMETHING LIFTING UP AND AWAY -- The Engineer lifting his face to watch the DEPARTING SHADOW as he removes the last of his clothes, PULLING BACK as it goes as we REVEAL --
The lone Engineer stands a hundred feet from the precipice of a MIGHTY WATERFALL. Breathtaking in its SHEER POWER.
(section missing)
He CLOSES HIS EYES NOW -- deep REVERENCE -- A CLEAR CEREMONY to this as he slowly opens his mouth, lifts the cake into his mouth as if taking communion...
And swallows it.
A moment as the Engineer takes in the pastoral beauty of all that surrounds him. Pure calm. The sound of the rushing water. The ORANGE LIGHT of the setting sun.
And then.
HE CONVULSES. Violent. FRIGHTENING. CLOSE ON THE ENGINEER'S EYES as they suddenly go DARK BLACK -- He PITCHES FORWARD, CLUTCHING HIS STOMACH -- TREMENDOUS PAIN.
His body starts to CONTORT -- JESUS -- We hear his BONES CRACK FROM THE INSIDE -- or are they GROWING?!?
FYI some sections were missing as noted.
Spaihts version
The Engineer removes his helmet.
His revealed head is as handsome as the helmet is grotesque. Heavy-featured like a Greek statue. The hairless skin bone-white, the serene eyes entirely black.
The Engineer extends a hand to the dark opening.
BLACK INSECTS boil out and swarm over his glove. Glittering scarabs that chitter and bite. The swarm grows.
Under the swarm his hand dwindles and melts away. They are devouring him.
FLASH ON:
A fevered glimpse of the microscopic: cells rupture and bleed. Protein chains unfold. A DNA spiral unravels.
The scarabs fill their bellies with genetic material.
ON THE ENGINEER
As he spreads his arms. Stands cruciform, his head lifted.
His arm is engulfed by the swarm. His hand is gone, his forearm dwindling. The swarm reaches his shoulder.
The Engineers serenity falters. A flicker of troubled thought. He turns his head. Looks up.
Behind him a PYRAMID hangs in the sky, huge and ominous. It recalls the Aztec, the Inca, the Egyptian...but its dark surface is ribbed and veined almost organically.
(section missing)
Where the Engineer fell, nothing remains.
The pyramid drifts weightlessly away across the sea.
EXT. FOREST - DAY
Majestic old-growth trees. A pristine wilderness.
At the foot of a giant tree, a PRIMITIVE MAN squats, digging grubs out of the bark with a sharpened stone.
Lindelof version
The Elder rises, joins the other Engineer. One last look between the three -- a sense of IMPORTANCE -- Something MEANINGFUL is about to happen here. And then --
The TWO ENGINEERS depart -- Walking back up the GANGPLANK into that enormous VESSEL that we NEVER SEE. And as we begin to hear the IDLING HUM of a RISING ENGINE --
The Engineer left behind slowly begins to remove his clothing. Somehow...there is something SAD about it.
Now the MIGHTY SOUND of SOMETHING LIFTING UP AND AWAY -- The Engineer lifting his face to watch the DEPARTING SHADOW as he removes the last of his clothes, PULLING BACK as it goes as we REVEAL --
The lone Engineer stands a hundred feet from the precipice of a MIGHTY WATERFALL. Breathtaking in its SHEER POWER.
(section missing)
He CLOSES HIS EYES NOW -- deep REVERENCE -- A CLEAR CEREMONY to this as he slowly opens his mouth, lifts the cake into his mouth as if taking communion...
And swallows it.
A moment as the Engineer takes in the pastoral beauty of all that surrounds him. Pure calm. The sound of the rushing water. The ORANGE LIGHT of the setting sun.
And then.
HE CONVULSES. Violent. FRIGHTENING. CLOSE ON THE ENGINEER'S EYES as they suddenly go DARK BLACK -- He PITCHES FORWARD, CLUTCHING HIS STOMACH -- TREMENDOUS PAIN.
His body starts to CONTORT -- JESUS -- We hear his BONES CRACK FROM THE INSIDE -- or are they GROWING?!?
Comment