What is the big revelation about Petrovich in Alien: Earth season 1 episode 5? Details explored

While Alien: Earth season 1 episode 5 takes a break from the action, the latest installment in the sci-fi series still kept fans on the edge of their seats with tension and big revelations. It's been established that the Maginot has fallen, and there's chatter about a saboteur. What the audience doesn't know is how it crashed and who caused it, until episode 5.

Initially, Morrow suspected that Rahim and Teng, the robot, had sabotaged the Maginot. However, Alien: Earth season 1 episode 5 reveals that Chief Engineer Petrovich is the true conspirator—he made a deal with Boy Cavalier to crash the spaceship into Prodigy City.

This revelation about Petrovich has left fans questioning his motives, what he stood to gain in betraying Yutani, and what happens to him after Morrow realizes how deep the betrayal has run.

Disclaimer: This article may contain some spoilers for Alien: Earth season 1 episode 5. Reader's discretion is advised.

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Petrovich's motivation for crashing the Maginot in Alien: Earth season 1 explored

Alien: Earth season 1 episode 5 reveals that the Maginot crashing was not an accident, and the spaceship crashing in Prodigy City wasn't a coincidence. In episode 5, Morrow's investigation into who sabotaged the Maginot hits a turning point after an interrogation with Teng. He finds out that one of the essential crew members has woken up, as opposed to what everyone initially believed.

Checking the message logs revealed to Morrow who that crew member is-Petrovich. He only pretended to be asleep in his crypod, but in truth, he woke up ahead of schedule and sabotaged the spaceship. He hit inside the Maginot's mechanical areas and started the fire in the engine controls that set off an explosion.

Petrovich in Alien: Earth (Image via Hulu)

It was all because Petrovich had been colluding with Boy Cavalier. The plan was to crash the spaceship into Boy Cavalier's territory, and in return, Petrovich would get a massive payday. But besides a hefty payment, it's also revealed that Petrovich wanted to have a new body after hearing how Prodigy created a hybrid innovation, aka synth Wendy's technology.

Crash-landing the spaceship at Prodigy City is the only way Boy Cavalier can get his hands on the specimen the spaceship has been transporting. Episode 5 also revealed how sociopathic Boy Cavalier can be because he was willing to kill an entire crew and a huge population just to get what he wants.

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What happens to Petrovich at the end of Alien: Earth season 1 episode 5?

In the end, however, Petrovich's betrayal, which caused devastating consequences for humanity, didn't pan out. It was all for nothing as Petrovich met his end in Alien: Earth season 1 episode 5 after Morrow learns of his betrayal.

After learning everything about Petrovich's entire scheme to crash the Maginot into Boy Cavalier's kingdom in exchange for a hefty payday, a furious Morrow confronts Petrovich. Morrow ends up killing the saboteur with his cyborg arm blade.

As his dying words, Petrovich delivers one of the hardest-hitting lies in the series, saying:

"They want their monsters—here they come."

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Catch Alien: Earth season 1 episode 5, along with the previous episodes in the series, streaming on Hulu. New episodes arrive on the FX channel and Hulu every week on Tuesday evenings.