What actually happens
Funeral for two survivors, wake for a dog
On the way back to Earth, a facehugger hatches from an egg aboard the Sulaco and attacks. A fire starts and the ship ejects an escape pod holding Ripley, Newt, Hicks and the damaged android Bishop in stasis. The pod crash-lands on Fiorina 161, a foundry and prison for male inmates with a genetic tendency toward antisocial behavior. The inmates pull the pod out, and the facehugger approaches an inmate's dog, Spike. Ripley wakes up to learn from the medical officer, Clemens, that she is the only survivor. She insists he perform an autopsy on Newt, and then that Newt's and Hicks's bodies be burned. No embryo is found, the funeral goes ahead, and elsewhere in the prison a four-legged alien bursts out of Spike, and the dog dies. This is the scene to brace for, and it comes early.
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A prison with a warden and no weapons
Ripley finds the damaged Bishop in the garbage dump and is cornered by four inmates, then rescued by Dillon. She reactivates Bishop in the infirmary, and he confirms that a facehugger came with them and that Weyland-Yutani knows. As the creature reaches full size it kills Murphy, Boggs and Rains. Golic, an outcast inmate, goes back to being his old psychopathic self. Ripley tells the warden, Andrews, about her past fights with the creature and proposes that everyone fight it together, but the prison has no weapons and the only help is the rescue ship that Weyland-Yutani is sending for her. The creature then ambushes Ripley and Clemens in the infirmary and kills Clemens, but it leaves Ripley alone.
A plan that involves toxic waste
Ripley runs to the cafeteria to warn everyone. Andrews tells Aaron to walk her back to the infirmary, but the creature drags the warden into the vents and kills him. Ripley rallies the inmates to flood the ventilation system with flammable toxic waste and light it, hoping to flush the creature out. The creature gets in the way, the fire goes off too soon and several inmates are lost. Aaron helps her use the pod's medical equipment to scan herself, and she finds an Alien Queen embryo growing in her. It means there were two facehuggers on the Sulaco. It also means Weyland-Yutani wants the creature inside her to turn into a weapon, and it explains why the creature will not kill her.
The foundry as a murder weapon
Ripley asks Dillon to kill her. He agrees on the condition that she first helps the inmates kill the creature. Their plan is to draw it into the foundry's molding area and drown it in molten lead. The plan costs the lives of every remaining prisoner except Dillon and Morse. Dillon gives his own life to position the creature, and Morse pours the lead over both of them. The creature gets out of the mold covered in metal. Ripley sets off the fire sprinklers, and the sudden cooling blows it apart.
The ending, explained
The Weyland-Yutani team arrives with commandos and a man who looks exactly like Bishop and says he built him. He asks Ripley to have surgery to remove the Queen embryo and says the embryo will be destroyed afterward. Ripley refuses and steps onto a platform over the furnace, which Morse positions. The team shoots Morse in the leg to halt him, and when Aaron swings at the Bishop look-alike with a wrench, the commandos shoot Aaron dead. Ripley ignores their demands for the embryo and throws herself into the furnace, holding the infant queen in place as it bursts out of her. The facility is closed. Morse, the only survivor, is led away while Ripley's final logbook recording plays.
The post-credits ruling
Nobody has confirmed whether there is a scene after the credits.
✓ Spoiled safelyDog status: not fine, and we're sorry.
Questions people ask at 1am
Is Alien³ scary?
Yes. Alien³ is a 6 out of 10 with medium dread. It is a bleak creature chase with jump scares in a prison where nobody has a weapon.
How does Alien³ end?
Ripley learns she carries an Alien Queen embryo and throws herself into the furnace, taking it with her. Morse is the only survivor of the prison.
Does the dog die in Alien³?
Yes, the dog dies in Alien³. Spike, an inmate's dog, dies early on when the creature bursts out of him.
Is there a post-credits scene in Alien³?
Nobody has confirmed whether Alien³ has a scene after the credits.
Why does the Alien spare Ripley in Alien³?
Ripley is carrying an Alien Queen embryo. The creature will not kill her because of it, which is why she asks Dillon to do it and why Weyland-Yutani wants her alive.
