Scavengers Reign: Building an Alien Ecosystem
In 2023, HBO Max released a 12 Episode Sci-Fi cartoon show that quickly amassed a fan following despite not really getting mainstream coverage: Scavengers Reign. Developed by Joe Bennet and Charles Huettner based on their 2016 short film “Scavengers”, it explores the strange ecosystem of alien planet Vesta Minor through the struggles of a stranded human spaceship crew.
After the deep space freighter Demeter is hit by a solar flare, the remaining few crew members find themselves scattered across Vesta Minor’s surface. Struggling to survive in the cruel but beautiful environment, they try to make it to the remains of their ship alone or in pairs. The challenges they encounter are diverse but often potentially deadly, and in the course of events, the history behind their grim situation is revealed.
With their daringly creative approach to a grown-up Science Fiction cartoon, the makers of Scavengers Reign actually managed to get reviewers online one-upping themselves in delight. To cite one out of many ten-star IMDb reviewers: “[...] what I witnessed was something like getting high in church and watching a man outside splitting the river in half with a wand(not religous, nor have I been high, just painting a picture).” Fans of the Science Fiction genre, speculative biology or movies like Nausicaä all find something special in Scavengers Reign. Elaborate discussions have unfolded in reddit forums, analyzing the plot, the symbiotic relationships of the ecosystem and the manyfold cinematic influences.
Interestingly enough, in a behind the scenes talk, the creators of the show mainly cite non-Science-Fiction live action movies as primary reference points during their creative process, such as The Last of the Mohicans and Sorcerer. The central interest of the developers being to create and explore an alternative ecosystem, it makes sense that the inspirations for the plot were focused on how people behave in nature rather than standard alien tropes.
As we accompany Sam and Ursula, Azi and her robot Levi, and lastly the loner Kamen on their austere travels, we discover the meticulously conceptualized and deeply interconnected ecosystem of Vesta Minor. Since the humans have already been on the planet for a few months before the plot begins, some of them have adapted strategies for survival. Ursula and Sam, who have gained considerable understanding about the ecosystem, demonstrate how it is possible to interact with creatures for their survival means. Using small animals as gas masks and air balloon transportation, they access an energy source buried in a cave. Azi, on the other side, has access to some remaining intact technology, rather shielding her from the surrounding nature. She grows tomatoes and uses a motorbike, always supported by robot Levi. After Ursula and Sam manage to remotely steer the damaged ship down to the surface, the scattered humans set off towards it in hopes of making it back into space.
Kamen, the fifth survivor, is in more of a helpless place. Having lost his memory of what happened but instead gained considerable beard and hair length, he engages with Hollow. This creature, originally small and looking harmless, starts feeding Kamen his black goo to brainwash him into providing it with dead animals to feed on. In his brainwashed state, Kamen successively remembers his history on the ship and unravels his own guilt.
All the while, we experience the changing sceneries that stand out in their obscure beauty. Although the minimal illustration style especially becomes obvious in the humans, it does not diminish the complex aesthetics of the ecosystem they move in, instead rather highlighting them even more. Broad views of larger-than-life structures, underground forests, vast plains and jungles are populated by the likes of hunting ostrich-like creatures, walking mega-mushrooms and telekinetic parasites. Even for small ecological niches, the developers seem to have thought through cool concepts, although the actual purpose of many creatures never really becomes visible.
What makes the ecosystem of Vesta Minor stand out as exceptional world building though, is the focus on the larger scheme of things. Bizarre life-forms, such as the clone-breeding plant reproducing through killing entire hoards of animals, or the tiny man living through a whole birth-to-death lifecycle within three minutes to renew the reproduction cycle of a stick forest, convey a very unromanticized glimpse into the workings of these stunning-looking environments.
There is no single, coherent narrative about Vesta Minors flora and fauna. Creatures live and die to fulfill their sole purpose to the whole dynamic within the ecosystem. They do what evolution made them for, be it nibbling poisonous rashes from Azi’s body, or infiltrating Kamen’s mind to let him hunt food for them. Some can be utilized by humans as tools or transportation, but others pose dangers like injury, parasitism or death. For robot Levi, originally a serially built machine made to follow orders, a very unexpected connection to Vesta Minor’s nature comes about, totally calling into question the divide between technology and organic life. The whole ecosystem though, it is just there, it exists, and it does not have a purpose that fits into a singular narrative about nature, be it utilitarian, romantic or ecologistic.
Like on planet Earth, Vesta Minor has a nature that is just there. Through the plot of Scavengers Reign, many facets of this environment are portrayed, revealing that there can be no simplistic view towards this alien habitat and the connections it has within itself as well as towards the human outsiders. Maybe this alien setting is needed as a clean slate, to re-evaluate the stories humans tell themselves about Earth’s nature. Centuries and millennia of human existence on our planet have produced narratives that reflect our condition at a certain period of history. Nature as an enemy, nature as a mystical place, nature for recreation and edification, or nature as a usable resource to capitalize on. In the end, all of these are products of our own limitations to grasp nature beyond our material and cultural needs. Scavengers Reign, besides having a great aesthetic, a wonderful soundtrack and a captivating plot, shows just that.
Written by: Mark Gilcher
