Question: what happened to the son in war of the worlds

title: War of the Worlds (2005 film)
text: Lawrence Brown wrote : `` Spielberg 's decision to present the invaders ' fighting machines as having been there all along , buried deep under the Earth , raises questions which did not exist in the original Wells book . In Spielberg 's version , these invaders had been here before , long ago , in prehistoric times . They had set up their machines deep underground , and departed . Why ? Why not take over the Earth right there and then ? Spielberg does not provide an answer , and the characters are too busy surviving to wonder about this . An answer suggests itself - a very chilling answer . The invaders were interested in humans as food animals . When they came here before , humans were very scarce . The aliens left their hidden machines and departed , patiently observing the Earth until humans would multiply to the requisite numbers - and then they came back , to take over . Under this interpretation , all of us - all humans over the whole of history - have been livestock living in an alien food farm , destined to be ' harvested ' '' .