LOST Theories

Splintered Ajira Time, 2 John Lockes & Course Correction by Yojimbo

2009-11-09T08:01:00.001Z

Hi all,

I've been reading a bunch of theories since The Incident aired, done the whole rewatch thing, etc. At first, I figured, like many - Locke's toast. But a few things don't add up.

Firstly, from a narrative point of view, something felt wrong. If Locke was to be a pathetic red herring, it would have been flagged heavier. Secondly, how are there 2 physical Lockes on the island?

Couple this with the did they/didn't they reboot question, as well as what Damon and Carlton have said about no grandfather paradoxes, WHH, etc, and I've come up with a theory. But as Doc Brown says, you've gotta think fourth dimensionally, not in the order that we've been shown things.

Left-field quote from Chuck Palahniuk's Rant because it summarises my starting concept nicely:
"One theory of time travel resolves the Grandfather Paradox by speculating that, at the moment one changes history, that change splinters the single flow of reality into parallel branches. For example, after you've killed your ancestor, reality would fork into two parallel paths: one reality in which you continued to be born and your ancestor did not die, and one branch in which your ancestor died and you would never be conceived. Each revision one made in the past, the subsequent new reality it created, theorists refer to as a 'bifurcation.'"

Think about the duplicated bunnies and the Orchid experiment. Casimir effect. Exotic matter can do freaky things when exposed to metal objects and big bombs! But I digress...

I believe Lost is setting up something really cool for sci-fi fans. How can you side-step the Grandfather Paradox and the self fulfilling prophecy of WHH? You splinter time and have it play out simultaneously. (BUT NOT IN THE WAY THIS HAS BEEN DISCUSSED)

So, stepping it through linearly: Locke dies. Jack et al get on the Ajira flight. At the moment Jack and the 77ers flash out, a new Lost present-day reality has been created - BECAUSE they went to 1977. In causing the Incident and creating an alternate timeline, a duplicate of Locke is now made to exist, because he simultaneousy already dies (thus bringing Jack et al onto the plane so they can change history) and must live (because the changes to the timeline cancel out the 815 crash). We've ALREADY been watching a new, altered timeline in all story post-Ajira.

Locke isn't alive because of MiB or Smokie or anything funny like bringing his body to the island. That's why him being able to exist physically as both what people are calling Flocke as well as his corpse is possible. There has never been a case of Smokie imitating someone who is above ground)

(As an aside, re the whole "Loophole" conversation, I think that Locke has always had inside info from very early in the series - "This wasn't meant to happen" etc. It's like he was possessed by MiB via Smokie or something. Think Raistlin/Fistandantilus in Dragonlance for those who have read it.)

Anyway, so - we have 2 realities. I think the '77 Losties now leap back to the present (cue "vvvwooomp" white blast noise), and they land in LAX, etc. But those key players have a severe case of Desmond-itis due to their proximity to the blast. What happens for the first part of the season is them all fighting course-correction. They have flashes of memories from their other timeline. People like Charlie, etc. may temporarily be alive, but they start dying one by one - getting run over by trucks, etc. WHH. You can't mess with fate.

Locke IS probably still destined to die. As is Jack. (If the series doesn't close with his eyes closing forever, I'll eat my hat!) I'm betting it is just far more likely that it will happen in a more meaningful and poetic way than what we've seen so far. It would make for a very suspenseful S6, knowing certain people have to make a difference to the "right" side of the coming war before they go.

thoughts? Yojimbo

Jacob the Supplanter, and the identity of his nemesis by CinematicESP

2009-11-09T08:00:00.003Z

Here's a thought...

Jacob, like "Nemesis," has the ability to take the shape of dead people. Jacob is actually inhabiting the body of Nemesis, rendering Nemesis formless. He is the black smoke monster. This is why he wants to kill Jacob so badly, because Jacob stole his identity. (The name "Jacob" does mean "supplanter" after all). The Man in Black at the beginning of The Incident is simply Nemesis taking the shape of a corpse. Perhaps he killed this person and assumed their form in order to have the conversation with Jacob. This could be what he meant by "I just ate."

As for his identity...

Nemesis is a grown up Aaron from the future, perhaps the result of not being raised by Claire. This is why Jacob now looks like a grown up Aaron (blonde, blue eyes). It also explains how, as "Christian Shephard," he was able to hold baby Aaron (himself), but not touch anyone else (like Locke), at least until he found his loophole. As Christian, he made sure that Claire was separated from Aaron, forcing him to be raised by another and thus becoming an evil nemesis that Richard Malkin foresaw and tried to prevent...

There must be a good reason why Nemesis' name was not revealed to us in The Incident, probably due to the fact that it's a character we already know. It beats a having a brand new character introduced at the very end of the series. And it also explains the apparent importance of Aaron. But then the question is, what was Jacob's original form? Was Jacob a formless entity to begin with?

Richard isn't ageless by Salem

2009-11-09T08:00:00.001Z

I'm just new to this site so apologies if this has already been posted. I noticed a few comments about Richard's agelessness and that noone had seemed to come up with a really sound reason.

What if Richard isn't ageless, he just time travels. We know he can get on and off the island to be where and when he needs to be (Locke's birth, childhood visits, Juliet's recruitment...) What if his mode of transport allows him to travel through time (not so far fetched based on what we've been shown in S5)? Someone who is always skipping through time would seem to be ageless becasue they can be anywhere, anywhen. I guess if I use Back to the Future as an analogy. If you didn't know that Doc could time travel, but knew what he looked like in 1885, 1955, 1985, 2015 wouldn't you think he was ageless?

Couldn't Richard be doing all these time travelling missions for Jacob, popping in and out when needed and have only lived a few years of HIS timeline (therefore not changing much in looks) but appearing across a huge span of years, seemingly ageless to the others? Also explains Ben's comments about birthdays - if you spend your life outside of the normal flow of time, then bithdays wouldn't mean anything - how would he keep track of it?

Jacob's gone up in smoke by Lewton Wicks

2009-11-08T22:48:00.000Z

Well, I was wishing it was season six tomorrow, and I decided to watch the end of season five again.

Two things still bug me about the end, concerning Locke as Flocke. Firstly, and this is pretty banal, but Flocke seemed to be suprised that Jacob lived where he did. I understand that Flocke has to play the part of an unknowing, revived, super-Locke, but his reaction to finding out where Jacob was living suprised me. Especially seeing as how I assumed the man in black knew where Jacob lived at the start of the Incident. Maybe I've been taken in.

Secondly, when Ben tells Flocke about the monster telling him to do whatever Flocke asks, Flocke seems to actually act suprised. I mean, it may just have been myself, but please, I implore you all to watch that scene again; does Flocke seem suprised he's been given the go-ahead from Smokey? It really is of my opinion that Flocke thinks everything has come up trumps for him. The only thought I can put forward from here is that perhaps Jacob is Smokey himself, and this is why Flocke is so suprised. We all like suprises in Lost, it would throw me. Flocke assumed Jacob forgave Ben, but had no idea he got Ben to play along with Flocke's game. I'm going to assume Jacob knew what would happen if he insulted Ben whilst he had a knife.

As an extra, bonus little bit for you here, it would be awesome that Jacob becomes Smokey after Flocke kicks him into the fire, becoming smoke. I would pay a lot of money to see that CGI happen.

In conclusion, this could be the fault of me misunderstanding Terry, or his acting confusing me. I'm pretty simple.

Reciprocity 2: Why the Losties need the Island by Locke's disciple

2009-11-08T20:37:00.000Z

The mutually dependent companion of the part one. You must read part one first for this to make sense. This is a subjective analysis of the symbolism of Lost; a thesis. This is not a theory of the quantum mechanics of the events on Lost, there are plenty of other good theories for that. This is a focus on the Losties, not everyone else as per the title. Hopefully you will rate and comment based on creativity and logic and not on the accuracy of off-screen moments or whether or not you fully agree. On paper things look much duller or simpler than on screen.

Starting where we left off and ending where we began in part one...

What lies in the shadow of the statue? He who will save/protect us all. The answer is rhetorical and pertains to sacrifice. Those willing to make any sacrifice necessary for the greater good will save/protect the world from those unwilling to make that sacrifice. The Island is an attempt by a higher intelligence to create paradise. What is paradise? The state of enlightenment or nirvana. Nirvana is describes as the highest happiness, a goal hoped for but not attained, a place or state of oblivion. How does this relate to the Losties, eternal life and reciprocity...?

(Mikhail: After years of unpleasant activities towards our enemies, I applied to an advertisement. 'Would you like to save the world?' it read. Thats how I met them...)

Jacob and MIB's war is of atonement. Can the living atone and make amends and appreciate the gift of life while alive or do they need the threat of death to do this? Will they destroy any chance at life on Earth via a physical body before they realize that no matter what geographical or metaphysical plane of existence we all will still exist together? The same people you see in life will be the people you see in death. That's scary if there are evil people that exist. Not so scary if everyone learns to wake up and stop all the atrocious hate. Why is it ok to want to see a loved one in the afterlife but not someone you've wronged or has wronged you? If one of us in the community suffers, then we all suffer the same for it. I'll come back to that point.

(MIB to Ben: Welcome back to the land of the living...)

There is a Life side and a Death side on the Island, an illusional barrier created by the ignorance of it's inhabitants. Both sides appear similar physically except are inhabited by either the living or the dead on the Island. The divide is growing by the malevolent acts of the living which reinforces the illusion that the dead are gone and don't exist. They coexist but there is animosity. The DI can't coexist with the Other's. Losties can't coexist with the Other's. There is even dissent within each group. The Island being a kind of emotional contagion entity, reacts and the barriers and illusions are put in place (unknowingly) by the residents themselves. The Whispers are from the transference of energy when passing from one side to the other, but I'm sure they also have another meaning like the Island trying to communicate with its inhabitants, in a more empathic way.

The Smoke Monster takes the essence/souls from the Life side to the Death side of the Island and keeps them there. Life and death are separated by the conflict so there has to be a boundary line and the Monster was created as a sort of guardian. This is what the scanning process it does indicates. It can reach into your essence/soul and pull out memories and manifest them if it chooses because, as the Island preaches, there can be no ignorance and should be nothing you need to hide. You have to free yourself from any burden to achieve nirvana. Nearly everyone on the Island lies or deceives each other. It can also reach inside your body when dead and pull out your essence/soul and transport it to the Death side. The lightning flashes inside of it are a reaction from the electromagnetic energy of the Island needed to maintain the portal from life to death. This divide or barrier isn't what was "supposed" to have happen on the Island and I think the lightning is to sort of indi! cate a frustration at having to exist at all. It's like a law enforcement agent of the Island that dutifully serves but is a little apprehensive and slightly belligerent because of it's job and why it's even necessary to do it. I presume it exists as something else on the Death side, very likely the white light Locke saw. In the s6 finale we will see the view from the Death/merged side and Smokey's true form will be revealed as a white light. The symbolism being, while alive they saw a keeper of the dead as scary or dark. In death they had been enlightened to see it as a white light. I think this is hinted at or at least keeping with the inverse of the end credit logo. I won't take any stabs at trying to explain why it needed to take Yemi's corpse away other than to say it needed Mr Eko to believe it was Yemi in order to repent and felt if the corpse was missing it would coax him into atoning. There could very well be some other reason the corpse was gone though.

It's interesting that the Smokey being the the boundary line between Life and Death had a boundary of it's own being the sonar fence. One invisible boundary holding back another sort of invisible boundary.

(Mr Friendly: We got a misunderstanding your people, my people. Right here there's a line. You cross that line we go from misunderstanding to something else.)

The cabin and the ash line around the cabin is a truce barrier set up by Jacob and MIB. It allows them to meet with an inhabitant on the other side but restricts their movements to only the cabin. The cabin transports back and forth from the Life and Death sides and this is why it disappeared from Locke when he led his group there. In s4ep1 Hurley saw the cabin in a few different places because his ability to see thru the illusion of Life and Death caused disorientation when he briefly saw both sides without realizing it. His sadness over Charlie's death influenced this somehow. He got separated from the group and saw the Death side. In a way its like what happened to Minkowski and Desmond. The boundary line of two planes like life and death or the real world and the Island causes the side effect of the mind to become disoriented and confused because as Ben said "I'm sorry you're too limited to see." The ash circle on the chair in the cabin restricts Jacob or MIB to that spo! t only when on the opposite side, but they can move freely in the cabin when it's on their side.

The entity that reanimated Christian Shepherd is the proxy. The mediator of the Island. It met with the dead MIB in the cabin. It interacted with the living, handing Sun a photo. It assists both sides in an attempt to resolve the dispute and merge all the growing divides of the Island, not just life and death. (Locke: Can you help me up? Christian: No sorry, I can't do that.) As in, you made the choice and now you have to fix it. The count to five hospital scene with Christian and Jack was another symbolic example of this. "Relax, count to five and fix it."

Locke is so important and special because he will become the first human to be granted eternal life. He will surpass the barrier of life and death, merge them and become eternal, not just ageless. (Richard is mortal. He can be killed, he just doesn't age.) Evidence: The image of Locke's face "in between" the black and white stones in the the Pilot pt2. The "Life" AND "Death" of Jeremy Bentham. A black eye and a white eye in Claire's dream. He led a faction of the Losties, and he led a faction of the Other's (or was going too). A cut above one eye and not the other. In the sweat lodge vision Boone told him: You have to bring the family together again John. These don't JUST indicate conflict and balance. It's to show that Locke will have life and death then eternal life to converge the two. This is what I meant in part one about restoring the Island's faith. In reward for his loyalty, he will be resurrected. He is supposed to teach the living and the dead how to attain eternal! life because he has known suffering from both life and death. He lived. He died. Then he lived forever. Don't tell him what he can't do. All things are possible, even eternal life. "Why do you find it so hard to believe? It's never been easy!" Who better to teach that than Locke? The Island needed a saviour. Locke needed a saviour. Reciprocity.

(Horace: Jacob's been waiting for you for a long time. You have to find me, and when you do you'll find him.) Horace is dead, on the Death side. Locke is there now in '07. With Jacob murdered his essence is on the Death side as well, so Locke can finally "find" Jacob. I believe Jacob will sacrifice something so that Locke can take over his position and once defeated MIB's position, thus attaining the merger of eternal life. All things that rise must converge. Perhaps Jacob will give up any existence at all on the Island and we'll see him in the alternate timeline as a man helped by the eternal life version of Locke. Also I think the real dead Christian Shepherd will switch shoes with Locke while they're both on the Death side, and this will somehow be important or necessary for communicating with Jack who is on the Life side. Perhaps this will make it possible to temporarily jump his consciousness into the mediator entity to communicate with Jack. (Christian: Say hello to m! y son, for me.) I can see him saying that again to Locke and having new meaning to it in s6.

(Jack: ... did you ever think the Island was trying to fix things, and we were just getting in the way?)

So why do the Island and the Losties need each other? Because they both need to be freed of any divide or conflict within them in order achieve paradise. The Island is an ATTEMPT by a higher intelligence to create paradise. Humans keep getting in the way of that. Each of the Losties of 815: Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Hurley, Sayid, Jin, Sun, and Claire all feel directly or indirectly responsible for the death of someone prior to their arrival on the Island. Interestingly Locke is the only exception. They have other issues to resolve as well but are all candidates to be brought to the Island because Jacob is lobbying to the Island that the living can be remorseful, atone, and be willing to sacrifice their lives for the greater good of the Island and save the/their world. This is to prove that there is no reason to continue the illusion on the Island of life and death being separate, no reason to have ignorance, and no reason why nirvana can't be achieved paradise had. All things can! coexist together. I'm sure Jacob is directly or indirectly responsible for MIB's death and is attempting to atone for this by his "work" on the Island. (MIB: Do you have any idea how badly I want to kill you? One of these days I'm gonna find a loophole.) As in, 'one of these days I'm gonna find a way to kill you and have my vengeance.' Dead is dead, you don't get to come back from that.

When Ben turned the FDW he forever intertwined the fates of the Island and the Losties. Locke was instructed by the Island's mediator to do this. (I told YOU, to move the Island. When did listening to him, get you anywhere worth a damn?) The Island told Locke to move it, and since he didn't the destiny's of the Losties and the Island were further meshed together. MIB's escape and loophole exploitation was because of the Losties failure to work with the Island; failure of reciprocity. It's illogical because of the time travel element and thus you can't really apply real-world logic to a work of fiction. This also supports why I believe there has to be an alternate timeline. The Losties only came to the Island because they were already there. It doesn't make sense unless there is some kind of reset, but leaves two realities. Furthermore the attainment of nirvana is to reach a state of oblivion. As in what the H-bomb reset attempt was, except the RIGHT way. So there must be an ! alternate timeline in which the Losties never land on the Island and don't remember because to reach nirvana you wouldn't remember the pain of your "old" life anyway. It's the hope (to the audience) that no matter how much suffering you are going thru in life, there is also "another" you reaping the rewards of paradise.

Looking thru some of the titles of the episodes, they have suggested this all along. "Tabula Rasa" (clean slate), "The Whole Truth", "Something Nice Back Home", "This Place Is Death", "He's Our You" just to name a few. So by coming to terms with their lives, atoning, and adopting a constructive limitless peaceful attitude and lifestyle the Losties will become enlightened and achieve nirvana; paradise. Their "work" on the Island will do this. The Island has provided them the opportunity to save the/their world if they are willing to make the sacrifice. It has gone thru the same redemption process, in part because it is a sort of emotional contagion of it's inhabitants, a mirror. The reciprocity is because it only achieves paradise thru feeding off it's inhabitants actions. It is part of them, one of them. It has the power, like they have the power but they must be mutually dependent on one another. If one of us in the community suffers we all suffer the same. However, if all ! of us in the community are in paradise then each one of has attained paradise.

Why does the Island need the Losties? To achieve the paradise intended.
Why do the Losties need the Island? To achieve the paradise intended.

RECIPROCITY

Widmore/Ben Rival by ManWithNoName

2009-11-08T18:49:00.000Z

Ever since we saw Widmore being banished in "Dead is Dead" I got to thinking exactly why he was being banished. Ben did list off leaving the island and having a family with an outsider, but these are things that we already know. I got to thinking that maybe Widmore made a deal with Dharma.

In "The Incident" we learn that Eloise is the real leader at the time. We also know that there can only be one leader (interesting how Richard said both). The incident likely started the fertility issue. It's likely that Eloise knew about the pregnancy problem, maybe it's written somewhere in Daniels book, and thus her leaving the island. Maybe Widmore wanted to abort the baby and Eloise was opposed to it, so it caused the split between them, but in 2007 it seems like they're on the same page.

After Eloise leaves, Widmore likely assumes control because they probably ran the Others like a king and queen. So he held Ben's place (maybe this is why he was prone to dislike him from the start) until Ben was old enough to lead. Widmore probably came to an agreement with Horace to stop attacking them if he had there technology at his disposal, like the submarine, to leave and profit from the island. He also has information about the stations that Keamy had.

During this time Ben integrates Ethan into the Others (maybe he steals him as a baby) and carries a relationship with Annie. Ben gets Annie pregnant and Widmore neglects to tell Ben about the pregnancy issue leading to her death. This sparks there rivalry. Widmore probably didn't have any Others get pregnant and since Ben was double agent for them and Dharma it was probably easy to keep him out of the loop. A few years later Ben steals Alex from Rousseau, and adds on to the conflict as we've seen.

Ben forms a coup within the others, has those loyal to him spy on Widmore and those loyal to him (Matthew Abaddon). They find out about Widmore's deal with Dharma and his off island family and decide to banish him, but along with ending Widmore's reign they kill off the rest of Dharma and take over there facilities, just like the military in 1954. They arrest Widmore before and send him away on the sub . It's likely that they move the island by turning the FDW, but who does that could be anyone's guess.

Meaning of WHH Relating to the End of LOST by reversechapter

2009-11-07T12:52:00.000Z

This may not be original, but I can’t sleep……….keep in mind I have not been on here a long time. My apologies if this idea has already been proposed 50 times in the same exact manner.

I have decided that the best twist to the end of LOST that falls within the “rules” laid out so far would be as follows: In the end, human life on the planet will cease to exist. No matter what changes are made, the end arrives at a certain date and time. It only ends once. The focus of our heroes and everything we have seen the last few years can only change HOW life ends. The difference will be whether life ends naturally (like, maybe the sun decides to go haywire and we all fry one day, or it burns out) or we kill one another through war.

As a result Jacob and MIB really are playing a game of sorts. There could be any number of scenarios. One possibility is that originally the U.S. military caused an accident when they were testing weapons. Jacob and his team of heroes were able to delay that outcome using neat tricks like time travel. But destiny always course-corrects; that’s just the way it goes – insert theory about that here - So what happens next? The Dharma initiative sets up shop on the island and they begin fighting with the original inhabitants of the island, then their experiments and the conflict combine to create a different version of the end of the world. Jacob intervenes.

In subsequent decades other things happen on the island, and they always conclude with a man-made method of wiping out humanity. A group of violent activists, lead by Alex, causes the end of world when they destroy the island. Perhaps a particularly greedy individual tries to exploit the island’s resources and creates some other kind of man-made disaster as a result. So Jacob has been delaying and delaying the end in an effort to prove we can die “naturally” and not by killing ourselves. He is delaying Mankind’s death same way Desmond delayed Charlie’s death. MIB, who along with Jacob can see flashes of the future, is just ready to let it end with our own stupidity killing us.

This ending would fit perfectly with the “bittersweet” description given by Matthew Fox. The writers have pointed to a “war” that is coming. In the end the heroic choice will be to avoid the war (I have seen a variation of that idea mentioned) and other man-made disasters. The perfect ending would be to ultimately have some natural event kill Adam and Eve with the full knowledge of their great accomplishment.

Here is how I think lost will end by Hopefully optimistic

2009-11-07T11:02:00.001Z

I really hope lost has a good ending, but I think to get a good idea of the end you just need to look at one of jj abrams other creations, namely Alias.

It was a show that had some really conspiratorial and far out stoy lines. The most prominent of which was the story a "Rambaldi", an invester and prophet of sorts who was centuries ahead of his time, and a lot of the show revolved around decoding his mysteries and working out his grand plan.

In the end, the main antagonist of the show, Arvin Sloan worked out Rambaldi's riddle and became super stong and it was implied that he was immortal and would live for ever. Which is kind of interesting, but then in quite a cool twist he's left to spend eternity trapped alone a in cave.

so that was quite cool, but we never really found out the origins of Rambaldi, where he came from, how he was able to predict the things he did, how he was able to forsee the future. What I'm saying is that the vast majority of the mysteries that were there in the beginning remained there at the end.

And whilst I really hope that doesn't happen to lost, I think it is at least a possibility that the vast majority of the many mysteries that have been raised will remain unsolved.

So my theory is that the last episode will probably see everyone back on the island in one unified time line, and they'll all realise that the island is where they belonged, and I'll bet you now that the following mysteries will remain unsolved:

The numbers
Jacob
Jacob and his cabin
The smoke monster
how the island is able to travel through time
et al

hopefully I'm wrong, but we'll see.

The Kids Are Alright? by Scott Gingold

2009-11-07T07:59:00.001Z

The children on Lost have some unexplained significance and it seems that as of last season they are in great danger.

Aaron
Claire's baby, raised off-island by Kate and then given over the Claire's mum Carol. Or is she? Is it not just an act of the casting department, or is the fact that Carol is played by an entirely different actress than when she first appeared in "Par Avion" not a coincidence. She was in a coma; the doctors didn't give her much of a chance to live; in fact Christian Shepherd was pushing for pulling the plug. But she lived, not only lived, she made a miraculous recovery. And she mysteriously appeared at the right place at the right time and was seen speaking with Ben's attorney. She know has custody of Aaron and I think she is an imposter. An agent of Ben sent to grab Aaron and bring him back to the island.

Walt
The last we saw of Walt he was in NYC being visited by John and talking about seeing John in a dream. But he was also visited by someone else ... Ben. We don't see the immediate outcome of that visit, only that Ben later killed Matthew, but it's almost obvious that Ben wasn't just stalking Locke, but that he came for Walt ... again. They took Walt in the first place. Walt is special. Why? Hopefully they'll finally spill the beans on that one. But Walt, I think he's heading back to the island too, against his will.

Ji Yeon
Sun leaves her only daughter with her own parents, Mr. and Mrs. Paik, who just happen to have a business connection with a certain Mr. Charles Widmore. Not a very smart move on Sun's part, considering she now knows of the connection between Widmore and her father and Ben. Ji Yeon is special because she was not supposed to have been born. Had Sun never left the island, they both would have died. On top of that, Jin was supposed to have been sterile, so either Jin's not really the dad, or the island blessed his sperm. Anyways, Ji Yeon's in danger too.

Charlie Hume
This has been talked about before, but stupid Penny goes to visit her husband in the hospital and leaves her son with some nurse and in the presence of Eloise Hawking? I have a feeling little Charlie's not in good hands. I also have a feeling that little Charlie is going to do some time traveling and we'll see him go back in time, grow up on the island and become, his own grandfather ... Charles Widmore.

Clementine
Sawyer's daughter hasn't been given much story yet, but there's a lot of secrecy. First off, her mother just happened to run into Kate and help her at a time she needed help. Don't forget they also have a fortune that Sawyer left them after conning the guy in prison. There's much of that story to tell, but Clementine will most likely travel back to the island with the other kids.

And then what?

And then the war will happen. And whose side are the kids on? Well, some will be on Jacob's side and some will be on MIB & Widmore's side. Personally I think that we may have seen some of the kids before in their older versions. Walt/Abaddon, Aaron/Bram, Clementine/Juliet (that opens up a Freudian can of worms don't it Sawyer?). Let's see what happens.

What about you?: How Ben knows more than you think by Dio

2009-11-06T22:41:00.000Z

I won't bother with formalities

The most pivotal scene in The Incident was Ben killing Jacob. My theory is that Jacob wanted Ben to kill him. Not only did he want him to kill him, but he instructed him to kill him. That's right, contrary to what Ben may have said while in the presence of MIB, Ben has met Jacob. He may have only met him once. But despite Ben questioning Jacob about where he has been for the past 30 years, Ben and Jacob are on the same side. Jacob's murder was part of a plan to deceive MIB into thinking he was in a position of power, when in fact, he is not. Ben's line from This Place is Death rings especially true here "If you knew what I've done to keep you safe, to keep your friends safe, you wouldn't stop thanking me". Ben and Jacob may have orchestrated more events in order to complete some greater task. Ben does seem to have a considerable amount of knowledge of events yet to unfold, and he seems to act with a great sense of purpose. He knows that all he does is for Jacob, but he canno! t reveal it to anyone, otherwise it might be possible that MIB could catch on. Jacob is not going to stay dead, or at least he will still have an ability to effect events (through Hurley?). Jacob would not have just let himself die. He is planning something big.
Go crazy.

The Merger Theory by Lost and Found

2009-11-06T21:10:00.000Z

Since Season 3 when we got to know the Others a lot better it became obvious that these people know something important. From the way that they acted it was like they knew a secret, yet beautiful truth. The ones who followed the orders that Ben gave them without delay. These Others at times seem that they are in perfect bliss. Yet on occasion they will kidnap, murder, and enslave. They will take these actions with no remorse, and without any hesitation. We watch as Mikhail and Bea give their lives. And all of this for a yet unknown cause.

Now I believe in the 2 time lines that will have been created in the Incident. If u died in one timeline it doesn't mean that you aren't alive in the other (alt) timeline. So, now lets assume that Ben was lying when he said in the season finale that he had never met Jacob. Ben as we well know has been one step ahead of everyone else. At least most of the time. I believe Ben has met Jacob. Possibly at the temple after Sayid shot him. That doesn't matter right now. What does matter is that Ben has his orders. We must get to the point where the incident happens and Alt timeline is created. This is all that matters. If successful then all that have died will come back. When the two timelines are created and someone, say Charlie is alive in the new timeline. Well then when the two timelines merge (if there are 2 timelines then yes they will have to be eventually merged) then Charlie will be alive again. This is why Mikhail and Bea gave their lives without a hesitati! on. This is why it looks as if Ben doesn't care about peoples lives. He know that if he is successful in completing Jacobs plan then all these casualties will not happen. At the same time he also knows that if they are unsuccessful in this then the Good side will not have a chance is the coming war.

PS Good side = Jacob, Ben, Illana, Bram and Eloise
Bad side = MIB, Charles Widmore, Mr Paik
Still undecided on Richard and Dharma

The Rubberband Theory by Locke4God

2009-11-06T20:16:00.000Z

This theory is purely about the structure of the show and how we perceive the importance or lack there of, of certain characters.

You see, what I see when I look at in a show like this, is that the writers have developed a highly detailed show that leaves only a little flexibility in the storyline. It's not like Heroes or 24, where a storyline last for a season, and then they can carry on after that in any way they choose. From the beginning, Lost, has had a specific end that these writers were always aiming for.

But as with any show, it had to be adapted. It's success meant that the writers had to find creative ways to "stretch" the storyline out over six seaons, instead of the 2 or 3 they had initially planned for. And the stretching of the show is what I'm talking about.

Take Desmond for a example. A character with massive potential through season 2, who had a big season 3 with his influence over Charlie and all that has led to, and then who through Seasons 4, and esspecially in Season 5, has dwindled off in importance.

No doubt that Desmond has a role yet to play in the finale season, but it would seem at this point, that if you made a dot on a rubber band, to signify his importance, that when you stretched it out, that dot ended up almost completely on one side.

What I'm trying to say is that we perceive that Desmond has this huge roll left, and we do that because he was presented as a game changing type of character. But I would argue that he already has been and that's all there is for him.

Just imagine for a moment that the show had been just 3 seasons. We would have found Desmond in season 2, he would have come back, pushed the button, been involved in Charlie's death, and the island's discovery, and at that point the show would have been ramping up for it's conclusion. In other words, Desmond's importance would have parralleled the show's climax. He would have done exactly what we've seen him do, but since the show would have ended soon after, your impression of his importance to the story would likely have been much higher. As it is, we're all sort of wondering what in the hell he's doing.

Sawyer on the other hand, had a dot on the rubberband that was stretched nice and evenly. His character has steadily built, slowly becoming more and more important. In fact, had the show been concluded after 3 seasons, I don't know that we would have such a likeable character now. The writers were able to use the extra time to build him up as a genuine hero rather than a pure anti-hero.

A character like Michael had a dot that was left in the beginning of the show, but unlike Desmond, the writers had never intended, even in a shorter version of the show, to have him play a significant roll at the conclusion, and so they had every reason to kill him off.

Claire in a much different way, had her dot on the rubberband seperated evenly in two. She played a nice roll very early on, had slight bits through season 2, and then had been somewhat non-existance thereafter, even literally in season 5. But it's fairly clear that she'll have a very significant part to play in season 6. The writers simply didn't have a need for her in the middle of the show, and you might really wonder how her character would have appeared differently if spread out over only 3 seasons.

The moral of this theory is that, you kind of have to guage what the writers intent for a character was, and balance that with how you've been forced to perceive a character due to the length of the show. And I'd do that to avoid assuming that character A is going to play some vital roll, when in fact they already have, and you just think they will do more because they're still around. Just imagine the show as having taken place over 3 years instead of 6, and think about how significant any one character would be in that situation, or if they would need to do any more to justify their significance between now and the end of the show. Some of them would seem quite different.

Crazy Two Timelines Theory by G8rfan

2009-11-06T20:14:00.001Z

I posted this back in May at the TailSection, but had little interest. The more I think about, the more I think it's possible. I apologize if someone has already posted this. Here it is:

What if the blast shattered time into two realities? One reality – nothing changed, whatever happened, happened. But they were sent back to 2007 and find themselves in the pit where the Swan used to be. The other reality is the changed timeline where the plane successfully landed in LA in 2004. Boring, except…. In 2007 they suddenly are flooded with memories of the original timeline (like the memory Faraday gave to Desmond). Or, more likely, a consciousness swap (again like Desmond). Season 6 could start with a series of flashes between the two realities. We’ve moved back and forward, now we go sideways!

The universe cannot deal with a paradox, so instead it created the two realities. But this is a temporary fix and the timelines must be repaired. Thus the consciousness swaps are not an accident. They are intended to pull the two realities into one, somehow. The first step will be for the alternate losties to get to the island – easier this time since they already know about the Lamp Post station. Everyone that died in the original timeline is alive in the alternate timeline including Locke, Faraday and even Jacob. They would all play a role in saving the universe and proving Esau wrong.

What do you think?

Crashing Ships, Mind Flashes, and Time Skips by TST

2009-11-06T16:19:00.000Z

We all know what happened in the season 4 finale: BLOOP. The island disappears.

In the first scene of The Incident, we see Jacob and MIB having their famous conversation while a ship, probably the Black Rock, is sailing toward the island:
JACOB: I take it you're here 'cause of the ship.
ENEMY: I am. How did they find the Island?
JACOB: You'll have to ask 'em when they get here.
ENEMY: I don't have to ask. You brought them here. Still trying to prove me wrong, aren't you?
JACOB: You are wrong.
ENEMY: Am I? They come. They fight. They destroy. They corrupt. It always ends the same.
JACOB: It only ends once. Anything that happens before that is just progress.
ETC.

After waiting what seemed like forever, we find out what happened to the island: it went skipping through time. We also know that Sawyer and Juliet and Miles saw the statue in the last time skip. That was probably the same moment that MIB and Jacob were talking.

We assume that course correction takes place to make sure whatever happened happened. Desmond stopped Charlie from dying a few times, but Charlie dies anyway.

What if Jacob stopped the ship from crashing in 1845. He can keep stopping it from crashing, but it would eventually crash anyway.

During that final time skip, the Black Rock gets caught in the bubble around the island and crashes in 1974. That would explain why Horace has never heard of it.

While the ship lands in 1974, not all of the people on the ship do. Some of them are sent to 2007.

That would also explain how the ship has been there at least since 1988 when Rousseau and her team got to the island.

We know that one of the time skips lands the losties in 2007, when Richard takes the bullet out of Locke's leg. It would make sense that flight 316 got caught in that time skip. Sun, Ben, and Co. stayed in 2007 while Jack, Kate, and Hurley got caught in the time skip. They don't remember what happened after the turbulence and the flash of light. They just woke up in the water in 1977.

I think that Jack and co. were sent back to 1974 just like Sawyer and co. in the time flash.

What they don't know and one thing I think will be shown in season 6 is that Jack, Kate, and Hurley woke up in a mind flash like Desmond did on the freighter. He did not remember anything from the time he was in the military to the time he was on the freighter. They do not remember anything from 1974-1977.

I don't know what happened in that time, but they probably found the Others and worked out a plan with them. Same thing with Sayid. That is why Sayid and Jack feel they have a purpose.

That is my theory. One thing that I know some of the people reading this will not like is that Richard Alpert was not part of the Black Rock. I really have no clue as to who he is, but I'm sure it will be explained in season 6. Anyway, let me know what you think!!

Bacon Numbers by Albert Awol

2009-11-06T01:36:00.000Z

And now, for my most outlandish theory yet.

What if we got it all wrong? What if Lost isn't a show about what we think it is. No doubt we are still very much in the dark about a lot of things, but I suspect there is something beneath the plot and beneath the actual production of the show that we're all missing, even though it's right in front of our faces. Something that when revealed, will be obvious even in the pilot as the glue that held the show together. As Fox has stated, the show ends in "an incredibly powerful, very sad and beautiful way. I think it is going to be pretty awesome." Like everything Lost, I take that with the same double meaning I take every line spoken on screen.

Hey, know who Nicolas Cage is? Know how he's been in EVERYTHING? Seriously, you'd be hard pressed to put any type of ensemble show together without *someone* having worked with the Dude himself... right? And when the ensemble grows as big as Lost... well were dealing with what amounts to an extreme mathematical improbability... None of the Losties have ever worked with Cage. Seriously, check it out: oracleofbacon.org. It's almost like a prerequisite for getting placed on the show, you can't have ever worked with Nicolas Cage. Ever.

And this is true for every cast member except one. (And when I originally had this outlandish idea years ago, it was true for them all.) Only Miles has a connection to Cage... a late addition to the show. (No, i don't count naveen andrews because his connection came along way into the show, 2007)

But what is the ramification of this? Why does this even matter?
Simple, Lost has something to do with Cage. In fact, Lost is a continuation of a Cage movie. It's the next scene in the 2007 movie "Next". That's right, I suspect in the final scene of season 6, we will be introduced to the same character played by Cage in the film Next, and find out that NONE of what we've been fighting over (whh, alt, flocke, etc) matter because ALL of the show Lost was just Cris Johnson (Cage) looking into possible futures to figure out what path to take. Remember from the film, when he's with Liz he can not only see farther than 2 minutes into the future, but he can do it recursively. While looking at the future, he can look at the future's future ad infinitum.

That darlton won't hire anyone who's ever worked with Cage is the only clue we've been given to what is certainly the most likely explanation anyone has ever come up with for the show yet. ;-)

Star Wars by Claire C.

2009-11-05T20:39:00.001Z

Ok, science geeks, here's my theory.

Has it ever occured to anyone that Lost is a whole star wars ripp off? Jack is Luke. Kate is princess L. Sawyer is Han Solo.

Jack's father Christian kinda looks like that dark haired guy talking to Jacob. I believe he got out of the island and found himself a hottie (jack's mom) and began to have a life and grow old. When his plan to die (in australia) and come back to life at the island did not work out the first time, he probably figured he needed a body. He begins to manipulate Jon because Jon is the only true believer in the island. In season 5 Jon falls for Christian's plan to go back to the island to bring back the oceanic 6.

Meanwhile, Eloise Hawking, who is the leader of the island when she was young, seems to have left the island for unknown reasons. I believe she was also manipulated by Christian(dark haired guy) a long time ago. Flash forward many years later and she is tellling Jack to get something of his father's and put it on Jon.

Hence, Jon becomes Christian/dark haired guy when they crash the second time at the island. And then in Season 6 it becomes "Jack, I am your father" sort of thing.

If you recall that in season one, there was a reference to Jack by Hurley as a jedi.

Anyway, Jacob becomes an obi kenobi spiritual character. Jack and Jon/Christian/dark hair guy fight in the end. Jack wins, becoming new prince of the island.

The end

The purpose of an alt timeline by Mark

2009-11-05T20:29:00.001Z

There’s a lot of huffing and puffing going on in the comments sections at the moment regarding the purpose of an alt time line and how it has any relevance to our original time line so here’s my thoughts on the matter.

Firstly Darlton has stated clearly that we should “trust them” when it comes to the beginning of season 6. To me this suggests that they realise that at first the idea of an alt timeline will cause the sort of confusion and mildly angry responses that we have been hearing so far. However, it also indicates that they will have a satisfactory explanation that will be revealed in due course, we just have to be patient.

Now with that in mind I have no doubt that if they are going to show us an alt timeline it will have a critical relevance to the plot of the show and won’t just serve as a gimmick to bring back some old faces. The question is what will that be??

A while back, just after the season 5 finale, I posted a theory (annoyingly I can’t for the life of me remember the name of it!!) that explained what I thought might happen after the Incident. The long and short of it was that on attempting to detonate Jughead Jack etc would mind skip back to various times on island that we have previously seen and would have the opportunity change a few details along the way. Meanwhile there bodies would remain lifeless in the temple until the eventually mind skipped back to them in 2007/2008 ready to reunite with Sun.

I still think that the main theme of this theory stands but instead of them mind skipping to previous times in our time line they are going to mind skip to an alt timeline where 815 never crashes. Somehow this experience will prove to them the importance of them being on the island and when the time is right they will mind skip back to their original timeline bodies that will be waiting for them in the temple. Now they are ready and motivated for the coming war…..

Reasons to support that they mind skip rather than physically moving from one time line to the next is that from what we have seen mind skipping can happen without skipper needing to be anywhere specific in order to skip back. This would make it a lot easier for them to return to the original time line without the need for another lengthy “WE HAVE TO GO BACK” mission….it would just happen in a flash!

Also I still think Richards comment to Sun “I saw them all die” is a massive clue. Bare in mind he has seen Locke time flash on several occasions so had he witnessed Jack etc time flash when the incident happened he would know or at least regard that as a possibility and not assume them dead. This to me means that he must have seen there “dead” bodies for him to think them dead. I think he “saw them die” but on Jacobs orders moved their bodies to the temple, maybe even putting their bodies in Egyptian style sarcophagi still assuming them dead.

I think the reason we haven’t seen the Temple yet is because the big reveal there will be that Jack, Kate, Sawyer etc’s bodies have been there since the very first episode waiting for their minds to skip back to them!

So to summarize, our heroes will mind skip from the incident to an alt timeline where they will learn the importance of them being on the island. This being the sole purpose of showing us/them an alt timeline. Once they have learnt this they will mind skip back to their bodies in the original time line just in time to take part in the coming “war”. THEY’RE COMING!

Hope you enjoyed this rehash of my theory. I’ll look forward to hearing your opinions.

Daniel is a (Future/Past) Leader of The Others by Luke

2009-11-05T18:13:00.000Z

Episode - Whatever Happened, Happened:
"One of the Others tries to stop Richard from taking Ben, saying that Ellie and Charles won't be happy, but Richard asserts that he doesn't answer to them"
-http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Whatever_Happened,_Happened

Episode - The Incident
"When Eloise is about to enter the basement to secure the area, Richard knocks her out."
-http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/The_Incident,_Parts_1_%26_2

When Richard knocks out Eloise, he says "I'm protecting our leader". However, just a few days ago, he did not answer to her...

Daniel Faraday = The Leader (Or at least a candidate)

I'm not sure when, but I believe we'll see Faraday born (probably prematurely like Ben & Locke) and groomed for leadership, even if he never gets his crown.

BlackRock's First-mate... by Ricky

2009-11-05T17:51:00.000Z

For once I'm just gonna post a real short and sweet theory here:

In the wake of recent "(insert known character name here) came on the BlackRock theories", I will attempt to stimulate your thinking muscles, so here we go:

Richard: we are all pretty much on the same page here. It is still a Quote Un-Quote mystery, but it's no "Jimmy Hoffa" thing, in fact I think it will be a bigger WTF moment if Richard doesn't arrive on the BlackRock, which means that is entirely possible too.

But now on to the real reason I'm posting this theory, now I must say that I have no proof of this, it is only speculation, but in my thought process it is, feasible, so bare with me.

Ok, in season four in the episode The Constant we were first really introduced to Daniel Faraday and his quirky ways, it was also in this episode that the Mystery of the "BlackRock Journal" was spawned. Coincidence I think not, because at the end of this episode we are also hit with the realization, that Dan really keeps a rather concise Journal,(up until then we knew he had one but thought he was just a crazy guy screaming about his journal).

Now in the Variable we find out that he has been off the island doing God knows what in "Anne Arbor", and his Journal is now filled to the brim with stuff. What was he doing in "Anne Arbor" for three years? Is it possible that he somehow time-traveled to the BlackRock times and got himself on that ship as the First-mate? Is it possible that he then copied his journal so that he could leave a copy on the island? Is it also possible that he is the one who put the steering wheel in the Frozen Chamber, or at the very least came up with the idea?

I just think it was way too big a coincidence that "The BlackRock Journal" Mystery was brought forward in The Constant with all the Daniel journal stuff also in that episode, seems kinda in your face when you think about it doesn't it?

To finish I would just like to say: Remember at the beginning of season 5 when we see Haliwax/Chang, wake up and go to the orchid because of the problem of the guy dying, and I don't know about y'all but I just thought it was some sort of Flashback, then we see Daniel look up right before the title card, That was a WTF moment for me, I can totally see the same thing happening now with the BlackRock.

Picture this:

It's sailing along, and see's the island in view, Statue and all, then bam! something happens, and it's sitting in the middle of said Island all these people start filing out , then it cuts to a scene with Richard Mopping the floor in the Galley or something, and someone telling him to get above deck to help get the survivors out, then we see Richard running up some steps and out to a gangplank, then down it but in the back ground we see a guy taking notes, the camera zooms in to reveal it's Ole Danny Boy with his trusty journal!!

Boom!!

LOST

Like Grandfather Like Father Like Son Like Grandson by RIPYOGI

2009-11-05T07:54:00.003Z

This is in response to Joe D.'s theory "Shepherd's have history on the island."

If his theory is correct, which I recommend reading, then this would have further implications on the future. Here's a quick timeline: Ray comes to the island via BlackRock. Ray has a son named Christian, on the island. Ray is banished from the island and Christian leaves with him. Christian has a son named Jack. Christian misses the island and flies around looking for it. Christian has a daughter, Claire. Claire and Jack crash on the island.

Now for the part that ties everything in...

Eloise says for the O6 to get back they must recreate the events of the old flight on flight 316. What if flight 815 was actually recreating the events of the past of the Black Rock? What if Claire and Jack are the secret to finding the island? The island gives off energy. You gain that energy the longer you live there as seen by the nosebleeds by Charlotte, Miles, and Juliette.

I am claiming that people that live on the island and are born from people on the island have an energy ingrained into them that allows them to find the island. Jack and Claire are blood related, Christian's side, which would have given them enough magnetism to bring 815 to the island. Why did Widmore need Charlotte, an archeologist? He didn't need Charlotte the archeaologist; he needed Charlotte and the magnetism that was given to her. It is the same story with Faraday and Miles. They have the magnetism that helped Widmore find the island. What did Christian's shoes have to do with anything? To me they added no value in finding the island. They were needed because Jack needed to believe.

Jack and Claire were the reason for 815 to find the island because they were born by Christian who was the son of Ray. The magnetism is passed to them and through another. If this theory is true, Aaron will have this magnetism. Ji Yeon will have this magnetism. I predict if this is correct that Lost will end the same way Jacob and MIB held their conversation on the beach. It always ends the same they come, they fight, etc. etc. But we will see Aaron and Ji Yeon crashing on the island, older and naive to the situation as Jack and Claire were.

Like Father Like Son: many have suggested that evidence that Christian has been to the island before is Christian's drinking habits which are paralleled by Jack. Ray also claims that they'll never find him if he is able to escape which I thought was a clear indicator that he'll be back in S6.

Apparently, if this is also correct, you cannot find the island through one magnetic source. You need at least two strong energy sources to find the island.

Tear it apart. There is more counter-evidence than evidence, but I hope its something different. Thanks Joe D. for the help.

Jacob and Man in Black are the sons of Jack and Sawyer by Television Lady

2009-11-05T07:54:00.001Z

When the LOST-ies are back in 1977, Sawyer and Juliet are shacking up. Amy asks Juliet when she and "Jim" are going to have one of these (babies) when Juliet helps her with baby Ethan. Juliet stammers and doesn't really give a firm committment but you'd think with her history as a fertility doc she would be on top of conception, as it were, preventing it OR facilitating it. Later when she, Sawyer, and Kate go back to the island from the sub to stop Jack from blowing off the nuke, Bernard regards her a bit cautiously and asks if she wants some tea. She has her hand over her abdomen kind of absently when he asks her this. And a gun in her jeans sticking out of the waistband.

Kate goes to Jack's place and completely jumps his bones the night before the Ajira flight leaves. The opportunity for conception is there. Why was she screwing him right then and there when she was very upset with him and all the surrounding circumstances?

This of course would mean that Juliet somehow survived the nuclear blast and was then well enough to gestate and give birth, and that the time travel would fling everyone back to the beginning of time, but it's not that far-fetched, considering all that's happened until now. Father/son pairs are crucial parts of the show. I'm thinking Jacob and the man in black are not going to be 2 randoms. . .

Shephard's have history on the island.... by Joe D.

2009-11-04T23:55:00.001Z

I got this idea when I was thinking about Christian/Ray/Jack a while back. This theory hit me when I got to thinking about the appearances of Christian on the island and then thinking about Locke's seeming awakening from the land of the dead.

Okay, bear with me here. Ray and Christian were both on board The Black Rock....along with Richard. All three of them were giving eternal youth. Ray and Christian sided with the Man in Black and this angered Jacob. In the 1950's Ray and Christian were banished from the island and were stripped of their eternal youth....meaning once they left the island, they immediately started aging again. They went to the states where Ray has been thoroughly miserable ever since as seen in 316. Ray just looked completely miserable with his existence. Christian on the other hand tried to move on and he started a family. He had Jack in the late 1960s. Sometime before Claire was born, he started getting bored with his life and wanted to return to the island, so he started taking plane trips across the South Pacific life Jack does later in his life. On one of his trips to Australia, he meets Claire's mother and he starts a relationship with her...and later they produce Claire. Every! thing was fine for a number of year's...until his world was ripped apart by Jack when his son snitched on him for drinking on the job. He went to Sydney essentially to die. Yes, he wanted to see his daughter, but ultimately he wanted to die. Jack went to Australia to bring his father home. Once Flight 815 crashes on the island, the Man in Black resurrects Christian because they are old friends, and he wants Jack's father to help him carry out his mission....mainly helping John Locke do what he needs to do for the loophole to kill Jacob. Jacob wants Jack to be on his side, and that's why he touched Jack during The Incident.

This is my first ever theory submitted to Dark...be easy.

Reciprocity: Why the Island needs the Losties by Locke's disciple

2009-11-04T22:10:00.000Z

This theory is quite long, but I think it's rather interesting. It really only makes sense in it's entirety, as the condensed version was more confusing. I'm sure most of the thoughts are nothing new, but it's what I got out of watching Lost. Hope you enjoy.

The Island is an attempt by a higher intelligence to create paradise for humans. All evidence points to this, from it's physical attributes (tropical setting and healing powers) to it's philosophy of how it conducts itself. What is paradise? The state of nirvana or enlightenment. How do you achieve this? Thru coming to terms with your life, atoning, and adopting a constructive, peaceful, limitless attitude and lifestyle. This is the process of redemption that is the foundation of Lost. This is the purpose the Island seeks to reveal to all of it's inhabitants. RECIPROCITY

The Island institutes a policy of reciprocity in order to achieve and maintain nirvana. That is to say, it reacts to and is subject to your attitude and behavior. Metaphorically speaking whatever action you do to/for the Island, it will do to/for you in return. To reach paradise you must first make peace with yourself in order to open your mind to the possibility. Then it must be maintained thru your actions, hence the need to protect the Island after you've arrived. This entire process is what is meant by the seemingly cryptic phrase, "you've got work to do." What is the point of having the Island solve all the problems for you and then keep them solved without your involvement? Nothing. You have to continue to choose the right behavior to follow. So the policy of reciprocity makes sure that if you go back to your old ways you will endanger your environment and others in it as well. If one of us in the community causes suffering, then we all suffer the same for it. (Example! : Desmond's lack of focus causes the entire Royal Scots regiment platoon to be accountable and run in the rain.)

Upon the opening shot of the show when Jack woke up in the trees he had done things he needed to be redeemed of. From Jack's POV (point of view) it was his obsession to fix failed marriage/relationships and his unresolved issues with his father. But what else had Jack and company also done prior to that opening shot of the pilot? It helps to look at things from the Island's POV.

Imagine you are the Island and have attained a state of nirvana by the work you've done and continue to do. Naturally you want to offer others the way to paradise yet they always bite the hand that feeds them. How do you show them how to attain this state of being? We'll get back to that. First, a little history... Examine things in a chronological order from your (the Island's) POV. This is just an oversimplified, real general history.

In 1954, after centuries of failed societies of your inhabitants, the US army comes to your shores with the intent of blowing up a H-bomb. You communicate to Jacob (who has also attained the nirvana mind state) to instruct Richard to offer them a chance to leave, but they refuse. A bald guy shows up out of nowhere saying he will be a future leader and do something important, and a guy in a tie says to just bury the bomb. Then they disappear. Richard and your people are intrigued.

Jump to 1970 you encourage Richard to negotiate a joint venture partnership between Mittelos/Hanso and the Dharma Initiative. They claim they want to study you and use what they learn "for the betterment of mankind." They set up a community and a truce is negotiated after some dubious first encounters. Not a great start but you give them a chance.

Move on to 1974-77. A group of people literally appear out of thin air and infiltrate the DI. One of them shoots a 12 year old boy, another denies that boy medical attention to save his life. Then they conspire with your people (Other's) to recover and detonate the H-bomb and rationalize that this destruction will absolve them of everything they've done!? These acts are inexcusable and there must be punishment, but absolute reciprocity means you would need to kill them all as well and this destroys everything. Your inhabitants need to be made aware they can't blow things up to become blissfully ignorant. So you limit the damage to a electromagnetic leak (like a bleeding wound of the Island) and prohibit childbirth until those responsible make amends and "fix" it. Now Ms Hawking's demeanor and story makes more sense. She was partially responsible for the childbirth prohibition. She was pregnant and left the Island to have Daniel but later had to "persuade" Desmond, assemble ! the Ajira 315 folks and sacrifice her son to make her amends. For his over zealousness Radzinksy was forced to monitor the hatch until finding a replacement. "A sacrifice the Island demanded." (Note the phrasing Juliet used to describe the pregnancy issue. "the mother's body treats the fetus as a foreign invader eventually killing both of them") The mother = the Island. The foreign invader = humans. RECIPROCITY. No one survives if we both attack each other, the only way is to reconcile.

Now it's 1988 and the choices of the leader of the people you have entrusted to protect you has become disconcerting. He orders an innocent woman and her baby to be murdered, yet he has left to start a family off the Island to sidestep the childbirth prohibition?! Years earlier you began the search for a new leader. Forever the optimist, you've had your eye on a young boy who survived an extraordinary childbirth, but sadly is abused emotionally and physically by his father. He deserves salvation so you attempt to show him he's special by working with the Universal course-correction process and setting up the circumstances to bring him to you. (Horace happening to be in the right place at the right time) Also you've reached out to him by using the image of his dead mother to tell him to be patient, his time will come. (Both Richard and his mother's apparition told him this)

1992 is another sad year for you, but is one of perhaps new hope and change. The DI has done little except further their own prideful agenda. All their "silly" experiments haven't shown them the "one true way" because they still can't even co-exist with your people. They still call them "hostile" and constructed The Arrow (defense strategies) and The Tempest (poison gas)?! They don't comprehend the ways to enlightenment. They're more interested in developing technology (that could destroy the world if unchecked) by harnessing your unlimited energy. So they must be purged, as does the man (Widmore) you've entrusted to lead the protective effort.

***Note the Purge is much different from the H-bomb reset. The Purge was punishment for destructive behavior. H-bomb reset is destruction in the attempt
to be absolved. That's why it won't work and the Losties will still be on the Island in season 6 in need of atonement. This is why season 6 will have the "feel" of season 1. , because we now know what they did to be brought to the Island. It was the H-bomb reset plan to forget their past. ***

By 2001-04 More of the same. Your peoples new leader has become a jealous, deceitful liar. The inhabitants are living in the barracks ("cheating" as Locke told Ben) and are in danger of forgetting the humility required to maintain the nirvana mind state. On a positive note the people responsible for the prohibition of childbirth have now been made ready to come and atone for their acts. You have Jacob use "lists" to instruct Richard to recruit Juliet, and again using Universal course correction you make sure the right people end up on 815, and get Desmond in the hatch to make sure it crashes. (This explains Locke's curious speeches in season 1. "Do you think it's an accident we landed here, on this place? Many of us with only superficial wounds? We were brought here for a reason, a purpose ... it's destiny!") Of course you had to ensure those responsible for the '77 bomb, survived the crash unharmed and are given a chance to atone! RECIPROCITY. If you don't show them mercy, ! forgiveness and offer reconciliation then what does that say about you? How can you (as the Island) maintain nirvana?

Unfortunately, as expected they want to deny their accountability. ("Forgive them for they know not what they are doing") From their POV all they are guilty of is their personal struggles before they crashed. From your POV they've already detonated a bomb to attack you because you wanted retribution in the first place, so you made their plane crash to bring them back. That last sentence is a little confusing so I'll rephrase: They blew up a bomb in '77 to forget. You crashed their plane in '04 to bring them back to remember. RECIPROCITY. (Locke made a curious speech in season 1, "They've attacked us... sabotaged us... murdered us!" What ignorance! From your POV "they" are guilty of the same thing! Hence the terms "other's" and "one of THEM" always being used. Everyone pointing the finger at everyone else.)

So back to original question: How can you show someone how to attain nirvana? They are blissfully ignorant of their misdeeds to you because from their POV it hasn't happened yet. The Monster can't extract memories from their minds to show them. When you speak it only comes out as "whispers" to them because they have no concept of what they've done to you. (Like trying to tell an alcoholic who is in denial to get help, they wouldn't HEAR the message). Also to tell them what they are going to do would be to unfairly influence their freewill. The only way is to communicate your desire to make peace and forgive if they are willing to make peace. RECIPROCITY.

There are many examples that show the Island's willingness to reconcile with the Losties well before they've considered the reset plan. Kate sees the stallion that (temporarily) spared her from incarceration which coaxes her to make amends to Wayne. Sawyer hears Frank Duckett's voice coaxing him to spare vengeance to the boar and hears the whispers of the Islands approval afterward. Sayid sees the cat that reminds him of when a woman he tortured chose to forgive him. On and on the Island has offered reconciliation for what has happened to it, to those who don't even know the damage they will (have already) cause(d).

My personal favorite... Locke being healed. From Locke's POV the Island unexpectedly healed him and restored his faith. But this wasn't just "a good faith gesture." Look at it from the Island's POV. It was in return for when he showed up out of thin air back in 1954 and unexpectedly restored IT'S faith by assuring the people that one day a leader will show up and save it!! Remember back to 1954 when that bald guy walked into the Other's camp and said Jacob sent him, he was going to be the leader and had something important to do and then vanished? To Richard and those in the camp that would be quite miraculous and would be something to hope for. This explains the strange stares Locke always got when in the Other's camp. They had heard stories for 50 years that a man will come to lead them, then they find out he was crippled but could walk again on the Island? Of course they were excited!

All his life Locke mistook naivety for faith and he needed to be held accountable for that. The Island was communicating to him how faith is important but mistaking naivety for faith is foolish, dangerous and causes destructive acts to go unpunished. So Locke struggled with a similar problem the Island had been dealing with in having so much faith in people yet they continue to disappoint. Locke says in season 1 "This Island healed me, it made me whole again." Well you sir, Mr Locke helped heal the Island and made it whole again in the way you served it before you even knew it's plan or what was in store for you. You tried to mentor Jack and convince him to stay. You mentored Ben by calling him out on his lies and trying to show him the error of his ways of leadership. You did everything you could to keep people on the Island, you gave your life to convince them to all come back because you felt it was their destiny to protect it. RECIPROCITY. You worked on Jack for 5 seaso! ns to make him believe again, even in death. The letter -"Jack, I wish you had believed me." This process is what starts the chain of positive influence. (Locke in The L&D of J.B. s5ep7 "I only have to convince one of them, and if I can do that then the rest will follow.) -Jack to Kate in season 1: We're gonna have a Locke problem. He's crazy. -Jack to Kate in season 5: Maybe he was right.

The Room 23 video images... "Think about your life", "We are the causes of our own suffering", "Plant a good seed and you will joyfully gather fruit"

The examples are endless and I don't mean to say all the Island wants is for them to feel bad for the H-bomb. It's that the Island wants them to free themselves of all their burdens and do whatever is necessary to make amends so that they can have the paradise intended for their lives. How can you watch a person suffer and do nothing to help them when you know the answer to their problem? If the situations were reversed wouldn't you want them to help you? RECIPROCITY. Thru their collective actions they have caused the events leading up to MIB's escape from exile and Jacob's murder. The coming War is the attempt by MIB to end any form of balance. He wants to tip the scale of reciprocity. He doesn't feel they deserve it, they come fight, they destroy they corrupt. There is no yin-yang. MIB thinks, "We give, they take they don't give back."

The loophole was way more complex then just tricking time traveling Locke. "You have no idea what I've gone thru to be here." Jacob dead and exiled without a body means no more bringing people to the Island. The childbirth prohibition prevents anyone new from being born. The Island is boxed in. Its like burning all the trees on the planet in order to asphyxiate the world. It's why Jacob's defense to Ben was, "What about you?" As in, why are you so jealous? Why are you so angry at me? I helped heal and teach you and this is how you repay me? What about what YOU'VE done? What about what you're doing right now? Look inside yourself think about your life. "What about you?" By biting the hand that feeds you then how will you eat?

To conclude, why the six degrees of separation aspect? Why do all the characters interact in each other's backstories? Why are these "randomly" chosen people so important? RECIPROCITY. What I do in the world will affect you, which then affects him, which affects her, which affects them which then affects me and what I do next. CIRCLE was the original title of Lost not necessarily because of a time loop.

The answer to Ilana's question, What lies in the shadow of the statue? He who will save/protect us all. It's a metaphor. A rhetorical question. He who will save us all, means "the people that are willing to make a sacrifice for the good of the world will save the world." Jacob was willing and lies there. Locke was willing and lies there. Who else is willing?

RECIPROCITY

Lost's Wormhole by Marcus

2009-11-04T15:07:00.001Z

Where is the island? I believe the island exists inside a time bubble within a wormhole.

A wormhole is a structure which connects two distant regions of space time. Now wormholes although hypothetical are thought to be unstable and would require an unusual energy source to prevent total collapse. The energy source that keeps our wormhole open is the exotic matter located at the orchid. It has curious properties, one of which is it exerts a negative force, so if you tried to pump up a car tire using exotic matter it would do the opposite and deflate the tire. This negative force can be harnessed though, by sending it through the centre of a wormhole to keep it open. The island exists within this wormhole, inside a time bubble, one mouth of the wormhole moves around the pacific, the entry point, while the other exists in Tunisia, or the exit point as it’s known, but I’m curious as to why nobody can traverse through the wormhole from the Tunisian side to get to the island?? It seems to be a one way deal here

Now I want to focus on the mouth located in the Pacific and the best analogy I can use to help visualize this mouth is to use the gate in the film Stargate.

In this film they dig up a gate, which appears to be one end, or mouth of a wormhole, the other end exists somewhere in another galaxy, I’d like to just focus on the gate on earth for a moment. When the gate is switched on, a wormhole opens and a window looks through to the other side, except we can’t see the other side because of blue CGI effect in the film. However, let’s replace the blue CGI with a transparent effect instead; we should then be able to look straight through to the other side.
Now let’s take this window, make it a good deal larger, and place it in the Pacific Ocean. This now forms part of our complex lost wormhole and it’s the only safe way for the outside world to look at, and travel too, the island. The correct bearing is simply the location of the window itself.

Can the island be seen by an outside observer, someone in the real world, who is travelling towards it on a different bearing? In other words is the island only visible from that specific bearing of 305, or can it be viewed just as easily from a bearing of 180? No, you can’t see it from any other bearing except 305. Inside the radius, yes no problem you can see the entire island from any bearing, but from outside its radius, in the real world, I would argue that no you can’t, and the only way to see it is by looking through the wormholes window. This is because, all that exists to us as outside observers is an entrance to a wormhole, nothing more, it’s a complex structure and contains just one correct entry point, the window, and lots of incorrect entry points, which are equivalent to the islands barrier, there’s no actual island barrier for us, hope this makes sense? From an island perspective, it has a barrier, so if someone tried to leave it by passing through thi! s barrier (time storm), they would emerge on our side through an incorrect point on the wormhole, and be dead a few days later from a brain aneurism

In season 4 Minkowski just wanted to “see” the island. Why did he have to pass through the barrier to see it? Surely he could’ve seen it from a safe vantage point? He couldn’t, because all that exists is a wormholes entry point and to see the island he would’ve had to pass through this entry point. From his perspective he wouldn’t have seen anything as he approached the mouth of the wormhole, just open water. He then enters the wormhole on the wrong bearing and has a smooth, instantaneous transition through to the other side, where he would then see the island come gradually into view. It would all appear normal and he wouldn’t realise anything was wrong until he began to have flashes.

On the Ajira flight Frank saw nothing on approach to the island. It was dark and very cloudy, was this a clever attempt by Darlton to conceal the fact that, off bearing, the island just isn’t visible by the outside world?

In TNPLH, you could argue that the chopper saw the island on its way back from the freighter as it was running out of gas, and it was outside the radius at the time. However we know frank always flew on the correct bearing, so I would argue that what frank and co were really looking through was the window of the wormhole, the producers were very careful here by only showing an external shot on the correct bearing. When Ben turned that wheel the exotic matter rotated, which remember, runs straight through our wormhole. This rotation changed the coordinates of our wormholes entry point, and that’s why the island seemed to disappear from the perspective we saw at the time(on the chopper)

For this to be consistent though it has to work both ways, the people on the island can only see the outside world by looking through the wormholes window on the correct bearing. This is confirmed in 5x01, when sawyer and Juliet were sitting on the beaching watching the freighter. They were looking directly through the window. When Ben turned the wheel the freighter vanished and the window changed location.

Ben also knocked the exotic matter of its axis, which meant it moved around unpredictably. Since this exotic matter runs through the centre of the wormhole to keep it open, and now its fluctuating around, then the wormholes entry point in the pacific must be moving around too. The evidence for this was in 5x06 at the lamppost station, where the crosses on the map appeared in different parts of the pacific. However, if the entry point was just moving around in space, then there would be a whole host of markings on this map, but there wasn’t, this indicates that the entry point was also moving through time too.

Ok now for a brief word on the time bubble. A time bubble is a self contained world that branches off from our region of space-time and is sometimes called a baby universe. It exists in imaginary time which runs at right angles to real time, in which the universe has no beginning and end. Our Lost wormhole connects us to the time bubble just like an umbilical cord. To help visualize a time bubble we can use an analogy. Space-time is like the sea as seen from a high vantage point, smooth and serene. If we move closer though, to smaller scales, it appears as waves and bubbles. At extremely small scales, pockets and bubbles of space-time can form at random, spluttering into existence, then dissolving. Quantum physics states that it’s probable, almost inevitable, that one of these small time bubbles will grow into a full-fledged universe. It’s important to stress here that the only way to interact with these bubbles would be through a wormhole, because they ‘re entirely! their own universe and don’t take up any space in ours, or to quote Stephen Hawking

"They don't form in space; of course, it doesn't mean anything to ask where in space these things occur. They don't take up room in our universe but rather are their own universes, expanding into spaces that did not exist before.”

A final thought about the wormhole. There are many different types of wormhole and I’m not completely sure which type is being used on Lost. In this theory I’ve proposed a Wheeler quantum wormhole, which connects our universe to a time bubble, but Lost could just as easily be using an intra- universe wormhole, which connects two distant regions of space within the same universe. If this is the case, then the island might exist somewhere on another planet within a different galaxy, somewhere near the Crab Nebula perhaps? ) (Kudos to Lost Dbutz here. He raised the point of the Crab Nebula in another theory, can’t seem to find it anywhere now) The final shot of lost could be the camera panning out from the island to reveal that it’s not even in our own solar system.

That’s all I got for now. It’s been a difficult concept to explain and I’m probably wrong on some points. Thanks for reading.

Unification Attempt For LOST Theories (My Opinion) by reversechapter

2009-11-03T20:21:00.001Z

None of this is original…..I am just trying to put on paper some of what I have read over the last few months that I think holds water.

1. Next season we (along with the Losties) will see the original timeline during which all men and women on the planet are killed due to a catastrophic, mad-made event.
2. The Island is “Ground Zero” for the destruction of humankind.
3. Certain people were originally responsible for causing the end of the world; maybe all of the central characters are the ones who are involved in the destruction, or some are handpicked for different reasons by Jacob because he thinks they can change or delay the outcome by protecting the island.
4. Jacob and MIB have been time travelling a long time trying to prevent the end of Man; one of them has given up and thinks humans are destined to become extinct in a few years. He is sick of putting it off and kills Jacob to try and stop his efforts. Obviously, Jacob is putting all of his eggs in one basket for this last attempt, since he was willing to die. Of course, he has Hurley to help him continue to communicate, which tells us why Hurley is so important.
5. If a person time travels, they do not age until they reach the point from which they left; so Richard is really not all that old, ironically, but from the future. While Richard has been helping Jacob for a long time, I think there may be a point where he changes his mind and begins to tire of putting off what may be inevitable.
6. Dharma tried to determine how the world will end in an attempt to stop it. Jacob and MIB may have originated from there, or one or both could even be someone we already know (I think that would be going over the top a little, so I hope not).
7. The “smoke monster” course-corrects destiny. This magnetic energy force was a result of an experiment gone-wrong, and not something created intentionally.
8. Ben is not an “original timeline” person, hence, Widmore’s reference “I know who you are - WHAT you are, Boy.” Ben obviously knows a lot more than he is letting on even now, and his ambivalence about people living or dying comes from the knowledge that most people in the world are completely irrelevant to the larger picture. Jacob has also demonstrated this behavior, by not saving people like Nadia, for example. Killing someone like Cesar or the unknown passengers on Ajira 316, who are less important or totally unimportant, might be done without a second thought (note Ben’s odd comments and actions).
9. If someone like Alex is partially responsible for the mass destruction originating on the island in the future – meaning she lives that long naturally in the original timeline - then killing that person in an alternate timeline is “against the rules.” Kidnapping them and raising them differently, however, might be perfectly fine. Either way, if Alex is changed or killed and prevented from fulfilling her original destiny, the “monster” will try to find a substitute in order to course-correct.
10. Until Inman made a break for it, time on the island was set in a loop to put off certain events – or occupy certain individuals, or both - as one way of stopping what happens temporarily.
11. Saving civilization will involve a combination of individuals making the right choices to protect the island while following the “rules” being maintained by the smoke monster (destiny).
12. The “Losties” will somehow (in the Temple, perhaps) flash to the original timeline to see and understand what happens there so they will get on board Jacob’s effort to save mankind; or not. They cannot choose that original route – that path has already been changed.