Lost Theories From the Previous 5 Seasons
Ok, I'll give you a chance to mock even my prior theories. I was shocked when they killed Shannon in season 2 so soon after killing off her brother and I was convinced the producers would bring her back at some point. Um, ok, not so much. I became convinced that Desmond was the key to everything. I didn't need Faraday to tell me Desmond was "special," it was obvious. He was the only character to ever see "flashes" of the future and the only one who seemed to have the ability to successfully move his consciousness through time. So while watching Season 4, I began to concoct my first "Grand Unified Theory of Lost":
People at various points in season 4 (as well as season 5) said things to the effect of "it's not supposed to happen this way." John Locke was fond of saying it, the first time to my recollection being when he knifed Naomi and tried to warn Jack not to contact the freighter at the end of season 3. What does it mean, "this is not supposed to happen this way"? I thought that it meant that the timeline had branched off from the path it was originally going to take at some point late in season 3. The most obvious candidate for the moment things went awry was the moment Charlie Pace died in the Looking Glass, or rather, the moment he turned off the jamming equipment. His action there allowed the freighter folk, including Keamy and the other mercenaries, to land on the island. Keamy and Co. killed Alex Rousseau, as well as all the survivors who made it to the freighter before Keamy blew it up. It was Keamy's attack on the islanders (both 816ers and Others) that forced Ben Linus to move the island by turning the "Frozen Donkey Wheel" (FDW). Except Ben wasn't "supposed" to turn it, so the island skipped through time (in the process of which most of the remaining 816 survivors still on the island were killed off) until Locke, who was "supposed" to turn it in the first place, did so. Then the time-flashes stopped, but because Ben had improperly turned the wheel in the first place, it stranded Sawyer, Jin, Juliet, Miles, Desmond, Rose, and Bernard in 1974.
So I theorized that someone (most likely, Desmond) would have to go back in time to the end of season 3 and stop Charlie from turning the jamming beacon off. Then there would be some kind of final confrontation between the Others and 816ers and the series would end (with probably a lot of other complications thrown in to make things interesting). I still think this would have been an awesome tack for the show to take, but ultimately it became apparent to me that it was NOT the one Damon and Carlton were going to take. It would have been nice to see Dominic Monaghan return as a main character, though.
If I had been watching Lost during the original run of Season 4 and blogging about it, I would have been able to claim that I had been ahead of the curve on it turning into a time-travel show. In the second episode, "Confirmed Dead," we see Charlotte's first flashback. She is in the Tunisian desert and examines a fossilized polar bear skeleton, alongside a Dharma collar. "Aha!" I thought. "Dharma polar bear fossilized in the Sahara can only mean one thing: at some point, the island jumped or will jump through time and space to sometime thousands of years ago in what is now the Sahara desert. Of course, thousands of years ago, the Sahara was more of a tropical scrubland than a desert. Perhaps that was how the Others (with their Egypt symbolism) first got to the island, by journeying west from the Nile to location of the island in North Africa. Thus I was not shocked at all when the FDW was revealed and island started jumping through time. Sawyer and Co. seem to have been attacked by ancient Egyptians using flaming arrows (unless that was someone else). I still want the show to explain the Island-Tunisia-Egypt connection, especially why the exit point for anyone using the FDW is Tunisia.
Season 6 ALT vs. WHH
I came down on the "Whatever Happens, Happens" side of the great debate in season 5 and during the long break between seasons 5 and 6 about whether it is possible for a time-traveler to change the past. If Sayid's shooting of Ben or Juliet's detonation of Jughead had actually changed everything that happened post-1977, then the previous 5 seasons were a waste. With only 1 season to go, the producers would essentially be saying "and now for something completely different."Fortunately, they didn't do that, but they did split the difference by creating a new "Alternate" timeline in which 815 does not in fact crash on the island. I'm skeptical that Jughead's detonation was the point at which the alternate timeline split off from the main one. A nuclear blast would have leveled Dharmaville, not simply submerged the island. Likewise, a volcanic eruption (Ben's teacher mentioned that there is a volcano on the island back in season 3 and I still look forward to seeing it blow at some point) would bury Dharmaville beneath ash and lava, not sink the island. The fact that the barracks are intact underwater in the alternate means that something else we haven't seen yet sunk the island, and did so at some point after about 1970 (when Dharma was founded). The fact that Ben Linus is alive and well in the alternate as a European History high school teacher (when at the time of Jughead's detonation, he was still on the island recovering with the Others), means that the island sank before 1977 (or 1974, since this is when Sawyer and Co. flashed to the island).
So the early 70s then was the point of divergence, and as the season progresses, Damon and Carleton are going to slowly reveal the sequence of events that led to the island sinking. Considering the apocalyptic storyline going on in season 6 between loyal Jacobites and followers of Esau/Fake Locke, it wouldn't make sense to introduce something this shocking and important if it's ultimately irrelevant to the show's ending. Which leads to my next theory: At some point towards the end of season 6, Jack will be one of the few good guys left alive, perhaps the only one. At that point, he will get a choice to choose a better past/timeline for the 816ers and the Others, but the catch will be that to accomplish this will necessitate sinking the island. I'm not sure how the island could be sunk, but if it can be moved by turning the FDW, maybe if you pull really really hard on the plug in Ben's closet in Dharmaville, you can flood the island. ;)
The ALT-LOSTies will still have a feeling of deja vu whenever they encounter each other or other things that remind them of what happened in the original timeline (like Jack's appendectamy scar, apparently an attempt by Time to "course-correct"). Eventually, they will recover at least some concrete memories of the other timeline, though what will happen then is a mystery to me. Perhaps the two timelines become merged? Not sure what the point of that would be, except to offer certain characters like Sayid and Locke a shot at redemption. Perhaps they all board Ajira Flight 316 in 2007?
With the exception of Sayid and Rose, it seems that everyone in the alternate universe has a better life than they had in the original timeline (Hurley being lucky, Jack having a kid and a chance to be a good father unlike his own). The two exceptions might prove the rule, however, because Rose has accepted that she will soon die (and so presumably has Bernard), meaning that they will treasure the moments they have left. If Sayid has free will, he is free to choose the path of nonviolence. The Eko parallels here are obvious: like Eko, Sayid never really had a "choice" to be bad, did he? He tortured when the Iraqi government forced him to, when the 815ers wanted him to for their security, when he was tracking down those who supposedly caused his wife's death. Of course, we all have choices, don't we? Throughout the first 5 seasons, Sayid was fully aware of the terrible things he had done and didn't profess to be a "good man" the way he did in last week's episode, "Sundown." Which means he's possessed... or something....
Meanwhile, Back on the Ranch....
While the "alternate" timeline sequences have often seemed pointless, the on-island 2007 main timeline sequences are thrilling, albeit equally confusing at times. This post has already become far longer than I was expected, so I'll give my take on the season 6 MTL as quickly as I can: Jughead didn't work. Shocker. Instead the explosion likely was contained by the ongoing electromagnetic anomaly, combining to form what the Dharma Initiative was to call "The Incident." Dharma knew nothing about any nuclear weapon, but they did pick up elevated levels of radiation afterwords, so they turned the Swan Station, which was originally supposed to be a research station, into a containment station, trying to contain what they believed to be incredible electromagnetic energy inside the pocket of rock. Instead, when Desmond turned the fail-safe key at the end of season 2, releasing all the energy, it was actually pretty mild, far from the island-destroying, world-ending release that Dharma had feared.
At the moment of the detonation, Jack and Co. flashed back in time to 2007. Juliet was still dying at the bottom of the well (which is now of course the wreckage from the Swan implosion in 2004). Jack, Sawyer, Miles, Hurley, Sayid, and the Dharma van are all exactly where they were prior to the detonation. The only exception is Kate, who appears way up in a tree, ears ringing from the explosion. Much as season 1 began with Jack being in the jungle away from where the other front-section survivors landed, season 6 begins with Kate being away from where the other 816ers are. I can't help but think this is significant, and the fact that her name is not listed as a candidate on the cave wall (or if it is listed, Esau chose not to point it out) and that she ends up joining Esau's group at the end of "Sundown" (even though Esau is surprised at her action and knows she is the only one of his new army who hasn't actually committed her loyalty to him)... all of this seems extremely significant. Though what it portends, who can tell?
Jacob starts appearing to Hurley, first directing him to lead everyone to the Temple to heal Sayid. At the Temple, they meet Dogen, Lennon, and the other Others who have presumably been there since early season 4. I found myself hard-pressed to care much about these obviously important characters introduced at the absolute 11th hour, so I'll focus on the mystery of how it is Sayid comes back to life after drowning in the dirty pool? Dogen claims that Sayid is "infected" with a "darkness", like Claire is. Even after the end of Sundown, it seems to me that perhaps neither of them are actually "infected" at all. Claire was alone on the island for 3 years, brainwashed by Esau and hunted by the others, who captured and tortured her at one point. Why wouldn't she be on Esau's side against the Others, especially since he promised to help Clair get her baby back? Sayid has been shot, tortured, sent off to die, and ultimately killed by the Others; this is not to mention all the times he shot, tortured, and killed for the Others (Ben) in season 4--or all the friends he lost to the Others, from Shannon (killed because of paranoia of the Others) to Charlie. Why wouldn't he want revenge? Why wouldn't he join with someone who opposed the Others? Especially if they promised him Nadia back alive? The only real evidence for Sayid being "infected" is the demonic look on his face at the end of the episode and the fact that protested his innocence. Time will tell. I still hope for redemption for both Claire and Sayid.
Something that strikes me: how is it that most of the Others just left with Esau when he told them Jabob was dead? Talk about loyalty! My respect for these people decreases almost every episode. I guess the moral here is that if you are a leader, don't make the mistake Jacob did. Tell people at least part of the reason why you want them to do things, so they feel like they have ownership in your goals. Otherwise, once you're gone, so is their commitment to your goals.
And I think that's a wrap for now. The next post will wrap up a few loose ends, explain my theory about Christian and Jacob and Esau, and review the next episode, which looks to be Ben-centric. The promos have me worried for his safety, if they kill him in this next episode after all but saying that they would in the promo, I'll be very upset. That's all for now. Namaste!
While the "alternate" timeline sequences have often seemed pointless, the on-island 2007 main timeline sequences are thrilling, albeit equally confusing at times. This post has already become far longer than I was expected, so I'll give my take on the season 6 MTL as quickly as I can: Jughead didn't work. Shocker. Instead the explosion likely was contained by the ongoing electromagnetic anomaly, combining to form what the Dharma Initiative was to call "The Incident." Dharma knew nothing about any nuclear weapon, but they did pick up elevated levels of radiation afterwords, so they turned the Swan Station, which was originally supposed to be a research station, into a containment station, trying to contain what they believed to be incredible electromagnetic energy inside the pocket of rock. Instead, when Desmond turned the fail-safe key at the end of season 2, releasing all the energy, it was actually pretty mild, far from the island-destroying, world-ending release that Dharma had feared.
At the moment of the detonation, Jack and Co. flashed back in time to 2007. Juliet was still dying at the bottom of the well (which is now of course the wreckage from the Swan implosion in 2004). Jack, Sawyer, Miles, Hurley, Sayid, and the Dharma van are all exactly where they were prior to the detonation. The only exception is Kate, who appears way up in a tree, ears ringing from the explosion. Much as season 1 began with Jack being in the jungle away from where the other front-section survivors landed, season 6 begins with Kate being away from where the other 816ers are. I can't help but think this is significant, and the fact that her name is not listed as a candidate on the cave wall (or if it is listed, Esau chose not to point it out) and that she ends up joining Esau's group at the end of "Sundown" (even though Esau is surprised at her action and knows she is the only one of his new army who hasn't actually committed her loyalty to him)... all of this seems extremely significant. Though what it portends, who can tell?
Jacob starts appearing to Hurley, first directing him to lead everyone to the Temple to heal Sayid. At the Temple, they meet Dogen, Lennon, and the other Others who have presumably been there since early season 4. I found myself hard-pressed to care much about these obviously important characters introduced at the absolute 11th hour, so I'll focus on the mystery of how it is Sayid comes back to life after drowning in the dirty pool? Dogen claims that Sayid is "infected" with a "darkness", like Claire is. Even after the end of Sundown, it seems to me that perhaps neither of them are actually "infected" at all. Claire was alone on the island for 3 years, brainwashed by Esau and hunted by the others, who captured and tortured her at one point. Why wouldn't she be on Esau's side against the Others, especially since he promised to help Clair get her baby back? Sayid has been shot, tortured, sent off to die, and ultimately killed by the Others; this is not to mention all the times he shot, tortured, and killed for the Others (Ben) in season 4--or all the friends he lost to the Others, from Shannon (killed because of paranoia of the Others) to Charlie. Why wouldn't he want revenge? Why wouldn't he join with someone who opposed the Others? Especially if they promised him Nadia back alive? The only real evidence for Sayid being "infected" is the demonic look on his face at the end of the episode and the fact that protested his innocence. Time will tell. I still hope for redemption for both Claire and Sayid.
Something that strikes me: how is it that most of the Others just left with Esau when he told them Jabob was dead? Talk about loyalty! My respect for these people decreases almost every episode. I guess the moral here is that if you are a leader, don't make the mistake Jacob did. Tell people at least part of the reason why you want them to do things, so they feel like they have ownership in your goals. Otherwise, once you're gone, so is their commitment to your goals.
And I think that's a wrap for now. The next post will wrap up a few loose ends, explain my theory about Christian and Jacob and Esau, and review the next episode, which looks to be Ben-centric. The promos have me worried for his safety, if they kill him in this next episode after all but saying that they would in the promo, I'll be very upset. That's all for now. Namaste!
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