The passage behind the time Vault leads to an incredibly cold chamber playing host to a massive wheel. The wheel can hardly be turned by human strength alone and even if it can be moved, the person doing so is transported from the island and into another time altogether.
The wheel itself is a larger version of a donkey wheel. A donkey wheel, as most know, was used mainly in mills. Donkeys or horses would be tied to the wheel and forced to turn it to keep the mill going.
Now the frozen donkey wheel has too many risks. Donkeys and horses most certainly wouldn't be able to turn it. They would die from the cold temps. Another reason is that if a human was used to turn the wheel, though they are obviously strong enough, they would be banished from the island and who knows where they would end up.
My theory is that Dharma captured polar bears and trained them to turn the wheel. They put them in cages with mind games to test their intelligence. Then when the island needed to be moved, polar bears would be perfectly capable of turning the wheel and withstanding the freezing temperatures. There was no risk of anybody being transported in time, except the polar bears who were expendable. My guess is that when the island was moved previously, a polar bear turning the wheel was transported to Tunisia in the past. Later, it's bear bones are discovered, complete with a dharma collar around its neck
Theory by Butterbeef
The wheel itself is a larger version of a donkey wheel. A donkey wheel, as most know, was used mainly in mills. Donkeys or horses would be tied to the wheel and forced to turn it to keep the mill going.
Now the frozen donkey wheel has too many risks. Donkeys and horses most certainly wouldn't be able to turn it. They would die from the cold temps. Another reason is that if a human was used to turn the wheel, though they are obviously strong enough, they would be banished from the island and who knows where they would end up.
My theory is that Dharma captured polar bears and trained them to turn the wheel. They put them in cages with mind games to test their intelligence. Then when the island needed to be moved, polar bears would be perfectly capable of turning the wheel and withstanding the freezing temperatures. There was no risk of anybody being transported in time, except the polar bears who were expendable. My guess is that when the island was moved previously, a polar bear turning the wheel was transported to Tunisia in the past. Later, it's bear bones are discovered, complete with a dharma collar around its neck
Theory by Butterbeef
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18 Comments:
yes yes, but how did the polar bears get to the wheel? did they go down the lift etc?
and at what point did the tunnel and the orchid get built top cover the wheel?
how would the polar bear turn the wheel though? in order to keep the wheel moving, they would have to walk in a circle... since theres a wall there, they probably couldn't do that.
(unless it was built after they stopped moving the island)
To Drew:
Remember, Ben didn't keep going around and arpund in circles (that we know of). He only had to turn the wheel 1/4 turn. As for getting the bears down there, maybe there are other tunnels?
And why is it ice cold down there in the first place???
I agree with the observation about the polar bears, but am very surprised that you don't use much evidence for your theory and that people are just rating you highly at face value... In my opinion any theory should have plenty of proof to back up its point.
There are tons of clues throughout the series that my theory, Polar Bears and the Mothership, points out if anyone is interested in learning why exactly the Polar Bears should no longer be considered a mystery on the show...
~ Keeping Pace
this has got to be at least partially true. what i've been thinking about now though is that ben must have experienced all these events already through time travel because when he arrived in tunisia he had his dean moriarty i.d. with him and seemed prepared for some time off of the island.
Jeff,
I guess I thought I got my theory across quite clearly without a lot of details. I used the most blatant evidence and proof the show has presented us with and didn't feel the need to elaborate. And I hadn't yet read your theory when I submitted mine.
Well, it def explains why there was a polar bear in Tunisia.
No hard feelings, Butterbeef. I guess that was just me reverting to my old man of science ways and conjuring up a little Jack for a sec. Unlearning those habits are pretty tough, but I'm more and more a man of faith.
Hey, we've got the top 2 spots for theories on here. Happy to have like-minded company :)
Interesting theory, I read it first on the 4815162342.com forums tho.
No hard feelings at all, Jeff. I completely understand how uncomfortable it is to have a closely-related subject laid on top of your own. I should have read around a bit more.
Happy hiatus. :)
Because of the "lost island = neverland" theory - I rewatched "Peter Pan" on DVD to check if there are more parallels: when the pirates lift the anchor - they do it with a "donkey wheel"-lookalike - so when ben is turning the "donkey wheel" it's like lifting an anchor... so to speak!
I already got this conclusion about this theory immediatly after watching the seasson finale!! =)
it's very reasonable...
hi there.this is my first post on here.I used to be on the ABC boards.This theory was posted there also and I was interested to see that someone else has noted the same thing: that the bears would find it impossible to pull the lever in that position because of the wall.Also how do they get don there.However I think the peripheral evidence weighs heavily in your favour:they trained the polar bears to do something..and one was found as a fossil in Tunisia.To explanation for the polar temperatures down there: if the island has been moved a few times or more then it probably is not going to land on water all the time.I think at the moment they have landed in the middle of the Arctic ocean, and the power of the island puts a protective(magnetic) bubble around it with a 2 or 3 mile radius.That is why it is so hard to find.now that the Island has moved it probably has landed on a different type of surface again..just thoughts..
hi there.this is my first post on here.I used to be on the ABC boards.This theory was posted there also and I was interested to see that someone else has noted the same thing: that the bears would find it impossible to pull the lever in that position because of the wall.Also how do they get don there.However I think the peripheral evidence weighs heavily in your favour:they trained the polar bears to do something..and one was found as a fossil in Tunisia.To explanation for the polar temperatures down there: if the island has been moved a few times or more then it probably is not going to land on water all the time.I think at the moment they have landed in the middle of the Arctic ocean, and the power of the island puts a protective(magnetic) bubble around it with a 2 or 3 mile radius.That is why it is so hard to find.now that the Island has moved it probably has landed on a different type of surface again..just thoughts..
hi there.this is my first post on here.I used to be on the ABC boards.This theory was posted there also and I was interested to see that someone else has noted the same thing: that the bears would find it impossible to pull the lever in that position because of the wall.Also how do they get don there.However I think the peripheral evidence weighs heavily in your favour:they trained the polar bears to do something..and one was found as a fossil in Tunisia.To explanation for the polar temperatures down there: if the island has been moved a few times or more then it probably is not going to land on water all the time.I think at the moment they have landed in the middle of the Arctic ocean, and the power of the island puts a protective(magnetic) bubble around it with a 2 or 3 mile radius.That is why it is so hard to find.now that the Island has moved it probably has landed on a different type of surface again..just thoughts..
Your theory is that they used polar bears because they didn't want a human to turn the wheel.
I agree that a polar bear turned the wheel at least once, there is evidence on the show of this.
But your theory has some holes. Why wouldn't they just engineer some device (pulleys and weights would be enough) to turn the wheel?
It's probably because they were experimenting on the effects of turning the wheel with living creatures. They didn't care for the effects it had on the island, they probably never understood or even knew these before turning the wheel.