In this week's episode, Whatever Happened Happened, Hurley and Miles highlight the primary debate amongst dedicated LOST fans: Can you change the past? Will this change the present, or make an alternate Universe? I feel like Sayid shooting Ben was to make us think the timeline can be changed, but in the end, this episode revealed that ultimately, the timeline of the past cannot be changed. Whatever happened, happened: I am accepting this as fact.
The question is, can you change the future? To find the answer, we must look at the characters who seem to have an extensive knowledge of the future; namely Benjamin Linus, Charles Widmore, and Eloise Hawking (aka Ellie the Other). All three of these people seem to be one step ahead of everyone else. How exactly is that possible?
When Ben witnesses the death of Alex, Ben says "he changed the rules". What rules are they referring to? The rules of time travel of course. Why, in the same episode, when Ben visited Widmore in his penthouse apartment, did he not shoot him in the head? Because it would be breaking the rules of time travel.
I am not saying Ben and Widmore are time travellers originating from the future. I am saying Ben, Widmore and Hawking have all been to the future, where they have seen themselves, alive, and possibly learned of a few events to come in the process. All three know that whatever will happen will happen, ergo if they saw themselves in the future, none of them can die. It is possible that when Ben was in the future, he was told that Alex was still alive, or saw a vision of her implying she was still alive. This is why he was not afraid to let Keamy have Alex; Ben was under the impression she was effectively immortal. But due to the fact she was killed, Ben is now under the impression things can be changed. This is false.
I think that in addition to seeing themselves, and combination of Ben, Widmore and Hawking, if not all of them, saw John Locke in the future. By virtue of some act he did in the future, they know he is an integral part of one of the sides of the War potentially winning. Back in the present, Ben, under the impression the past can be changed, decides to kill John Locke to prevent that side from winning. (What that side is I can't rightly say). As we saw in the last scene of this week's episode, Ben is shocked to see John Locke alive. Now he knows the past can't be changed. Call it course-correction if you like, but there is no such thing. Charlie was only ever going to die in the Looking Glass. Desmond always met Faraday in the Swan. No one can change the past. No one can change the future. Except maybe someone who is independent of time and space. Jacob.Theory by Shpilo
The question is, can you change the future? To find the answer, we must look at the characters who seem to have an extensive knowledge of the future; namely Benjamin Linus, Charles Widmore, and Eloise Hawking (aka Ellie the Other). All three of these people seem to be one step ahead of everyone else. How exactly is that possible?
When Ben witnesses the death of Alex, Ben says "he changed the rules". What rules are they referring to? The rules of time travel of course. Why, in the same episode, when Ben visited Widmore in his penthouse apartment, did he not shoot him in the head? Because it would be breaking the rules of time travel.
I am not saying Ben and Widmore are time travellers originating from the future. I am saying Ben, Widmore and Hawking have all been to the future, where they have seen themselves, alive, and possibly learned of a few events to come in the process. All three know that whatever will happen will happen, ergo if they saw themselves in the future, none of them can die. It is possible that when Ben was in the future, he was told that Alex was still alive, or saw a vision of her implying she was still alive. This is why he was not afraid to let Keamy have Alex; Ben was under the impression she was effectively immortal. But due to the fact she was killed, Ben is now under the impression things can be changed. This is false.
I think that in addition to seeing themselves, and combination of Ben, Widmore and Hawking, if not all of them, saw John Locke in the future. By virtue of some act he did in the future, they know he is an integral part of one of the sides of the War potentially winning. Back in the present, Ben, under the impression the past can be changed, decides to kill John Locke to prevent that side from winning. (What that side is I can't rightly say). As we saw in the last scene of this week's episode, Ben is shocked to see John Locke alive. Now he knows the past can't be changed. Call it course-correction if you like, but there is no such thing. Charlie was only ever going to die in the Looking Glass. Desmond always met Faraday in the Swan. No one can change the past. No one can change the future. Except maybe someone who is independent of time and space. Jacob.Theory by Shpilo
