Want Your Theory Posted?
If you have a theory or a theory that you have seen on the net, then please fill out the form below or email me with the theory details and indicate that you want it posted on the site. If you have a link or photo etc please add these as well. I will then add the theory to this page which will allow others to comment on.
Please only use this for detailed theories rather than smaller thoughts and ideas. For these please use the shiny new forums where you can post directly. If your post does not appear in this section within 48 hrs please check to see if we have posted it in the forum for you.
NOTE 1: If your theory contains any spoilers or info from Promo's etc you must use the Spoiler Section of the Forum
NOTE 2: If your theory has excessive spelling and grammatical errors it will NOT be posted. Please proof-read your theory
NOTE 3: If your theory is too short or not a theory it will NOT be posted. Use the Forum for these.
NOTE 4: We no longer support video theories. Please post Video theories in the Forum.
SHORT THEORIES LESS THAN 2-3 PARAGRAPHS WILL NOT BE POSTED HERE. PLEASE USE THE FORUM FOR THESE. ONLY LARGE, LONG THEORIES WILL BE POSTED HERE FROM NOW ON
OK, this is not a fully formed theory really, but hopefully you guys can help me whip it into shape, or discredit it into oblivion. The idea that Ben somehow = Aaron has been put forth by other people, although I'm not sure I've heard anyone say that he is a literal reincarnation. As others have pointed out, Ben's presence on Ajira 316 went seemingly approved by Eloise Hawking, even though he wasn't on 815. Plus Ben claimed to have been born on the Island, which we later learned he wasn't. But Aaron was. And Ben claimed to be able to read "because his mother taught him," even though his mother died in childbirth. But we saw Kate teaching Aaron? Hmm...
In season 1 you guys may remember that Claire was worried when she hadn't felt the baby kick in 2 days... then, it did. Could this mean that the baby was "dead" and then re-inhabited by some unknown force? (Ben, perhaps?)
Anyway the whole idea that some characters might be the reincarnated versions of other characters set me thinking about who might be who, and the Michael/Mikhail thing presented itself based on the name. However when you start to think about, there are other factors in common:
Both characters do the bidding of Ben Linus
Both characters kill 2 women
Michael longs for the release of death: Mikhail says "thank you" when tossed into the sonic fence and doesn't seem to mind dying. Both seem to enjoy an uncanny resistance to death, even when inflicted with potentially life-threatening injuries
Mikhail keeps a cow, the sometimes-symbol for reincarnation. Theory by Mrs. Nusbaum's Credit Card
Here's a good one to consider... what if Ben dying is a course correction? For all intents and purposes suppose all we've seen on lost so far is the altered reality.Ben was never supposed to have been there every time we've seen him so far.I wrote a theory a while back titled "whatever happened,happened indeed". In it I used a few examples to illustrate what if somebody that was there to do something wasn't there.Now let's reverse that and say somebody's there that's not supposed to be.I also mentioned a grey area dealing with fate or destiny. There are certain things that are destined to happen but how or when they happen are "relative",to use a Farady word. For example, let's say it is destined that Jack saves Ben's life.That's a rule of fate.Well,in a round about way he did save his life...when Ben had the tumor.When it was in a way too late for Ben to have any bearing on anything major if he lives from that ! point on. But fate just decrees Jack has to save his life.It doesn't say when or to save it twice.There are certain things that have to happen but there are also trivial things that are happening around the major ones.If things didn't change,there would be no need for "course correction",right? Yet course correction has been mentioned on the show. Many people believe whatever happened happened and can't be changed, but they also accept that Desmond is special and can change things....which is it,then? What if the special,game changing Desmond changes something so trivial,ever so slightly that there's this trickle down,snowball effect? Maybe something as trivial as say Sawyer deciding one morning to have milk instead of o.j. cause a chain reaction of events that makes things happen,but slightly different. There was a theory i saw about jughead being the incident. That would be kinda cool.Say the bomb goes off,but the island is trying to beat the explosion. Hawking said the island is always moving. And maybe that's why Jacob said help me,because he can't keep it up. I just mention this dying theory as an entertaining new idea.We are, after all, talking about a show where polar bears on a tropical island teleport to the desert. Theory by Frost Bitten
To all the "WH, H..." Go Read Some Stephen King, A Change in History is Actually Not a Lame Story!
I don't understand why you all think the show would be ruined if you learned of someone'e crummy life history, and that person could go back into time and change things for themselves, and everyone else for the better.
Sounds like a great story to me! Everything is still validated because it's that season 1-4 past experience of everyone that inspires their epic journey in time. You actually need to know of Kate's Sadness, Locke's Desperation, Jack's sensible duty.... it ties you to them and where their hearts are to lead them to take their journey in the first place. If they change things, you think their past "doesn't" happen. Well physically maybe yes, maybe no, but mentally, that past of theirs made them who they are. It's in their hearts. And that as a story element is worth it's weight in gold.
Just think Stephen King, who is pretty much the most influential writer on our Lost creators, and his style is countlessly mimicked in story format of how they do Lost (as we know TPTB are HUGE fans, and Mr. King has called Lost his favorite show at one point.) Lost always puts in references to his work. I've read all the guys books, and it's neat to draw the parallels.
Stephen King is not a WH,H kind of writer. You can change his pasts.
Most of his better stories, typically a giant event occurs that sparks a journey in people, and people are forced to rally up
The Stand, a flu wipes out most of humanity. The remaining people form this evil group, and the few good left rise up against it.
Tommyknockers, a spaceship crashlands on earth, it's mysterious energy and power source is harnessed by some people to the point that it consumes them (very similar to Lost in a way)
But most impressive is the Dark Tower. Crimson King is destroying the beams leading to the tower, Roland the Hero travels through time to collect his ka-tet (group of warriors). And they battle the Crimson King and his cronies at different points in time, changing the future as they do so, to prevent the Tower from falling. Roland know's it's his destiny to do all of this.
It was arguably King's best work. Great story too. Lost, well we have Ben and Widmore collecting fighters from all over time to stage one final epic battle to change the outcome of history.
Now, lets assume you can't change the history on our island, and say there is always an incident and there is always a war, but the winner might be someone different each iteration. And the battle is just fought for the bragging rights inbetween. It's just like the Bible. Revelation predicts that Satan will rise up and challenge God at Armageddon to a war, and he will lose. If he knew he was going to lose, why would he even try to fight? Why do people try to paddle the inevitable? Fate peddlers and philosophers throughout history attributed this to arrogance. Arrogance has no logic, if a man believes he is a god, he will let the thirst for power overcome even the simplest of logic. It's such a cliche in most hero-tales that the villian is always a blind slave to his own desires, and he always loses to the inevitable. But you know what, at the end of the day, that battle against the inevitable is still a good story too!
If that's the case in Lost, then we are just watching a story of an endless struggle that really is fueled by human pride and arrogance that they can become God's themselves and overcome the ebb and flow of time and fate.
To me being able to change your own fate (the REAL WH,H battle)sounds so much more exciting than "you already know what's going to happen and who's going to win, so shut up and just experience the predictableness!"
But to each his own.
Don't get your hopes up WH,H! Us "Others" and our belief in a story of a changeable hero's tale is actually a pretty damn good tale! Theory by matt
Everything we experience is contained in our heads. All feelings, thoughts, emotions, memories, and knowledge is stored within the gray and white matter that form our brains. This is called the Central Nervous System (CNS from here on out). The CNS gets all of its information from from the Peripheal Nervous System (PNS) which is loaded with sensory receptors that travel to the CNS and become reactions and all of our thoughts. Everything that happens to us is recorded in the brain somewhere. It's called experience. It's what makes us us. Everything I can remember I remember with a certain degree of forgetfullness. How many of you cn remember every little detail about what happened from day ONE since being born? I'm betting that it's very limited but still a good deal.
So how would any of us know or even remember that (if any kind of time travel were possible) things have changes in the past. If I can think or remember anything is it true? All reality is within our heads rights? So does that mean that if we remember things changing there changed? What makes it real? What our mind remembers?
The whole point I'm trying to say is even if the past was changing the 815'ers would remember the way things happened the first time. But for everyone else it is different. There was this episode of Star Trek that was Warf centric and basically Warf kept on switching to different points of his life were things ended up different. Everyone kept asking Warf "don't you remember?" Warf's reply "I do remember, I just remember differently." He was still Warf and still had his experience, but to everyone else it was different.
So in essence the 815'ers would remember things one way, when everyone else remembers things differently. Theory by Fateorama
I have seen in many, many postings and theories that Desmond is the only one who can alter the past. What is odd to me is that the majority of these posters are the same ones who subscribe to Faraday's theory that "whatever happened, happened." Although there is good reason to follow both of these premises from what we have been told on the show, it really makes little sense to me that Desmond can alter the past if we are to maintain that "whatever happened, happened."
Logically (to me, at least), there seem to be only two possible modes of operation for the time traveling on LOST:
1) No one can alter the past (=one timeline) 2) If Desmond can alter the past at all, it still makes for infinite timelines and alternate universes.
Although it was presented that Faraday's plea to Desmond at the Hatch in "Because You Left" quote-endquote "changed the past", this does not need to be true. If "whatever happened, happened" (which I am claiming), then Faraday always told Desmond this information in 2002/3/4 (whenever that took place). Desmond didn't change the past or the future based on this conversation. Both of them always happened, too.
What, then, makes Desmond "miraculously and uniquely special"? This is a tough question, but unless Faraday is wrong about altering the past/single timeline, then it cannot be that Desmond can alter the past (or really any time period any more than anyone else).
What seems to be the case, from what I can deduce, is that Desmond is unique in that he is able to perceive time not only from his present position, but sometimes, despite himself, he gets glimpses at other moments along the timeline as if they were occurring at that moment. Using Daniel's record analogy, imagine regular people as a CD (not a record, for my analogy). For them, time plays through the songs in their entirety and in the order on the CD, and then the CD is over (when they die). For Desmond, his temporal perception sometimes skips, and though within his physical being he is on, say, Track 5, he suddenly skips to the middle of Track 12, and then skips back to his normal position on the CD. That's my guess...but of course I'm uncertain. What doesn't sit right with me, however, is that Desmond can change the past.
"The Constant" is generally viewed as containing flashbacks with respect to Desmond's time on the Freighter. I actually hold the opposite point of view: (nearly) the entire episode is set in 1996, with *flash-forwards* to the Freighter, which Desmond is experiencing in 1996. Therefore, Desmond *always* went to Oxford to see Daniel Faraday. The reason Faraday knew the oscillation for the electromagnetic wave is because Desmond *always* told it to him. 2004 Desmond did not alter the past, but rather, 1996 Desmond glimpsed at his future on the freighter and acted on the information he extracted from these flashes.
Finally, the issue of Charlie comes up. Here, I will posit that Desmond can also view alternate *imaginary* possibilities, but that he *always* interfered and kept Charlie alive, and he therefore always survived until the Looking Glass to unjam the radio transmissions. This MUST be the case, if the 815ers existed in Dharma time! In the only timeline in existence, Charlie never died until the Looking Glass station; what Desmond saw in his flashes were glimpses into alternate timelines (which DO exist in the irrealis but not in reality, important distinction), and these glimpses were the motivation behind his interferences, even though in the only real timeline Desmond always interferes. This is getting muddy, but I hope people understand what I am saying.
Although multiple timelines exist in theory, there is only one timeline that plays out when all is said and done. This is true in real life as well as in fiction. ANALOGY: At any given point while reading a book, you can stop reading and imagine all the technically possible things that will happen in the book; but the entire book is in front of you, regardless of what *could* possibly happen in it. The end is there in front of you, but you haven't read it yet. This ties into the conception that the human psyche experiences time only within what we perceive as the present, but that hypothetically more advanced minds would be able to experience time from higher dimensions, seeing past/present/future all at once. Time is a perception imposed by the limitations of our minds; everything we choose to do, have chosen to do, and will choose to do exists all at once (thereby not ruling out free will, but it is as if we have chosen everything instantaneously, and our minds watch 'the ! video' of what we choose).
What this amounts to is the same as someone without depth perception (3-D). That person can only experience two-dimensional objects. Imagine a silhouetted figure. The 2-D viewer sees the image slice-by-slice until the entire image is illuminated or approached (maybe at first just a nose is visible: it looks like a dot; he moves closer, it looks like a triangle; he moves closer, an ovular face appears around the triangular nose, etc.), but the 2-D viewer cannot perceive depth. This is akin to the human perception of time; we only see present (and past within our memories, which is an imperfect storage unit), and the future is not visible until it becomes the present, and is thus perceptible.
Perhaps Desmond is "miraculously and uniquely special" because he can subvert the normal human limitations on time perception and sporadically gets glimpses of later moments on the time line. Theory by Francisco
I'll start with a fairly easy assumption, and then work backwards through some logical steps.
There have been a lot of hints at a Dharma resurgence in the present. Pierre Chang’s video being the most obvious.
So if Dharma’s work must be finished, who completes it but our born leader Jack? For him to do this he had to be able to see the need to do this as being logical. That means learning from Dharma first hand, but since they were dead, he had to go to the past. He got to the past by accepting his fate through influence from Locke. Locke of course influenced Jack through direction from Ben, Christian, Richard, and Widmore, all of whom claim to speak for the Island.
To be able to reconstitute Dharma in the present Jack must get back there. That makes Jin's purpose that of being a lure for sun in the future, which makes Sun's purpose to bring them back.
The point is that in the beginning Dharma was solving a problem. Richard wasn't capable of dealing with it, since being very old he is not technologically savvy, and so the Island lured Dharma to solve the problem. Ben was brought in by the Island as a liason between the Island and Dharma. Ben becomes the island's main contact but is longing for attention and power and so he imprisons the island's good influence in Jacob's cabin, and convinces Richard that the Island now wants Dharma purged. Widmore was the only one who believed that Dharma was in fact necessary and Ben removed him, thus consolidating his power. Widmore then uses the rest of his life influencing the arrival of the Losties and the chain reaction noted in the previous 3 paragraphs.
Ben doesn't realize the true importance of Dharma however, neither does Richard nor Locke. Widmore doesn't either but knows they are necessary, but still Ben is using Locke in the present to lead the Hostiles, despite Widmore’s attempts to use him. Jack will come back to the present and attempt to continue Dharma’s work. Christian, now knowing that Jack is ready will finally come to him and lead him to Jacob. Jack will free him at last, Richard will undermine Ben once he learns the truth, and Dharma will be reborn in time to complete its work, which is,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
To prevent the island or perhaps the world from reaching the end of the record.
I’m surmising that with the reference to the record, that not only can it skip, but eventually it will run out as well. This fits well with the idea of the Valenzetti equation predicting the end of the world.
You see, the island does have a type of sentience. Just as a human brain is made of nerves and runs on electricity of sorts, the island's immense power allows it a sort of self awareness. It also allows it to influence people in a psychic manner along with the ability to create a mini time loop that allows into the spin a few hours away from the present and back around, making it hard to find, and the difference in time between the island and the real world in constant flux. But this spinning is always centered on the present, meaning that in the long run, island time moves at exactly the same pace as real world time.
To better explain this, I’ve used a pie example in the past. Think of a pie with many slices, sitting in front of you, and spinning on a turn table. You are sitting in the real world, the pie is island time, and each slice that spins in front of you represents a length of time relative to the real world. For people on the island, time moves normally, but time relative to the outside world is always moving as the pie spins. If sitting there looking at the pie, you reach out and touch a slice, you would be connected via wormhole to the pie/island and the time it exists in. Therefore if you touched a piece that was 4 hours prior to the present time, you would get to the pie 4 hours earlier than present time and exist in both places simultaneously for four hours, ala Doc Ray. If you touch a piece a half hour into the future, you would get to the pie/island a half hour into the future, ala the missile test.
But moving on,
Because of this power the Island was eventually able to foresee an end. Knowing the hostiles, native protectors it brought on centuries before, were not capable of dealing with this end, it had them create the Donkey wheel at its power source that would enhance this power enough to send the entire Island into the past, giving it enough time to learn how to get past or avoid the end that it saw. The 2nd time around it brought in Dharma to solve this problem.
The wheel was turned for the first time sometime after 2007, whereabouts the end was going to take place, sending it back to the age of the Black Rock, where the ship came to crash on the island. This allowed it to makes ties to Alvar Hanso who would fund the Dharma explorations of the Island, thereby giving the Island what it needed to fix the problem.
The one who turned the wheel so near to the end, leapt forward in time just as Ben and Locke have upon turning the wheel and was left in a future that did not yet exist, leaving them in a corporeal form we know as Jacob. Jacob, not living in any real time can only be channeled by the good force of the island, and as stated before both were imprisoned by Ben, who did not fully understand the circumstances, and still doesn't.
This makes the dark force of the island the smoke monster. Dark doesn’t mean evil, but the island is out of balance, creating things such as pregnancy problems.
In the end Sawyer will get to keep his happy life with Juliet as a New Dharma park ranger, and Kate will wind up back with Jack once everything is sorted out.
Sayid has started all of the bad events that led to Dharma's downfall. Unfortunately seeing the Swan plans, and shooting Ben will lead to both the Incident and the Purge as the Hostiles retaliate. This will force Radzinsky to hide in the Swan where he will draw an invisible map to help future Swan employees locate the rest of the Island's basis while keeping it hidden from Hostiles should they overtake the Swan. Unfortunately he learns that Dharma has abandoned the project, and after many years, he kills himself.
“Him,” the one who Desmond refers to and is supposed to answer “Smells like carrots,” to the snowman joke, is a man that Radzinsky felt was supposed to come. I really don’t know who that could be. Could be Daniel if he said he would be back to help him, or it could be Sawyer, Jack, or a numbers other all for the same reason.
The reason that Richard was never able to lure Locke when he visited him as a youth, is because Locke isn’t special. The future had already played out, and Richard only knew about Locke because of his brief visit, but Locke’s only goal was to get Jack to believe enough to get him to the past, and then later to be conned by Ben into siding against what Jack will have to do to fix the problem.
The Losties appear in the past of 1977, even before Widmore began to influence them, because events had already been set in motion leading to their arrival on 815. Since that path was imminent, their arrival in the past was non-paradoxical.
Once they correct the end, they will move into the new future, and Jacob will be fully freed now that this future exists. So what is the end that needed to be fixed?
It's the end of time, at least for the island, and possibly the larger world. It has to do with Jughead. Perhaps not the explosion of this bomb itself, but the Island was unable through any attempt to prevent its arrival, and the fact that such a disastrous weapon was introduced, means that it must spell major trouble. The end of everything is related to this bomb. What in the hell else did they introduce it for?
Thank you for reading. I will say that the first few paragraphs are the logical basis for everything and the remainder are piecing in the other details with some liberal amount of speculation.
I have yet to fit in how characters such as Kate, Hurley, Claire, and Aaron might be up to, and would be very open to your ideas on how you think they either might work into this theory or completely nullify it. Theory by Locke4God
"There was an incident and since then common protocol has been observed." Dr. Marvin Candle. "The Incident" was first mentioned in the Orientation film for The Swan. Ever since then everyone has wondered what it could be. I have a theory that Jughead is the incident. Bare with me because yes i know the island is still there as Daniel Faraday so plainly put it. Lets start off by taking a look at the effects of a nuclear bomb going off.
1. It could cause child birth problems. 2. Radiation as we all know is how cancer is cured (with a little help form the island.) 3. Not only can it cure cancer it can also cause it. Ben's tumor in season 3
Now those are just a few of the facts but everyone has already came up with and said that it is because of the leak in jughead. I am still not convinced on the Whatever Happened Happened theory because in episode 5:09 Namaste, we found Sun and Frank in a very very DHARMA looking barracks community in 2007. Why would the barracks still be Dharmatized? Something had to have changed. So a nuclear bomb exploding is a huge possibility. But if a nuclear bomb went off wouldn't it destroy the entire island? Yes it would. But as we are well aware even in Sun and Franks 2007 the island is still there. So Jughead will be detonated but the island will survive. The only way for this to be possible is time travel. The bomb will go off but the people such as Faraday and Chang who know what the hell is actually going on will use some form of time travel (Maybe something different than the donkey wheel.) Christian Sheppards way maybe? Or Jacob may have a way of setting things right.
Some of the details may be a little scratchy. But put two and two together. Jughead was not introduced with an episode titled "Jughead" and a whole episode about "Jughead" to just not be used in a big part on Lost. And something that is so classified as "The Incident" what could be more incidental than a nuclear bomb going off on the island. May 13th while watching the finale you think back to this theory and we will see if a nuclear bomb explodes on the island. Theory by Jordan Friesen
You've all seen Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, right? Well, what if Jacob plays a similar role to "Mr. Slugworth" - the character in Willie Wonka that secretly confronts the Golden Ticket winning kids and tells them to steal him the "secret formula" of the Everlasting Gobstopper or some other candy. The point is, Slugworth appears to each of the kids as a "dirty businessman", in it for power, greed and money - basically, to bring down Wonka. What the kids don't realize is Slugworth is actually giving all of the kids the oppurtunity to rise above "Slugworth's Corruptive Idea" and do what's right....which Charlie Bucket eventually does! Slugworth ends up being a "good guy"; but he had to act like a bad guy to find out who the true leader is - Charlie! Point is, maybe Jacob visited many of the 815er's like Sayid, Sawyer, Locke, etc... in pivital points of their pasts and provided them with a path to the isl! and (similar to a Golden Ticket that sends you to the ultimate fantasy tour of the Chocolate Factory). But, like Slugworth, Jacob knows only one of them will reveal themselves as THE True Leader; willing to take over as leader of the island with the islands best interests at hand. That's why Charlie Bucket took over the Chocolate Factory - he understood the meaning of the Chocolate Factory and what it took to keep it special. I feel as though John Locke might be Charlie Bucket. (and Hurley is for sure Augustus Gloop; Sawyer or Jack are Mike Teevee)
Also, another theory....Locke saw a "white or light" version of the smoke monster and said it was beautiful. Other characters have seen the "dark" side of the smoke monster. The "dark" smoke monster took over Robert, Danielle's Husband, and manipulated his mind. In doing so, Robert tried to kill Danielle. It's a pretty simple theory, but what if someone like Locke has had his mind manipulated by the "light" smoke monster and now he is strictly doing things for the good of the island. This is why he is so connected to the island, which baffles Ben. Maybe this is how he can predict the rain patterns, etc...Maybe no one has ever seen the "light" smoke monster except John Locke and this is why he is special or the chosen one. And what if a character such as Ben has been manipulated by the "dark" smoke monster and it's filled him with evil. This would explain why it seems as if Ben has no remorse for the number of people he's killed. This would also explain his amazing ability t! o manipulate his way out of, or into, any situation. You could even take this theory one step further into explaining why some of the "Others" had unusually large amounts of physical and mental strength (ie - Ethan, Juliet, Mikhail). Maybe they were "taken over" by the smoke monster. Or maybe that's a result of Room 23....who knows. just something to think about. "Is someone we know dearly, infected with the "sickness"?"
Let me know if you guys like these theories at all. Thanks! Theory by Matt S
What if Lil' Dharma Ben really does bite it from a gunshot wound in 1977?
Assuming that the "Back To The Future" disappearance from the wallet picture thingy doesn't happen (gotta keep one non-faltering time line remember?), how can Ben be alive in 2007?
Answer... He's not!
Could the 2007 Ben actually be dead? In this sense disconnected from life as we know it. Picture a broken piece of a time correcting equation that just keeps on ticking...
(Come to think of it, lot's of time correcting equations that just keep on ticking on this crazy island... Mikhail comes to mind among others...)
The idea is that the Universe needs to occasionally keep a broken piece or two as a compromise to the unacceptable "time paradox". These broken pieces pop up in the time line because you always need a chicken or an egg sometimes....
More intriguing, if my theory holds, was Ben lucky enough to get the "Lost Magic Ticket" here defined here to be an airplane ride back to the island as a dead guy....Christian, Locke, and now Ben....? Theory by Angle Rangles
This came out of top of my head while making a comment. So I will post it here as a small theory.
At this point in time we have two Sawyers. One is 38 year old man, survivor of Oceanic flight 815, head of security known as Jim La Fleur. The other one is little James Ford, a kid, hiding under a bed in his bedroom, witnessing his parents death. It is 1977.
Lets clarify the age matter. Old Sawyer is 38 years old. How I know that? Back in 2004 Ben asked him how old is he. He said 32. Ben told him not to lie and he corrected himself and said 35. That means he is born in 1969. He flashed to 1977 at age 35, lived there for 3 years and now he is 38. Young Sawyer was 8 years old kid when his parents died so 1969 + 8 = 1977.
Back on the island we have a situation. Sayid 'the hostile' escaped. Jin, Dharma security, is unconscious, Ben, Dharma kid is shot. Dharma has two choices, two ideas. 1. Hostiles did it. 2. Someone within Dharma did it.
Lets go back to Namaste and Jack's act of foolishness. Few hours after he arrived to the island as new recruit and a janitor, he 'dares' to look for JAMES La Fleur. Phil noticed that and he becomes suspicious. We all saw it. So after recent events in He is our you there is panic within Dharma people. My guess is that soon they will realize that something is 'wrong' with their head of security. That he is acting strange ever since new recruits came. I have no idea how will this play out. Heh, maybe they take him to Oldham seeking for some truth. :) Anyways my guess is that Sawyer gets banished from the island. Or something else happens, maybe regarding the incident that sends Sawyer out of the island. The point for this theory is that he needs to be out.
So, let's just imagine that old Sawyer has a chance to go off the island, now in 1977. Where would he go? To the most important moment of his life (I always wondered why 1977??? Because I still believe Sawyer is the most important character of this show) death of his parents. He knows when and where it is going to happen. So he goes to his house to stop his father from killing his mother, because now he is a grown, 38 years old man who could stood up to his dad, right? There are two possible ways.
1. He is in time and stops his dad. Thus his parents never die and he becomes someone else. Not sawyer. Not a con man. Heck maybe he becomes a doctor :) I doubt this possibility for only one reason. We know little James Ford in the future. We know he is a con man and we know that he dedicated his whole life for just one thing, finding Sawyer, man who killed his parents. That leave us to another possibility which I really like. :)
2. He is late and his parents are already dead. So he decides to talk to himself (younger version) and tells himself the name of the killer Mister Anthony Cooper. :))
I always wondered how the hell a 8 year old boy knows who was responsible for their deaths. In every detail. He knows that his 'mummy had sex with Mr. Sawyer' and that his 'daddy got angry and killed mummy'. I doubt Mary Ford told a 8 year old kid: "Honey I had sex with Mister Sawyer and he conned me for money. Now your daddy is angry with your mummy and he came here to hurt mummy. Now go and hide under bed and don't come out no matter what you hear. I love you."???? Do you see this happening? Me neither. So how? Is it possible that James Ford told himself what happened? Same way Locke said to Richard he is their leader? The only way this could happen if 1.Sawyer somehow gets off the island in 1977 2.Travels from the future back from one point or 3. Sawyer is Jacob (and you all know my opinion on this one:)). But anyways I totally see this happening in a near future. If someone has a better explanation on how he got the name of a 'killer' who conned his parents please share it with me. Theory by Monika
The final destination is the new Garden of Eden, after mankind blows itself up, as the numbers predict. The numbers are the base numbers of a formula invented in 1963 that predicts the end of mankind.
All these couples are being stockpiled on the island to repopulate mankind, and when that final timewarp happens far into the future, humankind has killed itself, and the couples will start it anew.
Keep in mind, this show starts with the beginning of mankind when Sawyer left the rope from the well, in the ground, that led the ancient statue builders right to the magic timemachine. Now they are going to have a little donkey-wheel joy ride, pick up a slaver ship (Black Rock) in the 17th century, and smokey technology (Smokey) in the 24th century, and steal nuclear warheads and kill us all in the 22nd century. And now the show will end at the end of mankind.
The bombs will fall.. but wait! Desmond will change the past, again, and stop the Eyptians from making that final joyride that lets them pick up the Nuclear Destroyer, USS Obama, in the 22nd century. Desmond turns the key, and kills the time machine.
And the failsafe key is there for that one reason. And thats why there is so much about The Swan. Sayid will influence Radsinski, who'll influence Desmond's old partner, who'll influence Desmond to crash 815 just at the right time, and turn the key just at the right time.
So, lets start in 1954.
Jacob told Richard where to bury the bomb, so the button and failsafe key would be built in the future.
"The Incident" = H-bomb + Magnetic pocket. They buried the H-Bomb somewhere, right? I think they buried it next to the magnetic pocket by Jacob, and Dharma went bumping around and something happened with the H-Bomb while they build the Swan.
And of course, Sayid is going to play a huge part in the destiny of the Swan, the blast door map, Rosinski's map, which trickles all the way down to Desmond.
Desmond turning the failsafe key is the ultimate destiny of this show, and when that happens the island gets "fixed". He turns the key and shows up in 1995 AND stays on the island with his clothes gone. He'll also be sent to the future WITH his clothes to the final destination. Desmond IS special. He's the One. The one to turn the key, and start humankind all over again.
But "the universe course corrects itself", and the bombs will fall anyway. All the couples are here to populate the island with happy little island babies to repopulate the earth.
Jacob is just here to make sure there's a do-over, and Claire is just waiting in the cabin to make babies, probably with Sawyer. Aaron's father was not in the plan for the genetic bluprint of the future, and will never see the island again. The only babies born on the island will be the ones meant to be the new mankind.
Daniel is to learn about how to find the island from "his" notes, go back in time, tell his mother, Eloise, everything he's learned from the future, and give her his notes to give back to him when he gets old enough. He will build the pendulum that lets people find the island that makes all this happen. (This one is like the compass. John gives the compass to Richard in the past, so he can give it back, so it goes back and forth in time. Daniel's notebook will also go back in forth in time, so he can actually teach himself how to make all this happen. He builds the pendulum and points Dharma to the island, which all has to happen. That one may give you a headache.)
Kate's reason she is here, is because Christian or Claire showed up riding her black horse, and told her what to do, or else. She's here to make Jack's babies.
Jack&Kate, Claire&Sawyer, Sun&Jin, Sayid&Illana, and I'm sure we'll be introduced to a black and german couple to play Adam and Eve as well.
Bernard and Rose are sacrifices the island will demand, or a very interesting genetic choice for an addition to the Garden. Lets hope for the latter. Maybe Bernard IS german, yeah, there we go! Negro and German all in one couple. They'll probably ALWAYS have twins. I digress...
Ben WILL die eventually, and so WILL John. Like real dead. Probably together.
Hurley is the new Noah. Hurleybirds and all.
Richard is actually an Egyptian, given immortality by Jacob to make sure people don't blow the island up, and fate unrolls as how it should. Ever see an Egyptions without a ton of eyeliner? heh.
And little Ben will not die from Sayid's bullet, he'll probably be saved by Juliet, who will probably take him to Richard, and he'll overhear some conversations that will carry him to 2007. The island will heal him, Richard will see that, and the future is set.
Christian is dead, but his spirit is being used by Jacob to manipulate the timeline, since Richard can't teleport to frieghters seconds before they blow up. Jacob needed a ghost messenger, plain and simple.
And finally, Jacob is nothing less than the hand of God preparing for Adams and Eves for the next mankind. This time, the bible will start a little differently.
(I avoided the "why's" in this text, or it would be way too long. Like why Juliet is told Ben has a crush on her is because she "looks just like her", is actually because she "is" her. We'll skip that good stuff for the discussion.)
Please ask any questions on how the pieces of the almost five full seasons of a puzzle actually fit this theory.
This theory is based on the facts of the opening of season 5. The wereabouts of Daniel has been debated and i hope some of you believe this theory to be ture. The other half is a theory on how Jacob became 'unstuck' in time. If a theory like this has been written before then apologies.
If you watch the opening scene of season 5 again then the fact that Daniel is at the Orchid may come apparent. If you remember Daniel passes Marvin Candle when he is on his way to research or even malipulate time travel. Daniel has on his shoulder what looks like a canister or a capsule. Was this a slight flashforward from where the losties are in 1977 and Is this how the incident is put into motion? I believe the incident to be both connected to the swan as well as the orchid. Both created the sky to change colour and appear to cause the islanders a great deal of head pain. Jacob appears visable to some and invisable to others. Maybe Jacob turned the donkey wheel after Daniel did his thing to it, left the island and came back during the similar event that the losties faced when the 'record was skipping' flashing between a past/past events and then maybe future events? tell me what you on that question/ point. Back to Jacob's journey i believe this is when the incident took place just as Jacob is about to flash or journey back to the island the incident took place between the swan and the orchid causing him to disapper as time and space didn't know where to place him, so he relived everything that ever happened on the island.
Tell me what you think, pull it apart, rip it to shreads. i know its a bit out there with the Jacob theory but i believe the Daniel theory to be more belivable. Theory by Rewatched, He watched
Small Theory about Ben and his manipulation of the Castaways.
I am basing this on the idea that you can't change the past and whatever is meant to happen always will. This does not mean, however, that everything happens exactly as it was meant to - just that the universe will eventually course correct and find its way.
Take, for example, Desmond and Charlie. Charlie was going to die no matter what, but Desmond, with his knowledge of future events, was able to postpone it. Think of time as a river - you can change which way the water flows but it will always end up in the ocean.
2 things that have happened, always happened and Ben knew this. 1. Locke would become the new leader of the others once he came to the island, and 2. Jack, Kate, Sawyer and Hurley would end up in 1977 in the Dharma Initiative.
Locke was always meant to lose faith and stop pressing the button in season 2, and the key was always meant to be turned. But.. it was actually supposed to be Jack turning the key. Jack, Kate, Sawyer and Hurley would have been in the hatch and traveled back in time then, and Ben was meant to die due to his kidney issue.
BUT... Ben, since he was in Dharma as a kid, knew that they would inevitably go back in time. He understood that he cannot prevent this, but did realize he could postpone it and use them in the meantime for whatever he wanted with no real consequences. So, he used Michael to get the 4 castaways away from the hatch when he knew it was going to implode, and thus they were not able to travel back in time then. He did this to do what we saw in season 3 - manipulate them and thus save himself. This sets in motion the events of the next two seasons, which are essentially the universe course correcting, leading those 4 losties on the journey that eventually takes them back to the island and back to the 70s where they were always meant to be. This is also why Ben turned the wheel even though he knew Locke was supposed to - he needed to get off the island and help the O6 get back.
This also explains why (assuming the writers knew this all along) he wasn't surprised to see the flash and why he simply let Hurley go after it happened.
Everything that happens after that Flash is the universe course correcting, leading up to the Losties going back in time. This also means that Ben will inevitably die on the island before the end of the show.Theory by Not Harry Potter
I dont have any real proof about this at all....but wouldnt it be cool if it turned out that all we know, all the losties knew, about their lives before, during and after the initial crash were all products of the "alternate timeline".
For example, what if the "reality" we all are living in now, is not the "real one". What if we are living in an altered timeline.
I think this may end up being the end game for the show in a small way. We find out that humans have been living on the "wrong/altered" timeline for most of their existence, and that the valenzetti (sp?) equation measures when an alternate timeline ceases to exist in some way.
The end of the show can be about finally getting humanity back onto its correct course. Perhaps it all started back in egyptian times or something....and things have been offtrack ever since.
just random thoughts. def wont compare with the great theories ive read today!!!Theory by AbsoluteTruth
The general concensus is that what makes Desmond 'special' was his exposure to the energy that was released on the Island after he turned the Fail Safe key at the end of Season 2. If you recall, a huge white light was emitted which covered the ENTIRE ISLAND and turned the sky purple. It lasted a couple of seconds, perhaps a minute at most and then subsided.
Now let's jump forward to the end of season 4:
When the Donkey Wheel is turned, a similar energy escapes and covers the ENTIRE ISLAND. It transports the Island and those on it back in time. In fact, Faraday and some red-shirts were on the life raft off shore and were still affected by the energy burst and sent back in time as well.
SOOOOOOOOOO if Desmond is made "special" by the burst at the end of Season 2 it stands to reason that the rest of the Islanders were made "special" as well. If the energy from the Orchid was able to touch everyone on the Island AND those in the life raft off the Island's shore, than the energy from the Swan did the same thing. If you recall, both scenes were filmed similarily, with various close ups shown of how different characters react to the energy escaping the respective stations.
I posit that if Desmond was made "special" by the Swan energy, there are others on the Island who were equally affected. If that is true, than Desmond is NOT the only one who escapes the rules of time travel. Can you guess that I do not believe in "whatever happened, happened". Well if not, I will continue....
Those who do believe in WH,H claim that Desmond is the wild card that can change things. They also, as I have stated, use the Swan destruction as the point in time when Desmond was given his "powers". But if others have those same powers, than the presence of the 815ers in the past could equally be changing elements of the timeline. Does this mean the outcome will change? Not sure, but it's clear that Ben and Widmore BELIEVE the outcome can change. And again, if the steps along the way change, that constitutes a changing timeline, even though the start and finish remain the same.
Are you there Future? It's me, Swan! An explanation of DHARMA'S experiments in time manipulation.
A pnuematic tube that for ages dumped notebooks into a field, a station that can send bunnies into the future, and clone duplicate copies? A station that reports an incursion of the hostiles, but then just blows up. A station that you enter in numbers, and not doing so will cause a buildup of electromagnetism, and if you don't blow it up, baaaaad things will happen. There seems to be something missing in the overall purpose of the DHARMA Initiative, and Radzinsky's motherly instinct of the SWAN hints at it being more than just a psychological experiment to me.
Ok, here's the theory. The DHARMA stations were designed to be able to communicate to each other, and the outside world. at different points in time. That's it. Why? So that incase something did happen, you can instruct people of the future of a) how to travel through time to b) fix what went wrong, and keep the DHARMA Initiative from being annhiliated.
Here's the breakdown:
The Flame: has a computer you play chess on and if you win, type in numbers to perform certain tasks: 24 - Pallet Drop 32 - Activate the Station Uplink 38 - Access Mainland Communications 56 - Access the Sonar System 77 - Report incursion by the hostiles
So interesting is number 77. "Enter 77" the episode, we remember that 77 was to "report an incursion" but we see the Flame blow up. So... that report, was for whom? Well, to someone sitting in another station in the past. This elusive dashed line on the Blast door map. A station that was supposed to be built, but by endless time loops, never gets built. Messages from the flame are supposed to go there from the future. Messages from the pearl are supposed to go there pnuematically as well (more on this later)
Not as interesting, but note worthy is the pallet drop, we know that the DHARMA initiative is no longer in tact in 2004, however, there was a pallet drop of food for our losties to find. Because presumably Mikhail is typing in "24" during season 1, purpose of feeding the Others. Since this pallet drop could come from another point in time, its a clue that the Flame communicates events of the past into the future, or likewise, can recieve messages about the future (on the mainland) since we already know that in 2004-2005, from the payload experiment, that material goods end up taking a 31-minute relativity detour, while communication is instant.
Which brings me to "38" we already know that electronic communications are instantaneous relative to each other to a person on the mainland, and a person on the island, however we know that the person on the mainland is 31 minutes in the future so essentially you are communicating with someone in the future by pressing "38" as well. It's probably so, the future people of the mainland can let you know that "Oh btw, when the Swan hits 4,8,15,26,23,42 in 20 minutes, that typo caused volcanoes to destroy the planet, so go tell Radzinsky to get it right, k?"
The Swan: and those damn numbers. If you followed the Valenzetti thing from the Lost Experience, the equation those numbers go into (whatever is ticking inside that computer in the Swan station) predicts "the exact number of years and months until humanity extinguishes itself" After the incident, we were told by Pierre that you have to re-enter in the numbers every 108 minutes. Was the incident a sabotage? Someone wanted to program the swan into a 108 minute ticking timebomb, and the "entering the numbers" is the workaround to keep it from doing it's harm. Was this someone a crazy-old-man time-travel scientist making his last stand against fate's inevitability? Or a bug-eyed sandwich-making Harry Potter? Or a gang of eyeliner wearing D.I. haters? To me it looked like every 108 minutes, the computer received no-data instead of it's numbers, and you had to correc this by physically overriding the equation. When the numbers are too far off, we know it's disa! ster for the universe.
Changing the numbers, would mean that you are predicting a new course of time for all of humanity. We already know that some, like Desmond, have the ability to change the "future" to a degree. Simply put, Desmond keeping charlie alive is like putting 4,8,15,17,22,42 instead of the 15,16,23... the total is still 108, but the individual parts are somewhat different (Charlie dies still, but just differently). We know that messing with those numbers however, is bad new. Currently, due to the course of all paradoxes, all time-travelling, everything... is 108 right now, and each component of the equation is fixed. If you can change the past, and the future, then I'm sure you can successfully move those numbers around to be different with no adverse consequences. People saying whatever happened, happened would say that the numbers can't change. If you can change the numbers, however, and keep the universe stable, then you can essentially change "whatever happened." Whether that's p! ossible, we don't know yet...
The Pearl; The observational station that monitors each of the other stations, including the Swan, and dumps the booklet pnuematically into what appears to be an open field. Now soo many possibilities open up here. What if a) there originally was a station here (C1, or even the question mark on the blast door map) and basically some form of time travel/past changing kept it from being built, so over history the tubes are dumping where a station should be. This C1 also was to recieve the electronic S.O.S. from a "38" entered by the Flame. Or... b)it's a dropoff point for the future, so that incase there was a problem (let's say that someone entered in the wrong numbers, or forgot to enter them) you now have a physical date and time recorded, who it was, and what happened to keep them from doing it, as backup to the dot-matrix printout Desmond printed out in the Pearl (backup data). You know, redundant data. This is so that future D.I. fo! lk can go back to the island, and collect those pnuematic tubes as history, and find the point in time that you need to go back to to fix the problem. Or my favorite...c)that the Swan/Orchid were designed to manipulate time of physical objects on and around the island, so that you really are sending those logbooks into the past! We know that the payload shows matter can be manipulated through time, so the moment the notebook is sent from the tube it arrives to it's destination from the future (31 minutes, or more), to give the recipients forewarning of a future problem.
And the fact that now there is no station there, the warning message to the past never made it. Also, somehow the message never made it back to Radzinsky at the Swan (because of the incident, he was forced to hang out there and keep the numbers going because the Swan was his design) and he was still pushing the buttons. He didn't understand the purge, went outside once (maybe he ran out of Ranch dressing) and then he sees his fellow Dharma-ites all keeled over dead. He presumed it was a disease instead of just chemical genocide, so he personally invented the "give yourself a shot" each day routine.
The Orchid The brainchild of Pierre Chang, the thing that uses the magic forces around the island to send matter to and from the island at different points in time. We see them clone bunnies. There's a force that lets you leave the island, and we know that it can send you to-and-fro in physical time. Sure possible that it is designed to send physical objects (notebooks, possibly?... people?) back into the past, as in sending messages to yourself in the past. Or send Film-strip warning messages off the island to oh I dunno... 30 years into the future? Hmmm... makes you wonder.
Did the DHARMA Initiative set up this extensive network of communication only so they could warn themselves, their friends, the D.I. stations off the island, the founders of the D.I., anyone of a problem? A time-travel paradox? An attack? A problem for the future by changing the Valenzetti equation too much? Anything! The purpose of all these stations is to protect their interests and keep their research going, and there was always a backup plan for the universe?
After all, we know from ComicCon, that Pierre Chang is sending a film of himself 30 years into the future to tell the recipients to reinstate the D.I. The technology they created, makes this all possible. Theory by matt
The 'Lamp-post' was the first Dharma Station ever built. Scientist(s) worked out a way and made a series of equations to create the pendulum which was able to track the position of where the island is going to be - in time.
- 'Hotspots' all over the world offer a way to the island. The energy 'stored' on the island affects the hotspots spread around the world. This would explain the concept of Desmond's mistake not typing in the numbers and pulling down the aircraft from the sky. The effect was that the electromagnetic field, released some of the energy, allowing it to open a new hotspot (which can be tracked by the lamp-post as we experienced in Season 5).
- According to Daniel Faraday's theory of the 'spinning record', let us take the island as the record. The needle (present) of the player which is placed on the record to read the track (time) runs along the different tracks - in order. This side represents one dimension of space time.
- What Faraday did not mention was that there is a second needle, also placed on the record - but on the other side. (Maybe he did not know or could not explain it properly so he just didn't bother). This side of the record a represents another dimension - which is having its own time and space.
- So the same record (the island?) consists of 2 needles (representing - present), reading the two different sides (dimensions) in order from one track to another (as it runs along time passes by).
- Desmond allows 815 to be pulled towards the EM field when dealing w/ Kelvin.
- This flash did release a lot of energy (not only a little as it happened to open the gate for 815) which started the process of 'merging' the two dimensions (two sides of the record).
- 815 crashes, time passes and we experience that only certain paths lead off the island (bearings which are calculated once for Michael to get off and once for the Freighter / Helicopter). These bearings may be presented as 'sideways' between the tracks which allow to skip tracks (get into a different timezone) or even change the side of the record (dimension).
- Desmond is able to SEE THE FUTURE after turning the key. Is he truly seeing the future, or just an ALTERNATE REALITY? I think its BOTH, as since he is able to see it, he can change it, if only for a short amount of time. However, by even making a small change, HUGE consequences occur (Charlie lives another day or two…but this allows the o6 to exist and get off the island, which Locke says ‘isn’t supposed to happen’)
- As finally Ben turned the wheel, again energy was released. Yet let me suggest that the wheel is like a generator or amplifier which can generate or amplify the energy. Because there was no electromagnetic field anymore (Swan Station did not exist anymore), even more energy was released and made the record's needle jump (only one side - the side the Losties are on). Again this matches up with Faraday's theory that the record skips tracks (skips time). If you notice, the cavern is COLD, yet FLAMES lap the DW from the ‘other side’ showing there are TWO SIDES to the record!
- The concentrated energy opened another gate (hotspot) which through Ben to another part of the world (also every time someone / something turns the wheel, they ‘move the needle.) But Ben wasn’t supposed to turn it, so the needle starts to SKIP. When Locke corrects this, he is told to give the wheel a push, and instead PULLS it in the same direction Ben pushed initially. By doing this, did he FLIP the record our losties are on??
- The remaining ones on the island therefore skipped time and jumped back to the past and end up at 1977. The Oceanic 6 and later including Ben and Locke are now on the other side of the record and do not experience the time jumps because on there side the needle follows the track of time as it should be. Remember, they are now on a different reality of the island based on the dharma barracks now showing damage from the bus fire AND the recruit pictures.
- As the Oceanic 6 including Ben and Locke fly with flight 316 and cross the hotspot, they change the side of the record again. But what happens is that not all entered the other side correctly and are thrown back to the original side. Ben, because he is already on the island. Sun does not yet exist, therefore MUST go to a time she is alive in, as for frank…time will tell I suppose.
-which brings us to why Desmond is special. I suggest he is not only able to see what happened on BOTH SIDES of the record, but also AT ANY TIME he can ‘update’ memories of what happened to his OTHER SELF!!!!! (not at will though, just AS IT HAPPENS) I believe JOHN is special in the same way. He died, but on the side of the record he is NOW on, he is alive, yet REMEMBERS his past/other self!!
MORE evidence
The "Hatch Painting" in the Swan depicted: (1) a light female figure above/behind the water and a dark male figure in the water (a normal Penny and inverted Desmond?) (2) A collection of right-side-up stick figures above the waves and upside-down figures below the waves (3) a trajectory that corkscrews to the right (like a diagram for a right-handed, mirror matter particle) apparently representing Des' path as he fell from the boat (4) houses beneath the waves (5) a moonlit night above the waves and a sunlit day beneath the waves. Is that meant to be Ayers Rock in the upper left?
Backward speech, rabbits, chess games
Episodes entitled "White Rabbit" and "Through the Looking Glass"
Jack reads to Aaron from "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland"
Charlie crosses with the wrong hand (left instead of right) in the Looking Glass
Ana Lucia's shirt was white before the crash and mysteriously changed to black after the crash
Hurley, oddly, crashed into a large collection of mirrors at the start of the second half of the showfractured
and the CRUX: Herarat Aviation = A variation earth (seen in multiple airport scenes)Theory by atomsk
In the most recent episode, I noticed that when Ben comes to release Sayid, they talk briefly about how Roger had beat up Ben. Then Ben says, and yes, I went back to check, "I really hated him". This leads me to believe that Ben somehow got his frequently drunk dad into the van and set it on fire.
What makes me think that? Well,having learned from TV cop shows, that one thing the detectives note in a murder suspect is that innocent people refer to the deceased in terms of them being alive, while the murderer doesn't. So, Ben is acting like a murderer.
How did Ben get Roger into the van, he had help. Perhaps Richard? Why would he help? Ben tells him that the Dharma guys have one of his people and Richard knows it isn't one of his, that it likely isn't a Dharma guy, so could it be another time traveller?
Implication? Roger is dead before his time and the timeline is changed. Theory by WNGYPSY
I've posted a similar theory about this before so it may sound familiar at first. But I've taken it much further by explaining how Desmond will attempt to save Penny including an explanation of how Naomi came into possession of the infamously confusing Desmond & Penny photo taken just before Desmond broke her heart.
As many have already suspected, Ben's loose end that he needed to take care of before heading back to the island was to kill Penny. We know Ben expressed his intent to do so when he spoke with Widmore. We know he had not done it yet because we recently saw Penny alive and well. We can assume that Ben knows Penny is nearby because Desmond is in town. And lastly, we know by Ben's injuries that whatever Ben did that evening involved violence. The evidence strongly suggests that Ben went to kill Penny. The first part of this theory will explain why I believe he was successful.
Judging by Ben's conversation with Widmore, we've been led to believe Ben wanted to kill Penny as revenge for the death of Alex. But I think the pleasure of vengeance is incidental. Ben is more pragmatic than that. Penny's murder is Ben's way of manipulating Desmond to go back to the island.
Desmond knows that he experienced consciousness time jumps and he's beginning to suspect that he has the unique ability to change the past in order to alter the future. This suspicion began after what Faraday told him outside the Swan in Desmond's recently uncovered "memory". But as Desmond is struggling to understand what's going on, Ben already has this figured out. I'm sure everyone remembers Ben's famous words after witnessing Alex's execution, 'He changed the rules.' Later we learn that Ben specifically blames Widmore for Alex's death. But as far as we know, Desmond is the only person who can change the rules. So the popular interpretation of this is that Ben believes Widmore used Desmond to change the rules since Widmore is arguably the one who manipulated Desmond into reaching the island in the first place. Widmore supposedly accomplished this task similar to the way that Widmore sent Henry Gale to the island. (NOTE: Whether or not you believe Widmore intenti! onally sent Desmond to the island is irrelevant. The point is that Ben believes this and holds Widmore responsible for Alex's death.) Now Ben is going to use Desmond to change the rules again.
When Desmond left the magnetic radius of the island in "The Constant", his consciousness began jumping. Because Desmond is absolved of 'the rules', he is presumably able affect space-time. For example, he established contact with Faraday during his time jumping which left Daniel with a notebook entry about using Desmond as a constant. (ANOTHER NOTE: I'm not entirely convinced Desmond can change the past. The point is that Desmond and Ben think Desmond has this ability.)
After Penny is killed, Desmond will do anything to try to change the past and prevent her death from happening. To do this, he will return to the island. Ms. Hawking will be more than willing to help him find the island since she knows how important it is to recreate the past, which is why she'll show him how to arrive via boat just like he arrived the first time. Re-entering the island's magnetic radius will cause Desmond to consciousness time jump again because he won't have his constant to anchor him. She's dead. Now Desmond has his chance to change things.
Since the current narrative trend for Lost seems to be showing how events of the past shaped the future, the second part of my theory will explain how this concept will apply to Desmond's story.
Ben will give Desmond a specific plan to alter the past in order to save Penny that will also benefit Ben himself. But since Desmond doesn't trust Ben, Desmond will turn to someone else who he knows will act in Penny's best interest: Daddy Widmore. Widmore expressed to Desmond many times how important Penny's safety is to him. Desmond will approach Widmore during one of his consciousness time jumps and help Widmore arrange a freighter of mercenaries to capture Ben. This will explain how Naomi acquired the picture of Desmond and Penny. Desmond gave it Widmore to give to her. They will tell Naomi to pretend that the freighter was sent by Penny because at that time when Desmond is on the island, Desmond won't trust Widmore because he won't know that he and Widmore become allies in the future (which is actually the past for Desmond). This also explains why Widmore placed the blame of Alex's death back on Ben. Ben killing Penny in the future is what caused Desmond to arr! ange for the freighter to go to the island which led to Alex's death. Theory by timeisrelative
There are uncountable theories out there concerning what's going on. Most focus on the minutae--who is Jacob, what's smokey, who are A&E, can what happened not happen, etc. Some creep beyond the minutae but they don't go far enough.
I started rewatching the series a month or so ago and with every show I see, including the current eps, there is a voice screaming in my head that I am missing something huge. That we all are (save the Garden of Eden/Atlantis type theories). So I took this to its extreme.
There are a few things that bother me more than others. Ben's overall eye-twinkling mysteriousness (along with Hawking's). Ben telling Jack to take everything he wants with him because he's not coming back. The war. The incident and how desperate Chang sounds in last summer's Dharma vid. Not to mention his comment "time isn't of the essence, it IS the essence." The complete, utter disregard for killing people-something that even cropped up in Jack on flight 316.
So, here goes: What if all of time is wrong since the first time humans encountered the island. I know we're spending a lot of time in Dharma time but that may be because this is where humans get to a point where they can correct this. But the correction is monumental. It will affect almost the entirety of human history. But time is running out, for there is a point coming where it will no longer be possible to correct it (Jughead detonating?)
Why our losties? Because this is the first time a group of people have entered into this whacky situation where they can choose to "not go back" to what they had. Where they can choose to do that one thing where they will lose what they were, yet gain what needs to be gained. They are the last, true outsiders to enter into it. They're all in this till the end. And at this point in time, they have all, basically, chosen to be there.
The war is the battle between two forces--one to correct this and one to keep things as they are. Widmore's comfortable with the way things are, Ben isn't. Or maybe it's the other way around.
Jack's not coming back because he and the others with him are to be involved in the correcting force that must somehow get back there and fix things by preventing humans from ever finding the island. They may do this directly (by actually being the ones to do this by going back 3000 years and defending the island from all intruders, something, maybe, the "others" were to do but lost their way) or indirectly (by provoking DI into setting it up for it to be accomplished). Killing people doesn't really matter because they should not be alive anyway. And time, the time where history has occured, is where the essence of the problem lies.
What we've been focusing on are the little things. But my mind keeps seeing something huge that we're all missing. Maybe I've been drinking too much Dharma Kool-Aid. But I can't shake the feeling that this is not a short ride. This is for all the marbles. This is monumental.
Something this huge could not simply be explained to people like our losties. They must experience it in its fullest. They must get to the point where they willingly take this on with an eye toward succeeding. Ben can't simply say "You guys have to go back so you can change the history of mankind." It's too big. It's too hard to explain, convincingly. One can't simply wrap their head around something like this. It must be lived. It must be experienced. And Ben is the main director behind this experiencing.
All that said, what say you? Do you feel we're missing the primary theme because we don't yet have all the information and that theme is huge? Do you think my idea is something possible or could it be something else equally monumental? After all, a lot of people went to a lot of trouble and expense to get these guys on and back on the island. Why bother if what happened, happened? If only Des can change things, why is he a secondary character right now? And why bother with everyone else? They must all play a crucial part in something and that something must be huge.
Please keep in mind that my imagination is limited and this "change all of history" notion may not be the real situation. But something big is. Something very, very important. And we don't have all the pieces, yet.
I'm going to post this and then go fishing. I'll be thinking about this and maybe come to a point where I'll take exception to it. I realize it has lots of holes and probably isn't THE solution. It's just me placating that voice in my head. I can't shake the feeling we're missing something huge.
This just might be too far out there to be acceptable. I took a few elements and tried to draw them out. It's what we all do here. It's how we entertain each other.
What you can do is take my idea of changing the entirety of history and offer another suggestion that is similarly huge. Huge is the keyword, here. Personally, I doubt it's to change all of history. But it's something huge. HUGE, I tell you! Changing all of history is my interpretation of hugeness. And maybe this will jar some ideas loose in some of you who are far more fluent in Lost mythology than I. I'll be back later to see if anyone took the bait.Theory by Tsar Bomba
We have no idea what the incident is but we know it is something bad.
I will go back to season 2 and the scene with Eko and Locke. Eko found missing pieces in the Arrow, in the Book of Law (interesting :)). They putt two parts together and watched the whole film together. At the same time we could see Michael wondering around the Swan waiting to push the button after 108 minutes. The missing pieces said not to use computer in any other purpose than pushing that button. And they put imperative not to use it for anything else like contacting the outside world or communicate with anyone on the island. So, nothing but entering the numbers or it can lead to another incident. In the same moment we see Michael talking to 'Walt'...we see Michael using the computer for something else but entering the numbers. Nothing happened except some people got killed and some got captured...I don't believe that will be our incident.
But what if Daniel or someone else tries to use that computer for communication...maybe that is why the computer was build, for entering the numbers and for communication? Communication with the Future..and something goes terribly wrong. Or communication with the outside world. And someone ends up talking to himself? I don't know why else would Chang forbid it and why would he say it could lead to another incident. Why put that option (communication) in a first place if it can do you harm??
But ok the incident happened and whatever caused it life went on after that. Chang made the tape after the incident right? But there has to be some kind of side effects?
I believe that this event made some phenomenons we saw during last few seasons. I believe that island was special. I believe it has some healing powers and it is hidden so even 'God can't see it' but still I believe the incident is the key event for this island.
Let's look at the time line. What we know for lets say 2 major mysteries of this island.
1. Smoke Monster 2. Jacob
1. According to the time line, first time we saw Smoke monster was in 1988 when Danielle saw it at the Temple, right? We never saw it in 1954 and that doesn't mean it is not there somewhere but we haven't seen it. During Dharma days, 3 years have passed and smoke monster was not seen as far as we know. Then comes 1988 and it is there. In 2004 it is every once in awhile attacking people...so where is it before 1988??? Maybe it never existed. We all took it for granted. But what if never existed before the incident? What if it is created by incident? What if some man who was involved directly to the incident became Smoke Monster? Another form of spirit similar to Jacob? Side effects?
2. Jacob. It goes the same. We have no idea when Jacob become what we know now. He was a man before he got trapped in the cabin. He sure looked like a man to me, sitting in that chair. Man who speaks English. And Others referred to him as HIM, brilliant MAN, not forgiving MAN...So the only evidence we have is Richard's reaction back in 1954, right? But then remember what else he said there. He said that they chose their leader at very young age. What if Jacob was a kid Richard was coaching for their next leader in that exact moment when Locke fell from the sky saying his name and claiming he is from the future? What if that was a prof to Richard that Jacob is really a man of great importance in the future. Or it was Locke who hinted Richard about Jacob, influenced him same way he did about himself? But Locke failed to mention that Jacob is a spirit trapped in the cabin by Ben because he assumed Richard already knows that right? What if Jacob is a 10 year old kid back in 1954 future leader of the Others? But Widmore was their leader you will say. But Widmore was definitely not a leader in 1954. We saw that and heard LOUD AND CLEAR..Putt the gun down Widmore!!! And he did. So Jacob will be their leader until the incident occurs. Then he will became spirit of some sort. Ben will trap him in Horace's cabin like we saw. Widmore will take over in an absence of the leader, temporary because Richard met a new kid who could maybe end up being their leader? So Charles was the leader for few years and then Ben coned him into leaving the island. Charles never said I was their leader for 30 years. He said simply I was their leader and that Ben tricked him into leaving the island. And that is truth. Technically he was their leader at that point. He said they ruled peacefully, protected the island for 30 years, never that HE ruled for 30 years. So the leader of the Others in the moment when incident occured became a spirit. Side effect of the incident.
Both Smoke Monster and Jacob are controlled by Ben. And they both are controlled from Dharma real estate :) One is in Horace's cabin. The other one is controlled from Dharmaville? Whose house was that before it became Ben's after the purge I wonder.. Or Smoke Monster is Dharma's property? But then why is it a security system for The Temple, the last sanctuary for the Others?
This parallel was really brought home by a recent re-viewing of Scorcese's "The Last Temptation of Christ."
In that film Judas is portrayed as the most fervent believer in Jesus' mission, and his closest confidant. He is indeed, made a "hero", in the sense that he sacrifices a great deal - his personal honor and finally his life - in order to fulfill his role in Christ's journey.
Remember that Jesus himself tells Judas he will betray him. Scorcese's film takes it one step further - Jesus DEMANDS of Judas his betrayal, insisting that it is the only way.
I think this bears mentioning when trying to judge Ben's character. The first 1/3 of Season 5 was heavily shaded with religion, culminating in Locke's resurrection. Ben himself explains the Doubting Thomas story to Jack at The Lamp Post. This speaks to a great awareness on Ben's part of his role in the big picture.
Ben's murder of Locke seems at first glance to be the ultimate betrayal, just as Judas' sale of Jesus to the Romans seemed to be. But within the larger picture, both acts were absolutely necessary to achieve the greater good.
In the grand scale of LOST, Benjamin Linus will be revealed to be a faithful servant of the island who has made difficult and unpopular choices. He will not be the Big Bad.Theory by Brendan
i believe that when ben called jack and told him to pick up locke's coffin because he was delayed "keeping a promise to an old friend" it because he was busy murdering penny (he was wet, penny was hiding out on a boat waiting for desmond to return. perhaps she put up a fight hence the state of his face)
i believe he did this knowing it was the only way to get his weapon against widmore (the one uniquely gifted individual who can alter the future) back to the island. ben had tried to get him to come back but desmond was done with it all, finished, ready to start a new life with penny and leave the island behind.
the only way to bring him back? fill him with a desire for murderous revenge against ben, who desmond knew was going back to the island. couple that with desmond's knowledge that he can change the future (he knows this because farraday told him so back in their hatch encounter) maybe he will attempt to change the past and prevent pennys death.
perhaps desmond will bring his and pennys child, charlie, with him and he will play some kind of significance later? does the child possess the same tallent as desmond? who knows.
i believe this might also lend some motivation to charles widmore, in that this whole time he has been trying to stop penny from dying knowing that ben was going to kill her in the future (i believe ben and widmore both have access to knowledge of the future, which is why they cant kill eachother, they know they both live to a certain point in the future) perhaps widmore told keamy to kill Alex because he knew that ben would kill penny. a sort of preemptive revenge. but maybe he didn't know the reason that ben wanted to kill her in the first place...
all in all i think that desmond is going to show up to hang out with sun, locke, lapidus, et al sometime in the upcoming episodes and we will see them all trying to get back to the seventies and change the way everything went down...perhaps this will cause the incident.
When john locke returned to the island and sprung back to life it was not what ben wanted or expected. he murdered locke.
he finally did what he could never do and killed the one true leader of the island so that he might take his place... But! things have a way of course correcting.
i believe that sayid killing little ben is something that rippled through time, "detatching" ben from the current timeline, meaning he never murdered locke in the first place, hence he sprung back to life.
i believe in the original timeline ben was never meant to get shot by sayid but by altering what he was never supposed to the island acted.
i also believe that his outside of the current timeline status means that he will eventually be revealed as jacob. but im reaching here.
Apoligies if this theory is really dumb an there is an obvious answer to this but its only 1 of 2 things bugging me about this last episode involving sayid killing young ben.
So in the last episode we see the blue van used quite a lot for different tasks used by sawyer (le flauer)and the darhma guys,an also at the end of the episode with it crashing into the barracks and then right after with jin driving it in the jungle .In fact this blue van has been seen in nearly every episode of this season.
im starting to think this is a pointless theory but i'll carry on...
So theres 2 choices, either theres more than one darhma van which seems very likely .. or the stranger outcome of it some how time skipping .. it just seemed really odd that we saw this van on fire & crashing into the houses , and then the next few scenes is young ben escaping with sayid and then a blue camper van out in the jungle...
It probably is the first choice, that there are more than blue van on the island.
This now leads me on to the broken blue van we see in 2004.In 2004 when the 815's are on the island we have only ever scene this one darhma van .. where are the rest of them ( if there are more than one van). hmmm still feels a bit odd..
So what i think is ..if there is only one van being used.. then for some reason with this time flashes. Jin juliet sawyer miles an daniel must of witnessed one last time flash with jin driving this van in the 70's before jack kate hurley etc arrived.somehow making the van flash with jin to 2004 .
the van seems important to me .. but yet again it probably is a load of nonsense
just why focus so much on a blue darhma van so much this series?
could be just to let the viewer no its in the 70's ..but theres other things to say its the 70's like the suits for one.
what im getting at to put it clear is .. why, when a time flash occured, did everything disappear except a broken down darhma van plus all the stations. ( the swan not being built yet??)maybe ignore the stations but the van is the only other object i can think of.
this theory is starting to feel a bit dumb ...its late thats my excuse comment on it please.. would like to no what you guys think.
Oh one last thing , as for the whole sayid killing ben thing at the end of the episode, i dont think young ben is dead .other than that i cant really put an idea to that last scene.... Theory by Rusey88
Didn't fans ever wonder why Ben was so motivated to keep the survivors of flight 815 from leaving the island? Also why he would never let Juliet leave the island even when her job was pointless. My theory is that Ben remembered all these people from his past (Sayid shooting him, Lafleur was Sawyer, Jack working with his dad) and knew by letting them go he would be changing the past and future of the island. He knew he couldn't let Juliet leave because she did something in the past (saved baby Ethan), and he couldn't let the survivors leave because they also will eventually do something in the past that Ben knew had to happen, so if he let them leave the past would be changed (If Jack or Juliette is the one who saves Ben's life from the bullet wound this theory will make a lot more sense). This is why he was so concerned to get them back to the island after the oceanic 6 left, because he believes if he doesn't time will be changed. Theory by Moses T
I wrote a theory a few days ago called "It's Impossible to Change Anything" where I went over my idea about Lost time travel. I felt like I didn't do it justice so I'm gonna take another shot at it.
First of all I'd like to remind everyone that the producers have said that they didn't want paradoxes like Heroes has. Being able to change the past causes a wild amount of paradoxes, so it makes sense that the producers do not take this route.
On with the theory. I like to think of everything we are seeing now in the Dharma days as one big flashback because it all happened already. There is one past and one past only. However, this doesn't mean that Sayid couldn't kill Ben because he's not supposed to, it means that he couldn't kill Ben because we know Ben is alive in 2008. As we all know, things in the past have consequences in the future. Example: your parents had sex and here you are reading this theory. Therefore, if Ben had been killed in the past by Sayid, we never would have met Ben in the future because he would be very dead. This is why it's impossible to change the past because we know what already happens in the past because it's the past. Sorry, but this is difficult to explain but it's so simple, doesn't create paradoxes, and fits in with everything that's happened in the show so far that I'm pretty sure it's right. So I hope you all understand. Comment away. Theory by Pat
The Lost writers have referenced just about everything from the internet games and comic con releases seasons like Alvar Hanso, The Degroots, the various stations...etc. The only thing that hasn't been referenced yet--at least to my recollection--is the book [URL="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Bad_Twin#In_Lost"]Bad Twin[/URL].
The Synopsis (from Lostpedia):
"Sometimes evil has a familiar face..." Paul Artisan, P.I. is a new version of an old breed -- a righter of wrongs, someone driven to get to the bottom of things. Too bad his usual cases are of the boring malpractice and fraud variety. Until now. His new gig turns on the disappearance of one of a pair of twins, adult scions of a rich but tragedy-prone family. The missing twin -- a charismatic poster-boy for irresponsibility -- has spent his life daring people to hate him, punishing himself endlessly for his screw-ups and misdeeds. The other twin -- Artisan's client -- is dutiful and resentful in equal measure, bewildered that his "other half" could have turned out so badly, and wracked by guilt at his inability to reform him. He has a more practical reason, as well, for wanting his brother found: their crazy father, in failing health and with guilty secrets of his own, will not divide the family fortune until both siblings are accounted for. But it isn't just a fortune that's at stake here. Truth itself is up for grabs, as the detective's discoveries seem to challenge everything we think we know about identity, and human nature, and family. As Artisan journeys across the globe to track down the bad twin, he seems to have moved into a mirror-world where friends and enemies have a way of looking very much alike. The P.I. may have his long-awaited chance to put his courage and ideals to the test, but if he doesn't get to the bottom of this case soon, it could very well cost him his life. "Troup's long-awaited Bad Twin is a suspenseful novel that touches on many powerful themes, including the consequence of vengeance, the power of redemption, and where to turn when all seems lost."
I think this is the key to the series. Whether it involves Ben being cloned (from messing around in the Orchid) or a being a twin himself, or all the Losties being doubled as a result of the crash, i think this will somehow factor in the end of the show. They spent too much time in the internet game on it, and the producers stated long ago, that the clue to the series lies in the 1st episode. According to Lostpedia:
"Gary Troup delivered the manuscript of Bad Twin to Hyperion Publishing just before his fateful trip on Oceanic Flight 815. The author survived the crash, but was the first person to die on the Island when he was sucked into the still-running jet engine, causing it to explode" Hurley and Sawyer both read a copy of the manuscript, but Sawyer didn't get to finish it as Jack burned the ending.