The END of LOST, and LIFE WITHOUT THE ISLAND by Shawnald2

I’ve read many theories on this site, and I have tried not to cherry pick from them for my own thoughts on how Lost will end. The main thinking behind my thinking is simple: This is a TV show first and foremost, with about 15 hours left to complete its story. And the main thing to always keep in mind is this: The “Answers” have to be digestible to the average viewer. Not us super fans that dissect and read into every frame of the show. Basically, my mother has to be able to get this. So this theory is geared towards that: The average viewer.

Having said all that, I started to look at this season of Lost as a puzzle. The side flashways have been nagging at me since minute one of the new season, and I have full faith that they are relevant to everything that’s gone on in the show so far… sort of. Let me explain.

I believe the writers have been basing their use of time travel and alternate worlds on certain scientific theories, like the string theory, and this other one (I forget the name) that proposes that the universe is made of several strands of time that run simultaneously, meaning in some odd wacky way, that we are really all part of a big cosmic soup that is being stirred over and over again. Loops have been a big theme on the show, and I think the end will hold true to that general idea. That the characters, and the world in general, are on a loop.

So in TV land, and remember, that means it must be kept simple and straightforward, I think two elements of the show will merge together to give us our end, and thus, the philosophical meaning behind Lost.

First: The Numbers. Now all us uber geeks know what the numbers stand for, that they determine the end of humanity, and that Dharma’s goal was to somehow change one of the numbers, thus avoiding the end of humanity.

Second: MIB v. Jacob. I think it’s obvious now that all the characters in the show have been brought to the island and are part of a long struggle between MIB and Jacob, and are basically pieces on their chessboard.

Since this is a battle about humanity’s fate, they can only nudge, suggest or try to manipulate, but ultimately have to give way to people’s own choice. For example, you can plant the seed in Locke’s mind that he’s special, but it’s really up to Locke himself to embrace that idea, and infuse it into his own outlook.

Now before I go more into my theory, let me just state for the record that I am a massive Lost geek, like all of you reading this, and that I know there are many seeds still out there on the show that may or may not blossom. I also believe that the story of Lost that we’re watching now began in earnest somewhere in season 3, when they decided to end the show. Remember, Michael Emmerson was only hired originally for three or four episodes of the show, so I am a big believer that when they started this, they had ideas of where they perhaps would like to take the show, and once they decided to end it, went full force and went back to the previous seasons to try and tie things together to the current story.

I should also put out that I am a writer and filmmaker, so I look at the show through the prism of being able to communicate a large, complex idea in a very simple straightforward way. And even though Lost appears at first to be anything but straightforward, in many ways, at it’s core, it is, and has always been, a story of characters finding their way. Everything else is the wonderful gravy that has elevated this show to an entire other level and given birth to people like us, who write posts, review the show, and try to figure what the F is going on.

I also want to get off the table that there are many elements which I am not going to touch, or even attempt to figure out. This is a very GENERAL theory, and I’ve read and agree with most comparisons to the biblical aspects of the show, the running mythology, and all the other stranger-than-fiction elements, like dead people walking around, the whispers, desmond being special, etc. I’m not going there in this post, so if you comment, please don’t bring that stuff up. I have no clue how the small details will play out in this theory. I’m writing about the Forrest, and I’ll leave it up to the producers to give us the Trees.

Ok, so here it is, after much preamble (thank you for sticking with me if you’re still reading)

The Island is Time. The beginning, middle and end. It is The Constant of everything. Everything that happens to humanity is affected by The Island. People are the pieces; The Island is the chessboard (to steal from that super cool Spanish promo – hope you all caught it)

Jacob and MIB have been playing a game for all of eternity. Remember what MIB said to Jacob in season 5 finale “They come, they destroy, it always ENDS the same”, to which now-deceased Jacob replies, “Yes, but everything before that is progress”.
So Humanity is on this constant loop, as a result of this game being played. But now, as we’ve learned, the MIB wants this game to desperately end. He wants out, he wants it over, he has no faith in humanity, and he doesn’t see the point in this endless cycle.

Humanity begins… Jacob brings people to the island… Remember The Island is a constant, it is has always been, always will be there. It is never changing, as old as time itself (as evidenced by the ancient Egyptian markings, etc). The game is played, the game ends, and (this is just my guess), and at the game’s end, the wheel is turned, and humanity begins again. Another loop.

I also think the End of the game is what the numbers have always added up too, as we’ve learned online (but not in the show itself). Dharma came to try and change or alter the numbers, so humanity (the game, the loop) wouldn’t end.

“It always ends the same”

I honestly think that’s the most profound and important line ever uttered in the entire show.

Ok, you still with me?

Jack, Kate, etc are born. The Island exists. They are manipulated by The Island (Jacob) and their lives are affected by it. Just as many have been brought to the island many times over many loops over many years. Everything is a cycle. This pisses the MIB off to no end, until finally he finds his loophole to end all of this, and that begins with the manipulation of Locke. Finally, he sees a way to end this terrible cycle.

They come to the island; Jack thinks that by blowing off the bomb he will reset everything. But he doesn’t. Jack causes The Incident (I know many people disagree with me on this, but again, this is most simple explanation in TV land) and in the process him and the rest of the 77 O6 are pushed back to present day. Their present day. On the same timeline that they always existed in, which was proven when Kate saw the swan hatch that THEY blew up. Whatever happened always happened. Period.

Season 6 will end with the game finally ending, and this time, when the wheel is turned (my guess) the island winds up underwater, and HUMANITY begins AGAIN.

This time though, humanity exists with the island UNDER water.

The side flashways is the NEW LOOP, sans ISLAND. Everything we are seeing in the
side flashways is the timeline that was created when the game ends at the end of season 6. We are witnessing the lives of everything and how things would unfold WITHOUT the island.

Now you’re asking, YES but the barracks are still on the island, and the dharma shark, are you saying that never happened?

No, it always happened. The Island is the core of existence. It is the beginning, middle and end of everything (I know, it’s a little loopy).

There’s a theory that our consciousness exists in several strands of time at once, but that we can only process one reality at a time. But I think the producers, through the flash sideways, are attempting (and slowly they are pulling it off) to make a statement about fate, destiny, and even reincarnation on some level. No matter what reality you exist in, certain things and certain people were always fated to come upon you. We are just energy at our core, attracting other energy. So Kate was ALWAYS meant to be involved with Claire on some level, and when Jack looked all discombobulated in that first shot of the season, he was experiencing some deep disturbing déjà vu, because HE WAS ON THE ISLAND in another life, and his consciousness has carried this experience into his sans island existence. He had this deep fear, because in a past life, (a past loop) at that particular moment, he experienced the crash.

So when you have a deep feeling that “hey I’ve been here before”, the producers are proposing that you have, but in another lifetime, maybe even another life – timeline.
With the sinking of the island, humanity is finally free. There is no end, only the slow move forward.

So in a nutshell: Humanity is on a loop. The Island has been playing games with humanity for eternity, always ending in the beginning of a new loop. Until finally The Island is sunk, which means that new loop will not end, because The Island can no longer affect life itself. It is buried. Life continues on, and yet destiny and fate still play their role in that cosmic way: Jack meets Locke (I believe he will perform surgery and Locke will walk again), Ethan is still involved with Claire on some level,
Rose still has cancer, etc.

Everything in the flash sideways is different. EVERYTHING. I think the icing on that cake was confirmed when Helen asked John to invite his father (!!!!) to their upcoming wedding. Obviously, Locke was always destined to be in a wheelchair, whether it was by being pushed out of a window or not.

Comments, please.

I thought long and hard about this, and I feel this theory holds water in a very general TV friendly way.

As for all the wonderful trees that make up the forest, I have faith in the producers of the show. They are smart, ambitious, and first and foremost, are great writers.