Ok, bear with me here. I want to begin by making it clear that my knowledge of The Stand (by Stephen King) is strictly based on Wikipedia-based research.
Now, the creators have insisted that, while Lost is incredibly immersed in mythology, it is essentially a character-driven show. Keeping that in mind, it would be safe to assume that, while they want to wow us with time-travel and smoke monsters, the point of Lost is to showcase the various interactions between the characters. Why do I bring this up? Well, simply put, these characters have to overcome their differences because they are the future of humanity.
It has been noted that Stephen King’s novel The Stand has influenced the story on Lost. The Stand deals with the end of the world occurring due to a pandemic that wipes out 95% of the population. The remnants of humanity form two very different societies, one a tyrannical society run by the nefarious Randall Flagg, the other a more peaceful society. Ultimately, good prevails, but the end leaves it up in the air as to whether humanity saves itself.
That being said, I believe that the characters on Lost are brought together to salvage the planet after some sort of world-ending calamity. The island’s consciousness (however that may work) summons these people via causality. These results have been noted a lot already (Desmond causing the plane to crash, Libby causing Desmond to arrive on the island, maybe Abbadon or some other Mrs. Hawking-style time traveler telling her to send Desmond), so I won’t delve too deeply into each and every cause and effect. Each character must learn to co-exist so that they can rebuild society after this great catastrophic event.
But why would the time-travelers need to push events along and monitor the progress of certain things if fate is unavoidable? I believe that the Dharma Initiative accidentally causes some sort of paradox that brings about the end of the world via their manipulation of the island’s time traveling ability. As a result of some sort of self-fulfilling prophecy, they inadvertently cause the destruction of humanity (how the writers would tackle this, I couldn’t begin to fathom). This paradox causes rifts in the timeline that need mending and/or some minor coaxing to ensure that the Losties make it to the island and survive long enough to wait out The End.
Who are these time-travelers? Excellent question. I believe, whether I’m right about any of this or not, that with the identity of these people lies one of the biggest mysteries of Lost. After all, who could be these overseeing entities that help further the events of our main characters? My belief is that these people are the children survivors of the end who also sought refuge on the island. A theory has been posited that Abbadon is Walt, which I firmly agree. His exchange with Locke really made me believe that he is indeed a future-Walt that has taken part in this time-traveling coaxing of the timeline (“and when we meet again, you’ll owe me one”). Mrs. Hawking could be an important child character that we have no yet met on the island, or just some background character (one of the Others, perhaps).
Each of the Lost characters harnesses an ability that makes him or her important to the others. Jack is an excellent doctor, Locke is a benevolent leader, Kate is a resourceful ally, even Miles’ ability to speak to the dead allows for him to spot the conniving of others, probably one of the most important abilities to have in a society to maintain order. These people would be ideally suited to reestablish some sort of society after the end of the world.
At first I thought Jacob might actually be the Randall Flagg character of the story, stringing along the Others to inevitably eradicate them once the rest of humanity is lost. I don’t believe this is the case—if Christian is indeed speaking for Jacob and acknowledges that Michael was having a hard time offing himself due to the powers of the island, and the island is fundamentally good, then that can’t be the case. I believe then, that Jacob is the manifestation of the island. Somehow, the island knows that it will be the last refuge for human beings and seeks to fulfill this agenda by any means necessary.
With all of what I’ve read about particle physics being hugely theoretical, the “exotic matter” at the heart of the island could be a number of things. The smoke monster could be an entity comprised of some other form of exotic matter that has intelligence and serves the good of the island (by making sure the people on it are well meaning) for whatever reason. I do firmly believe that whoever the “hostiles” were had the ability to use the island’s many traits before the Dharma Initiative landed. Ben retreating to some underground cavern and emerging covered in soot only to release the smoke monster hint that there was some hidden primitive means of doing so. Even the underground donkey wheel that moved the island was not made by the DI, leaving one to assume that there might be other hidden underground passages that harness the island’s powers.
As for the people on the Black Rock, the four-toed statue, Hanso and Widmore’s connection, who the original inhabitants were, or even who the hostiles were before the DI ships landed on the island, I haven’t the foggiest.
I will finish with this: I firmly believe that Widmore “changing the rules” deals specifically with the timeline. Keamy killing Alex was not supposed to happen. Why? Hopefully season 5 will shed some light on this, but I doubt it.
Theory by Mr. Klugg
Now, the creators have insisted that, while Lost is incredibly immersed in mythology, it is essentially a character-driven show. Keeping that in mind, it would be safe to assume that, while they want to wow us with time-travel and smoke monsters, the point of Lost is to showcase the various interactions between the characters. Why do I bring this up? Well, simply put, these characters have to overcome their differences because they are the future of humanity.
It has been noted that Stephen King’s novel The Stand has influenced the story on Lost. The Stand deals with the end of the world occurring due to a pandemic that wipes out 95% of the population. The remnants of humanity form two very different societies, one a tyrannical society run by the nefarious Randall Flagg, the other a more peaceful society. Ultimately, good prevails, but the end leaves it up in the air as to whether humanity saves itself.
That being said, I believe that the characters on Lost are brought together to salvage the planet after some sort of world-ending calamity. The island’s consciousness (however that may work) summons these people via causality. These results have been noted a lot already (Desmond causing the plane to crash, Libby causing Desmond to arrive on the island, maybe Abbadon or some other Mrs. Hawking-style time traveler telling her to send Desmond), so I won’t delve too deeply into each and every cause and effect. Each character must learn to co-exist so that they can rebuild society after this great catastrophic event.
But why would the time-travelers need to push events along and monitor the progress of certain things if fate is unavoidable? I believe that the Dharma Initiative accidentally causes some sort of paradox that brings about the end of the world via their manipulation of the island’s time traveling ability. As a result of some sort of self-fulfilling prophecy, they inadvertently cause the destruction of humanity (how the writers would tackle this, I couldn’t begin to fathom). This paradox causes rifts in the timeline that need mending and/or some minor coaxing to ensure that the Losties make it to the island and survive long enough to wait out The End.
Who are these time-travelers? Excellent question. I believe, whether I’m right about any of this or not, that with the identity of these people lies one of the biggest mysteries of Lost. After all, who could be these overseeing entities that help further the events of our main characters? My belief is that these people are the children survivors of the end who also sought refuge on the island. A theory has been posited that Abbadon is Walt, which I firmly agree. His exchange with Locke really made me believe that he is indeed a future-Walt that has taken part in this time-traveling coaxing of the timeline (“and when we meet again, you’ll owe me one”). Mrs. Hawking could be an important child character that we have no yet met on the island, or just some background character (one of the Others, perhaps).
Each of the Lost characters harnesses an ability that makes him or her important to the others. Jack is an excellent doctor, Locke is a benevolent leader, Kate is a resourceful ally, even Miles’ ability to speak to the dead allows for him to spot the conniving of others, probably one of the most important abilities to have in a society to maintain order. These people would be ideally suited to reestablish some sort of society after the end of the world.
At first I thought Jacob might actually be the Randall Flagg character of the story, stringing along the Others to inevitably eradicate them once the rest of humanity is lost. I don’t believe this is the case—if Christian is indeed speaking for Jacob and acknowledges that Michael was having a hard time offing himself due to the powers of the island, and the island is fundamentally good, then that can’t be the case. I believe then, that Jacob is the manifestation of the island. Somehow, the island knows that it will be the last refuge for human beings and seeks to fulfill this agenda by any means necessary.
With all of what I’ve read about particle physics being hugely theoretical, the “exotic matter” at the heart of the island could be a number of things. The smoke monster could be an entity comprised of some other form of exotic matter that has intelligence and serves the good of the island (by making sure the people on it are well meaning) for whatever reason. I do firmly believe that whoever the “hostiles” were had the ability to use the island’s many traits before the Dharma Initiative landed. Ben retreating to some underground cavern and emerging covered in soot only to release the smoke monster hint that there was some hidden primitive means of doing so. Even the underground donkey wheel that moved the island was not made by the DI, leaving one to assume that there might be other hidden underground passages that harness the island’s powers.
As for the people on the Black Rock, the four-toed statue, Hanso and Widmore’s connection, who the original inhabitants were, or even who the hostiles were before the DI ships landed on the island, I haven’t the foggiest.
I will finish with this: I firmly believe that Widmore “changing the rules” deals specifically with the timeline. Keamy killing Alex was not supposed to happen. Why? Hopefully season 5 will shed some light on this, but I doubt it.
Theory by Mr. Klugg
