There is no cloning in the universe of Lost. But it is still possible for John Locke to meet John Locke.
I'm sure everyone on this board has seen Back to the Future. At the end, Marty McFly returns from 1955 to 1985, but decides to arrive a few minutes early to prevent the death of his friend Doc Brown. When he arrives at the parking lot, he sees himself jump into the Delorean and time travel to 1955. This instance where two Marty McFly's exist in the same timeline is NOT CLONING, it simply means that Marty time travel to a point in time where he already exists and they just both exist. Now if he were to interact with himself, it could cause a paradox that could disrupt the space time continuum (as we saw in Part II with Biff going back in time to give himself the almanac and thus creating an alternate future ... a paradox).
So basically I'm saying that John Locke and Jeremy Bentham are not two different people, but they are also two separate entities, both versions of John Locke, but from different timelines.
Here's where it gets more complicated.
We can't forget the concept of consciousness traveling which Lost has introduced as a method of time travel in "The Constant." A person is able to consciousness travel through time if their body stays in one place and their mind goes back to a point in their past or their future. As we saw in "The Constant," Desmond was in a comatose state in Daniel's office at Cambridge when he was shown on the helicopter with Sayid, but after he flashed, he was back in Daniel's office, and his body in the helicopter was comatose. It's a body swap.
Now imagine, if on top of having the ability to consciousness travel and body swap (like Desmond has), one also has the ability to actually time travel and teleport one's body through time and space (like Ben did when he turned the wheel and wound up in the desert). If a person was able to do both, then its possible for two bodies to exist in the same timeline with two separate consciousnesses. Also think about the possibility that besides the wheel, there may be an actual machine/station that enables this type of time travel both on and off the island.
And here's where it gets wacky.
John Locke will always be John Locke, no matter how many times he time travels. But we've seen John Locke change his personality over the course of the show. We've seen meek John Locke, afraid of being alone and easily manipulated by his con man father. We've seen John Locke the hunter, who single handedly bagged a boar, who guided Charlie through heroin withdrawal. We've also seen John Locke lose faith on the island and decide not to push the button, and we've seen him regain his faith. Why all these changes? Why so sudden? Why does it seem like he was one person off the island and a completely different person on the island. I watched "Walkabout" again and there was no indication that the John Locke who was about to go on his walkabout was anything like the intelligent, boar-tracking, Mr. Helpful that he was on the island in Season 1.
And here's my theory, which not only applies to Locke, but to every major character on the show:
When we've seen a flashback or flashforward on the show, that character is actually experiencing consciousness traveling as we're watching it. They may be asleep, or just staring off into the distance silently (as Locke, Jack, Rose and others have been shown doing), but they are actually time traveling with their mind (their body stays behind in a comatose like state until they return).
So when John Locke seems more at peace and more hunter like in his pot farm flashback in "Further Instructions", it's because the island Locke is consciousness traveling to that point of time in his life. And when John Locke suddenly loses faith in the island and decides not to push the button, it's because past Locke is consciousness traveling to the point of time when he's on the island in the future.
This is why young Locke can draw a picture of the smoke monster and choose what object already belongs to him. This is why Locke can predict the rain. This is why Ben seems to know everything before it happens. He can come and go as he pleases in his mind.
What happened differently with Locke and Jeremy Bentham is what I said earlier. Locke stayed on island, then consciousness traveled to a point in the past (when this happens island Locke is in a comatose state), then this past Locke finds an off island Dharma station that lets him time travel. He uses it to convince the Oceanic 6 to come back to the island. Then he consciousness travels back to the island (leaving his comatose body behind off island). So the body in the coffin that is Jeremy Bentham is not dead, but just comatose. This is why Ben says they need to bring the body back with them to the island. When they go back to the island (via time travel which is the only way to travel to and from the island), Bentham (Locke in a box) will exist on the island in the same timeline as Locke. And its this coexistence of the two Locke's that may be the key to saving the island. This may cause a paradox that will lead to the endgame of the show.
Any thoughts or ideas, please feel free to leave a comment.
I will soon be posting this theory on my own site:
http://www.scottgingold.com/lost.html Theory by Scott Gingold
I'm sure everyone on this board has seen Back to the Future. At the end, Marty McFly returns from 1955 to 1985, but decides to arrive a few minutes early to prevent the death of his friend Doc Brown. When he arrives at the parking lot, he sees himself jump into the Delorean and time travel to 1955. This instance where two Marty McFly's exist in the same timeline is NOT CLONING, it simply means that Marty time travel to a point in time where he already exists and they just both exist. Now if he were to interact with himself, it could cause a paradox that could disrupt the space time continuum (as we saw in Part II with Biff going back in time to give himself the almanac and thus creating an alternate future ... a paradox).
So basically I'm saying that John Locke and Jeremy Bentham are not two different people, but they are also two separate entities, both versions of John Locke, but from different timelines.
Here's where it gets more complicated.
We can't forget the concept of consciousness traveling which Lost has introduced as a method of time travel in "The Constant." A person is able to consciousness travel through time if their body stays in one place and their mind goes back to a point in their past or their future. As we saw in "The Constant," Desmond was in a comatose state in Daniel's office at Cambridge when he was shown on the helicopter with Sayid, but after he flashed, he was back in Daniel's office, and his body in the helicopter was comatose. It's a body swap.
Now imagine, if on top of having the ability to consciousness travel and body swap (like Desmond has), one also has the ability to actually time travel and teleport one's body through time and space (like Ben did when he turned the wheel and wound up in the desert). If a person was able to do both, then its possible for two bodies to exist in the same timeline with two separate consciousnesses. Also think about the possibility that besides the wheel, there may be an actual machine/station that enables this type of time travel both on and off the island.
And here's where it gets wacky.
John Locke will always be John Locke, no matter how many times he time travels. But we've seen John Locke change his personality over the course of the show. We've seen meek John Locke, afraid of being alone and easily manipulated by his con man father. We've seen John Locke the hunter, who single handedly bagged a boar, who guided Charlie through heroin withdrawal. We've also seen John Locke lose faith on the island and decide not to push the button, and we've seen him regain his faith. Why all these changes? Why so sudden? Why does it seem like he was one person off the island and a completely different person on the island. I watched "Walkabout" again and there was no indication that the John Locke who was about to go on his walkabout was anything like the intelligent, boar-tracking, Mr. Helpful that he was on the island in Season 1.
And here's my theory, which not only applies to Locke, but to every major character on the show:
When we've seen a flashback or flashforward on the show, that character is actually experiencing consciousness traveling as we're watching it. They may be asleep, or just staring off into the distance silently (as Locke, Jack, Rose and others have been shown doing), but they are actually time traveling with their mind (their body stays behind in a comatose like state until they return).
So when John Locke seems more at peace and more hunter like in his pot farm flashback in "Further Instructions", it's because the island Locke is consciousness traveling to that point of time in his life. And when John Locke suddenly loses faith in the island and decides not to push the button, it's because past Locke is consciousness traveling to the point of time when he's on the island in the future.
This is why young Locke can draw a picture of the smoke monster and choose what object already belongs to him. This is why Locke can predict the rain. This is why Ben seems to know everything before it happens. He can come and go as he pleases in his mind.
What happened differently with Locke and Jeremy Bentham is what I said earlier. Locke stayed on island, then consciousness traveled to a point in the past (when this happens island Locke is in a comatose state), then this past Locke finds an off island Dharma station that lets him time travel. He uses it to convince the Oceanic 6 to come back to the island. Then he consciousness travels back to the island (leaving his comatose body behind off island). So the body in the coffin that is Jeremy Bentham is not dead, but just comatose. This is why Ben says they need to bring the body back with them to the island. When they go back to the island (via time travel which is the only way to travel to and from the island), Bentham (Locke in a box) will exist on the island in the same timeline as Locke. And its this coexistence of the two Locke's that may be the key to saving the island. This may cause a paradox that will lead to the endgame of the show.
Any thoughts or ideas, please feel free to leave a comment.
I will soon be posting this theory on my own site:
http://www.scottgingold.com/lost.html Theory by Scott Gingold
