So, Ethan shoots Locke in the leg - and he's about to kill poor ol' John when the sky flashes. Why? Because Locke CAN'T die. They were in the past, and Locke exists in the future. Therefore, he's not allowed to die. (Which is why it made no sense that Richard said he was bleeding to death, but whatever.) If they're in the future, I suppose it's all fair game - except, that might make it possible for there to be two Sawyers if he hasn't left the island in real time yet.
Did you notice something else, though? Ethan didn't react to the light. John sure did - everyone did - except a few. I.E. the people who weren't traveling in time. As Desmond's awakening suggests, the "tweaked" past exists as a new memory. Ethan's dead - so he would have had a new memory, input in "real time" only, if he were to be alive.
This explains why Dan didn't recognize Desmond the first time they met on the island. He didn't yet have that new memory of the past. But then he DOES remember him when he bangs on the Hatch door.
One other thing to note - Desmond noticed the light. In this case, they didn't show Dan reacting, but I think it was more because he already knew what was happening and was desperate to give information to Des. This also backs up that Des is special and is flipping around through time.
So I'll be watching tonight if we see any flashes - who reacts, and who doesn't? But that's my theory. Any time Locke is in the past and about to die, we'll see another flash and the island will move again. And whatever is different, is only different in the new memories of characters in real time, whenever they are!
Theory by Four-toed Armenian
Did you notice something else, though? Ethan didn't react to the light. John sure did - everyone did - except a few. I.E. the people who weren't traveling in time. As Desmond's awakening suggests, the "tweaked" past exists as a new memory. Ethan's dead - so he would have had a new memory, input in "real time" only, if he were to be alive.
This explains why Dan didn't recognize Desmond the first time they met on the island. He didn't yet have that new memory of the past. But then he DOES remember him when he bangs on the Hatch door.
One other thing to note - Desmond noticed the light. In this case, they didn't show Dan reacting, but I think it was more because he already knew what was happening and was desperate to give information to Des. This also backs up that Des is special and is flipping around through time.
So I'll be watching tonight if we see any flashes - who reacts, and who doesn't? But that's my theory. Any time Locke is in the past and about to die, we'll see another flash and the island will move again. And whatever is different, is only different in the new memories of characters in real time, whenever they are!
Theory by Four-toed Armenian
