Iteration 17294535
We all know the end is near, and the speculation has caused an eruption of theories about how our favorite show will fade out. I too have a theory, so why not throw it out there? I'll preface this theory by saying, I'm probably wrong, I hope I'm wrong. It's not an original theory, it is an extension, a defense of the time-loop theory. I personally hope the writers have something more original in mind, that's why they make the big money.
Everything is cyclical. Ben knows what is going to happen because he has been through it an impossible number of times. Each time an "iteration." Each iteration has had a minuscule change, the culmination of these changes leading to the iteration we are watching. Somehow I think this is because Ben is flashing into his past, like Desmond after he left the island, but controlling it and reliving his whole life, childhood on, again. "He doesn't talk much" before the island, and he says he's lived his whole life on the island, not many people can say that. Maybe what he means is that the part of his life that he has relived so many times is entirely on-island. At some time Locke may have begun doing the same thing, hence the smoke monster drawings as a child. Hence the quick affinity with the island. Hence the pre-packing of knives. Desmond, and maybe some others, are new to this, he has only been through a few iterations, he doesn't remember yet that he's done this before and his on-island "flashes" are him remembering previous iterations, the few minuscule changes he had directed. When Desmond had a flash of Claire getting on a helicopter, that was a flash of a previous iteration which "went wrong," maybe the reason Ben and Locke were so insistent that the Oceanic 6 shouldn't leave.
What is Ben trying to accomplish by doing this over and over? Hopefully something big, saving the world, brotha. Presumably changing the Valenzetti equation in a way that prevents the end of human life, or something of such magnitude. Recently he's taken to thinking it has something to do with childbirth on the island. Recently he brought Juliette to the island due to this fixation. Who has been brought to the island for previous fixations? Maybe flight 815, and maybe all the Others. Cyndi, Tom, Bea Clugh. They all had a previous purpose, were all brought by a minuscule change during some iteration, and maybe some of them were initiated into the re-living your whole life thing, which led to interesting, pre-cognizant off-island lives, but they have to end up on the island every time.
Ben is bringing people for his purpose, but where did he learn it from, Who taught him? Charles Widmore. Widmore has been doing it for a long time, maybe longer than Ben. And he's working his own people in that direction. I think Desmond is his most recent attack on Ben. Desmond's picture being on the freighter was crucial to Desmond saving Charlie long enough to bring Widmore's freighter. Henry Gale in his Widmore balloon has a story very similar to Desmond's, both traveling around the world with a Widmore connection. Which means Libby worked for Widmore, getting Desmond there, so does that mean Hurley is there because Widmore (Libby in Santa Rosa) wants him there, not Ben? It is a story of time-loops, but also a story of chess between two players we've seen with the possibility of more behind the curtain.
So what is Widmore's motive? I believe Ben is one of the "good guys," and if he is a good guy Widmore must be the "Bad guy." Maybe Widmore wants to push the end of humanity because he is tired of the time-loop, and the only way he feels he can get around it is by ending human life. Maybe Jacob is what you become when you've reached a point where you can no longer make a difference. Or if you mess things up enough that you don't come back to the island and learn how to begin re-iterating your life.
So what does this give us for an end? Why is this the iteration that is worth watching a hundred hours of? "You changed the rules." My theory is that this particular iteration is the one in which Ben dies. The "minuscule" change is the premature death of Benjamin Linus, and someone new needs to pick up the ropes, or Widmore wins and humanity ends. Who is out to save the world? Jack Shepard. Somehow, Ben will convince Jack to begin the long arduous trail of re-iteration, re-iteration, re-iteration.... and final scene will mimic the first opening scene, Jack's eye opens and he is laying on his back in the jungle....
A few points that haven't been tied off... Christian has also been one of these people re-living his life, recruited by Ben, to manipulate his son onto the plane. The smoke monster is the evil that will be unleashed on the world, maybe, or it's just a security system... Yemi's plane might have been sent by Widmore, with Eko on it, re manipulated by Ben to keep Eko off it, the reworked by Widmore (we saw Libby pre-flight with Eko, also) to get Eko on 815, which was a sure shot because it had people Ben needed. Maybe Jack re-iterating is why he was so intent on saving Boone, he felt Boone's life would be the necessary change... Ben's fixation on childbirth? Maybe Ben is trying to breed someone “special.” A birth involving two people that already know how to re-live their lives. Hence Juliette noting that the woman's womb in Alpert's pictures looked older than the person.
Darlton says in the end we'll know they knew what they were doing in the pilot. Returning to it in this fashion would prove it, as would the French woman's broadcast (“iteration 17294535.”) This theory fits into a lot of what we know, but please, shoot holes in it none the less. I may have put a lot of thought into it, but I personally don't really like it, and recent season 5 spoilers look to debunk it entirely. Hurrah!
Theory by PopeJPMcD
We all know the end is near, and the speculation has caused an eruption of theories about how our favorite show will fade out. I too have a theory, so why not throw it out there? I'll preface this theory by saying, I'm probably wrong, I hope I'm wrong. It's not an original theory, it is an extension, a defense of the time-loop theory. I personally hope the writers have something more original in mind, that's why they make the big money.
Everything is cyclical. Ben knows what is going to happen because he has been through it an impossible number of times. Each time an "iteration." Each iteration has had a minuscule change, the culmination of these changes leading to the iteration we are watching. Somehow I think this is because Ben is flashing into his past, like Desmond after he left the island, but controlling it and reliving his whole life, childhood on, again. "He doesn't talk much" before the island, and he says he's lived his whole life on the island, not many people can say that. Maybe what he means is that the part of his life that he has relived so many times is entirely on-island. At some time Locke may have begun doing the same thing, hence the smoke monster drawings as a child. Hence the quick affinity with the island. Hence the pre-packing of knives. Desmond, and maybe some others, are new to this, he has only been through a few iterations, he doesn't remember yet that he's done this before and his on-island "flashes" are him remembering previous iterations, the few minuscule changes he had directed. When Desmond had a flash of Claire getting on a helicopter, that was a flash of a previous iteration which "went wrong," maybe the reason Ben and Locke were so insistent that the Oceanic 6 shouldn't leave.
What is Ben trying to accomplish by doing this over and over? Hopefully something big, saving the world, brotha. Presumably changing the Valenzetti equation in a way that prevents the end of human life, or something of such magnitude. Recently he's taken to thinking it has something to do with childbirth on the island. Recently he brought Juliette to the island due to this fixation. Who has been brought to the island for previous fixations? Maybe flight 815, and maybe all the Others. Cyndi, Tom, Bea Clugh. They all had a previous purpose, were all brought by a minuscule change during some iteration, and maybe some of them were initiated into the re-living your whole life thing, which led to interesting, pre-cognizant off-island lives, but they have to end up on the island every time.
Ben is bringing people for his purpose, but where did he learn it from, Who taught him? Charles Widmore. Widmore has been doing it for a long time, maybe longer than Ben. And he's working his own people in that direction. I think Desmond is his most recent attack on Ben. Desmond's picture being on the freighter was crucial to Desmond saving Charlie long enough to bring Widmore's freighter. Henry Gale in his Widmore balloon has a story very similar to Desmond's, both traveling around the world with a Widmore connection. Which means Libby worked for Widmore, getting Desmond there, so does that mean Hurley is there because Widmore (Libby in Santa Rosa) wants him there, not Ben? It is a story of time-loops, but also a story of chess between two players we've seen with the possibility of more behind the curtain.
So what is Widmore's motive? I believe Ben is one of the "good guys," and if he is a good guy Widmore must be the "Bad guy." Maybe Widmore wants to push the end of humanity because he is tired of the time-loop, and the only way he feels he can get around it is by ending human life. Maybe Jacob is what you become when you've reached a point where you can no longer make a difference. Or if you mess things up enough that you don't come back to the island and learn how to begin re-iterating your life.
So what does this give us for an end? Why is this the iteration that is worth watching a hundred hours of? "You changed the rules." My theory is that this particular iteration is the one in which Ben dies. The "minuscule" change is the premature death of Benjamin Linus, and someone new needs to pick up the ropes, or Widmore wins and humanity ends. Who is out to save the world? Jack Shepard. Somehow, Ben will convince Jack to begin the long arduous trail of re-iteration, re-iteration, re-iteration.... and final scene will mimic the first opening scene, Jack's eye opens and he is laying on his back in the jungle....
A few points that haven't been tied off... Christian has also been one of these people re-living his life, recruited by Ben, to manipulate his son onto the plane. The smoke monster is the evil that will be unleashed on the world, maybe, or it's just a security system... Yemi's plane might have been sent by Widmore, with Eko on it, re manipulated by Ben to keep Eko off it, the reworked by Widmore (we saw Libby pre-flight with Eko, also) to get Eko on 815, which was a sure shot because it had people Ben needed. Maybe Jack re-iterating is why he was so intent on saving Boone, he felt Boone's life would be the necessary change... Ben's fixation on childbirth? Maybe Ben is trying to breed someone “special.” A birth involving two people that already know how to re-live their lives. Hence Juliette noting that the woman's womb in Alpert's pictures looked older than the person.
Darlton says in the end we'll know they knew what they were doing in the pilot. Returning to it in this fashion would prove it, as would the French woman's broadcast (“iteration 17294535.”) This theory fits into a lot of what we know, but please, shoot holes in it none the less. I may have put a lot of thought into it, but I personally don't really like it, and recent season 5 spoilers look to debunk it entirely. Hurrah!
Theory by PopeJPMcD
