Christian Shephard has been present in Lost since the very beginning. We learn very early on that he arrived by coffin on the island, that his body disappeared, and we have now learnt that the apparition that Jack saw in season one of his dead father is a lot more mysterious than other apparitions previously seen. For example, we are yet to see a scene where Jacob is riding bareback upon Kate’s horse. I wouldn’t like to be the man that places the bet on that being the final scene of season six, although part of me really wants to see it.
The writers of Lost have admitted to having very little planned of the overall arc of the show when they started writing for the first season of the show, so perhaps back then Christian’s appearance to his son was going to be explained in the same vain of most of the apparitions. We do learn (or at least we believe that we do) that the smoke monster is able to appear in the form of other things, or beings, such as Yemi. I am not going to write off that the smoke monster isn’t Christian, because there are some good arguments for it. One main point is that at the end of season one, the smoke monster grabs Locke and tries to drag him down a Cerberus Vent. We do not know the smoke monster’s intentions of course, but it could be argued that Locke would have been killed down there, or at least that Locke would then have become a pawn of the smoke monster (like the French crew seem to become having gone down the hole). I say that Smokey’s bad intentions are like that of Chr! istians because Christian ultimately is the one that tells Locke to leave the island.
I would like to quickly refer you to a previous piece of mine, it highlights why I believe Christian is an evil character and in nature, and that the Island itself is a good one:
http://theoriesonlost.blogspot.com/2009/02/compass-two-stones-by-barnie-abraham.html#comments
(I wrote it under a different name)
One major point that came up from the comments on that piece is that it is not only Christian that says Locke has to die, but Richard Alpert also. We have, by all accounts, assumed that Richard is a ‘good guy’, and I see very little reason to disagree with this. However, TPTB know how to throw the best of curve-balls at us, I think that the biggest shock we could be given later in the season, or even in season six would be that Alpert is one of the ‘bad guys’. One explanation given as to why Alpert told Locke to leave could just be that the time that Alpert finds Locke is one after the whole island has been ‘put to rights’. A nice touch for season six, near the end, would be for Alpert to tell Locke (after all is well again) that he has to go and find Locke now and tell him that he’s going to have to die, for the reason that Alpert then knows that everything is going to work out just fine.
I feel I have detracted away from where I originally started from. Christian Shephard is a bad being. Jacob has been the leader of the Others it seems for a very long time, yet when Locke goes to Jacob’s Cabin to find him, he just isn’t there. Instead we have Christian who has brought Claire along for the ride. At no point does Locke tell Ben that it is Christian, not Jacob, that told him to move the island. Ben doesn’t question this odd move (what does moving the island actually accomplish in the end? If the island is constantly moving, as Eloise Hawking says it is, then why the need to dislodge the island completely from time and space?), no doubt because Ben has blindly not questioned Jacob ever, even to the point where he has had to kill lots of his people. Again, I said this in my last piece, if Locke had told Ben that it was Christian who told him then I am positive his reaction would have been different.
Locke is what the Island needs, and the Island seems to speak through Jacob. When Locke hears Jacob say ‘help me’ in ‘The Man Behind the Curtain’, we take it that Jacob is honestly seeking Locke for help. It makes no sense to then get rid of Locke, if this is Jacob’s bidding. Ben knows Locke is important, when Ben was told that Locke was to turn the Donkey Wheel, Ben assumed that Jacob wanted him to do it, as he knows that Locke is extremely important to the island. The wheel then falls off its axis… which by all accounts was an odd move. It accounted for the island skipping through time nicely, it seemed. Again, I would not be surprised if Christian had some role in this, he knocks it off its axis, knowing Locke will come to the rescue and give it a final push.
Christian doesn’t help Locke up when he falls to the bottom of the well, and many believe that it is because he physically cannot, because he is a spirit. However, when we see Locke back on the island in ‘The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham’, he has no problem eating, wearing a cloak someone has given him, just as well as any living, able bodied person. It seems Christian’s manipulation of Locke can only be at a distance, physically helping him seems beyond him completely. Infant, at first it seemed that Christian couldn’t help Locke because he was a spirit, but after ‘TLADOJB’, the look on Christian’s face in ‘This Place of Death’ seems to mirror that of disgust.
Christian is alive on the island, up to no good at all, and really messing with the losties and the Others. I cannot possibly see him as a good force. Ben seems unaware of his existence, and I believe that the whole Ben vs Widmore feud is completely different to the one between Jacob vs Christian. The Ben vs Widmore feud I believe will be the highlight of this season, but next season we will hopefully learn more about the mythology of the island (as promised by TPTB), and with it the true nature of Jacob & Christian.
One final note. When Locke does push the wheel, Christian is smiling more than I’ve seen in a long while. And the quip about his son seems to me to indicate that Christian is glad that Jack is off the island too, for his own personal gain.
Quick Summary – Christian is bad news. Season 5/6 (most likely 6) is going to involve getting rid of him. Theory by Lewton Wicks
The writers of Lost have admitted to having very little planned of the overall arc of the show when they started writing for the first season of the show, so perhaps back then Christian’s appearance to his son was going to be explained in the same vain of most of the apparitions. We do learn (or at least we believe that we do) that the smoke monster is able to appear in the form of other things, or beings, such as Yemi. I am not going to write off that the smoke monster isn’t Christian, because there are some good arguments for it. One main point is that at the end of season one, the smoke monster grabs Locke and tries to drag him down a Cerberus Vent. We do not know the smoke monster’s intentions of course, but it could be argued that Locke would have been killed down there, or at least that Locke would then have become a pawn of the smoke monster (like the French crew seem to become having gone down the hole). I say that Smokey’s bad intentions are like that of Chr! istians because Christian ultimately is the one that tells Locke to leave the island.
I would like to quickly refer you to a previous piece of mine, it highlights why I believe Christian is an evil character and in nature, and that the Island itself is a good one:
http://theoriesonlost.blogspot.com/2009/02/compass-two-stones-by-barnie-abraham.html#comments
(I wrote it under a different name)
One major point that came up from the comments on that piece is that it is not only Christian that says Locke has to die, but Richard Alpert also. We have, by all accounts, assumed that Richard is a ‘good guy’, and I see very little reason to disagree with this. However, TPTB know how to throw the best of curve-balls at us, I think that the biggest shock we could be given later in the season, or even in season six would be that Alpert is one of the ‘bad guys’. One explanation given as to why Alpert told Locke to leave could just be that the time that Alpert finds Locke is one after the whole island has been ‘put to rights’. A nice touch for season six, near the end, would be for Alpert to tell Locke (after all is well again) that he has to go and find Locke now and tell him that he’s going to have to die, for the reason that Alpert then knows that everything is going to work out just fine.
I feel I have detracted away from where I originally started from. Christian Shephard is a bad being. Jacob has been the leader of the Others it seems for a very long time, yet when Locke goes to Jacob’s Cabin to find him, he just isn’t there. Instead we have Christian who has brought Claire along for the ride. At no point does Locke tell Ben that it is Christian, not Jacob, that told him to move the island. Ben doesn’t question this odd move (what does moving the island actually accomplish in the end? If the island is constantly moving, as Eloise Hawking says it is, then why the need to dislodge the island completely from time and space?), no doubt because Ben has blindly not questioned Jacob ever, even to the point where he has had to kill lots of his people. Again, I said this in my last piece, if Locke had told Ben that it was Christian who told him then I am positive his reaction would have been different.
Locke is what the Island needs, and the Island seems to speak through Jacob. When Locke hears Jacob say ‘help me’ in ‘The Man Behind the Curtain’, we take it that Jacob is honestly seeking Locke for help. It makes no sense to then get rid of Locke, if this is Jacob’s bidding. Ben knows Locke is important, when Ben was told that Locke was to turn the Donkey Wheel, Ben assumed that Jacob wanted him to do it, as he knows that Locke is extremely important to the island. The wheel then falls off its axis… which by all accounts was an odd move. It accounted for the island skipping through time nicely, it seemed. Again, I would not be surprised if Christian had some role in this, he knocks it off its axis, knowing Locke will come to the rescue and give it a final push.
Christian doesn’t help Locke up when he falls to the bottom of the well, and many believe that it is because he physically cannot, because he is a spirit. However, when we see Locke back on the island in ‘The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham’, he has no problem eating, wearing a cloak someone has given him, just as well as any living, able bodied person. It seems Christian’s manipulation of Locke can only be at a distance, physically helping him seems beyond him completely. Infant, at first it seemed that Christian couldn’t help Locke because he was a spirit, but after ‘TLADOJB’, the look on Christian’s face in ‘This Place of Death’ seems to mirror that of disgust.
Christian is alive on the island, up to no good at all, and really messing with the losties and the Others. I cannot possibly see him as a good force. Ben seems unaware of his existence, and I believe that the whole Ben vs Widmore feud is completely different to the one between Jacob vs Christian. The Ben vs Widmore feud I believe will be the highlight of this season, but next season we will hopefully learn more about the mythology of the island (as promised by TPTB), and with it the true nature of Jacob & Christian.
One final note. When Locke does push the wheel, Christian is smiling more than I’ve seen in a long while. And the quip about his son seems to me to indicate that Christian is glad that Jack is off the island too, for his own personal gain.
Quick Summary – Christian is bad news. Season 5/6 (most likely 6) is going to involve getting rid of him. Theory by Lewton Wicks
