Alright, so I feel the need to re-establish that there is no alternate timeline here. I hate to beat a dead (not Kate's) horse, but there are some people out there who will not let this alternate timeline thing go because they want to be the one's who "called it". They clearly ignore how flawed the theory is and I want to put in writing what we are all thinking.
The main argument for the alternate timeline theory rests on the look of the barracks as seen in Namaste by Sun and Frank. People have stated that this means it is a timeline where the others had never taken over the barracks, perhaps because they "lost the war" or because Ben never became their leader.
If this were the case, wouldn't this have affected EVERYTHING we have seen thus far in the series?
Wouldn't that mean that the others never took control of the sub or any of the stations? The others never would have had the knowledge of the people on the plane, never would have brought Juliet to the island, never would have blocked the signals via the looking glass, Ben never would have caused Locke to lose faith in the swan leading it to not blowing up, Locke may have never even found the swan if he didn't have to search for Claire and Charlie who wouldn't have been taken in this alternate timeline, Michael wouldn't have killed Libbey and Ana-Lucia to rescue a non-existent Ben, Michael and Walt wouldn't have left.
Wouldn't all of this have changed the circumstances for our losties, thus eliminating them from even going back to 1974 to begin with? Logic tells us that this "alternate timeline" couldn't possibly exist because the causes for it would eliminate themselves from existing to create the "alternate timeline"
See where i'm going with this?
The argument against this would be that "it's not an actual timeline that our losties have experienced, it's merely a glimpse at what could be." I'll accept that. It's possible that Christian Shepherd decided to "scare" two people who have never seen the barracks before by showing them "what could have been" without them ever knowing what had actually been.
It's very unlikely that the writers have thrown in another huge mystery like the "alternate timeline" just so they would have to explain it within a season and a half along with: the smoke monster, the statue, the donkey wheel, the apparitions, the whispers, the black rock, jacob, Adam and Eve, what happened to Rose, Bernard and Vincent, the entire 316 storyline, Aaron, Claire, and the "magic box" just to name a few. But then again, maybe they've thrown in this "alternate timeline" in which none of these things have ever existed, so that they don't have to explain them. Not a bad idea.
Another argument for the alternate timeline would be that the runway in Namaste did not have any buildings and wasn't long enough. Truth is, when Sawyer and Kate were working on the runway, it had A building. And it was a pretty makeshift building at that, i mean strong winds could have taken that building down. And considering that work on the runway was cut short by a visit from the freighter folk, i'm guessing they didn't make it quite as long as they had planned.
But the numbers were playing when the co-pilot tried to mayday! That's right, in Pierre Chang's voice BTW. Remember when they had to shut off Rousseau's message at the radio tower? It's more than likely that the numbers continued on. It's never been made clear whether or not Rousseau actually recorded over the numbers or merely recorded her own message and placed it on a loop.
See, I am with the old school and still firmly believe that the building is merely one we have never seen before Namaste. No it is not the same building that Juliet tossed Kate in. That, had a pool table and was the Rec Center. This building did not have a pool table and was the Processing Center. This is a building that was under attack by mercenaries, a visit from a freight train named "smokey", 3 years without Ethan to fix the plumbing and any other odd jobs he performed, as well as 3 years of tropical storms. Plus, we have no idea what happened on the island for the 3 years between when the time jumps started and when 316 arrived.
So what are we seeing, you ask? We are seeing what has always been and always will be. Ben has always known that the Losties ended up in 1977. But why was he so suprised that Jin was alive? Because Ben is excellent at lying and what was he supposed to say, "I know John, I remember him from my childhood in the Dharma Initiative that's how I know that Jack, Kate, Hugo, and Sayid will return as well"?
My guess is that Ben didn't know exactly how everything was going to play out. He knew they were all in the Dharma Initiative, which is why he could never let Juliet leave. He believed that they weren't supposed to leave only because they were supposed to be on the island to join the DI in the past.
What he didn't know is that it played out exactly how it was supposed to.
They all had to get off for various things to happen. Frank got off so that he could fly them back to the Island. Kate and Jack got off to raise Aaron and leave him so that he could return later. Sun left so she would live and have Ji Yeon. Desmond left to be with Penny and have Charlie. Sayid left to eliminate the island's enemies, and Hurley had to leave so that he would buy most of the seats on the plan to protect as many people as possible.
The worry that Ben and Ms. Hawking had was that if not everyone went back, it would ruin history and destroy time and space. "God Help Us All." But they did not need to worry. As Daniel has always said...everyone say it with me now..."whatever happened, happened."
It's clear to me now that all of the past elements that we have been hearing about (The incident, the purge, the swan protocol, etc.) have always been caused by or due to our losties being in the Dharma Initiative.
That, however, will have to wait until next time, as I'm sure your eyes are bleeding by now.
Thanks for reading, again. Theory by dardo grimlee
The main argument for the alternate timeline theory rests on the look of the barracks as seen in Namaste by Sun and Frank. People have stated that this means it is a timeline where the others had never taken over the barracks, perhaps because they "lost the war" or because Ben never became their leader.
If this were the case, wouldn't this have affected EVERYTHING we have seen thus far in the series?
Wouldn't that mean that the others never took control of the sub or any of the stations? The others never would have had the knowledge of the people on the plane, never would have brought Juliet to the island, never would have blocked the signals via the looking glass, Ben never would have caused Locke to lose faith in the swan leading it to not blowing up, Locke may have never even found the swan if he didn't have to search for Claire and Charlie who wouldn't have been taken in this alternate timeline, Michael wouldn't have killed Libbey and Ana-Lucia to rescue a non-existent Ben, Michael and Walt wouldn't have left.
Wouldn't all of this have changed the circumstances for our losties, thus eliminating them from even going back to 1974 to begin with? Logic tells us that this "alternate timeline" couldn't possibly exist because the causes for it would eliminate themselves from existing to create the "alternate timeline"
See where i'm going with this?
The argument against this would be that "it's not an actual timeline that our losties have experienced, it's merely a glimpse at what could be." I'll accept that. It's possible that Christian Shepherd decided to "scare" two people who have never seen the barracks before by showing them "what could have been" without them ever knowing what had actually been.
It's very unlikely that the writers have thrown in another huge mystery like the "alternate timeline" just so they would have to explain it within a season and a half along with: the smoke monster, the statue, the donkey wheel, the apparitions, the whispers, the black rock, jacob, Adam and Eve, what happened to Rose, Bernard and Vincent, the entire 316 storyline, Aaron, Claire, and the "magic box" just to name a few. But then again, maybe they've thrown in this "alternate timeline" in which none of these things have ever existed, so that they don't have to explain them. Not a bad idea.
Another argument for the alternate timeline would be that the runway in Namaste did not have any buildings and wasn't long enough. Truth is, when Sawyer and Kate were working on the runway, it had A building. And it was a pretty makeshift building at that, i mean strong winds could have taken that building down. And considering that work on the runway was cut short by a visit from the freighter folk, i'm guessing they didn't make it quite as long as they had planned.
But the numbers were playing when the co-pilot tried to mayday! That's right, in Pierre Chang's voice BTW. Remember when they had to shut off Rousseau's message at the radio tower? It's more than likely that the numbers continued on. It's never been made clear whether or not Rousseau actually recorded over the numbers or merely recorded her own message and placed it on a loop.
See, I am with the old school and still firmly believe that the building is merely one we have never seen before Namaste. No it is not the same building that Juliet tossed Kate in. That, had a pool table and was the Rec Center. This building did not have a pool table and was the Processing Center. This is a building that was under attack by mercenaries, a visit from a freight train named "smokey", 3 years without Ethan to fix the plumbing and any other odd jobs he performed, as well as 3 years of tropical storms. Plus, we have no idea what happened on the island for the 3 years between when the time jumps started and when 316 arrived.
So what are we seeing, you ask? We are seeing what has always been and always will be. Ben has always known that the Losties ended up in 1977. But why was he so suprised that Jin was alive? Because Ben is excellent at lying and what was he supposed to say, "I know John, I remember him from my childhood in the Dharma Initiative that's how I know that Jack, Kate, Hugo, and Sayid will return as well"?
My guess is that Ben didn't know exactly how everything was going to play out. He knew they were all in the Dharma Initiative, which is why he could never let Juliet leave. He believed that they weren't supposed to leave only because they were supposed to be on the island to join the DI in the past.
What he didn't know is that it played out exactly how it was supposed to.
They all had to get off for various things to happen. Frank got off so that he could fly them back to the Island. Kate and Jack got off to raise Aaron and leave him so that he could return later. Sun left so she would live and have Ji Yeon. Desmond left to be with Penny and have Charlie. Sayid left to eliminate the island's enemies, and Hurley had to leave so that he would buy most of the seats on the plan to protect as many people as possible.
The worry that Ben and Ms. Hawking had was that if not everyone went back, it would ruin history and destroy time and space. "God Help Us All." But they did not need to worry. As Daniel has always said...everyone say it with me now..."whatever happened, happened."
It's clear to me now that all of the past elements that we have been hearing about (The incident, the purge, the swan protocol, etc.) have always been caused by or due to our losties being in the Dharma Initiative.
That, however, will have to wait until next time, as I'm sure your eyes are bleeding by now.
Thanks for reading, again. Theory by dardo grimlee
