I believe the Comic-Con video was canon. It will occur in season six.
OK, here we go:
Eloise Hawking has been referred to by TPTB as a "temporal policeman". She wants to maintain the integrity of "whatever happened, happened" by influencing events as the way they happened in her original timeline.
Daniel Faraday signed up for that school of thought because of his mother (for more on this, check out Novikov's self-consistency principle). Once Charlotte died, however, he became determined to figure out how to change things.
Explanation of Constants vs. Variables:
I believe Faraday was correct when he said that people are variables... free will can effect the equations. There is of course a catch: you become a constant in the event of a possible time paradox.
Time paradox:
In "The Variable", Sawyer refers to Faraday as "HG Wells". While this is very humorous, I believe it also presents a clue. In HG Wells "The Time Machine", the protagonist cannot save his fiancee because it would create a time paradox. The paradox is this: if his fiancee didn't die, he wouldn't have a reason to invent time travel, thus negating him from going back in time in the first place. Therefore, every time he goes back in time to save her, she dies again.
I believe LOST is presenting a hybrid-theory of time travel, crossing Novikov's self-consistency principle with the idea of parallel timelines (like Back to the Future).
You cannot change things that represent a possible time paradox... these are the constants. Things that will not create a time paradox can be changed and lead to alternate timelines (variables).
The reason I believe alternate timelines exist is Desmond. Charlie Pace was supposed to die. Desmond's mind became unstuck and he could see into the future. He knew Charlie was going to die, but instead he saved him. Time tried to correct itself by killing Charlie over and over again, and Desmond continued to save him. Everytime he saved him, a new timeline was created. Eventually, Charlie gets to the Looking Glass and sets into motion a series of events leading to the Oceanic Six rescue and everything that has happened since the end of season three.
Charlie was supposed to be dead. The timeline that we are currently in on LOST did not originally happen.
Now going back to what I originally said about the Comic-Con video... I think something will be changed that causes another alternate timeline. So far, LOST has presented everything in the same timeline. From our perspective, whatever happened, happened. I think in Season six, we will begin to see alternate timelines as opposed to flashbacks. The Comic-Con video will be made by Faraday in a timeline where Dr. Chang believes Faraday.
How much will things change? Who are the constants and who are the variables? Can Faraday save Charlotte? Can Ellie prevent herself from shooting her son?
LOST
OK, here we go:
Eloise Hawking has been referred to by TPTB as a "temporal policeman". She wants to maintain the integrity of "whatever happened, happened" by influencing events as the way they happened in her original timeline.
Daniel Faraday signed up for that school of thought because of his mother (for more on this, check out Novikov's self-consistency principle). Once Charlotte died, however, he became determined to figure out how to change things.
Explanation of Constants vs. Variables:
I believe Faraday was correct when he said that people are variables... free will can effect the equations. There is of course a catch: you become a constant in the event of a possible time paradox.
Time paradox:
In "The Variable", Sawyer refers to Faraday as "HG Wells". While this is very humorous, I believe it also presents a clue. In HG Wells "The Time Machine", the protagonist cannot save his fiancee because it would create a time paradox. The paradox is this: if his fiancee didn't die, he wouldn't have a reason to invent time travel, thus negating him from going back in time in the first place. Therefore, every time he goes back in time to save her, she dies again.
I believe LOST is presenting a hybrid-theory of time travel, crossing Novikov's self-consistency principle with the idea of parallel timelines (like Back to the Future).
You cannot change things that represent a possible time paradox... these are the constants. Things that will not create a time paradox can be changed and lead to alternate timelines (variables).
The reason I believe alternate timelines exist is Desmond. Charlie Pace was supposed to die. Desmond's mind became unstuck and he could see into the future. He knew Charlie was going to die, but instead he saved him. Time tried to correct itself by killing Charlie over and over again, and Desmond continued to save him. Everytime he saved him, a new timeline was created. Eventually, Charlie gets to the Looking Glass and sets into motion a series of events leading to the Oceanic Six rescue and everything that has happened since the end of season three.
Charlie was supposed to be dead. The timeline that we are currently in on LOST did not originally happen.
Now going back to what I originally said about the Comic-Con video... I think something will be changed that causes another alternate timeline. So far, LOST has presented everything in the same timeline. From our perspective, whatever happened, happened. I think in Season six, we will begin to see alternate timelines as opposed to flashbacks. The Comic-Con video will be made by Faraday in a timeline where Dr. Chang believes Faraday.
How much will things change? Who are the constants and who are the variables? Can Faraday save Charlotte? Can Ellie prevent herself from shooting her son?
LOST
