This theory should, hopefully, explain the basics of what is going on in Lost. It includes the purpose of the main characters, what the smoke monster does, and what role time traveling plays in the series. It frequently references the film Donnie Darko, which shares a lot of connections to the series.
I: Donnie Darko Explains Lost:
The movie Donnie Darko can be used to explain a lot of what is going on in LOST. Read “The Philosophy of Time Travel,” a short “book” found on the internet, for more information. It was written in accordance with Donnie Darko to explain the movie. It also goes hand in hand with Lost.
1:The Philosophy Of Time Travel talks about The “Living Receiver,” (basically the main important character, or characters, as is probably the case with Lost) the “manipulated dead,” (those who die during the specific timeline, who can appear to the Living Receiver(s)) and the “manipulated living,” (those alive who assist the living receiver)
2:Basically, the movie and the book explain that when a tangent universe touches our own, the Living Receiver will have only a short amount of time to stop a black hole from being created, swallowing both universes. Those who die after the tangent universe is created are able to move willfully through the fourth dimension to get the Living Receiver to save the universes.
3:Following are excerpts from the “book.” – I suggest reading the entire thing and watching the movie. The book is really only a couple pages long. It isn’t long at all. It basically just explains the movie.
4: “When the Manipulated awaken from their Journey into the Tangent Universe, they are often haunted by the experience in their dreams. Many of them will not remember. Those who do remember the journey are often overcome with profound remorse for the regretful actions buried within their dreams, the only physical evidence buried within the artifact itself; all that remains from the lost world.” – This is why Faraday was crying. He’s been in the loop before. He had some subconscious memory of Charlotte dying.
5: “WATER AND METAL - Water and Metal are the key elements of Time Travel. Water is the barrier element for the construction of Time Portals used as gateways between universes at the Tangent Vortex. Metal is the transitional element for the construction of Artifact Vessels.” – The two different planes v. the ocean. It seemed the only way to get to the island, following the Incident was to use a plane, which would have seemed to have come out of nowhere.
6: “THE LIVING RECEIVER The Living Receiver is chosen to guide the Artifact into position for its journey back to the Primary Universe. No one knows how or why a receiver will be chosen. The Living Receiver is often blessed with Fourth Dimensional Powers. These include increased strength, telekinesis, mind control, and the ability to conjure fire and water. The Living Receiver is often tormented by terrifying dreams, visions and auditory hallucinations during his time within the Tangent Universe. Those surrounding the Living Receiver, known as the Manipulated, will fear him and try to destroy him.” – There might be many living receivers in Lost, or there might be just one. What Lost’s version of the Living Receiver does is unclear, but it goes along with the visions and powers some characters possess.
7: “THE MANIPULATED DEAD The Manipulated Dead are more powerful than the Living Receiver. If a person dies within the Tangent Universe, they are able to contact the Living Receiver through the Fourth Dimensional Construct.” – these are people who die on the island yet somehow still are able to communicate with those still alive. That is why dead people keep appearing. They are able to move willfully through the fourth dimension, possibly also through course correction, to get everyone to where they need to be. The universe is manipulating them to correct itself.
8: ‘When a Tangent Universe occurs, those living nearest to the Vortex find themselves at the epicenter of a dangerous new world.’ **This being the Tangent Universe** - The island might possibly be a point of tangency between our universe and another. The exotic matter under it somehow makes it a choice point of tangency.
9: ‘Artifacts provide the first sign that a Tangent Universe has occurred. If an Artifact occurs, the Living – (aka the others) - will retrieve it with great interest and curiosity... Artifacts are formed from metal’. **Such as a jet engine in Donnie Darko** (or an entire plane in Lost. This reflects the opening scene in season 3.
10: The Living Receiver is often blessed with Fourth Dimensional Powers. These include increased strength, telekinesis, mind control, and the ability to conjure fire and water. - any of these things sound familiar? It would be interesting if Walt turned out to be the actual Living Receiver. It would explain why the Others wanted him so badly. But even if this theory is correct, it is currently impossible to see who the actual Living Receiver will be.
http://giama.files.wordpress.com/2008/02/the-philosophy-of-time-travel.pdf
II: Now Back To Lost:
Now, here is my theory on Lost in a nut shell. In my theory, there are a few major types of people in the show: the pawns, the leaders, the agents of the Universe, and the Specials. I believe that the powers of the island were kept moderately under control until the Dharma Initiative came along. As most people know, the goal of the Dharma Initiative was to change one of the core numbers of the Valenzetti Equation, an equation meant to determine the end of existence. I believe that the “Incident” that occurred, happened because the DI was somehow able to change one of the numbers in the sequence. Now, the Universe can’t allow this to happen, so it has to correct itself. That is the reason why all the bad things happened to Ben. The Universe ends up using Ben to put an end to the Dharma Initiative so that their meddling will stop. The Universe then uses course correction to bring all the events of the series into action.
Now, after the events of the Incident, the island never went back to normal. Since then, it has always been slightly unstable, which is why the button in the hatch always had to be pushed. (The failsafe was a last resort, as the DI couldn’t be sure exactly what would result from it.) So the Universe brings the members of Oceanic Flight 815 to the island and set the events of the series in motion. The ultimate goal of these people is correct the mistake made by the Dharma Initiative and bring the island (the point of tangency) back to stability. Now, the universe always has someone leading the island. This person is never Richard, but at some point, has been Ben, Charles, and Locke. These men are leaders of the island; people specifically called by the Universe to lead the island and correct the timeline. The climax of the series will be the war over who will lead the island. But that will only be part of it all. That war was set up by the Universe as just one wa! y to bring stability back to the island and the universe itself. Now, the theory is continued in the characters of Lost…
III: The Characters of Lost:
The Donnie Darko Theory is connected to the rest of this in some ways. But they are really two separate theories with a few connections. The Donnie Darko theory is only meant to back this one up. Returning to Lost, I think every character in the show can be placed under one of a few different categories.
1: The Pawns: (The Others, the Freighter Folk, Sawyer, Kate, Danielle, pretty much everyone…) The majority of the people in the series can be placed under this category. They are basically like the Manipulated Living from Donnie Darko. The pawns are the people that only have minor purposes in the ultimate goal of the universe. They are moved around and manipulated by everyone else to get to their goals.)
2: The Leaders: (Locke, Ben and Widmore) – These people don’t have EXACT connections to Donnie Darko, although they could possibly be Lost’s version of the Living Receiver, but I doubt that. Anyway, these people are the only people in the series that are really drawn to the island; that really love it. This is because they are specifically chosen by the Universe to lead the island and bring stability back to the timeline. The island always needs a leader, and the Universe picks one to fix the problem created by the Dharma Initiative.
3: The Agents of the Universe: (Richard, Mrs. Hawking, Abaddon, Jacob) – I believe these people have the very job that Abaddon described: they help the pawns and the leaders get to where they need to be. They are specifically being used by the Universe to assist in course correction. I believe Jacob’s role will come into play more in the future. But Mrs. Hawking, as we have already seen, helped the Oceanic Six get back to the island, Abaddon helped Locke get to the people he needed to see, and Richard helps get the possible leaders to their positions.
4: The Specials: (Desmond) – Specials are people to whom, as we have seen might be the case with Desmond, the laws of the Universe do not apply. Desmond might be one of the only characters in Lost who might be able to change something from the past. This has been speculated on but has not been proven. I believe Desmond proposes a new threat to the Universe, similarly to the Dharma Initiative, because he might be able to change something.
IV: Miscellaneous stuff and the Smoke Monster:
1: Originally, when I first developed this theory, I thought that the smoke monster might have been a product of the Incident, as I don’t believe we have seen him in the Dharma Initiative age yet. But I don’t believe this to be true. Evidence suggests otherwise. One major piece of evidence is the obvious Egyptian connections to the smoke monster. I believe the smoke monster can be traced way back to the ancient civilization that the series has hinted at.
2: Anyway, I believe that the smoke monster is the Universe’s physical means of course correction. The purpose of the smoke monster is to keep things going the way they are supposed to. For instance, when Locke’s group time traveled in the beginning of this season, Locke saw, from a distance, the point where his former self saw the light shining out of the Hatch. Now, Locke could possibly have run through the jungle to meet his former self, but the Universe would not have allowed that. So if Locke had tried it, he either would have broken his leg and fallen, or the smoke monster would have chased him away. The smoke monster basically fills in the gaps in course correction.
3: For some reason, the smoke monster also has the ability to judge people. Maybe “judging people” is in actuality, determining between who still has a role to play in the Universe and who might try to mess things up.
V: Conclusion:
In conclusion, this is the ultimate reason behind the events of Lost:
1: The Dharma Initiative, through their manipulation of the Valenzetti Equation, caused the Incident, an anomaly in the Universe. The Universe is left to use course correction to fix this problem, so it uses Ben to start the Purge, killing the members of the DI. Now, I firmly believe that “whatever happened, happened.” (At least so far in the series. Desmond might change that, but we’ll see…) So the Oceanic Six have ALWAYS been back in the 70’s. So the Universe uses one of the “Agents” to collect these people together and get them to the plane, so they will ultimately get to the island. Possibly, Eloise Hawking also determined that Flight 815 would fly over the island. Other agents of the Universe, including the man in Australia that Claire visited, manipulated the lives of these people to get them to where they needed to be. (also notice that the same people on the Others’s list from season 2 were people who time traveled back to the Dharma Initia! tive age…) So the Universe employs these different people to correct the course of the timeline. It also uses the smoke monster, whose ancient origin will later be explained, to keep people in line. The Universe is trying to get a proper leader to lead the island and protect the course of the timeline from future problems like the Dharma Initiative. (Could it be that this is why Charles was banished? He failed to stop the Incident and so failed the island and the Universe?) So now a war is brewing between the major leaders who could possibly lead the island. That is what I believe we will see next season: the final major war, and the ultimate end to the problems created by the Incident. It will finally be made clear who the final leader of the island is, how the smoke monster was created, and who will ultimately be the “Living Receiver,” the person who will ultimately save the Universe and correct the timeline for good. Theory by Desmond Hume
I: Donnie Darko Explains Lost:
The movie Donnie Darko can be used to explain a lot of what is going on in LOST. Read “The Philosophy of Time Travel,” a short “book” found on the internet, for more information. It was written in accordance with Donnie Darko to explain the movie. It also goes hand in hand with Lost.
1:The Philosophy Of Time Travel talks about The “Living Receiver,” (basically the main important character, or characters, as is probably the case with Lost) the “manipulated dead,” (those who die during the specific timeline, who can appear to the Living Receiver(s)) and the “manipulated living,” (those alive who assist the living receiver)
2:Basically, the movie and the book explain that when a tangent universe touches our own, the Living Receiver will have only a short amount of time to stop a black hole from being created, swallowing both universes. Those who die after the tangent universe is created are able to move willfully through the fourth dimension to get the Living Receiver to save the universes.
3:Following are excerpts from the “book.” – I suggest reading the entire thing and watching the movie. The book is really only a couple pages long. It isn’t long at all. It basically just explains the movie.
4: “When the Manipulated awaken from their Journey into the Tangent Universe, they are often haunted by the experience in their dreams. Many of them will not remember. Those who do remember the journey are often overcome with profound remorse for the regretful actions buried within their dreams, the only physical evidence buried within the artifact itself; all that remains from the lost world.” – This is why Faraday was crying. He’s been in the loop before. He had some subconscious memory of Charlotte dying.
5: “WATER AND METAL - Water and Metal are the key elements of Time Travel. Water is the barrier element for the construction of Time Portals used as gateways between universes at the Tangent Vortex. Metal is the transitional element for the construction of Artifact Vessels.” – The two different planes v. the ocean. It seemed the only way to get to the island, following the Incident was to use a plane, which would have seemed to have come out of nowhere.
6: “THE LIVING RECEIVER The Living Receiver is chosen to guide the Artifact into position for its journey back to the Primary Universe. No one knows how or why a receiver will be chosen. The Living Receiver is often blessed with Fourth Dimensional Powers. These include increased strength, telekinesis, mind control, and the ability to conjure fire and water. The Living Receiver is often tormented by terrifying dreams, visions and auditory hallucinations during his time within the Tangent Universe. Those surrounding the Living Receiver, known as the Manipulated, will fear him and try to destroy him.” – There might be many living receivers in Lost, or there might be just one. What Lost’s version of the Living Receiver does is unclear, but it goes along with the visions and powers some characters possess.
7: “THE MANIPULATED DEAD The Manipulated Dead are more powerful than the Living Receiver. If a person dies within the Tangent Universe, they are able to contact the Living Receiver through the Fourth Dimensional Construct.” – these are people who die on the island yet somehow still are able to communicate with those still alive. That is why dead people keep appearing. They are able to move willfully through the fourth dimension, possibly also through course correction, to get everyone to where they need to be. The universe is manipulating them to correct itself.
8: ‘When a Tangent Universe occurs, those living nearest to the Vortex find themselves at the epicenter of a dangerous new world.’ **This being the Tangent Universe** - The island might possibly be a point of tangency between our universe and another. The exotic matter under it somehow makes it a choice point of tangency.
9: ‘Artifacts provide the first sign that a Tangent Universe has occurred. If an Artifact occurs, the Living – (aka the others) - will retrieve it with great interest and curiosity... Artifacts are formed from metal’. **Such as a jet engine in Donnie Darko** (or an entire plane in Lost. This reflects the opening scene in season 3.
10: The Living Receiver is often blessed with Fourth Dimensional Powers. These include increased strength, telekinesis, mind control, and the ability to conjure fire and water. - any of these things sound familiar? It would be interesting if Walt turned out to be the actual Living Receiver. It would explain why the Others wanted him so badly. But even if this theory is correct, it is currently impossible to see who the actual Living Receiver will be.
http://giama.files.wordpress.com/2008/02/the-philosophy-of-time-travel.pdf
II: Now Back To Lost:
Now, here is my theory on Lost in a nut shell. In my theory, there are a few major types of people in the show: the pawns, the leaders, the agents of the Universe, and the Specials. I believe that the powers of the island were kept moderately under control until the Dharma Initiative came along. As most people know, the goal of the Dharma Initiative was to change one of the core numbers of the Valenzetti Equation, an equation meant to determine the end of existence. I believe that the “Incident” that occurred, happened because the DI was somehow able to change one of the numbers in the sequence. Now, the Universe can’t allow this to happen, so it has to correct itself. That is the reason why all the bad things happened to Ben. The Universe ends up using Ben to put an end to the Dharma Initiative so that their meddling will stop. The Universe then uses course correction to bring all the events of the series into action.
Now, after the events of the Incident, the island never went back to normal. Since then, it has always been slightly unstable, which is why the button in the hatch always had to be pushed. (The failsafe was a last resort, as the DI couldn’t be sure exactly what would result from it.) So the Universe brings the members of Oceanic Flight 815 to the island and set the events of the series in motion. The ultimate goal of these people is correct the mistake made by the Dharma Initiative and bring the island (the point of tangency) back to stability. Now, the universe always has someone leading the island. This person is never Richard, but at some point, has been Ben, Charles, and Locke. These men are leaders of the island; people specifically called by the Universe to lead the island and correct the timeline. The climax of the series will be the war over who will lead the island. But that will only be part of it all. That war was set up by the Universe as just one wa! y to bring stability back to the island and the universe itself. Now, the theory is continued in the characters of Lost…
III: The Characters of Lost:
The Donnie Darko Theory is connected to the rest of this in some ways. But they are really two separate theories with a few connections. The Donnie Darko theory is only meant to back this one up. Returning to Lost, I think every character in the show can be placed under one of a few different categories.
1: The Pawns: (The Others, the Freighter Folk, Sawyer, Kate, Danielle, pretty much everyone…) The majority of the people in the series can be placed under this category. They are basically like the Manipulated Living from Donnie Darko. The pawns are the people that only have minor purposes in the ultimate goal of the universe. They are moved around and manipulated by everyone else to get to their goals.)
2: The Leaders: (Locke, Ben and Widmore) – These people don’t have EXACT connections to Donnie Darko, although they could possibly be Lost’s version of the Living Receiver, but I doubt that. Anyway, these people are the only people in the series that are really drawn to the island; that really love it. This is because they are specifically chosen by the Universe to lead the island and bring stability back to the timeline. The island always needs a leader, and the Universe picks one to fix the problem created by the Dharma Initiative.
3: The Agents of the Universe: (Richard, Mrs. Hawking, Abaddon, Jacob) – I believe these people have the very job that Abaddon described: they help the pawns and the leaders get to where they need to be. They are specifically being used by the Universe to assist in course correction. I believe Jacob’s role will come into play more in the future. But Mrs. Hawking, as we have already seen, helped the Oceanic Six get back to the island, Abaddon helped Locke get to the people he needed to see, and Richard helps get the possible leaders to their positions.
4: The Specials: (Desmond) – Specials are people to whom, as we have seen might be the case with Desmond, the laws of the Universe do not apply. Desmond might be one of the only characters in Lost who might be able to change something from the past. This has been speculated on but has not been proven. I believe Desmond proposes a new threat to the Universe, similarly to the Dharma Initiative, because he might be able to change something.
IV: Miscellaneous stuff and the Smoke Monster:
1: Originally, when I first developed this theory, I thought that the smoke monster might have been a product of the Incident, as I don’t believe we have seen him in the Dharma Initiative age yet. But I don’t believe this to be true. Evidence suggests otherwise. One major piece of evidence is the obvious Egyptian connections to the smoke monster. I believe the smoke monster can be traced way back to the ancient civilization that the series has hinted at.
2: Anyway, I believe that the smoke monster is the Universe’s physical means of course correction. The purpose of the smoke monster is to keep things going the way they are supposed to. For instance, when Locke’s group time traveled in the beginning of this season, Locke saw, from a distance, the point where his former self saw the light shining out of the Hatch. Now, Locke could possibly have run through the jungle to meet his former self, but the Universe would not have allowed that. So if Locke had tried it, he either would have broken his leg and fallen, or the smoke monster would have chased him away. The smoke monster basically fills in the gaps in course correction.
3: For some reason, the smoke monster also has the ability to judge people. Maybe “judging people” is in actuality, determining between who still has a role to play in the Universe and who might try to mess things up.
V: Conclusion:
In conclusion, this is the ultimate reason behind the events of Lost:
1: The Dharma Initiative, through their manipulation of the Valenzetti Equation, caused the Incident, an anomaly in the Universe. The Universe is left to use course correction to fix this problem, so it uses Ben to start the Purge, killing the members of the DI. Now, I firmly believe that “whatever happened, happened.” (At least so far in the series. Desmond might change that, but we’ll see…) So the Oceanic Six have ALWAYS been back in the 70’s. So the Universe uses one of the “Agents” to collect these people together and get them to the plane, so they will ultimately get to the island. Possibly, Eloise Hawking also determined that Flight 815 would fly over the island. Other agents of the Universe, including the man in Australia that Claire visited, manipulated the lives of these people to get them to where they needed to be. (also notice that the same people on the Others’s list from season 2 were people who time traveled back to the Dharma Initia! tive age…) So the Universe employs these different people to correct the course of the timeline. It also uses the smoke monster, whose ancient origin will later be explained, to keep people in line. The Universe is trying to get a proper leader to lead the island and protect the course of the timeline from future problems like the Dharma Initiative. (Could it be that this is why Charles was banished? He failed to stop the Incident and so failed the island and the Universe?) So now a war is brewing between the major leaders who could possibly lead the island. That is what I believe we will see next season: the final major war, and the ultimate end to the problems created by the Incident. It will finally be made clear who the final leader of the island is, how the smoke monster was created, and who will ultimately be the “Living Receiver,” the person who will ultimately save the Universe and correct the timeline for good. Theory by Desmond Hume
