This theory is just a framework and won't/can't answer all questions, just possibly try to grasp at the overall skeleton of the show as a whole. Along the lines of what the writers may have once pitched to the network execs when they were trying to get them to pick up the show.
For the entire series we've been witnessing what I'll call the home stretch leading up to the end of humanity, or at least this iteration of humanity. As Jacob said "It only ends once, anything that happens before that is just progress". That made me think of the Dark Tower and also of Charlie and Desmond.
Charlie was meant to die, that was always inevitable. What clearly wasn't set in stone was when. I think the Desmond and Charlie loop hints at the overall storyline for the entire show. The end is coming, it can't be prevented, but each time the loop is repeated it has the potential to play out differently and the loop is delayed a little longer, a new generation is born, more time is bought, and then the inevitable happens, and it starts all over again at the beginning, the clock resets. But something new has been added that wasn't there the last time around.
Enter the Losties. I think this is the first time they have been through this. They are a new addition to the loop, the "new generation" that was able to survive because of things the last loop players did or didn't do (Widmore, Ellie, Black Rock people, etc). They can't stop the inevitable, but perhaps they can delay it. Long enough to live out their lives, perhaps give birth to the generation that next time around will extend things a little further. This is how humanity progresses, a series of small rocks thrown in the path of a raging river.
So what does this mean for the Losties? Well we know humanity wasn't meant to end in 1977 during the incident, so at this time it's not clear that they've changed anything. But I believe they have. I also believe that they made a change that still supports What Happened, Happened (WHH). Sounds like a contradiction, but here's how I think it can work. The consequences of the bomb going off will not be made apparent until we are caught up with present time (2007). If you were an independent observer on the island from 1977 – 2007, you would notice no difference between the last iteration of the time period, and the current one. Planes would still crash, Dharma would still be purged, Jack, Sawyer, Kate, and Hurley would still be kidnapped by a man named Benjamin Linus. Not until 2007 (or shortly after) when the future is being lived for the very first time, would you notice a difference. And that difference is the fact that a slice of the future that did not exist th! e last time around, now does. And the fact that that future is unwritten means that free will can prevail, if only for the first time around. Inevitably something will happen again to bring about the end of humanity, but for our Losties, hopefully it will not happen in their lifetime. They (along with the rest of humanity) have been given the gift of time, of a future that didn't exist before. Whether on or off the island, they will have the chance to live out lives that are completely of their own making.
So that's basically it. We still have plenty of unanswered questions like what the Island is, how long it's been around, who Jacob and The Man in Black are, Desmond's conscience traveling abilities, who created the frozen donkey wheel, and why did Jacob make Richard ageless. While the answers to those questions would be very satisfying, they aren't necessary to explain the overall plot.
Please feel free to bash away at the theory and tell me why I'm completely wrong. To me the reason this show has been unlike any other, is because of all the theorizing and speculating that takes place. The show doesn't just give us 60 minutes of entertainment every week, it provides endless hours of searching Wikipedia, reading blogs and recaps, analyzing backwards audio tracks, and super imposed images of something that might be Claire or just an extra in the wrong spot at the wrong time!
For the entire series we've been witnessing what I'll call the home stretch leading up to the end of humanity, or at least this iteration of humanity. As Jacob said "It only ends once, anything that happens before that is just progress". That made me think of the Dark Tower and also of Charlie and Desmond.
Charlie was meant to die, that was always inevitable. What clearly wasn't set in stone was when. I think the Desmond and Charlie loop hints at the overall storyline for the entire show. The end is coming, it can't be prevented, but each time the loop is repeated it has the potential to play out differently and the loop is delayed a little longer, a new generation is born, more time is bought, and then the inevitable happens, and it starts all over again at the beginning, the clock resets. But something new has been added that wasn't there the last time around.
Enter the Losties. I think this is the first time they have been through this. They are a new addition to the loop, the "new generation" that was able to survive because of things the last loop players did or didn't do (Widmore, Ellie, Black Rock people, etc). They can't stop the inevitable, but perhaps they can delay it. Long enough to live out their lives, perhaps give birth to the generation that next time around will extend things a little further. This is how humanity progresses, a series of small rocks thrown in the path of a raging river.
So what does this mean for the Losties? Well we know humanity wasn't meant to end in 1977 during the incident, so at this time it's not clear that they've changed anything. But I believe they have. I also believe that they made a change that still supports What Happened, Happened (WHH). Sounds like a contradiction, but here's how I think it can work. The consequences of the bomb going off will not be made apparent until we are caught up with present time (2007). If you were an independent observer on the island from 1977 – 2007, you would notice no difference between the last iteration of the time period, and the current one. Planes would still crash, Dharma would still be purged, Jack, Sawyer, Kate, and Hurley would still be kidnapped by a man named Benjamin Linus. Not until 2007 (or shortly after) when the future is being lived for the very first time, would you notice a difference. And that difference is the fact that a slice of the future that did not exist th! e last time around, now does. And the fact that that future is unwritten means that free will can prevail, if only for the first time around. Inevitably something will happen again to bring about the end of humanity, but for our Losties, hopefully it will not happen in their lifetime. They (along with the rest of humanity) have been given the gift of time, of a future that didn't exist before. Whether on or off the island, they will have the chance to live out lives that are completely of their own making.
So that's basically it. We still have plenty of unanswered questions like what the Island is, how long it's been around, who Jacob and The Man in Black are, Desmond's conscience traveling abilities, who created the frozen donkey wheel, and why did Jacob make Richard ageless. While the answers to those questions would be very satisfying, they aren't necessary to explain the overall plot.
Please feel free to bash away at the theory and tell me why I'm completely wrong. To me the reason this show has been unlike any other, is because of all the theorizing and speculating that takes place. The show doesn't just give us 60 minutes of entertainment every week, it provides endless hours of searching Wikipedia, reading blogs and recaps, analyzing backwards audio tracks, and super imposed images of something that might be Claire or just an extra in the wrong spot at the wrong time!
