John Locke is suddenly different and I think I know why...
The answer lies in the "missing" three years of John's life. When John tuned the wheel, we all are meant to believe he fast forwarded to the dessert losing (or gaining depending on how you look at it) 3 years compared to every other lostie. I now doubt this. He went the same 6 months Ben did (the writers took great steps to ensure we all knew Ben time-traveled and didn't just *pop* to Tunisia). But "when" he turned the wheel was at some point in the past, long enough ago that the statue was still standing. I think Locke popped to Tunisia six months after that, not 2007.
But but but... we all saw JL with the broken leg in dessert?!? Sure, we saw what JL wanted us to see. Some of JL's off island antics surely made it into Daniel's journal, how else would Christian know to tell him to say hi to his son? But we as the spectators have been shown events out of order purposefully... since we are supposed to believe about JL what all the other losties believe.
We'll come back to that. First I want to tell you what I think the temple does. I believe that the temple doesn't "heal" you. If it did, Ellie would have gone running once she knew who she shot. I think rather the temple does something extraordinarily simple. I think by visiting the temple you find out "when" you are going to die. That one small nugget of knowledge would render you immortal until that point. Like Michael and others, you wouldn't be able to be killed or commit suicide until it's "your time" but knowing when your time is makes all the difference. If you don't know (like all of us) you have to be careful. But if you find out the exact time of your death and know that no matter what you do it will lead you to that point (it's immutable, knowing it can't change it) you suddenly have a great deal of power, even if it costs you your innocence. Why else would Ben tell Charles in the hotel room that "we both know I can't do that" when asked if he came to kill him? Bo! th Ben (as a child) and Charles (as leader of the others) paid a visit to the temple for this information. Ben knew he couldn't kill Charles unless it was Charles's time. Even trying would be useless. (If it *was* his time, Ben didn't have to do anything... he wouldn't even be able to stop it)
What does this have to do with Locke?
Locke turned the wheel in the distant past. How distant? Far enough back that the statue was still up and I believe that the Black Rock hadn't yet set sail. It must have been a shock to pop up in the middle of the dessert in the distant past, but Locke didn't die from he leg injury then. He couldn't because he's not dead until Ben kills him in the hotel room. Locke probably even tried to commit suicide, knowing that from the distant past he certainly couldn't gather the 6 to get them back to the island, their grandparents weren't even born yet. So what was Locke to do when he couldn't even off himself? He probably tried to make his way back to the island, and did so aboard the Black Rock.
Locke on the Black Rock? Yep... stuck in the distant past, Locke heads back to the island the only way he knows how (no lamppost), aboard the Black Rock which is destined to crash into the island. Once there, I believe Locke paid a visit to the temple in an attempt to "figure out what the island wanted him to do next". Of course the island doesn't "want" anything, but upon visiting the temple he was endowed with the same knowledge that Ben, Charles, and a select few others have had. He *knew* Ben would kill him in that hotel room, in 2007, no matter what he did or tried in the meantime. But in order for that to happen, Locke would need to be ageless... like Richard. Richard probably found out from a visit to the temple that he is destined to die at some point, but with the time travels on the island it's easy to imagine that he somehow made it back a long time before that event was due. (Or skipped it entirely via the wheel, and won't die until he flashes backwards at some i! nevitable point in the future). Richard just got shuffled temporally enough that he appears ageless since his "time" isn't remotely near his now. (well, it may be, but we know it certainly wasn't the 50's when we first saw him)
So JL on the island in the distant past with knowledge that Ben will kill him in the future and nothing JL or anyone does can possibly change that.
But what about the resurrection? Out of order! JL isn't resurrected... John Locke is already on the island. The "dead" Locke is in this JL's future. John may not be able to stop Ben, but he can certainly take any path he wants to get there. At some point, when John's done doing whatever it is he thinks he needs to do, he will follow destiny and "show up" in the dessert with the broken leg and play his part to the end. If he's figured out the wheel, it's no big deal.
What's in the shadow of the statue? I saw one theorist who posted the answer "the past" and while I like it, I'm not answering the question as much as trying to figure out who the SOTS peeps are. They work for Locke.
What's in the box? John's (dead) body is in the box. If the JL everyone thinks has been resurrected is actually just an earlier Locke, there is the little matter of hiding the body. In order to pull off this con, the dead JL needs to disappear the moment 316 hits the runway.
But but but.....
Look, Locke's now been on the island a very long time and certainly knows every secret there is about it. He might be older than Richard by this point. He's probably gotten his hands on Daniel's journal at some point and found out everything he needs to pull off this *VERY LONG CON*.
To what purpose or what end all of this is happening, I'm not sure we're supposed to know that yet. (war, 2 sides, blah blah, etc) But, if we believe that Locke's trip from the wheel was the same 6 months as Ben's, we can tie up a lot of loose ends. Locke's pulling the strings and will eventually end up as Jeremy Bentham, but JB was just playing his part (playing dumb) knowing that it had to happen eventually. Locke makes it back to the island via the Black Rock, visits the temple, finds out about JB (and why Ben and Charles and Richard are the way they are) and becomes more knowledgeable about the island than any of them could imagine. He's got a ton of time to kill before he's due to show up on the beach and pretend to be back from the dead... and yes he would know Ben killed him. It just hasn't happened yet for him. JL is playing a long con on all of us. Richard know's he changed, but doesn't realize that for John, perhaps a couple hundred years have past since "sitting ! on that log" three years ago. That's why he's different! He's older and wiser than anyone else on the island now.
The answer lies in the "missing" three years of John's life. When John tuned the wheel, we all are meant to believe he fast forwarded to the dessert losing (or gaining depending on how you look at it) 3 years compared to every other lostie. I now doubt this. He went the same 6 months Ben did (the writers took great steps to ensure we all knew Ben time-traveled and didn't just *pop* to Tunisia). But "when" he turned the wheel was at some point in the past, long enough ago that the statue was still standing. I think Locke popped to Tunisia six months after that, not 2007.
But but but... we all saw JL with the broken leg in dessert?!? Sure, we saw what JL wanted us to see. Some of JL's off island antics surely made it into Daniel's journal, how else would Christian know to tell him to say hi to his son? But we as the spectators have been shown events out of order purposefully... since we are supposed to believe about JL what all the other losties believe.
We'll come back to that. First I want to tell you what I think the temple does. I believe that the temple doesn't "heal" you. If it did, Ellie would have gone running once she knew who she shot. I think rather the temple does something extraordinarily simple. I think by visiting the temple you find out "when" you are going to die. That one small nugget of knowledge would render you immortal until that point. Like Michael and others, you wouldn't be able to be killed or commit suicide until it's "your time" but knowing when your time is makes all the difference. If you don't know (like all of us) you have to be careful. But if you find out the exact time of your death and know that no matter what you do it will lead you to that point (it's immutable, knowing it can't change it) you suddenly have a great deal of power, even if it costs you your innocence. Why else would Ben tell Charles in the hotel room that "we both know I can't do that" when asked if he came to kill him? Bo! th Ben (as a child) and Charles (as leader of the others) paid a visit to the temple for this information. Ben knew he couldn't kill Charles unless it was Charles's time. Even trying would be useless. (If it *was* his time, Ben didn't have to do anything... he wouldn't even be able to stop it)
What does this have to do with Locke?
Locke turned the wheel in the distant past. How distant? Far enough back that the statue was still up and I believe that the Black Rock hadn't yet set sail. It must have been a shock to pop up in the middle of the dessert in the distant past, but Locke didn't die from he leg injury then. He couldn't because he's not dead until Ben kills him in the hotel room. Locke probably even tried to commit suicide, knowing that from the distant past he certainly couldn't gather the 6 to get them back to the island, their grandparents weren't even born yet. So what was Locke to do when he couldn't even off himself? He probably tried to make his way back to the island, and did so aboard the Black Rock.
Locke on the Black Rock? Yep... stuck in the distant past, Locke heads back to the island the only way he knows how (no lamppost), aboard the Black Rock which is destined to crash into the island. Once there, I believe Locke paid a visit to the temple in an attempt to "figure out what the island wanted him to do next". Of course the island doesn't "want" anything, but upon visiting the temple he was endowed with the same knowledge that Ben, Charles, and a select few others have had. He *knew* Ben would kill him in that hotel room, in 2007, no matter what he did or tried in the meantime. But in order for that to happen, Locke would need to be ageless... like Richard. Richard probably found out from a visit to the temple that he is destined to die at some point, but with the time travels on the island it's easy to imagine that he somehow made it back a long time before that event was due. (Or skipped it entirely via the wheel, and won't die until he flashes backwards at some i! nevitable point in the future). Richard just got shuffled temporally enough that he appears ageless since his "time" isn't remotely near his now. (well, it may be, but we know it certainly wasn't the 50's when we first saw him)
So JL on the island in the distant past with knowledge that Ben will kill him in the future and nothing JL or anyone does can possibly change that.
But what about the resurrection? Out of order! JL isn't resurrected... John Locke is already on the island. The "dead" Locke is in this JL's future. John may not be able to stop Ben, but he can certainly take any path he wants to get there. At some point, when John's done doing whatever it is he thinks he needs to do, he will follow destiny and "show up" in the dessert with the broken leg and play his part to the end. If he's figured out the wheel, it's no big deal.
What's in the shadow of the statue? I saw one theorist who posted the answer "the past" and while I like it, I'm not answering the question as much as trying to figure out who the SOTS peeps are. They work for Locke.
What's in the box? John's (dead) body is in the box. If the JL everyone thinks has been resurrected is actually just an earlier Locke, there is the little matter of hiding the body. In order to pull off this con, the dead JL needs to disappear the moment 316 hits the runway.
But but but.....
Look, Locke's now been on the island a very long time and certainly knows every secret there is about it. He might be older than Richard by this point. He's probably gotten his hands on Daniel's journal at some point and found out everything he needs to pull off this *VERY LONG CON*.
To what purpose or what end all of this is happening, I'm not sure we're supposed to know that yet. (war, 2 sides, blah blah, etc) But, if we believe that Locke's trip from the wheel was the same 6 months as Ben's, we can tie up a lot of loose ends. Locke's pulling the strings and will eventually end up as Jeremy Bentham, but JB was just playing his part (playing dumb) knowing that it had to happen eventually. Locke makes it back to the island via the Black Rock, visits the temple, finds out about JB (and why Ben and Charles and Richard are the way they are) and becomes more knowledgeable about the island than any of them could imagine. He's got a ton of time to kill before he's due to show up on the beach and pretend to be back from the dead... and yes he would know Ben killed him. It just hasn't happened yet for him. JL is playing a long con on all of us. Richard know's he changed, but doesn't realize that for John, perhaps a couple hundred years have past since "sitting ! on that log" three years ago. That's why he's different! He's older and wiser than anyone else on the island now.
