Assuming that the h-bomb doesn't blow the island to smithereens, but does neutralize the electromagnetic insanity, making the Swan unnecessary...
Assuming that perhaps the Swan's fail-safe key from season two was actually the same hydrogen bomb Juliet detonates in season five...
Desmond detonating the h-bomb sets forward a chain of events which result ultimately in the 815ers going back in time and preventing the Swan from being built.
This, of course, sets forward another chain of events that leads to flight 815 not crashing on the island, but instead into the Sunda Trench. The whole faked wreckage story was then fabricated by Widmore and/or Ben because if Jack knew the plane was going down anyway, he wouldn't be so gung ho about changing the future.
Of course, the problem with this theory is explaining what is happening on the island--if there are two planes, are there two islands now? I can't imagine this working.
However, I could see a scenario where, from the perspective of the present day characters, the island's history going back to the Incident is slowly erasing itself, a la Back to the Future and Marty's photo. This might explain why the numbers are again being broadcast, and yet the swan hatch door (which the writers made damn sure we noticed) is still on the beach. Ultimately, however, the 815 wreckage, and the hatch door itself (the Swan, of course, is long gone) will vanish as the new history catches up with the present.
This would of course, mean that the 815ers would also vanish (since technically they are dead in the Sunda Trench), unless this is the significance of Jacob touching them. Jacob's touch makes him a sort of constant for the 815ers that allows them to continue existing in the new history.
This includes Locke, who is once again alive since the events that led to his death have now been erased (because why make the point of having Jacob touch him if the guy's gone for good?)
This also includes Ben, who touched Jacob in the process of stabbing him repeatedly in the chest, I'm sure.
Now as to whether these character's would remember the events of the erased history...I imagine some temporary amnesia would succeed in giving S6 that S1 feel, though I'm sure they'd figure it all out somehow (flashes, maybe?).
On a side note, there was an article in the last Discover about Hawking's latest theory on quantum history, and something about the history of the universe being, like quantum particles, impossible to pin down and there being the possibility of alternate histories existing at the same time. I guess that in the same sense that you can't pinpoint the exact location of a particle, you also can not determine which history of the universe is the exact history of the universe. If I'm even understanding the concept correctly, this would be the bookish version of the Marty's picture theory.
Assuming that perhaps the Swan's fail-safe key from season two was actually the same hydrogen bomb Juliet detonates in season five...
Desmond detonating the h-bomb sets forward a chain of events which result ultimately in the 815ers going back in time and preventing the Swan from being built.
This, of course, sets forward another chain of events that leads to flight 815 not crashing on the island, but instead into the Sunda Trench. The whole faked wreckage story was then fabricated by Widmore and/or Ben because if Jack knew the plane was going down anyway, he wouldn't be so gung ho about changing the future.
Of course, the problem with this theory is explaining what is happening on the island--if there are two planes, are there two islands now? I can't imagine this working.
However, I could see a scenario where, from the perspective of the present day characters, the island's history going back to the Incident is slowly erasing itself, a la Back to the Future and Marty's photo. This might explain why the numbers are again being broadcast, and yet the swan hatch door (which the writers made damn sure we noticed) is still on the beach. Ultimately, however, the 815 wreckage, and the hatch door itself (the Swan, of course, is long gone) will vanish as the new history catches up with the present.
This would of course, mean that the 815ers would also vanish (since technically they are dead in the Sunda Trench), unless this is the significance of Jacob touching them. Jacob's touch makes him a sort of constant for the 815ers that allows them to continue existing in the new history.
This includes Locke, who is once again alive since the events that led to his death have now been erased (because why make the point of having Jacob touch him if the guy's gone for good?)
This also includes Ben, who touched Jacob in the process of stabbing him repeatedly in the chest, I'm sure.
Now as to whether these character's would remember the events of the erased history...I imagine some temporary amnesia would succeed in giving S6 that S1 feel, though I'm sure they'd figure it all out somehow (flashes, maybe?).
On a side note, there was an article in the last Discover about Hawking's latest theory on quantum history, and something about the history of the universe being, like quantum particles, impossible to pin down and there being the possibility of alternate histories existing at the same time. I guess that in the same sense that you can't pinpoint the exact location of a particle, you also can not determine which history of the universe is the exact history of the universe. If I'm even understanding the concept correctly, this would be the bookish version of the Marty's picture theory.
