After the explosion of Jughead (The Incident) the 815 survivors in '77 experience what we already saw with Desmond--their minds jump back to 2004, and their post-Incident minds (with all the experiences and personal growth of the previous five seasons) are in control and self-aware in their collective past. We saw Desmond's consciousness travel back and interact with Penny, and that has establised the possibility of a consciousness jump into your own past where you intentionally change the course of history. Desmond's change was minor--initiating a phone call--but what if we see a major change brought about by Jack & Friends?
What if the exposure to the bizarre electromagnetic properties under the island (which triggered Desmond's jumps) combined with the power of the Jughead explosion to trigger a massive time jump, causing Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Sayid and friends to all flash back and find themselves sitting on Flight 815 carrying all of their memories from the previous seasons? Assuming they flash to an early enough moment in the flight, any one of them (though I nominate Jack) could contact the pilot and/or crew of the plane and alert him to the impending emergency, potentially avoiding the 1000 mile diversion off course and keeping 815 away from the Island and Desmond's electromagnetic buildup that caused the crash.
(Sample conversation:
JACK: "In just a few minutes, your radio is going to stop working and we are going to go off course and crash."
PILOT: "You're crazy--go back to your seat!"
RADIO: Fzzzt.
PILOT: "Umm, why don't you go ahead and take a look at this after all..."
SAYID fixes radio, communication is restored and 815 lands safely.)
Now the timeline would progress with a safe landing in LA, but with the characters we know and love all retaining their memories, mutual friendships and experiences. This would not be a reset in terms of character development--however, this could only apply to those on the Island in '77 experiencing the post-Jughead mental time jump. Claire, Charlie, Boone, Eko and the others would arrive in LA oblivious to it all.
Where would this altered timeline lead, and how could it connect to Sun, Lapidus, Ben and Richard on the Island in 2007? How would we deal with the LA versions of Sun, Locke, etc.? I'm not sure. But my brain has been trying to find a way to deal with a potential altered timeline that doesn't erase five seasons of character development and plays by the established rules of the show, and this is what I've been contemplating.
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