Reconsidering the Events of Season 3 Part 3 by DaKlenke

This theory is a direct continuation of the theory entitled Reconsidering the Events of Season 3 Part 2. If you have not read that theory than I strongly encourage you to do so, as this one would not make nearly as much sense without the previous context. Furthermore, Part 2 of this theory is of course a follow up to an original theory, Reconsidering the Events of Season 3, and in order for this entire theory to make sense, I recommend all three be read.

Part 2 of this theory left off with my interpretation of the events leading up to and through Charlie's death in Through the Looking Glass Part 2. In this theory, I would like to further clarify what I meant when I said that Charlie unjamming the signal in the Looking Glass and subsequently allowing for Jack to radio the freighter was a break in the intended timeline.

As we have all heard on several occasions, mostly in Season 4 and 5, the losties were not destined to leave the Island. Now I believe this claim to be a fact. In destinies original plan, the one that both Desmond saw flashes of and that Ben has been so adamant about ensuring happens, Charlie was supposed to have already been dead and Desmond was supposed to die in a failed attempt at disabling the jamming equipment in the Looking Glass. Instead, thanks to Desmond's ability to catch glimpses of fate's plan (a product of him turning the fail-safe key) and Charlie's willingness to die for the ones he loved, the jamming equipment was indeed shut off and Jack was able to make that hugely important phone call.

When Jack made that phone call(while Ben was screaming that Jack isn't supposed to and that he should consider the implications) he made the final free will decision that changed destiny. Despite even Locke's attempts at preventing Jack from making that phone call, both killing Naomi and threatening Jack's own life, the doctor makes that call.

From then on, we enter a new reality. Fate's plan has come unraveled and a chain of events that leads the Oceanic 6 and Desmond to eventually escape the Island unfold. As far as I can determine, the events of Season 4 and the eventual escape of the O6 all take place in a reality in which destinies plan was circumvented by free-will. Now we can gather from the cliff-hanger ending of Season 3, the famous "we have to go back Kate!" flash forward, that Jack ultimately ends up regretting this change in destiny. I believe that this flash forward, and the events involving the Ocean Six's return to the Island in Season 5 are our one look at what this reality's future looks like. It is a bleak and suicidal future in which most every character is unhappy. Both Jack and Michael try commiting suicide, Kate ends up divorced and a single mother of another woman's child, and Sun is left widowed and a single mother herself. Hurley ends up back in the mental institute where he is vi! sited by "ghosts" of his past and Sayid ends up losing the love of his life and ultimately becomes a killer for Ben.

Fundamentally speaking, I think that Jack is fair in his assessment that the O6 were never meant to leave the island. The only person who's life is made better by this change in destiny is Desmond, who instead of dying in the intended timeline went on to end up back with Penny and to father a child. The relevance of this point is that way back in the original theory of this trilogy, I made the point of showing that Desmond started down the path of a new timeline by sticking with Penny, and that when he made the choice to leave her, he realigned our two alternate timelines. Now that he went on to make the opposite choice, convincing Charlie to sacrifice himself in his stead, Desmond has yet again made the cross into a reality in which his relationship with Penny is allowed. Our two alternate timelines can be clearly defined by Desmond and Penny's relationship. In one reality, they are together and in the other, they are not.

But Desmond still possesses the ability to see flashes of the alternate timeline, one in which Faraday bangs on the Swan Hatch door and tells Desmond to find his mother. Desmond does this out of regret for his percieved selfishness at leaving everyone else on the Island behind and for regret over Charlie's death. Meanwhile, Ben reunites the O6 and everyone has a big reunion at the Lamp Post with Ms. Hawking.
The point I am driving at here is this. Ben and Ms. Hawking are agents of destiny, as they both strongly believe that the original timeline in which the O6 never leave the Island is the correct timeline. So their attempts at reuniting the O6 and returning them to the Island are all in the hopes that destiny can regain control of the situation and fix the break in the timeline.

I believe that the reason Ms. Hawking chose flight 316, thanks to the technology at the Lamp Post, was because she knew that destiny would snag the O6 from their seats and deposit them back on the Island. Most importantly I think she knew in what year the O6 would end up and that is why she chose 316. She needed the losties to not only end up back on the Island, but also she needed to make sure that they ended up in the when that they did.
The reason 1977 is such an important time is because she knows that during this time, the Incident at the Swan station will happen. I believe that Ms. Hawking knows that it was Desmond turning the fail-safe key that ultimately lead to the fracture in the original timeline and that by sending the O6 back to the Island, she was intending to recreate the events of the turning of the fail-safe key.
There has been much speculation as to what happened with Juliet and the bomb, and one prevalent theory is that those losties present at the Incident site will experience a similar situation to the one Desmond did in Flashes Before Your Eyes.

To wrap this idea up, Im saying that the whole reason Ms. Hawking and Ben needed to send the losties back to the Island is so that the Incident could happen and that our losties will be able to reset the events that broke the timeline.

I believe in Season 6 we will see many scenes that we have seen before, but that this time our losties that were exposed to the Incident at the swan site will be able to see destinies plan as it was intended, just like Desmond.

Now as to how it will all unfold, I can only guess. I do expect that we will see a new iteration of the 108 days the losties spent on the island, up to Jack making that important call. This time however, I imagine Jack will not make that call, and we will see how things would have played out had the O6 never left the Island.

So this theory suggests that we will see a reset, but that this time we will see our original characters from the broken timeline relive important moments in their lives and them trying to fix the damage that has been done. Maybe the war that has been mentioned is the anticipated divide between the losties on whether or not they should recreate their own personal timeline or if they should allow the events to unfold as fate had intended them to. I believe that ultimately our losties will decide to allow destiny's plan to play out and that they will all die on the Island, as they were intended to.

I do expect one significant variation though. I imagine that at some point in Season 6, we will see Penny and Desmond's arrival to the Island and that in this iteration of the timeline, Desmond will not convince Charlie to go into the Looking Glass, nor do I think he will go himself. Instead, I suspect he and Penny will go to the caves to live out their lives and to ultimately die together, becoming Adam and Eve.
So I know that this theory was long winded and most assuredly has some holes in it, but I would love to hear your opinions on what I have speculated. Please comment and criticize as you see fit, and if there is enough debate and/or a need for further clarification,I will write more.
Let me know what you guys think.