Splintered Ajira Time, 2 John Lockes & Course Correction by Yojimbo

Hi all,

I've been reading a bunch of theories since The Incident aired, done the whole rewatch thing, etc. At first, I figured, like many - Locke's toast. But a few things don't add up.

Firstly, from a narrative point of view, something felt wrong. If Locke was to be a pathetic red herring, it would have been flagged heavier. Secondly, how are there 2 physical Lockes on the island?

Couple this with the did they/didn't they reboot question, as well as what Damon and Carlton have said about no grandfather paradoxes, WHH, etc, and I've come up with a theory. But as Doc Brown says, you've gotta think fourth dimensionally, not in the order that we've been shown things.

Left-field quote from Chuck Palahniuk's Rant because it summarises my starting concept nicely:
"One theory of time travel resolves the Grandfather Paradox by speculating that, at the moment one changes history, that change splinters the single flow of reality into parallel branches. For example, after you've killed your ancestor, reality would fork into two parallel paths: one reality in which you continued to be born and your ancestor did not die, and one branch in which your ancestor died and you would never be conceived. Each revision one made in the past, the subsequent new reality it created, theorists refer to as a 'bifurcation.'"

Think about the duplicated bunnies and the Orchid experiment. Casimir effect. Exotic matter can do freaky things when exposed to metal objects and big bombs! But I digress...

I believe Lost is setting up something really cool for sci-fi fans. How can you side-step the Grandfather Paradox and the self fulfilling prophecy of WHH? You splinter time and have it play out simultaneously. (BUT NOT IN THE WAY THIS HAS BEEN DISCUSSED)

So, stepping it through linearly: Locke dies. Jack et al get on the Ajira flight. At the moment Jack and the 77ers flash out, a new Lost present-day reality has been created - BECAUSE they went to 1977. In causing the Incident and creating an alternate timeline, a duplicate of Locke is now made to exist, because he simultaneousy already dies (thus bringing Jack et al onto the plane so they can change history) and must live (because the changes to the timeline cancel out the 815 crash). We've ALREADY been watching a new, altered timeline in all story post-Ajira.

Locke isn't alive because of MiB or Smokie or anything funny like bringing his body to the island. That's why him being able to exist physically as both what people are calling Flocke as well as his corpse is possible. There has never been a case of Smokie imitating someone who is above ground)

(As an aside, re the whole "Loophole" conversation, I think that Locke has always had inside info from very early in the series - "This wasn't meant to happen" etc. It's like he was possessed by MiB via Smokie or something. Think Raistlin/Fistandantilus in Dragonlance for those who have read it.)

Anyway, so - we have 2 realities. I think the '77 Losties now leap back to the present (cue "vvvwooomp" white blast noise), and they land in LAX, etc. But those key players have a severe case of Desmond-itis due to their proximity to the blast. What happens for the first part of the season is them all fighting course-correction. They have flashes of memories from their other timeline. People like Charlie, etc. may temporarily be alive, but they start dying one by one - getting run over by trucks, etc. WHH. You can't mess with fate.

Locke IS probably still destined to die. As is Jack. (If the series doesn't close with his eyes closing forever, I'll eat my hat!) I'm betting it is just far more likely that it will happen in a more meaningful and poetic way than what we've seen so far. It would make for a very suspenseful S6, knowing certain people have to make a difference to the "right" side of the coming war before they go.

thoughts? Yojimbo