Whatever Happened Sort Of Happened by EricaG

Throughout Season 5, we were given hints that the Losties 'always' ended up in the '70s---Ethan's birth, Chang's arm, Ben joining the Others, etc., etc. I think we're going to find out that this wasn't the case---these events were not the result of 'Whatever Happened, Happened', they were instances of course correction.

Human perceptions are fallible---this is one of Lost's main themes. For example, if someone had pulled Horace Goodspeed aside (before the whole 'Oldham' incident) and said 'Here you have a group of people: James, Juliet, Jin, Daniel, Miles, Hurley, Kate, Jack, and Sayid. Some of these people crashed on a plane and lived together for months. Some of them came on a freighter whose mission was to kill the crash survivors. One of them defected from the Hostiles,' Horace Goodspeed (or any other Dharma member) would guess wrong ON EVERY COUNT. His perception of what's really going on is skewed because he doesn't have all the facts.

While we think we've been seeing one main timeline, we're incorrect: our perceptions are flawed because we don't have the whole picture. Say that we've really been seeing three timelines:

Timeline 1: The Losties never crash on the Island, and thus, never travel back in time.

Timeline 2: The Losties crash on the Island and travel back in time---essentially, what we've been seeing through Seasons 1-4.

Timeline 3: This is created when the Losties detonate Jughead, ensuring that they never crash on the Island.

In Timeline 1, Amy and Paul are picnicking in Hostile territory. They're caught, and the Hostiles immediately kill Paul. They take Amy hostage but don't kill her. (Notice how, when Sawyer et al first see Amy, the Hostiles are forcing her to her knees at gunpoint and are getting ready to put a bag over her head. They have no reason to do this if they're just going to execute her---they could've just shot her, like they did Paul. She's on her knees so they can bind her hands, and the bag is so she doesn't know their camp's location!

Maybe, 'originally,' Amy was taken hostage for some length of time. Somehow, she gets 'Otherized'----she turns, and when Dharma manages to get her back, SHE, not Ben, is the spy in Dharma HQ. She and Horace conceive Ethan. Knowing how important it is that her son be born on the Island, she 'wanders off' and gives birth in the jungle; she and the baby survive because Richard takes them both to the Temple. Eventually, she brings Ben to the Others---this is why we saw younger Ben and young Ethan hanging together in Dead is Dead, and this is how Ethan originally 'joins' the Others.

Timeline 2 is 'born' when Desmond Hume, the most unique man in the universe, brings down Flight 815. From this point until Ajira 316 crashes, we're in Timeline 2 (a sort of 'purgatory' between Timeline 1 and 3). The creation of Timeline 2 is why Charles Widmore manipulated Desmond onto the Island, why he sent Daniel to die---the Rules do not apply to Desmond. Timeline 1 ends in Widmore's exile and the MIB's ascension, but Desmond's actions can actually prevent both of these. Widmore sacrifices Daniel so that Timeline 3 can (hopefully) be born---so that Daniel will never have to die. The constant push-and-pull of Seasons 1-4 are really a struggle determining which Timeline--1 or 3---will emerge triumphant.

We've seen small shifts in the timeline already. The easiest example is when Desmond suddenly 'remembers' Daniel's message at the Hatch, but I think we've seen another---Ben remembering being brought to the Temple as a child. It didn't happen in Timeline 1, but it did in Timelines 2 and 3. Throughout the last five seasons, we've been seeing a ripple effect. Technically, all 3 Timelines 'happened'---we just haven't been perceiving the changes when they actually happen. This is how we defeat the logic paradox of having people travel back in time to prevent themselves from ever gaining the ability to travel back in time.

So what happens in Timeline 3? The Losties travel back in time. Sayid shoots Ben, and Sawyer/Kate bring Ben to the Others. Now, the first meeting between Ben and Widmore is very different than in Timeline 1: where before Amy (probably) brought Ben into the Others' camp (and I doubt Widmore loved the idea of another inductee), this time, Widmore first sees Ben alone, injured, and terrified. Widmore's first act is to try to comfort Ben. Their relationship ends up being entirely different than it was in Timeline 1---more surrogate father/son than king/usurper. Ben influences Widmore not to randomly murder babies, and Widmore is never exiled.

Originally, Radzinsky took over the Dharma Initiative, and his hostility led the Others to initiate the Purge, as we saw in Man Behind the Curtain. In Timeline 2 he is 'exiled' to the Swan---the Purge still happens, but his influence is muted. In Timeline 3, his actions have completely destroyed his credibility and he is no longer part of Dharma's leadership structure. The Purge never happens.

Penelope is born off-island, but with no Swan, there's no need to alienate Desmond. Desmond and Charles get along and Desmond/Penny name their son after her father---Charlie Hume.

Flight 815 never crashes. But the people who prevented it from crashing still exist---how could they not? In Timeline 3, there are two versions of the Losties existing simultaneously---one on-island, one off-island. The off-island people make better choices and live the lives they wanted all along. The people on-island have become 'special', just like Jacob.