Preserving the Loop vs Ending the Loop: the Stakes of the War by Michael Aaron

Many people have speculated that Lost is taking place within a causal loop, and that this loop is dependent on an unbroken causal chain. "whatever has happened must happen". I'd like to add something to this dialog:

I propose that, not only is Lost taking place within a causal loop, but there are characters whose very lives are a product OF this loop. In other words, the loop in and of itself is a kind of "world" or "universe" which houses a group of people that are indigenous TO the loop. Further, among these characters, a select few are aware of the loop, and are aware of every link in the causal chain that forms the loop.

For those of you who would like a snapshot of a few links of this causal chain, I offer you the following moment, brought to you by Locke, Boone, Juliet and Desmond:

--Locke throws the flashlight to Boone, Boone misses it, and because Juliet had travelled back in time to clear away some brush from the hatch surface, the flashlight clunks against the exposed metal. Locke discovers and unearths the hatch as a result, and finds Desmond pushing a button. Locke begins pushing the button that Desmond had been pushing for three years. Locke loses faith with the button, begins to feel like a puppet on a string, and sets up a scenario wherein the button can never be pushed again, forcing Desmond to turn the failsafe key, causing the hatch to implode, and sending Desmond back in time, consciously, where he has a very peculiar conversation with Eloise Hawking (more on this conversation in a bit).

Among the characters who are aware of the loop and the causal chain of events that makes it all go 'round, I believe half of them have one agenda, and the other half have an opposing agenda. One agenda is: preserve the loop; the opposing agenda is: end the loop. One agenda originates with MIB, and the other agenda originates with Jacob, and then trickles down. As to which agenda is of interest to MIB and which is of interest to Jacob, I cannot say. The idea that I'm proposing is that the war referenced throughout the series is the clashing of these two agendas:

Preserve the loop vs end the loop.

Not all the "soldiers" in this war understand what is at stake, but they are clearly on opposing sides of the loop fence. Locke and Jack for instance. Lock is clearly "pro loop", and Jack is clearly "anti loop". Locke wants to stay in this "place where miracles happen", and Jack wants to "end the misery". They are unwitting players in this greater clash.

I'd like to further define the loop, and even lend it some poignancy, rather than just have it be dry math: Imagine the loop as a kind of bleaker Narnia or Oz, but instead of being a "land of enchantment", it's actually a complete anomaly, a "wrong turn" of cosmic proportion. But because the loop is so vast and complete, there are actual human beings that are "born into" the loop; they're a product of the loop, indigenous to the loop, and if you end the loop... you end THEM.

The Losties are the unwitting creators of this loop. It is the actions of Locke, Jack, Desmond, Daniel, Juliet, Kate, Sawyer, Hurly and etc. that produce the non-linear causal chain of events which in turn forms the loop. So it stands to reason that they are the ones who could potentially end the loop. If the loop ends, then it never existed to begin with. It's kind of a heady idea, but it makes the stakes of the war fairly massive and immediate.

So the MIB and Jacob both need the Losties, but for reasons that are diametrically opposed. One needs them to create the loop, the other needs them to end the loop.
One wants to ride the back of Aslan off into the sunset, the other wants a complete erasing of Narnia. One is the Man Behind the Curtain, the other is Dorothy awakening from the dream. One wants to keep the loop intact forever (the show must go on), the other wants a curtain call (a final, thundering applause).

Now, to help illustrate that this war has been intact from the very get go, I'd like to present a couple of excerpted transcripts from the show to serve as examples of the opposing factions at work. I'll call the two opposing factions PRO LOOP and ANTI LOOP.

The following off-island exchange between Desmond and Eloise Hawking takes place in the episode "Flashes Before Your Eyes". Eloise is PRO LOOP:

Desmond goes into a pawn shop and looks at wedding rings.

A woman (Eloise) walks out and says, "Never done this before, have you?"

"Is it that obvious?" Desmond says.

"I can always tell the first timers. Now then, may I ask your price range?"

"I'm not a man of means. I hope to, one day--"

She stops him and says, "I have just the thing." She pulls out a diamond ring. "This won't blind any queens, for sure, but it has the sparkle of life."

He picks it up and says, "I'll take it."

"I'm sorry?" she says.
"It's perfect, I'll take it."

"No you won't," she says. She puts out her hand. "Give me the ring, give it here."

"I don't understand."

"This is wrong, you don't buy the ring. You have second thoughts, you walk right out that door. Come on, let's have it."

"I don't know what you're going on about," he says.

"You don't buy the ring, Desmond."

"How do you know my name?"

"Well I know your name as well as I know you don't ask Penny to marry you. In fact, you break her heart. Breaking her heart is, of course, what drives you in a few short years to enter the sailing race, which brings you to the island where you spend the next three years of your life entering the numbers into that computer until you are forced to turn that failsafe key. And if you don't do those things, Desmond David Hume, every single one of us is dead! So give me that sodding ring!"

(end excerpt)


The following on-island exchange between Hurly, his "imaginary friend" Dave and Libby takes place in the episode "Dave". Dave is ANTI LOOP. Libby is PRO LOOP:

DAVE: You remember that night you closed that window on me? [Hurley nods.] You remember what you did after that night?

HURLEY: Yeah, I realized you were imaginary.

DAVE: Mmmmhmmm.

HURLEY: And that was a breakthrough. And a little while later Brooks let me out, and I went home to live with my mom, and I got my job at Mr. Clucks back. And I got better.

DAVE: Okay, good, great, yeah -- except see, here's the thing -- uh -- none of that ever happened.

HURLEY: What?

DAVE: You're still at Santa Rosa, man. You never left the hospital.

HURLEY: That's -- not possible.

DAVE: It's hard, I know, but I mean -- all this? You, me, this island, that peanut butter -- none of it's real, man. None of it's happening. It's all in your head, my friend. The second you closed that window your brain popped a gasket. You went back into your little coma thing. And that's where you are right this very second. In your own private Idaho, inside Santa Rosa.

HURLEY: No. I had my mom, my friend Johnny -- I won the lottery.

DAVE: Whoa, wow, awesome, dude! What numbers did you play? Leonard's numbers, right -- from the hospital? What a coincidence. You, uh, seen them around anywhere else?

HURLEY: The Hatch?

DAVE: Bingo! The Hatch -- with the button that you've got to push every 108 minutes or the world ends. Oh, oh, oh, and what's the code for the button? Oh yeah, the Numbers.

HURLEY: But I got better. I changed.

DAVE: Changed? What, are you kidding me? Take a look at yourself. You've been on a deserted island for over 2 months and you haven't dropped 10 pounds. How is that even possible, man?

HURLEY: I just destroyed my stash, and I've been exercising. Libby says it won't happen over night.

DAVE: Oh, right, right, right, Libby -- the mega cute blonde chick who magically appeared from the other side of the Island. Oh, oh, oh, yeah -- and who just happens to have the hots for YOU. Come on, man, let's take a walk.

[We see Dave and Hurley walking through the jungle.]

HURLEY: So this is all in my brain?

DAVE: Every rock, every tree.
Every tree frog. Even me.
The real me -- the one they told you was imaginary? He went out the window, man. Right now he's probably bouncing from hot chick to hot chick,
unlike me, who's really you,
who's got more important things to do.

HURLEY: So I'm making you up?

DAVE: Well, sort of. I'm part of your subconscious, man. All the people on this island are.

HURLEY: What part of me are you?

DAVE: I'm the part of you that wants to wake up, man. Follow me.

[We see them arrive at a high cliff above the ocean.]

DAVE: This is it, dude.

HURLEY: It?

DAVE: The big finale. The answer to all your problems. A way for you to wake up, snap out of it.

HURLEY: I don't want to kill myself.

DAVE: Who said anything about killing yourself, man? This is going to bring you back to life. The only way for you to bust out is to tell your mind that you don't believe any of this.

HURLEY: So, if I -- all this will be gone? I'll just wake up?

DAVE: That's right. And when you do wake up, come find me. I'm sure I miss you. See you in another life, Hurley.

[Dave backs up to the edge of the cliff and lets himself fall backwards, laughing all the way down.]

HURLEY: Dave!!

LIBBY: [appearing] Who's Dave?

HURLEY: What are you doing here?

LIBBY: What are you doing here?

HURLEY: How'd you know where I was?

LIBBY: Jin saw you while he was fishing.

HURLEY: Hah! Jin doesn't speak English.

LIBBY: Sun was with him. She translated. (changing subject) Hurley, what is going on?

HURLEY: No! You're just a part of me that's scared. You don't want me to wake up. Well, guess what? I'm not scared.
[Hurley takes a couple steps back toward the edge of the cliff.]

(Libby gets fairly intense, and proceeds to talk Hurly out of killing himself)

(end excerpt)

The reason why I chose these two examples is for the wildly differing tones and attitudes of Eloise and Dave. You'll note that Eloise was was very dire in the face of Desmond inadvertently attempting to sever the causal chain. The impression I got was that Eloise is both a product of and a guardian of the loop, and her tone was one of a preserver, also one who was not very fond of the idea of ceasing to exist. It's interesting to note that her wording indicates that she is in new territory during this iteration of the loop; it indicates (to me, at least) that the chain of events which allow for the loop to exist can in fact be broken, and that this "iteration evolution" was somehow pushed into being when Desmond turned the key. You could argue that Eloise has always said what she said, in exactly the manner she said it, but I think we all know that she's saying this for the first time, that somehow, something has "changed". The loop is still intact because the chain hasn't ! been broken, but the links are starting to look a little different than they did in previous iterations.

Dave on the other hand, was carefree and mirthful in his encouraging Hurly to commit suicide; he was the trickster, ultimately destructive. Had it not been for Libby, who appeared rather mysteriously, Hurly would have jumped and severed the causal chain. In a weird and greater sense, what Dave was saying to Hurly was true.

Before you say "wait a second, what does Hurly have to do with the causal chain? All he's really done is run someone over with a bus!", let me suggest that I believe we are going to see that Hurly is a major contributor to the causal chain in season 6.

Before I make the effort, i thought I'd ask: Would YOU be interested in seeing several more excerpted transcripts taken from the previous five seasons that serve as examples of PRO LOOP and ANTI LOOP? Please let me know in the comment section; if I get enough nods, I'll put it together and post it.

Thank you for reading. If you have read my previous theories, please excuse the bits of repeated content; it's just part of my effort to fine tune.

A healthy and prosperous new year to you!