Jacob's Failsafe by JR

Wikipedia defines a failsafe as:

A device or feature which in the event of failure, responds in a way that will cause no harm, or at least a minimum of harm, to other devices, or danger to personnel.

In Lost, we were introduced to the concept of the failsafe in the final episode of Season 2. Season 2 was the season that introduced the concept of pushing the button in the Swan Station every 108 minutes to “save the world.” Speculation is that the button manually released the buildup of electromagnetic energy that was tapped into during the Incident. Failure to release, or vent, this buildup of energy would, at the very least, cause a magnetic disaster similar to what we saw during the Incident and the destruction of the Swan. Worst case scenario, destruction of the world.

The process just described was set up by the Dharma Initiative at the time the Swan Station was completed. They did build into their system, a failsafe to be used in the event the Swan operators failed to successfully vent the energy. This failsafe was the turning of a key which would somehow negate the magnetic energy emitted from beneath the island. Most, or many, of us have speculated that the turning of the failsafe key actually detonated the Jughead atomic bomb negating the pocket of electromagnetic energy.

What if Jacob created his own failsafe to be used in the event the MIB succeeded in finding a loophole (causing a failure in the system) and escaped the island (causing destruction to the world around him). I believe he has just a failsafe and has been using it over the course of the show. His failsafe is Desmond David Hume.

We know the following about Desmond: He was at ground zero during the electromagnetic incident in the Swan and should have been killed. He was exposed to extremely high doses of electromagnetic (and possibly atomic) energy. Afterwards he experienced “flashes” of what he interpreted as the future. And, while leaving the island via helicopter, he was able to “consciousness” travel or experience different time periods of his life.

Daniel told us the Desmond is uniquely special. This he is. Because of his ability to “consciousness” travel, he and he alone, can change the past. We saw in season five, a number of our heroes physically travel back in time. However, try as they might, they were unable to change the past, what happened, happened. When they traveled time, they did not get any younger, and they did not relive their lives. Jack in 1977 was still thirty something years old and was aging at a normal rate. Desmond, however, can go back and relive his past, AND HE CAN MAKE DIFFERENT CHOICES. When he got a new memory in season five, it was because he had consciousness travelled and done something different. For the sake of this example, his memory of Daniel had nothing to do with Daniel, he had always banged on the hatch door, only this time Desmond, after consciousness travelling, answered the door.

Understand, past Desmond does not always understand that his consciousness has been invaded. He interprets this sharing of his consciousness with his future self as a “flash”. But he is influenced to make different choices and change the past.

There is evidence if you look closely at the details. In season 1, Charlie Pace cannot swim and therefore cannot turn off the jamming signal in the Looking Glass. Enter the failsafe. Desmond interacts with Charlie as a child resulting in his learning to swim. Listen closely to the children behind the young Charlie in the scene from Season 3 in which Charlie’s father teaches him to swim. One child clearly calls the other Desmond.

Rewatch the scene with Desmond and Jack in the stadium. This Desmond appears to know much more about Jack and Sarah than a stranger should know. He correctly guesses she is a “girl patient” and seems to know she will recover. He makes Jack question his beliefs regarding miracles. Furthermore, his recognition of Desmond in the hatch also causes Jack to pause and consider his position on fate, destiny, and miracles. My guess, Desmond in the stadium was experiencing consciousness traveling and his encounter with Jack was a change in history orchestrated by Jacob. I’ll also go out on a limb and suggest that “you got to lift it up” will have new meaning before the season is done.

Every time Desmond sensed Charlie was going to die, he was consciousness traveling. Jacob needed
Charlie to live long enough to swim down to the Looking Glass and Desmond delivered.

No Desmond Hume, the island is not done with you. If the MIB has created this new universe we are seeing in the flash sideways, then only someone with Desmond’s unique abilities can change it. Only Desmond can right that which is wrong. I expect to see more of him in the ALT universe as we near the end. I expect he will interact closely with Jack (he is after all in “another life”) and influence his decisions. This ALT universe, however convenient for many of our heroes, is not supposed to be and will be undone for the greater good. Jacob will play his trump card, he will use his failsafe key.