The Origin of the Sideways Reality by Glenn R.

Part 1 – Origin of Flash-Sideways Reality

The Losties in the Sideways reality are the YOUNG Losties that existed in the 1974-1977 reality to which our primary Losties traveled back in time.

In 1977, every one of the Losties had a young version of themselves existing somewhere in the world. One example: Miles actually saw himself with his mother and father. How is it possible to have two Miles together in the same reality? I think that the infant Miles we saw in 1977 exists in Sideways reality, and the same is true for every other character. So for example, in Jack's case, it seems very likely that he had his appendix out right around that time. (Someone on Lostpedia has broken down how the only timeframe Jack could have had the appendix was sometime give or take within a few months of the Incident in 1977) . And so on. They were all kids at the time, either on or off the island, and they all grew up to become the adults we are now watching in Sidewaysland.

Their lives are changed (in comparison to our original Island Losties), They are the same people, and have the same karma/fate, and go through essentially the same things, but with perhaps some different circumstances – different enough to account for the changes we are seeing in Sideways Reality now. And, the island will not be there, in the same way (with Desmond pushing the button, etc.), when many of them get on that plane from Sidney 27 years in the future in 2004. (And if we sprinkle in a few concepts from modern physics, such as nonlocal causality, then it isnt’ a huge leap to believe that we always have access to other aspects of our own psyche/consciousness, even if in a different reality, which would help explain the flashes of recognition our characters are having towards each other, or towards theis scars. But that’s for another theory.)

I predict that our final episode (or at least sometime in the next ten episodes), is going to open with the scene right before the incident that we've already seen twice in the Season Premiere - with all the chaos, and Sawyer holding Juliet's to keep her from falling, etc. Only this time we will get a THIRD point of view -- that of Pierre Chang (or whoever) on the island, right after the detonation. And we will go on to see the Incident from the 1977 point of view. And they will show us enough in that 1977 reality to realize that some things are different. They may be small things, or not. But even small things being different will be enough to change the way the future unfolds – for those young 1977 versions of our Losties.

As an aside, it also seems possible to me that the Losties very presence back in 1977 could have been sufficient to change reality, let alone the bomb exploding. But in any case, I think one of those two things did change things, and so subsequently things did not unfold in the exact same way -- such that in 2004 when they fly from Sidney to L.A., the Island is actually underwater. And the way their lives unfolded was different enough to cause the changes that we're watching in Sideways world.

Part 2 – Origin of Season 6 Island Reality

So, if it were true that the Sideways characters all orginated from the younger versions of our Losties… great. But that does not explain why, if the Incident/Bomb DID change things, then why are the main Island timeline Losties still on the island in 2007?

I believe that Faraday (and Jack) were both right and they were wrong. Or, to say it another way: That there are BOTH a constant and a variable to the equation.

Where were they wrong? They were wrong, because “whatever happened, happened”. It truly is not possible to change your lived history. Therefore, the bomb exploded. Or prevented the electromagnetic tragedy that might have happened. Or whatever. And Jack’s poor miserable tortured reality continued on, from the scene when we first saw Kate in the tree in the opening episode. In that reality, nothing has changed, with the exception that I suspect that the fact that the 77 Losties were blown back to 2007 was a course-correction. The universe can't have two versions of the same people living in the same reality for very long now, can it?

The fact that they did not change anything (in the 2004 crashed Losties personal realities at least) goes back to Miles quote while talking to Hurley about time travel in the episode “Whatever Happened, Happened” in season 5. Miles says: “Time isn’t a straight line for us anymore. Our experiences in the past and the future occurred before these experiences right now [in 1977].” For this reason, Jack was mistaken to think that he could alter his own lived history such that some things that he had already experienced would never happen. He couldn’t, because he had already lived them. And that is why he and the others were course-corrected and blasted back to 2007. The Losties destiny between 1977 and 2007 had already been lived, and thus could not be changed.

But, simultaneously, Faraday and Jack were also right! They were right – that variables (people) can enter the equation and impact the unfolding of reality. They were right, because the impact of the detonation (or whatever it was) that they left behind DID change things – while not for them, it changed things for their younger 1977 selves (see post, above). The “straight line” of time for the 1977 young Losties had a zig added here, and maybe a zag there.

Everything I explained above illustrates this – but again, only for Sideways reality. Jack Daniel changed the futures for everyone living in 1977. The future for everyone on that island (and off) was no longer the identical future that Jack and companions had already experienced in their reality. Hence, the Sideways folks. And hence Darlton’s claims that both realities are equally and fully valid.

Does this make sense to anyone? Another way to think about it: What happened to all the Losties 1977 younger selves when they themselves were blasted back to 2007? Their futures were irrevocably changed. They could not and would not live the identical mirror-image lives of their older selves anymore. Because some fundamental details were changed by the Incident. Their lives were changed into what will lead to our Sideways folks. This seems really obvious to me when I think about it.

Final summary: Island timeline is the same timeline we’ve been watching for six years now -- our losties, going through their lives through time. But Sideways time is the timeline of the Losties as children in 1977 – after some things in their reality were changed by the Incident. Any thoughts?