LOST Theories - DarkUFO

Two Timelines, Two Stories by NumbersMatter

Long-time reader, first-time poster. I apologize if any of this a repeat and welcome comments.

There is a small point has bothered and nagged me for a while... the red herring we see Jacob eating during “The Incident” episode. It has long made me think that the struggle between Jacob and the MIB is not the main story, but instead a sideplot only loosely linked to our Losties.

Here is my theory, thought up in the wee hours of the morning while pondering “Happily Ever After”:

There are two storylines in LOST, one focused on the Losties, the other on Jacob, the MIB, and the Island. LOST has always shifted between flashes and the island; this season it is flashing between these two stories.

Story 1: Happily Ever After

Juliet actually does detonate the bomb during “The Incident” as a result of Daniel coming to the island and convincing his mother through his death of the need to change events. Determined not to kill her son again, Eloise sets events in motion so that Jack, Juliet, and co. set off the bomb. Consequently, in 1977 the island is sunk to the ocean (a plot hole, because a hydrogen bomb wouldn’t send an island to the bottom of the ocean, it would obliterate it, but oh well). Our 1977 Losties should theoretically be killed in the blast, but in the world outside the island their young selves continue to exist without the presence of the island in their lives. Many of the Dharma Initiative, including Ben and little Charlotte escape in the submarines (I’m overly simplifying things, maybe there are some plot holes here) and everyone starts new lives off the island.

The alt-timeline is simply a world, post-1977 with no Jacob and no island. Each Lostie goes on living his/her life without Jacob’s influence, good or bad. They just live with a vague sense of déjà-vu that perhaps there is something bigger out there… this is potentially strongest for people like Daniel and Charlie who died in the original LOST timeline.
For this theory to work, Eloise and Widmore somehow escape the island along with the Dharma folks and set up a new life off the island together. Daniel is born and grows up to be a musician. Eloise appears to have advanced knowledge, because she still has “dead-Daniel’s” notebook. That notebook clearly has Desmond’s name written in it, so she is particularly sensitive when Desmond starts asking questions. She is just happy Daniel is alive in this alternate reality, post-nuclear explosion and wants to leave what happened as it is. She’s a pretty smart cookie, so she probably understands, to a certain extent, the complexity of the timelines.

This is the ending of LOST for our Losties… they manage to escape the island by attaining a reality where it doesn’t exist.


Story 2: Jacob and the MIB

This story is the red herring, but it is extremely interesting and has been diverting a lot of our attention.
When Juliet explodes the bomb, she along with the other Losties should have been killed, but that would have set up a strange Catch-22 situation. To be able to go back in time to blow up the island, the Losties needed an island to go to… we could go into this in more detail… but I think it has already been theorized to death. Basically, when the bomb explodes two alternate timelines are created that allow all events to unfold logically. (This might be interesting reading, see “parallel universe resolution”: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grandfather_paradox#Parallel_universes_resolution).

In this timeline, the electromagnetic energy of the pre-Swan station sends the Losties flashing forward to our present day and to the head-to-head between Jacob and the MIB. I have very little to say at this point regarding the nature of the MIB and Jacob, but am excited to watch what unfolds. However, for our Losties nothing that occurs in this timeline really matters, because they also live on in the alternate timeline. To get a little philosophical and to reiterate what others have said… When Juliet dies she perhaps catches a glimpse of that alternate world where everyone is alive. She dies knowing that in some way the bomb did work, just not in the way they envisioned. “It worked.”

Desmond is important, because he is resilient to electromagnetic energy and has a higher understanding of different timelines. He is able to see the alt-timeline with greater clarity than Juliet. He sees that in the alt-timeline he is happy, successful, and has a chance to regain everything with Penney in a way that does not involve the island. So when Widmore asks for his help, he is more than willing because he knows that it doesn’t matter what happens to him on the island… He has already attained his “happily ever after.” This also explains why he is happy to go along with Sayid instead of the Widmore folks… nothing matters to him. “See you in another life brotha.”


My Prediction:

We will slowly learn the truth of the alt-timeline while also following the 2nd story involving Jacob and the MIB. Perhaps Desmond will open the other Losties’ eyes to the same déjà-vu he feels and they will value or question their alt-world more… who knows? Eloise will continue trying to keep a lid on things, because she wants to preserve her son’s life. It could get very interesting if everyone starts asking too many questions, because I also suspect that the alt-timeline is fragile since events were not necessarily supposed to happen that way.

I am convinced that the 2nd story does tie into the 1st and it will heavily involve Widmore and Desmond. I don’t have enough coherent ideas to post my thoughts here though. I think it’s interesting that Story 1 involves Eloise as the educated-player and Story 2 involves Widmore… I love the duality of LOST in that respect. I am also sure that there is a ton that I have missed, and I am excited to see if the show plays out along the theory I have outlined above. I will be even happier if I am completely wrong and it’s even more interesting!

Again, comments welcome. I hope there aren’t glaring plot holes!

We welcome relevant, respectful comments.
 
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