LOST will have a Myst-style Twist by Animan

Ever since Lost started, I’ve been constantly reminded of the seminal computer game Myst: the setting, the exploration aspects, etc. The producers even have stated that it was a major inspiration for the show.
With only a few episodes left, Lost, in my opinion, is shaping up to have a Myst-style ending. Now, before I explain what that specifically means, I should describe Myst’s story for those of you that either never played the game or never had the patience to finish. So, spoilers for a 17 year old game ahead…and watch for any similarities to Lost that may pop up…

In the game Myst, you play as an anonymous protagonist never named or seen and known only as “The Stranger”. The Stranger inexplicably finds himself on a seemingly uninhabited island, with no direction of what to do next or how to get off the island. On the island there are several odd structures; most-importantly among them is a Library.

The Library and even the island itself was created by a brilliant renaissance man named Atrus. Atrus is one of the last of an extinct civilization called D’ni where a skill called The Art was developed. Through The Art, the D’ni could describe and “link” to fantastic “Ages” such as Myst by using special books, called “linking books”. Atrus lived on Myst where he wrote and accumulated a whole library of Ages. He lived there with his wife Catherine and their two sons, Sirrus and Achenar.

Before the Stranger gets to Myst, a few important things have happened on the island: the Library containing most of Atrus’ linking books has been burned; Atrus has left behind a note to his wife saying that he suspects one of his sons is the culprit but he isn’t sure which; and Atrus himself has disappeared.

In the Library there are two prominently displayed linking books: one red and one blue. Each book is a sort of prison for the two brothers: Sirrus is trapped in the red book, Achenar in the blue book. The Stranger can see and listen to them through the linking panel on the inside of the book. Each brother claims that he is innocent of all crimes and that it is his brother who has betrayed their father and that the other cannot be trusted. They each task the Stranger to help them by going through the remaining Ages, finding the pages of their respective books, thus getting them closer and closer to freedom. Through their conversations with the Stranger, each brother makes distinct impressions and tells a distinct story.

Sirrus, in the red book, is a smooth-talking young man who comes off as sophisticated and well-kept. He’s logical and calm, if not with an air of arrogance. He claims that his brother is a disturbed, insane individual with a thirst for destruction. He goes on to claim that their father trapped them in the books as to hold them until they could properly be judged. He says that Atrus went on a final journey to discover the truth but never returned and he is most likely dead.

Achenar, in the blue book, in an unkept, burly, hairy man who doesn’t seem to be completely sane; he giggles slightly after every sentence and seems to have a bit of anger in him. He claims that his brother is a manipulative liar with the “tongue of a serpent” who killed their father and would not hesitate to kill again. He also states that his brother had delusions of grandeur and lusted after riches from the Ages of Myst and once he had them, he would destroy the Ages and murder the inhabitants. He claims that Sirrus murdered their father and in his last moments; Atrus trapped them both in the books.

In order to fully free each brother, the Stranger must find one final page for each book that is hidden in a secret part of the Library behind the fireplace. In this area is a red page, a blue page and a large Green Book. Both brothers warn you not to touch this book or you will be trapped just like them.

At this point, the protagonist has three choices: trust Sirrus, trust Achenar, or trust neither. All three choices reveal the same thing: BOTH brothers are evil and were working together against their father.

Trusting and freeing either brother brings the same result: YOU take their place, becoming trapped in their prison book as they gloat over the fact you believed them. You’re left alone, trapped forever in the linking book.

If you ignore their instructions and open the Green Book you see Atrus, who is very much alive but trapped in the ruins of D’ni by his sons. He explains that he created the Red and Blue Books to trap any greedy explorers that stumbled upon his Library. He allowed his sons access to every book in his Library except those two. They believed that their father was withholding riches and power that might reside in those books from them, as he never told his sons their true purpose. Together they devised a plan to get their father out of the way by luring him to D’ni under the guise that their mother was there. They took a single page from his Myst Linking Book, effectively trapping him in D’ni, unable to get back. Once you free Atrus, he returns to Myst and destroys the books containing his sons.

OK! Got all that? Good. Let’s get to theorizing.

On Lost the obvious stand-ins for Sirrus and Achenar are Jacob and the Man in Black. Many, myself included, believe that they are brothers. They both have been trying to convince visitors to the island that the other is bad and can’t be trusted. They both are trying to get others to do their bidding and take responsibilities from them (Candidates, anyone?). And they both, presumably, want to be free of the island: Jacob gets killed and finds a replacement to protect the island instead of him, MIB gets Jacob killed so he can leave. Of course, neither character’s motivations have been fully revealed yet so it’s hard to say what their ultimate plans are.

Is that to say that Jacob and the MIB are both completely bad? Hard to say. They may not be bad, per se, just motivated to their own ends. And if that means stepping on a few castaway toes to get there…so be it.

And this leads to another possible parallel with Myst: parental figures. MIB has already stated that he has mother issues. Perhaps his and Jacob’s mother is the stand-in for Atrus? Did she trap her sons on this island as some sort of eternal punishment? That’s all still to be seen.

This all leads to me theory that in the end, Lost will pull an afore-summarized Myst-style twist on us.