Australia is the Key to the Whole Game by Brian Shipman (aka mystimus)

Hurley was right. Australia IS the key to the whole game.

The six numbers (4,8,15,16,23,42) represent four stages on the Hero's Journey. The full theory and explanation of the number is posted on LOSTPEDIA at the link below. You said you didn't want short theories. Congratulations - this one is 15,000+ words, but I believe worth every syllable.

http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/User_blog:Mystimus/LOST:_Australia_is_the_Key_to_the_Whole_Game

1. If you watch the DVD extra "A Hero's Journey" (LOST: the Complete Sixth and Final Season: Extras), you will notice that the opening title screen displays "A Hero's Journey" underscored with the numbers 4,8,15,16,23,42 - indicating that the hero's journey and the numbers are synonymous.

2. Hurley first hears the six numbers at the Santa Rosa Mental Health Institute while Leonard Simms repeats them over and over again while playing Connect Four. This is our clue that we must "connect four" meanings from the six numbers. We western-thinking viewers have tried so hard to isolate each number individually and find six separate meanings, but that has been our downfall. This paradigm has hidden the meaning even though it sits right in front of our eyes. Connect Four shows us how to shift our paradigm and see the meaning of the numbers come into focus.

2. The episode WHATEVER THE CASE MAY BE contains at least two major clues to Australia as the key to the whole game - the name of the banker (Mark Hutton) and the number on Kate's toy airplane (5025). Both point to a very specific and important location in Australia.

3. The episode THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME, where Hurley tells us "Australia is the key to the whole game," contains several key clues as well - specifically the code Alex enters at the sonar fence (1623) and the phone call it triggers, interrupting the RISK game with the audio code 14J. Both of these codes point to a very specific time and place in Australia.

4. The six items that Richard places in front of the child John Locke (the knife, comic book, baseball glove, vial, book of laws, and compass) also represent the six numbers. This is detailed in the blog.

The theory posted on LOSTPEDIA walks you through every stage of the hero's journey, explaining each in detail using only in-episode clues. Once we see the meaning of the numbers, much of the mystery of LOST comes into much sharper focus.

Enjoy the read. Below is a link to the "book cover" for the blog.

http://lostpedia.wikia.com/index.php?title=User_blog:Mystimus/LOST:_Australia_is_the_Key_to_the_Whole_Game&image=CoverFinala-jpg