1. What was the nature and purpose of the Island?
Although it is never said outright I don't believe the island itself has any purpose, it is simply an Island. When Locke believed that the Island had some purpose for him it was simply the smoke monster manipulating him to kill Jacob. The same can be said of Jack seeing his dead father. The Island is special in that it seems to be the source of "the light" (I'll talk more about that later). The laws of time and space also seem to converge on the Island allowing time travel and alternate universes to exist. The Island though doesn't truly have any will of it's own as we find out that most events were manipulated by Jacob or "The Man In Black". And as we find out in the final episode the way Jacob protected the Island was entirely up to him.
2. What is "the light"?
Jacob's mother describes it as "life, death and rebirth", so we can assume it involves the cycle of life on earth or throughout the universe. I believe this was left very vague because we're getting into philosophical and religious ideas with this one. The writers obviously don't want to tell anyone what to believe in this regard so they left it rather murky. However, with the term "life, death and rebirth" I think they are hinting at the idea that all life is from past life. That all energy is from past energy and cannot be added to or taken away. Again this is just a philosophical idea. The light is somehow keeping this balance from crumbling. As we saw in "The End" when Jack releases the light the Island begins to crumble in on itself. I believe had it disappeared completely then everything would have ceased to exist.
3. What would have happened had "The Man In Black" escaped the Island?
The truth is we really have no idea. According to Jacob this would be the mean the end of everything but "The Man In Black" said he simply wanted to leave to have his old life back. So it depends on who you believe. However, we can assume from his actions on the Island as the smoke monster that he does not have a high regard for humanity.
4. Why did "The Man In Black" transform into the smoke monster?
If the light is a source of good in the universe then why would it turn "The Man In Black" into a monster? Why were other characters not also transformed? I don't really have a good answer on this one so I'll leave it to someone else.
Friday, September 3, 2010
Friday, August 6, 2010
Lost but Never Forgotten
An in-depth examination of the series finale of Lost - by Ember
It's been months since the finale of Lost aired - months in which my mother and I have continually talked out, sketched out, thrown out, and worked out different theories for the whole Alt-Verse storyline. Why, you may ask? Because purgatory, the afterlife, heaven, whatever, doesn't make any sense. If this is simply a sort of afterlife, why is there a zoom in on a sunken island in the first episode? An island that obviously sunk sometime after Dharma was stationed there? This could simply be a red herring, thrown in to confuse us viewers. But based on the intricacy and usual finesse of the Lost writers, I doubt it. Also, we know from THE CONSTANT that Desmond is capable of time jumping. But why would Desmond be time jumping in HAPPILY EVER AFTER to an afterlife? That doesn't make sense in any way. .
So if it's not an afterlife, what is it? altJack's 'father' tells him it's a place they all created to be together. My own personal theory is that it is a ......wait for .....alternate universe ... that's right. Just what it had appeared to be from the very beginning. How? This is how it goes:
auDaniel tells auDesmond that he thinks he set off a nuclear bomb - that this wasn't supposed to be their life. I think this is EXACTLY what happened. When Juliet detonated the bomb, 3 things happened - first, the prevention of The Incident created a completely new timeline, branching off from the original timeline (like a fork). Second, the electromagnetism from the explosion sent Jack and Co back to their own timeline - NOT simply pushing them back to the future, but actually throwing them over to the original timeline, which is why nothing has changed when they awake in 2007. And third, it sinks the island and kills all the inhabitants. So now there are two timelines - Alt-Verse and RegularVerse
In RegularVerse, 2007, the incident has still occurred and nothing has changed. And why should it have? Why would Jack assume that if he prevented the incident, they would magically transport to the plane as if nothing happened? What happened has happened, right? And in the theory of alternate universes, this is technically true. You can never change history, you simply create new strings with new versions of yourself and others. Jack and Co., of course, aren't' aware of this, and simply feel they've failed.
In the Alt-Verse, 1977, we know that there are Alt-Versions of everyone already - There's a baby Miles at the same time there is a grown up Miles. Baby altMiles leaves the island as regMiles stays to help blow up the bomb. It's reasonable to assume that there is also an young altJuliet, altJack, altKate, and so forth, living happily and obliviously off the island at the same time regJack and Co are trying to detonate a bomb. So when the island sinks and the incident is prevented, what happens to these young Alt-Versions?
Simple: The all board a place in 2004 and land safely at LAX. altJack's 'father' was right - they did create a place for themselves, just for different versions of themselves. (Extra note - this would also explain the lack of Richard in the Alt-Verse. There would be no young Alt-Verse Richard in 1977 when the bomb detonated and broke the universe into two timelines. So when the island sunk, Richard died and left behind no AltVersion of himself. It would also explain altBen's acknowledgment of having lived on the island when he was young - but then he left during the evacuation and went on to lead a normal life after the island was sunk. The same is true for Eloise and Widmore - they evacuated and went on to have altDaniel. Eloise, I believe, already has experience with time jumping, so she is more aware as altEloise of what is happening, which is why she tells altDesmond to stop looking for the others.)
So what's the deal with the whole regaining-of-memories thing? Simple again: Course correction. Fate has always been the big theme of the show. It was these people's fate - not to land on the island, not to save the light, not to kill smokey - but to simply KNOW each other. That was their fate, their collective destiny. And as soon as they land safely in LAX in the Alt-Verse, the universe - maybe even the island itself - starts doing damage control. Starts to make sure they remember each other, and the effect they've had on each other, for good or bad. Now, my mom always gets hung up on the concurrence of the two timelines. But we already know that the two timelines aren't running concurrently together. When Jack regains his memories in the Alt-Verse in 2004, he receives the memories of his WHOLE life, including his death which took place in Regular-Verse 2007. The same is logically true for everyone else. When altKate speaks to altJack at the concert she tells him she's missed him - this is because altKate has also received memories of her (regKate's) whole life - which may have been 40, 50, 60 years after leaving the island and Jack behind. She missed him because she had lived her whole life after leaving the island without him. And she had eventually died. Just like all the rest of them - so when altJack comes to that conclusion in the church ("they're all dead), he is right because they - their Regular-Verse version of themselves - are dead and gone.
So if it's not purgatory, what's up with altJack's dead father? I think he was simply a manifestation of the island. We've already established Smokey's ability to transform into the dead, a trait he got from his little trip down the rabbit hole to the middle of the island. We know the island can manifest the dead as well - it did it for Jacob and Smokey's mom. I believe Hurley was never speaking to the actual dead - he was speaking to the island which, because it is "life, death, rebirth", can retain and project the figures and personalities of those who have died. Jack's father at the church is simply the island reaching out to them. I believe this is also true of the light the filters into the church at the end. This is no heavenly light - we can't ignore the prevalence of 'light' on the island throughout the show. Light -"the most beautiful light"- is at the very center of the island. So why would it be strange to assume that this is the light we see at the end?
But the real question is (which I have no answer to) - where did they go once the screen lit up to pure white and the credits rolled? Did they all 'die', since technically they had lived their lives and died already? Did they simply go about their business - Jack being a good father, Locke marrying Helen - but with a sort of enlightenment as to their world and their connection together (and who they used to be in "another life")? Or did they return to the island? I'd like to believe the latter - that they all returned to a cleansed island where they could live together because they were 'ready' - and those like Ben who had some things to take care of, will meet them a little later.
This is just my little work-in-progress theory, and I'm sure there are plenty of holes and things that I've missed.
It's been months since the finale of Lost aired - months in which my mother and I have continually talked out, sketched out, thrown out, and worked out different theories for the whole Alt-Verse storyline. Why, you may ask? Because purgatory, the afterlife, heaven, whatever, doesn't make any sense. If this is simply a sort of afterlife, why is there a zoom in on a sunken island in the first episode? An island that obviously sunk sometime after Dharma was stationed there? This could simply be a red herring, thrown in to confuse us viewers. But based on the intricacy and usual finesse of the Lost writers, I doubt it. Also, we know from THE CONSTANT that Desmond is capable of time jumping. But why would Desmond be time jumping in HAPPILY EVER AFTER to an afterlife? That doesn't make sense in any way. .
So if it's not an afterlife, what is it? altJack's 'father' tells him it's a place they all created to be together. My own personal theory is that it is a ......wait for .....alternate universe ... that's right. Just what it had appeared to be from the very beginning. How? This is how it goes:
auDaniel tells auDesmond that he thinks he set off a nuclear bomb - that this wasn't supposed to be their life. I think this is EXACTLY what happened. When Juliet detonated the bomb, 3 things happened - first, the prevention of The Incident created a completely new timeline, branching off from the original timeline (like a fork). Second, the electromagnetism from the explosion sent Jack and Co back to their own timeline - NOT simply pushing them back to the future, but actually throwing them over to the original timeline, which is why nothing has changed when they awake in 2007. And third, it sinks the island and kills all the inhabitants. So now there are two timelines - Alt-Verse and RegularVerse
In RegularVerse, 2007, the incident has still occurred and nothing has changed. And why should it have? Why would Jack assume that if he prevented the incident, they would magically transport to the plane as if nothing happened? What happened has happened, right? And in the theory of alternate universes, this is technically true. You can never change history, you simply create new strings with new versions of yourself and others. Jack and Co., of course, aren't' aware of this, and simply feel they've failed.
In the Alt-Verse, 1977, we know that there are Alt-Versions of everyone already - There's a baby Miles at the same time there is a grown up Miles. Baby altMiles leaves the island as regMiles stays to help blow up the bomb. It's reasonable to assume that there is also an young altJuliet, altJack, altKate, and so forth, living happily and obliviously off the island at the same time regJack and Co are trying to detonate a bomb. So when the island sinks and the incident is prevented, what happens to these young Alt-Versions?
Simple: The all board a place in 2004 and land safely at LAX. altJack's 'father' was right - they did create a place for themselves, just for different versions of themselves. (Extra note - this would also explain the lack of Richard in the Alt-Verse. There would be no young Alt-Verse Richard in 1977 when the bomb detonated and broke the universe into two timelines. So when the island sunk, Richard died and left behind no AltVersion of himself. It would also explain altBen's acknowledgment of having lived on the island when he was young - but then he left during the evacuation and went on to lead a normal life after the island was sunk. The same is true for Eloise and Widmore - they evacuated and went on to have altDaniel. Eloise, I believe, already has experience with time jumping, so she is more aware as altEloise of what is happening, which is why she tells altDesmond to stop looking for the others.)
So what's the deal with the whole regaining-of-memories thing? Simple again: Course correction. Fate has always been the big theme of the show. It was these people's fate - not to land on the island, not to save the light, not to kill smokey - but to simply KNOW each other. That was their fate, their collective destiny. And as soon as they land safely in LAX in the Alt-Verse, the universe - maybe even the island itself - starts doing damage control. Starts to make sure they remember each other, and the effect they've had on each other, for good or bad. Now, my mom always gets hung up on the concurrence of the two timelines. But we already know that the two timelines aren't running concurrently together. When Jack regains his memories in the Alt-Verse in 2004, he receives the memories of his WHOLE life, including his death which took place in Regular-Verse 2007. The same is logically true for everyone else. When altKate speaks to altJack at the concert she tells him she's missed him - this is because altKate has also received memories of her (regKate's) whole life - which may have been 40, 50, 60 years after leaving the island and Jack behind. She missed him because she had lived her whole life after leaving the island without him. And she had eventually died. Just like all the rest of them - so when altJack comes to that conclusion in the church ("they're all dead), he is right because they - their Regular-Verse version of themselves - are dead and gone.
So if it's not purgatory, what's up with altJack's dead father? I think he was simply a manifestation of the island. We've already established Smokey's ability to transform into the dead, a trait he got from his little trip down the rabbit hole to the middle of the island. We know the island can manifest the dead as well - it did it for Jacob and Smokey's mom. I believe Hurley was never speaking to the actual dead - he was speaking to the island which, because it is "life, death, rebirth", can retain and project the figures and personalities of those who have died. Jack's father at the church is simply the island reaching out to them. I believe this is also true of the light the filters into the church at the end. This is no heavenly light - we can't ignore the prevalence of 'light' on the island throughout the show. Light -"the most beautiful light"- is at the very center of the island. So why would it be strange to assume that this is the light we see at the end?
But the real question is (which I have no answer to) - where did they go once the screen lit up to pure white and the credits rolled? Did they all 'die', since technically they had lived their lives and died already? Did they simply go about their business - Jack being a good father, Locke marrying Helen - but with a sort of enlightenment as to their world and their connection together (and who they used to be in "another life")? Or did they return to the island? I'd like to believe the latter - that they all returned to a cleansed island where they could live together because they were 'ready' - and those like Ben who had some things to take care of, will meet them a little later.
This is just my little work-in-progress theory, and I'm sure there are plenty of holes and things that I've missed.
Lost The Final Episode Theories: Alternate Reality
If you're like me you pretty much enjoyed the entire series of Lost up until about the last five minutes of the last episode. That's when you may have wondered what exactly was going on. They all go to a church and wait to die? Jack's father is still alive? Were all the flashbacks we saw in season 6 a complete waste of time because none of it was real? Were they supposed to be in some sort of limbo between earth and heaven or an alternate time line. To try to come up with a theory we have to go back to the end of season 5.
At the end of season 5 Juliet sacrifices herself to ignite the nuclear bomb. Jack believes it will reset history so that the hatch will never be built, the incident will not happen and they'll instead fly safely from Sydney to Los Angeles. At the beginning of season 6 we see that perhaps Jack's plan has worked everyone is on the plane from Sydney to Los Angeles. However some things are a bit off for example this time around Desmond is on the plane when the first time around he was not. After the scene concludes the camera goes down from the plane under the ocean to reveal that the island is completely submersed is water. Later in the episode though we find that everyone is still on the island but that time has shifted back to present day. Juliet though died in the blast. It's kind of weird, if the blast simply helped shift them back to the present day then Juliet should still be alive. So at this point it appears we have two different realities one in which the plane lands safely and one in which they still end up on the island.
This theory works pretty well up until the last episode. We get to see how the characters lives may have worked out differently had the island never been part of their lives. Later in the season we find that Charlie from the alternate reality has had a memory of the island. Soon Desmond has one as well, he then goes on a mission to help all those on the flight see what really happened. It seems seeing an important person or event that reminds them of something on the island will trigger it. What I found interesting though is that the characters left on the island don't ever have memories of anything from the alternate reality. This gives the impression that the alternate reality is not part of their true destiny but more of anomaly that wasn't supposed to actually occur.
In the last episode there are some things added to make you think that it is some sort of limbo between earth and heaven but I think that it can still be explained as a alternate reality. For example Hugo mentions how he enjoyed working with Ben on the island that they made a good team. On the island this had not happened yet. It is as if they not only had memories but also all their thoughts up until they died. Also, Jack's father is there at the funeral and he's not dead at all. So how can these things be explained as part of alternate reality? It's simple really, the alternate reality doesn't directly correspond to the island reality. Instead it exist outside of the real timeline because it is an anomaly that is not really supposed to exist. Once the light enters the church it signifies that those people will cease to exist. How though is Jack's father there he supposed to be dead right? Actually we never really know for sure that in this reality Jack's father is actually dead. Desmond and Hugo plan the entire event of getting everyone to the church and making sure everyone remembers the true reality. Desmond is even there to pick up the coffin as it's delivered. Jack's father tells Jack that he created this place so that he would have a place for everyone to meet and let go of the past. This is in fact true Jack created it with the nuclear bomb although it was not his intention at the time.
As the show ends we see three different things happen at the same time. The plane leaves the island and we can assume that they escape. Jack lies down in same spot where he woke up at the beginning of series and we see his eye close as he dies sacrificing himself for the others. Hugo and Ben take up the charge of protecting the island and the light. The characters in the alternate reality cease to exist as the light enters the church. The End.
At the end of season 5 Juliet sacrifices herself to ignite the nuclear bomb. Jack believes it will reset history so that the hatch will never be built, the incident will not happen and they'll instead fly safely from Sydney to Los Angeles. At the beginning of season 6 we see that perhaps Jack's plan has worked everyone is on the plane from Sydney to Los Angeles. However some things are a bit off for example this time around Desmond is on the plane when the first time around he was not. After the scene concludes the camera goes down from the plane under the ocean to reveal that the island is completely submersed is water. Later in the episode though we find that everyone is still on the island but that time has shifted back to present day. Juliet though died in the blast. It's kind of weird, if the blast simply helped shift them back to the present day then Juliet should still be alive. So at this point it appears we have two different realities one in which the plane lands safely and one in which they still end up on the island.
This theory works pretty well up until the last episode. We get to see how the characters lives may have worked out differently had the island never been part of their lives. Later in the season we find that Charlie from the alternate reality has had a memory of the island. Soon Desmond has one as well, he then goes on a mission to help all those on the flight see what really happened. It seems seeing an important person or event that reminds them of something on the island will trigger it. What I found interesting though is that the characters left on the island don't ever have memories of anything from the alternate reality. This gives the impression that the alternate reality is not part of their true destiny but more of anomaly that wasn't supposed to actually occur.
In the last episode there are some things added to make you think that it is some sort of limbo between earth and heaven but I think that it can still be explained as a alternate reality. For example Hugo mentions how he enjoyed working with Ben on the island that they made a good team. On the island this had not happened yet. It is as if they not only had memories but also all their thoughts up until they died. Also, Jack's father is there at the funeral and he's not dead at all. So how can these things be explained as part of alternate reality? It's simple really, the alternate reality doesn't directly correspond to the island reality. Instead it exist outside of the real timeline because it is an anomaly that is not really supposed to exist. Once the light enters the church it signifies that those people will cease to exist. How though is Jack's father there he supposed to be dead right? Actually we never really know for sure that in this reality Jack's father is actually dead. Desmond and Hugo plan the entire event of getting everyone to the church and making sure everyone remembers the true reality. Desmond is even there to pick up the coffin as it's delivered. Jack's father tells Jack that he created this place so that he would have a place for everyone to meet and let go of the past. This is in fact true Jack created it with the nuclear bomb although it was not his intention at the time.
As the show ends we see three different things happen at the same time. The plane leaves the island and we can assume that they escape. Jack lies down in same spot where he woke up at the beginning of series and we see his eye close as he dies sacrificing himself for the others. Hugo and Ben take up the charge of protecting the island and the light. The characters in the alternate reality cease to exist as the light enters the church. The End.
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