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- Joined
- Jun 8, 2006
Well, I didn't..but definitely do now
Some interesting thoughts...
Get 'Lost' in these reader-submitted theories
By Bill Keveney, USA TODAY
BURBANK, Calif. - USA TODAY received far more theories - from around the world - than we could submit to Lost's producers. Here's another sampling - 10more offered for your consideration, without further comment:
The actual identity of the island is the Garden of Eden - the cradle of civilization. We believe the show is balancing faith and science. Thus, the island is aplace of faith being cloaked and protected (and even prodded) by scientific means.
It has been revealed that the numbers are the Valenzetti Equation. This equation points to the end of the world. It points to destiny, and it has been referredto as "a curse." When Adam and Eve sinned, it brought a curse to mankind (which included difficulty in childbirth). It also doomed all mankind todeath. It pointed to the end of the world.
Dharma was trying to reverse the curse of Adam and Eve through scientific means, while the Others and the Lost-ies have been trying to do so by means of faith.The Others are moving the Lost-ies to make right the sins of their past. The Monster is a man-made means of judgment; he is a man-made god. If someone can passThe Monster's test of judgment, they may be able to atone for Adam and Eve's sin, and in essence reverse the curse in the very place where it began -the Garden.
- Darren Schalk, Cleveland, Tenn.
Time on-island is faster than time off-Island: this is the reason why Alpert looks younger than expected, and why Michael had more than five days to accomplishall the things he did before meeting Tom again. The fail-safe key temporarily reset the Island to wait for the outside world to catch up with it. This accountsfor the apparent 16-day discrepancy in Juliet's estimate of her stay on-Island and of Sun's date of conception.
Now the outside world is again progressively losing time: this property - either relativistic or computational in nature - makes the Island the only place inthe world where Free Will can be experienced at its best, making its inhabitants able to change the past as well as the present and the future, escaping theuniverse's course-correcting.
Widmore and his emissaries (Abaddon, Ms. Hawking …) want to delete this singularity and make it enslaved by time and space. Ben, the Natives and their contactsoff-Island want to preserve it, in this context being the good guys: a metaphysical conflict between the forces of Fate and Free Will is secretly taking place,with the Island as battlefield and prey. Two players, two sides. One is light, one is dark.
- Paolo Trubiano, Verona, Italy
Put simply, Lost is a story of redemption. The real "twist," as it were, doesn't so much depend on the nature of the Island, the DharmaInitiative, electromagnets or Charles Widmore, as it does on the meaning of the show's title. Whereas at first such title appeared to describe theunfortunate fate of Flight 815, it's now apparent that it wasn't when the survivors were stranded that they were first "lost." Instead, thepre-crash lives of the castaways were, in many ways, broken, tragic, incomplete.
Yet on the Island, all were freed from their (sometimes literal) bonds. If anything, this season's flash-forwards have reinforced this point. FromHurley's encounter with ghost Charlie to Jack's season-ending cry of "We have to go back," the Oceanic 6 are becoming fully aware ofwhat's really been "lost." Whatever else it is, the Island is a place of redemption, a place to "make amends."
While the various sci-fi elements of the Island almost certainly give it objective value to the outside world, in our story, it is the Oceanic 6 that willrealize what such things are truly worth, and it is the Six that will ultimately be called to protect them.
- Richard Hoeg, Novi, Mich.
I think that Lost is adapting a paranormal theory that existed before the show called the Vile Vortices, which attempts to explain strange occurrences all overthe planet, notably places like the Bermuda Triangle. The theory suggests that there are 12 locations across the planet that all are somehow connected(probably by "wormholes"). So a plane from Nigeria can fly through the Vortex near Madagascar, and end up on a mysterious South Pacific island. Or apolar bear on that island can wander into the Island's Vortex and end up in Tunisia. Or Amelia Earhart can fly through a wormhole and end up living withthe Others, as a friend of Juliet's. This also explains why Juliet left for the Island from Florida, as the Galaga submarine could then quickly sail to theBermuda Triangle and access the Island from there.
I acknowledge that I did not come up with the Vile Vortices theory by myself, but I think it's the strongest "grand unifying theory" thatconnects more individual mysteries singlehandedly in one concept than any other.
- Greg Dean Schmitz, Fond du Lac, Wis.
Charles Widmore is Alvar Hanso. Ben led the Purge to keep Widmore from pulling the plug on the Dharma Initiative. The Dharma Initiative's original goal wasto save humanity by keeping the Island from hitting a future doomsday date and time. This was the purpose of hitting the button, and is the origin behind themystical numbers.
Now Widmore is intent on destroying Ben for good and keeping his experiment a secret (the boat). There is at least one door (or wormhole) leading from theIsland to somewhere in the United States. This may explain how Locke's father got on the Island, as well as how Richard and Mr. Friendly got off. The"survivors" are both dead on the bottom of the ocean and alive on the Island. The plane entered as the button was pushed, creating two planes, oneexisting in the isolated time of the Island, the other existing in the present otherworldly time (in the Sunda trench of the Indian Ocean).
Since the hatch and button have been destroyed, the Island has not "gone back in time," the helicopter and its inhabitants were able to enter andleave safely.
- Eric Magnesen, Savoy, Ill.
My husband and I believe that Sawyer will die by the end of the sixth season. The reason, of course, is because his daughter's name is Clementine. Thebasis of our theory is the song Oh My Darling Clementine. The song begins, "In a cavern, in a canyon, excavating for a mine, dwelt a miner, 49er, and hisdaughter - Clementine." Later, after Clementine drowns, she is "Lost and gone forever." The song continues "Then the miner, 49er, soonbegan to peak and pine, thought he oughter join his daughter, now he's with his Clementine."
- Ken and Annie Vowels, Greenfield, Ind.
Jacob was a truly devoted member of the Dharma Initiative, who put himself forward for an experiment that went wrong. The only reason Jacob is still special isbecause he is the healing power behind the Island. Jacob hates/fears Ben, for he asked Locke to "help him" - Jacob obviously did not want Ben as theleader of The Others/Island, so when Ben got a tumor on his spine, Jacob refused to heal him.
Jacob healed Locke as soon as he arrived on the Island, for he knew Locke could be the only one to save him from the clutches of Ben. This is what Ben knew,too, so he shot Locke and left him for dead - only for Jacob to signal to Walt to go and help Locke. I wouldn't be surprised if Walt had met Jacob on theIsland before he left, without us seeing.
Jacob obviously healed Juliet's sister, Rachel, too - for Ben said, "Jacob said he would take care of it himself." Jacob's chair could be thecontrolling place of Smokey and Christian Shepherd, etc. … As for Jacob's cabin, I don't think he appeared to Locke, for it was daytime and Jacobobviously doesn't like light.
- Jacob Stolworthy, London
The Island exists at some point further in the future than December 2004, and the self-consistency principle (i.e., you can't change the past in such a waythat you alter your own present and create a paradox) means that all of the Oceanic 815 folk can only die on the Island. They exist on the Island in the future(from an off-Island perspective) and so they must remain alive in order to prevent a paradox. That's why Jack had to go to the funeral - because if itreally was one of the Oceanic 815 passengers in that coffin, it means that they finally got to the point where off-Island time is ahead of on-Island time andthey can die now.
- Toby Nieboer, Melbourne, Australia
The Island is the Garden of Eden and Atlantis and all of the places around which different civilizations' creation mythologies emerged. They are all thesame place, and they are the Island. Therefore the Island is also a "fountain of youth." But women find themselves unable to give birth as a tradeofffor eternal life. The survivors were brought to the Island because, in their respective lives, each was caught in a virtual limbo between the forces of fate(or faith) and free will, and the Island is the physical center of the conflict between these two forces. The survivors had lost touch with their families,faiths and their ability (physically, psychologically, or mentally) to exercise free will. They had lost themselves. No one should leave the Island before theyhave made amends. That's why those whose departure is premature are tortured and compelled to return. The "monster" is protecting the Island frominterlopers (which is why it only goes after "the Others," Dharma and select survivors of the crash). Jacob and the Others are not "inalliance" with the Island, but are using it for their own interests. The Whispers are manifestations of memories of those on the Island.
- Cynthia Boaz, Rochester, N.Y.
The most critical revelation in Lost is this: John and Rose were healed by the Island, and this took place because of the Island's "peculiar andunique electromagnetic properties." Thus we can say, "The Island is a place of paranormal power." After all, there is no known scientific basisfor "electromagnetic healing." And most attempts to force a scientific explanation are too convoluted to be explained in the course of a show likeLost (which seems more interested in character development than in explaining plot rationale).
If the Island is a place of paranormal power, then we have to acknowledge that many other paranormal phenomena might be introduced into the story withoutexplanation. Walt's abilities (including bilocation, as revealed by Ms. Klugh), Desmond's flashes, John's visions, the smoke monster as a tulpa (athought form) … perhaps even the presence of ghosts … are all fair game.
Another basic idea in the show: an island of such power will be protected by zealots (the twisted extreme of faith) and coveted by tyrants (the twisted extremeof science). This appears to be the fundamental conflict of the narrative represented by Ben and Widmore respectively.
These two points alone "explain" most events in the show.
- William Wright, Coralville, Iowa
Some interesting thoughts...
Get 'Lost' in these reader-submitted theories
By Bill Keveney, USA TODAY
BURBANK, Calif. - USA TODAY received far more theories - from around the world - than we could submit to Lost's producers. Here's another sampling - 10more offered for your consideration, without further comment:
The actual identity of the island is the Garden of Eden - the cradle of civilization. We believe the show is balancing faith and science. Thus, the island is aplace of faith being cloaked and protected (and even prodded) by scientific means.
It has been revealed that the numbers are the Valenzetti Equation. This equation points to the end of the world. It points to destiny, and it has been referredto as "a curse." When Adam and Eve sinned, it brought a curse to mankind (which included difficulty in childbirth). It also doomed all mankind todeath. It pointed to the end of the world.
Dharma was trying to reverse the curse of Adam and Eve through scientific means, while the Others and the Lost-ies have been trying to do so by means of faith.The Others are moving the Lost-ies to make right the sins of their past. The Monster is a man-made means of judgment; he is a man-made god. If someone can passThe Monster's test of judgment, they may be able to atone for Adam and Eve's sin, and in essence reverse the curse in the very place where it began -the Garden.
- Darren Schalk, Cleveland, Tenn.
Time on-island is faster than time off-Island: this is the reason why Alpert looks younger than expected, and why Michael had more than five days to accomplishall the things he did before meeting Tom again. The fail-safe key temporarily reset the Island to wait for the outside world to catch up with it. This accountsfor the apparent 16-day discrepancy in Juliet's estimate of her stay on-Island and of Sun's date of conception.
Now the outside world is again progressively losing time: this property - either relativistic or computational in nature - makes the Island the only place inthe world where Free Will can be experienced at its best, making its inhabitants able to change the past as well as the present and the future, escaping theuniverse's course-correcting.
Widmore and his emissaries (Abaddon, Ms. Hawking …) want to delete this singularity and make it enslaved by time and space. Ben, the Natives and their contactsoff-Island want to preserve it, in this context being the good guys: a metaphysical conflict between the forces of Fate and Free Will is secretly taking place,with the Island as battlefield and prey. Two players, two sides. One is light, one is dark.
- Paolo Trubiano, Verona, Italy
Put simply, Lost is a story of redemption. The real "twist," as it were, doesn't so much depend on the nature of the Island, the DharmaInitiative, electromagnets or Charles Widmore, as it does on the meaning of the show's title. Whereas at first such title appeared to describe theunfortunate fate of Flight 815, it's now apparent that it wasn't when the survivors were stranded that they were first "lost." Instead, thepre-crash lives of the castaways were, in many ways, broken, tragic, incomplete.
Yet on the Island, all were freed from their (sometimes literal) bonds. If anything, this season's flash-forwards have reinforced this point. FromHurley's encounter with ghost Charlie to Jack's season-ending cry of "We have to go back," the Oceanic 6 are becoming fully aware ofwhat's really been "lost." Whatever else it is, the Island is a place of redemption, a place to "make amends."
While the various sci-fi elements of the Island almost certainly give it objective value to the outside world, in our story, it is the Oceanic 6 that willrealize what such things are truly worth, and it is the Six that will ultimately be called to protect them.
- Richard Hoeg, Novi, Mich.
I think that Lost is adapting a paranormal theory that existed before the show called the Vile Vortices, which attempts to explain strange occurrences all overthe planet, notably places like the Bermuda Triangle. The theory suggests that there are 12 locations across the planet that all are somehow connected(probably by "wormholes"). So a plane from Nigeria can fly through the Vortex near Madagascar, and end up on a mysterious South Pacific island. Or apolar bear on that island can wander into the Island's Vortex and end up in Tunisia. Or Amelia Earhart can fly through a wormhole and end up living withthe Others, as a friend of Juliet's. This also explains why Juliet left for the Island from Florida, as the Galaga submarine could then quickly sail to theBermuda Triangle and access the Island from there.
I acknowledge that I did not come up with the Vile Vortices theory by myself, but I think it's the strongest "grand unifying theory" thatconnects more individual mysteries singlehandedly in one concept than any other.
- Greg Dean Schmitz, Fond du Lac, Wis.
Charles Widmore is Alvar Hanso. Ben led the Purge to keep Widmore from pulling the plug on the Dharma Initiative. The Dharma Initiative's original goal wasto save humanity by keeping the Island from hitting a future doomsday date and time. This was the purpose of hitting the button, and is the origin behind themystical numbers.
Now Widmore is intent on destroying Ben for good and keeping his experiment a secret (the boat). There is at least one door (or wormhole) leading from theIsland to somewhere in the United States. This may explain how Locke's father got on the Island, as well as how Richard and Mr. Friendly got off. The"survivors" are both dead on the bottom of the ocean and alive on the Island. The plane entered as the button was pushed, creating two planes, oneexisting in the isolated time of the Island, the other existing in the present otherworldly time (in the Sunda trench of the Indian Ocean).
Since the hatch and button have been destroyed, the Island has not "gone back in time," the helicopter and its inhabitants were able to enter andleave safely.
- Eric Magnesen, Savoy, Ill.
My husband and I believe that Sawyer will die by the end of the sixth season. The reason, of course, is because his daughter's name is Clementine. Thebasis of our theory is the song Oh My Darling Clementine. The song begins, "In a cavern, in a canyon, excavating for a mine, dwelt a miner, 49er, and hisdaughter - Clementine." Later, after Clementine drowns, she is "Lost and gone forever." The song continues "Then the miner, 49er, soonbegan to peak and pine, thought he oughter join his daughter, now he's with his Clementine."
- Ken and Annie Vowels, Greenfield, Ind.
Jacob was a truly devoted member of the Dharma Initiative, who put himself forward for an experiment that went wrong. The only reason Jacob is still special isbecause he is the healing power behind the Island. Jacob hates/fears Ben, for he asked Locke to "help him" - Jacob obviously did not want Ben as theleader of The Others/Island, so when Ben got a tumor on his spine, Jacob refused to heal him.
Jacob healed Locke as soon as he arrived on the Island, for he knew Locke could be the only one to save him from the clutches of Ben. This is what Ben knew,too, so he shot Locke and left him for dead - only for Jacob to signal to Walt to go and help Locke. I wouldn't be surprised if Walt had met Jacob on theIsland before he left, without us seeing.
Jacob obviously healed Juliet's sister, Rachel, too - for Ben said, "Jacob said he would take care of it himself." Jacob's chair could be thecontrolling place of Smokey and Christian Shepherd, etc. … As for Jacob's cabin, I don't think he appeared to Locke, for it was daytime and Jacobobviously doesn't like light.
- Jacob Stolworthy, London
The Island exists at some point further in the future than December 2004, and the self-consistency principle (i.e., you can't change the past in such a waythat you alter your own present and create a paradox) means that all of the Oceanic 815 folk can only die on the Island. They exist on the Island in the future(from an off-Island perspective) and so they must remain alive in order to prevent a paradox. That's why Jack had to go to the funeral - because if itreally was one of the Oceanic 815 passengers in that coffin, it means that they finally got to the point where off-Island time is ahead of on-Island time andthey can die now.
- Toby Nieboer, Melbourne, Australia
The Island is the Garden of Eden and Atlantis and all of the places around which different civilizations' creation mythologies emerged. They are all thesame place, and they are the Island. Therefore the Island is also a "fountain of youth." But women find themselves unable to give birth as a tradeofffor eternal life. The survivors were brought to the Island because, in their respective lives, each was caught in a virtual limbo between the forces of fate(or faith) and free will, and the Island is the physical center of the conflict between these two forces. The survivors had lost touch with their families,faiths and their ability (physically, psychologically, or mentally) to exercise free will. They had lost themselves. No one should leave the Island before theyhave made amends. That's why those whose departure is premature are tortured and compelled to return. The "monster" is protecting the Island frominterlopers (which is why it only goes after "the Others," Dharma and select survivors of the crash). Jacob and the Others are not "inalliance" with the Island, but are using it for their own interests. The Whispers are manifestations of memories of those on the Island.
- Cynthia Boaz, Rochester, N.Y.
The most critical revelation in Lost is this: John and Rose were healed by the Island, and this took place because of the Island's "peculiar andunique electromagnetic properties." Thus we can say, "The Island is a place of paranormal power." After all, there is no known scientific basisfor "electromagnetic healing." And most attempts to force a scientific explanation are too convoluted to be explained in the course of a show likeLost (which seems more interested in character development than in explaining plot rationale).
If the Island is a place of paranormal power, then we have to acknowledge that many other paranormal phenomena might be introduced into the story withoutexplanation. Walt's abilities (including bilocation, as revealed by Ms. Klugh), Desmond's flashes, John's visions, the smoke monster as a tulpa (athought form) … perhaps even the presence of ghosts … are all fair game.
Another basic idea in the show: an island of such power will be protected by zealots (the twisted extreme of faith) and coveted by tyrants (the twisted extremeof science). This appears to be the fundamental conflict of the narrative represented by Ben and Widmore respectively.
These two points alone "explain" most events in the show.
- William Wright, Coralville, Iowa
