-
All responses Most smiled responses
-
No problem. This is probably one of the hardest things about the show. Not that it's hard to understand, but that it's hard to accept.
They don't explain why it'd be so bad. We're stuck imagining what the reason could be, and we have practically nothing to go on.
We're led to believe that everyone everywhere would die. That's all we've got.
Here's the best I can do:
We have to work backwards.
It's important that people not find the island. Why? Because they'd find "The Source" (the light). Why is that bad? Because then they'd try to take it, and in doing so, the light would go out (i.e. the Source would lose its power).
Why is that bad? Well, that's the billion dollar question. And the answer depends upon what the source is.
My personal theory is that it's the essence of life. I'm not sure I like that explanation too much, but it fits what they've done with the story. Men want more life, and they'd try to take it, and in doing so, it would deplete the pool of life essence. Perhaps that would mean no new souls would be born. Perhaps it would literally mean that life everywhere would be extinguished. I don't know.
So... If the MiB leaves, we have two potential problems. First, he may bring people back to the island to harness the Source (something he had been trying to do before, albeit to leave). Second, given his smoke form, he's an incredibly powerful creature. He's invincible, he's able to read a person's memories, and he's able (and apparently willing) to kill whomever he wants.
Is MiB evil (or insane) enough that he'd kill everyone on Earth? I don't think so.
So I'm extrapolating that it would mean the island would be left unprotected (Jacob has to be dead for MiB to leave), and people would come to the island to get the Source, whether by MiB's influence or not.
I agree with you, though. I LOVE the show, and I loved the finale, but I'm disappointed with how they were to outrageously vague about this particular thing. -
I think he saw the smoke monster, plain and simple.
We've seen before (when Eko saw it) that it scans the person and shows past memories. Between that and the mere fact that seeing such a creature would be an overwhelmingly awe-inspiring experience, I think Locke simply saw the smoke monster, in the same way Eko did. And I think he felt it was beautiful, in the sense that it was very raw, honest, and emotionally overpowering. -
Let's take this a piece at a time...
The consensus seems to be that there is no alternate timeline. What we saw in the "flash sideways" takes place in the vaguely-define "Afterlife" after each one of the character dies, regardless of when they die.
The existence of the Afterlife has nothing to do with the bomb. However, a popular theory (though not one I subscribe to) is that the explosion of Jughead somehow modified things in such a way that it was the "creating" of the version of the Afterlife in which they could find each other. In other words, there still would have been an afterlife, but if the bomb hadn't exploded, they wouldn't have necessarily met up there (again, I disagree with that theory).
Some people take Juliet's dying words of "it worked" to indicate the bomb DID go off. However, she's basing her words on having seen a glimpse of the Afterlife. She may be interpreting that to be an alternate reality thus assuming they succeeded in erasing the "Timeline A" reality. However, it seems she misinterpreted it.
I think the bomb DIDN'T go off. I think "The Incident" was them drilling into the pocket of energy. They then created the system to release the energy every 108 minutes (perhaps so that Jughead does NOT blow up?) and filled in portions of the Swan station with concrete (see Season 2).
Is Jughead the failsafe? I'd never thought of that before. It makes a lot of sense, as I can't imagine what other "failsafe" would be relevant other than blowing the station up, burying the pocket of energy again. I like that idea. -
What made him special, theoretically, was his ability to withstand extreme electromagnetic exposure. From what I can tell, that's all.
Now, was that a result of the time he spent in the hatch? That's a good question. That's entirely possible, and it's as good a theory as any other I've heard. -
We have two references to the infection, either directly or indirectly.
First, we have Rousseau. It's safe to assume she was referring to the "corruption" of her team by the smoke monster. They were drug into the base of the temple wall, then later, they're up walking around, trying to manipulate her. It's completely feasible that she would assume they're infected somehow.
The second, indirect reference is the "Quarantine" label in the inside of the Swan hatch door. This wasn't in regards to a real infection of any sort. It was to keep Radzinsky, Inman, and Desmond inside the hatch. Personally, I have a theory about a possible second truce between Dharma and the Others, after the purge (see LostChatter #53 for more), and part of that may have involved the Others leaving the Swan hatch occupant(s) alone, as long as nobody left the hatch.
So based on what I can see, there WAS no infection. It was always an assumption by one of the characters (Rousseau, Desmond, etc.).
As for Sayid... Well, who knows whether Dogen was right? We know Dogen BELIEVED he was right, but was he really? Was his test effective? And all it probably determined was whether or not the person was "touched" by MiB (thus "claimed"). It's entirely possible that the emptiness Sayid felt was purely an issue of psychological despair and nothing supernatural at all. I don't believe he ever WAS evil—I think Dogen just had a very black-and-white system of justice. -
Ya' got me. MiB appeared as animals before (such as Kate's horse). Maybe he was the Hurley Bird?
-
Heh, no. I WISH I were that well-paid, even if that hated.
No, I'm just someone who's put a lot of time into both watching and analyzing the show and its coverage. I don't claim to have the CORRECT answers to everything—I'm just trying to help people come up with what the answer MIGHT be. -
I'm assuming it was one of Jacob's rules, even if it wasn't always a rule (during Dharma times, it appears babies could be born). It also could be a radiation thing, or it could be a rule (or other condition) unique to the Others.
I'd love to have an official answer on this one. -
Well, it certainly DID mislead us, didn't it?
I don't know if that was really the producers' intention though. I know they're aware of how much people dissect the show. Still, I think they were probably trying to communicate to us that in this "other timeline," the island was not a factor. The easiest way to tell us that was by showing the island being underwater. -
That's fair. However, would Dharma not believe their people were wiped out by the purge? Who exactly would they be feeding? Did they know there was still someone down there? And if so, would that person really be able to break down a pallet every 108 minutes?
Presumably, they knew Kelvin was there, since he went over there after the first Gulf War and was waiting for someone to relieve him. The "Quarantine" on the doors was probably to ensure he wouldn't interfere with the Others. Perhaps Dharma (on the mainland) came to some new treaty with the Others. Who knows? -
It's WAY more awesome than it was then. Without that episode explaining Jack's tattoos and showcasing Bai Ling's incredible acting talent, we wouldn't be able to respond to complaints about other episodes by saying, "Well, at least it wasn't another 'Stranger In a Strange Land,' right?"
-
If you go with the interpretation that the flash sideways is the afterlife, and that Christian Shepard was right that they created that place to find one another, it's safe to believe they would have an afterlife anyway, but they've created a scenario in which they're able to find one another. So the afterlife was gonna happen one way or another. Just like many people believe it will for all of us.
So the existence of the afterlife doesn't inherently undermine the conflict of the characters prior to their death. Sure, we don't NORMALLY see what happens after characters die, but when we DO see, that doesn't mean what happened before their deaths doesn't matter. I think in this case, it was a way for the producers to let us end the show a little more easily and without a sense of heartbreak.
(I may not have answered the question. If not, feel free to follow it up.) -
Only if you stereotype people by race.
-
Good question, and I don't feel like I have a good answer for this one. I do have an answer -- I just don't feel like it's a good one.
We saw in "Man Behind the Curtain" that whoever was in the cabin hates technology. It could be that when the Others go to the Temple, they leave behind any modern clothing and accessories because modern conveniences are frowned upon (remember, Cindy WAS wearing modern clothing early in season 3 at the Hydra station).
That's the best I got. -
Excellent question. It seems that both MiB and Jacob needed the O6 to get back, so anyone who helps them could be working for either side.
I believe that she was trying to get all of them back because she knew about the candidates, and she was trying to help Jacob's side (whether it be to destroy Smokey, protect the island, or whatever).
We know (or are at least told by Widmore) that he's working for Jacob's side and brings Desmond to the island as a failsafe for Jacob if the candidate fails. It seems likely that Widmore and Hawking are working together, given the last scene we saw of the two of them (after Desmond is in the hospital due to Ben's beating of him at the docks—was it "The Variable"?) and the possibility that working with Eloise and the Lamp Post is how Widmore got back to the island with the sub. And Widmore knew of the candidates, so I believe Hawking does too.
So I'd be willing to bet that Mrs. Hawking just wants to get the potential candidates back to the island. -
That happened in the flash-sideways. As the plane was going through the turbulence but did NOT crash, they were flying over the submerged island. The camera pans down out of the plane, into the water, and over the island. From that scene, the plane later landed, and then to all the various scenes happening to the post-landing characters, which was then revealed in the finale to be the afterlife storyline.
So... if we go with the assumption that the flash-sideways is the afterlife—supported both by the producers & actors and by the characters in the story—then the submerged island we see as Oceanic 815 safely flies over it in the flash-sideways is the afterlife.
Hope my over-explaining doesn't come across as sarcasm. It's not meant in that way. It's just that as confusing as the series and finale were, I'm trying to make sure I adequately describe what I'm talking about.
Feel free to throw me any more follow-up questions. I know the issue with the flash-sideways in general, including the submerged island, is a point a lot of people have questions about. -
I had to do a lot of research on this, consulting professionals in both philosophy and quantum physics, and the official scientific answer appears to be "A LOT."
-
Reveal? Yes. Explain? No.
The text on the blast door map makes reference of the polar bears (by genus and species, which I'm not even going to pretend to remember the name of here) and the fact that Dharma was doing experiments to alter their territorial instincts.
Given the cold temperature in the chamber with the donkey wheel, and the polar bear remains in Tunisia, we can assume one got loose somehow, turned the wheel, got zapped away from the island, desperately regretted his decision and wished he could return to fulfill his purpose, and died alone in the desert from heat exhaustion. Alas, the island was done with him. -
Well, it's hard to say. It was the Afterlife (purgatory, limbo, or whatever). So did it really exist? Technically, NONE of that existted.
But within the context of the afterlife, yes. It did. Ben and his father discuss the fact that they left the island many years prior.
But in the "real world," the island has never—to our knowledge—been underwater. -
asked by Lost518
The freighter could have been close enough to the island that it was okay for him to go there. Not sure I like that explanation, but it's possible.
Still, that doesn't explain how Christian appeared off the island to Jack.
It could be that it was Jack imagining things. He'd been taking medication and drinking, so it's possible.
It could also be that really was the ghost of Christian Shepard. Tha'ts a stretch though. We know MiB and Hurley have seen dead people. We know Ben saw his mother (who was inside the sonic fence the first time, so she couldn't have been Smokey), and Miles can see/hear the last thoughts of the dead. I'm even willing to entertain the theory that it was really Libby who appeared to Michael on the freighter. So it could have been that Jack really saw his dad. Again, it's a stretch, but I'm not going to dismiss it entirely.
-
Loading...
