Okay, I know. I know I said I was gonna do another one on the anniversary of the show's end. But it was requested, the anniversary of its beginning was only awhile ago, and I'm always up for one. With that here is a new Lost post. This time I will do something that has always been part of the joy of watching the show: theorize. Since so many people could not answer so many questions themselves - even when those questions were clearly answered or you could come up with your own logical explanation if you used your head - I will give you my theories on some of the things that weren't completely spelled out for those less intelligent or easily confused fans... and some that were.
1. The Cabin
This is one that confuses people still, even though I think its simple. In Season 3 we were introduced to what we believed to be Jacob's lair: a small, isolated cabin in the woods. As Locke and Ben went into the cabin, white ash was found to surround it and inside was empty. Once the two started arguing inside over the validity of Jacob's existence, the cabin started shaking, sounds of the Smoke Monster erupted, and a man was briefly seen inside (he also asked Locke for help). After escaping the cabin, Locke and Ben believed it was Jacob.
My theory: it was not Jacob. It was actually his nemesis, The Man in Black. I'm guessing Jacob used the cabin between the 80s and 90s as one of his hideouts (along with the cave on the cove and the Foot Statue). Jacob probably abandoned the cabin when Oceanic 815 crashed, knowing the survivors would be searching through the jungle. With Jacob retreating to the Statue, The Man in Black found an opening inside the cabin and used it as part of his ploy to mislead Locke, Ben, and the rest. Evidence: the man we saw briefly inside both times looked more like MIB than Jacob (and at one point he had Christian Shepherd's corpse in the rocking chair); there were smoke sounds surrounding the cabin when everything went crazy; MIB was of course seen operating out of there for awhile; the ash around the cabin clearly meant Jacob was hiding there originally.
2. The Numbers
No introductions are really needed. Hurley's backstory primarily involved his lottery winning numbers that he believed to be cursed. The numbers were even showing up all over the show before and after that. Eventually the numbers were revealed to be Jacob's six last candidates for a new Protector of the Island, one of whom was Hurley.
My theory: the numbers were a sign. Jacob's sign. They appeared everywhere for a reason. The numbers showed up in the lives of every character, Hurley was just the only one who noticed. them. They were either two things: a) a calling from Jacob that beckoned people to The Island, or b) a mark that set a chain of events that would lead the candidates to The Island, seeing as how bad things usually happened when the numbers were seen, and not just with Hurley. I think it could be both actually. Perhaps Hurley being the only one who knew there was something more behind the numbers was a measure of his candidacy.
3. What was with that talking bird and polar bears
This frustrates me because, like most of the unanswered questions, it is best solved by piecing things together. Yes, a few of the "mysteries" out of the many of mind boggling mysteries of Lost was what were strange animals doing on the Island, including polar bears and a bird believed to have talked.
My theory: I barely registered the so called "talking bird" in either scene it was in. Yes, in a few instances there was a bird thought to have called out the names of characters as it flew by. I think it was the season 1 finale where it was believed to have called out Locke's name, and then in the season 2 finale where it apparently shrieked "Hurley!", even Hurley thought so (because Hurley notices everything of course). I knew what the polar bears were after season 4. I think they were mainly used by the Dharma Initiative as experiments and then eventually messengers to test the power of The Wheel, that teleported people through space and time. If you want a little more elaboration watch the Lost epilogue.
4. Libby
Oh, Libby. What a great character you could have been. Yes after her shocking and unexpected death half way through her first season, and the level of mystery still surrounding her, there was much spectulation about who Libby was before The Island. There was even a long time theory that she was a part of the Dharma Initiative. I had my weird theories but it was probably pretty simple in the end.
My theory: Before season 6 I was getting the feeling that we'd never have closure for Libby, and just randomly theorized that she was Jacob's illegitimate daughter. How's that for major father issues? But Libby probably was only a victim of circumstance. Maybe she was just mentally unstable at one point. Maybe it was because of her husband's death. Maybe she was cured and that inspired her to be a therapist. Maybe she was, like many others killed on Lost, an innocent bystander who got on the wrong plane.
5. The importance of Walt and Aaron
There was much ambiguity around two primary children on the show, Walt Lloyd and Aaron Littleton. Walt had for most of his life been seen as "different" or "special", and many times it was clear he could do things beyond the limits of possibility, i.e. birds falling dead when he's angry, and an overall ability to sort of will things to happen. It was never really touched on but always a big mystery. Then there was Aaron who was an enigma even before birth. A psychic told Claire that she could not let anyone else raise him but her alone and later changed his mind and told her to get on doomed Flight 815 to meet people who would raise him. This left people wondering if the psychic knew what would happen.
My theory: I will get Aaron out of the way first by saying that, even though I think he could be a future candidate along with Ji Yeon, the psychic was probably only lying. He may have known that Claire was giving up the baby and made her hold off on it until he could secure a deal with a couple in America, no doubt for a large check. In one flashback, the psychic told Mr. Eko he was a fake. So, even though I think Jacob had a hand in stalling Claire's adoption process, I ultimately think that evidence shows that whether or not Claire raised Aaron would not have made much difference, except maybe helping her keep her sanity after she was left behind. However, Walt is a bit like Desmond and Hurley, except he has greater potential. Desmond had a unique resistance and almost fluidic nature with the Island's energy which allowed his consciousness to travel through time and in some cases through life itself. Hurley could see and interact with the dead. Walt, in a very miniscule and untrained way, could alter reality. If trained he could do great things, perhaps even be what the Island has needed for so long, instead of worthy but flawed Protectors. In the end, I think out of all of the numerous candidates, Walt is THE candidate.
6. The Man in Black's role throughout
Now that the show is all over we know what Lost's highly deceptive and lethal antagonist's true goal was throughout the series (or at least what he had planned up until he was able to escape The Island), but really how much deception was there. He was doing plenty of shady things as the Smoke Monster before we even knew what he was. For those who were wondering what he had been doing in all of his appearances before he set his long con into overdrive during Season 5, here's what I came up with.
My theory: After his failure at making Richard, Robert Rousseau, and possibly many others his personal assassins, The Man in Black saw potential in a damaged little boy within The Dharma Initiative named Ben Linus. MIB drew him toward The Others where he would be groomed into a ruthless operative, and an eventual recruit as such. He was no doubt planning his last great scheme soon after Oceanic 815 crashed. Perhaps, he saw the passengers as more potential Jacob followers he could slaughter. That's what I think happened in the cockpit during the first episode. He tried to kill the gang of castaways, only succeeding in offing the pilot, and more than likely would have killed Jack until he saw Jack was Candidate 23, thus realizing that the other candidates had arrived too. His next move came when he encountered John Locke, Candidate 4, hunting for boar a few days later. Upon doing a quick scan of who he was, MIB realized Locke was damaged, curious, gullible, and malleable, and knew he would be come in handy. He nearly got Jack killed when posing as his father Christian, whose body he preserved in the now abandoned cabin. I think this was planned so Locke could gain leadership and influence over the castaways and thus be more useful. After failing to capture and recruit Locke and realizing his fate was faltering upon entering the Hatch, MIB turned his sights to another flawed man of faith, Mr. Eko. Posing as Eko's brother, MIB tried to use him to do either two things: a) further drive Locke to not press the button and destroy The Island, Jacob, and the candidates, or b) become another potential recruit/assassin. Both failed because of Desmond's brave interference and Eko's unwillingness to bend to MIB/his brother's will. Finally he turned all of his focus on Locke and Ben. The chain of events in seasons 3 and 4 allowed MIB to convince Ben and Locke to turn The Wheel, taking them off The Island and setting in motion his plan to kill Jacob. We know where it goes from there. As for what he would do when he left The Island, a big part of me thinks he was planning to recruit or kill everyone. Either way, none of this matters now. He's thankfully very dead.
7. Eloise Hawking
Though she was often presented as a former high ranking Other, there was still clearly a lot more to her than just that. She appeared to have a sort of omniscience, especially when dealing with Desmond. We first met Eloise when Desmond mind jumped back to the 90 where he was gonna marry Penny. Here she seemed to have a knowledge of time travel, course correction, what would eventually happen. She was even completely self aware of the flash-sideways environment. All things that were left unexplained. Yeah, that bugs me too. While people were still wondering what was up with the polar bears in the final season, I was wondering what was up with her.
My theory: During the series, Desmond's union with The Island put him on an extraordinary plane of being only a few other characters could share (in different ways of course). While Desmond's extreme ability fragmented his consciousness and soul through time and space and even through life and death, Eloise may have had the same thing, but instead of fragments she had clarity. Meaning she could not glimpse random future so much as she could see definite courses or destinies. And instead of having a hazy, quick meeting with the place between life and afterlife, she could have as much free range knowledge there as she could have while alive. Did this make any sense?
8. The Rules
Okay, The Rules were always a frustrating concept for me. Mainly because they were the most easily changed rules imaginable. Maybe Island leaders construct The Rules much like a game of Senet (the board game Jacob and The Man in Black played as children) where there are no specifiic rules. Here's how I have classified them.
My theory: Okay, in actuality there were about three different sets of Rules on the show: there were Jacob's Rules, The Others' Rules, and The Sideways Rules.
Jacob: his rules are apparently limited to the power any Protector of the Isalnd is granted. The one thing I've noticed more than anything is that a Protector's word may as well be god. Where basically they can bend the rules of fate that bind people. Essentially you can be like "hey you, you can't kill that person" and you can't; "hey you, you can't kill yourself" and you can't; "hey you, don't age" and you get Richard. Once these things are said they are rules and can't be broken by those that they are specifically given to. Also, a Protector can change the rules to choose who can become a Protector that will have as much freedoms as the previous. Very confusing
The Others: Others' society and politics was very confusing in general; I mean you got the neighborly, proper Barracks section, the isolated and ruthless Temple section, and the random cold calculating operatives section. Their rules are most likely ones that began as Jacob's but were very likely manipulated by any of the coldblooded leaders of the society. They are not allowed to kill each other and family is especially off limits during personal quarrels between each other. A big part of Jacob's philosophy was proving that people can be just as good as they can be evil, but every new era of The Others doesn't abide by that. They label their enemies as bad and their allies or assets as good, even if it is the other way around, and most I've seen are highly amoral. The Others' Rules are often changed but the larger ones are still passed down from Jacob and, even though they are very loose, the principal Others still obey and try to appease Jacob. Still very confusing.
Sideways Rules: these were probably the most simple, even if not completely explained. The Sideways Universe, or Afterlife or Purgatory or whatever, is pretty much a construct that allows people to face who they were in life, all of the good and bad, hopes and dreams and cruel realities presented in a literally timeless scenario. Judging how they handle this situation determines whether or not they realize that their life ended and they have to move on. Some within are aware of what is going on and wish to preserve whatever happiness they've found. I think The Rules here basically boil down to free will. If those who are content with this reality, whether or not they know it is false, they can remain oblivious and just run with it, but prove that they can't let go of their past. For those who accept who they were and the lives they led, they can let go and move on to be one with The Heart of the Island, what I call the source of human essence (I'll get to that in a moment). Either way all of these Rules are confusing as hell and are really just there for plot convenience a lot of times.
9. What was The Island
Oh this has been the big question for, like, the entire series. I honestly didn't think there was anything up with The Island itself for a long time, just that there were some crazy things on it. But huge pockets of electromagnetism underneath can get the mind working just a little bit. So essentially this was, along with the Afterlife, explained well enough for me. My problem was that it was explained a bit too late. A part of me thinks that 'Across the Sea' should have been midway through the last season like 'Ab Aeterno' instead of just two episodes before the finale. I don't think the whole explanation for what is so important about the Island had enough time to sink in, but it still worked for me mostly. I mean it was a bit too simple and really meaningful at the same time.
My theory: not really a theory as much as it is me building on what Jacob's Mother said. While Jacob looked at the Island during his time as a prison for his evil twin (wow this sounds really cheesy when reading out loud), Mother explains it is a place that holds a Source of energy that the keeps stability in the whole world. Within this source is what I call life's essence. The Source's light shines in every person, a little slice of heaven it would seem. If close enough, like on The Island, it's energy resonates with some. It can heal, enlighten, influence, and even change people. But when people find it they want more, which leads to either total corruption or destruction. It's kind of like the apple tree in the Garden of Eden; the light can only be given, but if you try to take it you ruin everything. If the Source is interrupted and the light put out the essence is gone from all life and The Island goes down, no doubt followed by everything else. So, to sum it up, The Island holds everything together. Don't screw with it. Keep the light on!
10. What did it all mean
The most important question is what was the true meaning of Lost, the show in all of its aspects. There really can't be a mythology as big as this and not have a spectulated meaning. The truth is there are many and it is ultimately left to the sole viewer to decide.
My theory: I'm not telling you... yet. This post is already way too long and taken up a lot of my worthless time. I'd rather end it now. Don't worry I will get to what I thought it meant in due time, along with a few other Lost articles of course. So in the meantime, if you watched the show, what do you think it meant? Comment or tell me elsewhere, you little fan girl. That's all I got for now though.
This is Your Modest Guru fully illustrating his nerdiness, or Lostness, again. Thanks for reading and Namaste.
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