Each month until the premier of season 4, I’ll be tackling a different LOST mystery here on the front page – but I need your help! I’ll recap the clues and hints we’ve received on the subject, post a few theories I’ve found flying around, and then it’s up to you to leave your own opinions and theories.
So let’s get right down to business. This week I’ll be discussing LOST time. This will contain major spoilers for anyone who hasn’t seen all of season 3 yet, so drop the cut to keep reading.
Here’s a list of many of the time/space references we’ve seen this season:
-In that same episode, Aldo was seen reading A Brief History of Time, by Stephen Hawking. We also had the infamous Mittelos Bioscience anagram. Mittelos, of course, becomes Lost Time
- "Flashes Before Your Eyes" – well, the entire episode was about Desmond’s time travel, or apparent time travel. It’s still a subject of much debate about whether he actually did. In this episode we got a look at the “Future paint”, and the jewelery store in which all the clocks were set to different times. (images from Darkufo)
- Skipping ahead to “Through the Looking Glass,” we of course had those flash forwards that had everyone talking the next day. We also had the Hoffs/Drawler anagram for Flash Forward
- We also had Richard Alpert make several appearances this season, and his apparent lack of aging was another piece added to the mystery of time on the island
All of these apparent clues have brought many questions about the show's approach to time. There had been speculation a while back, centering around Walt's picture on a milk carton in early season 2. However, many of the time flow theories seemed to be put to rest early on in season three, when Jack was shown real world events (the Red Sox winning the World Series). But many are wondering if that scene actually does put a damper of differening time flow. Perhaps back in the outside world, time does indeed flow differently. But the island may be a different story all together.
How does a 200 year old slave ship get onto the middle of an island? How do ancient civilizations (the four-toed statue) and new age research (the DHARMA Initiative) exist simultaneously on one bit of land in the Pacific. Maybe those older aspects were there all along. But their continued existance is certainly intriguing. The show deals with the past and the present, and now, the future. The island may be, both metaphorically and literally, the one place where all of these times come together. In a sense, these different parts of the characters' lives come together on the island, because they confront the mistakes of their past, their guilt, and their dreams from the future. The audience observes both flashbacks and flashforwards as we observe the present progress of our favorite characters. But what if all of these times actually are present, simultaneously, on the island? The ancient civilizations and the slaveships, as elements of the past, mix with out characters, the elements of the present. Add in the possibility that Adam and Eve are two of our characters (Paulo and Nikki perhaps, or Jack and Kate), and you've got all your times mixed together in one space. After all, Richard Alpert seems relatively ageless. Perhaps he is native to the island, and that gives him the ability to harness these properties more easily.
And then, of course, we come to Desmond. The universe has a way of course-correcting itself, and Desmond was unable to change his past, and unable to change Charlie's future. Life, however, is all about choices. We could branch out in a completely different direction here, and discuss multiple timelines. When Desmond decides not to save Charlie from being shot through the throat with in an arrow, as in his "flashes", a timeline is created in which Charlie dies, and all events following occur without Charlie as a living part of the environment. However, a timeline, then, is also created in which Desmond saves Charlie, and he lives. Which timeline the story progresses through is a result of what actions Desmond takes. Therefore, is it possible that he could indeed have altered his past and never wound up on the island?
Whatever the solution is, one thing is for sure - there are far too many time clues to be red herrings at this point. LOST is going to take us on a ride - whether it follows some theory of time, or creates a conception of time altogether, we can expect to see more concerning this important mystery.
For more discussion check out the Eternity Theory, here: , or A New Theory on Lost -Where is Stephen Hawking When You Need Him?
So, that’s all I have for you! Now we want YOUR input. Drop a comment and tell us what you think about LOST time!
Comments
Now Losty I mean this in a completely genuine way:
You completely and totally for real rock my socks off!
Posted by: Jalocke | June 11, 2007 7:08 AM
Now Losty I mean this in a completely genuine way:
You completely and totally for real rock my socks off!
Posted by: Jalocke | June 11, 2007 7:08 AM
ohh..i've just thought, an easter easter egg egg? lol..the 'future' paint in desmond's flashes before his eyes..not from that episode? but a sneak kind of tongue in cheek reference to the finale!!!!!!! so i guess, when people say, you never had anything planned etc..made up, they can say they had the 'future' paint as a nod to..well the future..flashforwards, and the future finale episode this year..months later..coolio work :P.i love LOST, cool post btw..the time things u said opened up new answers/questions in my mind.
Posted by: Darnyay - add my myspace/msn :) | June 11, 2007 2:33 PM
Just a thought about the Desmond Charlie situation. All of the times that Charlie was supposed to die he was involved with an attempt to get off of the island. Once when he was drowned trying to catch a bird to carry a note, then when he was on the treck to follow the cable and then finally in The Looking Glass when his time finally came. It seems to me that it was not just his destiny to die but that it was also his destiny to play an important role in being rescued. The island was not only finding new ways to do him in but also new ways for him to play his part in the rescue. Just wondering what everone thought about that.
Posted by: Losty5522 | June 14, 2007 12:41 AM
The first couple of times Desmond saved Charlie it wasn't rescue-related, though (lightning rod and the Claire near-drowning incident).
Posted by: kbombbilly | June 15, 2007 5:51 PM
/me hugses the lostys
you plugged my theory!! *blush*
don't forget that des's vision of the parachutist involved both charlie dying by means of arrow to throat AND charlie retrieving the parachutist. that, in itself, leads me to believe we are seeing multiples if not potentials...
Posted by: wickedslip | June 16, 2007 2:09 AM
Desmond saved Charlie because for what ever reason he felt he had to. Like a father for their child.
Desmond became a surragate father of sorts to Charlie in his mind. Like any father he "saw" the pitfalls his child was going to face. Like most fathers he did what he could to "save" his "child". That is of course until he forced Charlie to "grow up" and become resposible for his own life. When Charlie became convinced his death would save Claire, Desmond was really betraying him as so many fathers of the other characters had done off the island. Desmond was not sending Charlie to save Claire. He was sending him to his death so that Desmond could get back to Penny. Once Desmond realized he was sarificing Charlie for his own ends, Desmond attempted to save Charlie. But as we all saw Charlie chose to die by locking himself in the watertight room. Thus fulfilling Desmond's "vision". Charlie, if not told he "had" to die after turning off the jamming device, would have closed the door from outside the flooded room. This is what anyone would do if not convinced by their most trusted (father) figure they had to scarifice temselves for their loved ones to survive.
Most of the main characters in the show have father issues? I mean there is an overwhelming number that have father issues. Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Locke, Walt, Claire, Charlie, Hugo, Ben, and Shannon just to name a few. Each one of these characters had been betrayed by their fathers in one way or another. Each one had contempt, distrust, and been scared in some way by their fathers.
Jacob is a father figure to Ben. Ben finds Locke can communicate with Ben. Like Cain and Abel.
James Ford (Sawyer) takes the name of the man who drove his father to kill his mother and commit suicide. When given the opportunity to face that man (Locke's father) he kills him in a fit of rage.
Locke was always looking for his father's approval and love, but like his father he conned someone to do his dirty work.
Lost is not one story that has a neat begining, middle and end. Lost is driven by multiple storylines and themes, just like in real life. This allows the viewer to attach themselves to characters, events, and that feeling of being stranded alone in life.
Posted by: Uncle Chucky | August 13, 2007 4:08 PM
