porieux

Personally I think it's possible they may be going toward the 'hollow earth theory' (look it up) and that the island in that case would be at or near the South Pole.

IMRICKJAMES

I have a theory that Mr. Ecko isn't really dead

but thats just because I want him to be back on the show

The Bus

Penny's dad owns Dharma.

Dharma is highly scientifically advanced, beyond "normal" Earth science -- think Crichton-level (although the Prey nanotech explanation for the black smoke has been denied). The island also happens to be some kind of paranormal anomaly. The smoke may be part of this anomaly. This is the part I hope never gets "explained" at all.

Ben is good, but sees anything as interfering with his goals as evil. He might intend to do good but goes about it the wrong way and the results might be "evil" (unbeknownst to him).

Hurley, Locke, Ecko, and Desmond are all really cool. Everyone else is filler.

DthRdrX

They said it that would be a season 4 story. I would put my bet on Michael and Walt getting directions from Ben to the rumored third and final island. Season three has already taught us that Ben won't let anyone go home. He always weasles out of it by twisting his words.

Personally, I still feel that Michael's character was thrown in the toilet last season after "Two for the Road". No way do they just leave Walt's character to speculation though. I'm guessing his "growth" will be written in and explained via the time variations many think are going on.

ATX

Vincent the dog = shape shifting smoke monster dinosarus

where he be at all the time?

if he was a cat, then maybe i woulda believed he survied the "plane crash"

PopcornTreeCt

Interesting theories. I'm glad it spurred up some good conversation.

Cardiff Giant11

it's no less ridiculous than the numbers being explained by some crazy online game In additon to the blast door map, the hints about zoology in the Pearl orientation video and obviously the bear cages in the hydra help explain the polar bears that and the hydra also explained the shark.

Sorry for the typo about left instead of right, I'm very tired today

An4h0ny

to quote Miracle Max, there's a difference between mostly dead and ALL dead

on the LOST island, when you 'die' you're only mostly dead... i think

actually i have no idea

but i also suspect they are in pressurized, underwater, deep-sea dome habitat of some kind - that's made to look like it's outside for the benefits of its inhabitants. seems/sounds crazy, but from the S1 comic book illustrations to the S3 submarine, it makes a weird kind of 'LOST sense'. to me, anyway

and while we're at it, when is Locke's Dad gonna get his comeuppance?

Michael Corvin

Michael became useless after Walt was taken. He was a decent character before that. Every character on the show has daddy issues and he was the only character in the group that personified those issues first hand. He became a waste when he became a blubbering idiot roaming the island.

As for theories, I'm against the purgatory. Clones are mildly interesting, but parallel dimensions are the most intriguing to me. Desmond and his 'visions' are similar to Roland in Stephen King's Dark Tower series which is all about dimensions. Not to mention the creators have not been shy about their love for King and are even courting him to allow them to make a movie series of the Dark Tower novels.

treszoks

The producers confirmed once again in the podcast today that they are not dead.

Palaver

Since we’re discussing theories, I’ll throw mine out there. Keep in mind this mostly symbolic, and really fits Season One more than the other seasons. And there are lots of things it doesn’t explain. However, I still can’t let go of it.

Instead of thinking of the survivors of being dead, let’s go the opposite route. Let’s consider them to be pre-life. Think about the setup. We have an island being impacted by a vessel carrying people of differing character traits: conception. We have a power cable leading from the island leading out into the unknown: umbilical cord. We have a mysterious hatch which coincidently lighting up during the exact time that Claire is giving birth: birth canal.

At first I thought the survivors might represent chromosomes, but I don’t know if the numbers match up. Especially considering the number of the survivors keeps changing. So, I’m thinking the survivor’s might represent personality traits that are fighting for dominance in the newborn. It might explain why all the survivors have “daddy issues” since they represent aspects of the father.

I’m guessing the Others might represent the traits of the mother. Hard to say since we really don’t much about them.

The mysterious whispering might be people’s voices in the “real world.”

I’m not sure what Smokey is. He might represent the “magical” aspect of life itself. Perhaps, deciding what traits are favorable for the newborn.

I’m not sure how the flashbacks fits into it. But I assume it must be very important, since they are a part every episode. Nor do I know how the numbers, polar bears, the other hatches, the other island, and Dharma fit into it all.

It might explain why fertility seems to be a recurring theme.

Feel free to tear apart this theory. I realize that it doesn’t explain everything, but I feel that it is too intriguing to discard completely.

Michael Corvin

That's one fucked up theory. I like it. Did you come up with that one?

I think it might be too far fetched, though, for a mainstream television audience.

Palaver

Yeah, I pretty much came up with it myself. I recall someone referring to the power cord as an umbilical cord somewhere and put the rest together myself. I really thought I had something at the time. I remember the episode with Claire giving birth distinctly because it fit the theory so perfectly. I thought the hatch was going to open while she was giving birth, but I thought it was just as cool that the hatch just lit up... light at the end of the tunnel type of thing.

After the birth, things don't fit quite as neatly, so I have my doubts with the theory.

RaraFemina

ok...some of my theory stuff:

Dharma is still active in the real world and on the island. I believe every one of the Losties has at least one parent involved with the Dharma Initiative. Mostly the fathers. Right now I think Penny and her father are running it. I also think Alvar Hanso (the original financial backer of Dharma) is still involved in some way.

The polar bears were there because of the Dharma project on zoology...there are polar bears in the first orientation film when Marvin Candle was explaining how the Dharma Initiative came to be. They were doing different experiments with meteorology, psychology, parapsychology, zoology, electromagnetism, and a plan for a "utopian society" . The Other's village is the utopian society, the brainwashing room may be part of the psychology experiment, they wanted Walt for the parapsychology part, the animals on the island were zoology, and the Swan was the electromagnetism.

As for the black smoke...I think it was originally an experiment of some kind and it was put in place as some sort of security system, but was "damaged" and now has some sort of thought process of it's own. I'm not saying it's "alive", but can process kind of like a computer. I think it's scanning people to see if they belong on the island, if they are worthy. Eko was not, but Locke was. Locke loves the island and will be loyal to it (remember he got mad at Ben for having houses, electricity, etc..."cheating").

This one isn't a great theory, but....The statue....I think the original habitants of the island (not Dharma) may have been descendants of the Gods (Greek, Roman, Mesopotanian, whatever), and had their own powers of healing. Them either still being on the island or being buried on the island is what gives it it's healing abilities. At some point I think there was an earthquake with a tsunami that followed, and that's what happened to the rest of the statue (and how the Black Rock was washed onto the island).

FWIW....i think Danielle is a big fat liar, and may be a member of Dharma. I don't believe Ben was born on the island. And Jack is a jackass. That is all

JZ1276

OK here is my take on Lost ...

After each episode, I come here to discuss and dissect each episode with everyone. I also read everyones theories (which no one EVER agrees upon).
I cannot believe that the writers can come up with one simple answer for the hundreds of mysteries and questions without that answer being contradicted in many, many ways.

I believe that the mysteries of this show have been built up so much that when Lost has come to an end, maybe half of these questions and mysteries will be answered and there will be many angry Lost fans. I also think that whatever answers the writers choose to give us, will not be nearly as mind blowing as everyone hopes.

Maybe it would actually be better if the writers didnt give any answers at all. Simple explanations like Purgatory and clones might actually ruin the entire series. If they were working up to explanations on those levels and kept the mysetries going for so long just to give bullshit answeres like these, it would be like they are taking the easy way out, and the show would be better off to just end with no answers and let everyone try to figure it out for themselves.

So basically, my point is to enjoy this show while you can. If the writers dont have a conclusion that is smart and creative enough then people will remember Lost as "that stupid show where everyone was in Purgatory" (for example).

Breakfast with Girls

Guys, do yourselves a favor and go spend an hour or so at Lostpedia. The site explains things like what "DHARMA" stands for, what the Numbers mean, etc. Here's one place to start: The Valenzetti Equation.

The facts:

The DHARMA Initiative was formed in response to the Cuban Missile Crisis as a way of averting self-destruction. The exact month and year of humanity's doomsday is calculated in the Valenzetti Equation, and the numbers (4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42) are the variables that can affect that date. These are likely human-influenced factors: the state of the global environment; birth rates, death rates, and the length of the average human life; likelihood of self-destruction through nuclear war; likelihood of pandemic through biological warfare; etc. DHARMA sought to change these variables through scientific research, but failed.

At some point, Alvar Hanso, the director of DHARMA, was ousted by Thomas Mittlewerk, who seems to have concluded that the only way to push back the date was to introduce a genetically-engineered virus that would kill a large percentage of humankind (optimally 30%). Hanso has since resumed control of the Hanso Foundation.

What I think (entirely my own opinion):

The DHARMA Initiative based its research on the island due to its unique magnetic properties, to keep its research a secret (the magnetism interferes with navigation). "The Incident", the reason the Swan station was built, was a magnetic event that resulted in death. This is possibly connected to Cerberus, the "security system" (the smoke monster).

When Mittlewerk forcefully took control of the Hanso Foundation and privately revealed his genocidal plan to some, it split loyalties. It was leaked to the DHARMA members on the island, many of whom refused to be complicit in it; in retaliation, Mittlewerk secretly decided to test the virus there.

Mittlewerk sent a team of scientists, including Rousseau, to the island. One, though, was unknowingly infected by the virus—Rousseau, genetically immune to its effects. Her entire team became infected, and spread the virus to other DHARMA members on the island (those loyal to Mittlewerk had been given the vaccine). She killed her entire team to keep the virus from spreading. However, she became convinced the Others—those loyal to Mittlewerk—spread the disease.

Currently, the vaccine doesn't appear to do anything for the Oceanic survivors because there is no more virus.

DHARMA's goal was still to change the equation, however, hence the continued fertility experiments and social engineering experiments (think: Clockwork Orange scene, taking the "good" people, etc.). All other research was deemed unproductive and has since been discontinued (zoological, etc.).

What DHARMA was not aware of when they first chose the island as their base was its unique "magnetic healing" properties.

They were also unaware that it had previously been inhabited by a tribe of humans long ago, who had lived there so long that they had actually evolved in isolation (four-toed statue).

I also think Cerberus, the smoke monster, was invented as a means of forcefully re-engineering society (examining brain patterns and determining if an individual was "good" or not). It was intended that a number of these would be released into the world to kill those individuals who weren't "good". However, it was determined to be impractical for whatever reason and the prototype was used instead as a security system of some kind.

Michael Corvin

and exactly how many of those 'facts' were coined by the creators? Not that I disagree, I'm just sayin'.

DthRdrX

Lostpedia has a lot of good info on the sercurity system, including the code name it goes by on the hatch blast door. Read up on it there and then think about it trying to drag Locke down into the tunnel in the S1 finale.

It seems to "flash" or "copy" people's minds/bodies the first time it meets them and then decides what to do with that info later. For some reason I think it travels underground for a specific purpose. Either quicker travel around the island or we have people/something still underground being protected? I subscribe to the theory that there is more than one security system, ala an actual 3 headed Cerebus.

So to sum up, perhaps the voices/monster are all related to this third group of people? Maybe they are the actual scientists observing everything that happens above ground and the Dharma thing is a fake cover. Others = Control group(Ben leading them by what Jacob tells him), Losties = Experiment group. Jacob just happens to be a member of the third group though Ben doesn't know this.

movieking

I still think that this whole thing is some kind of psychological testing. It would explain how the others know everything about everyone, as well as how the magic box could bring anything to the island. It's almost like each person has to stand up to their inner demons in order to move on (and maybe to the others). Those that can't move on die on the island.

Michael Corvin

There is no magic box. Ben & the others have extensive files on everyone. They knew about Locke's dad and sent for him. They brought him to the island to test Locke / set him up to fail in front of everyone.

movieking

Of course there is no magic box. I am saying that people can bring anything to the island via this "magic box" because it is all within their head. They can cause these people to show up on the island, and act how they want them to act, since it is in their minds. Would Locke's father really still be such an asshole if his life was on the line? I doubt that he would really call Locke out, and insult Sawyer's mother if he was a real person striving to survive. By having him acting out in their minds, it makes it easier for Locke and Sawyer to cause his demise.

As for these files, how is it possible for them to know virtually everything about everyone, even things that apparently no one else aside from the person themselves know about? I don't buy the extensive file bit unless these survivors shared all of this information before the "crash". I think that it will be like some kind of induced group hallucination/therapy session caused by the "Dharma initiative" in order to help these people get past all of their psychological problems, and all of the participants were willing volunteers (either by choice or threat of jail).

Of course, I am probably dead wrong

Michael Corvin

That did strike me as very odd last night. He was unusually obnoxious.

Palaver

I think the reason he acted like that was because he thought he was already dead.

DthRdrX

Well Juliet either didn't know about Sun and the suicide guy off the island or she was covering it up. It's not quite clear yet.

The only bit on info that we don't know how they obtained is Sawyer killing the guy in Austrailia the week before he got on the plane. My theory on this is that off the island the police were tipped off by the guy that sent Sawyer there to kill him, hence Sawyer is a wanted man in the real world.

Breakfast with Girls