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Forty Two redirects here. For the Via Domus episode, see "Forty-Two"

Puzzle3LowerRight

Image from the jigsaw puzzles.

42 is the 6th and last of the Numbers. Below is a list of appearances on the show, by episode chronology. The writers of the show decided to include this number in the series as an homage to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. (The Lostpedia Interview:David Fury)

Occurrences in the show[]

  • The typical Lost episode lasts around 42 minutes (excluding commercials and end credits).
  • Several episodes over the duration of the series, the first of which being Walkabout, run for exactly 42 minutes 42 seconds.

Season 1[]

Num1

42 numbers on Rousseau's notes.

Season 2[]

2x23 Letter-42

The address of the jail Desmond was at was 42 Berechurch Road.

Season 3[]

Normal 77-cap17

42 moves until mate in chess.

Season 4[]

Season 5[]

Season 6[]

6x04-Jacob's WallKwonDomingoMattingley

The Kwon name appears inside the cliffside cave wall as number 42. ("The Substitute")

The Lost Experience[]

Via Domus[]

  • Zoran Savo stayed in suite 42 at the Hotel Persephone.

Outside the show and real life occurrences[]

  • 42 is the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything, in Douglas Adams's five-book trilogy series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. When Arthur Dent in the past discovers that the question itself was, is or will be "What do you get when you multiply 6 by 9?", he says "I always said there was something fundamentally wrong with the universe." However, within the later books, it is established that that was in fact not the actual question, due to Arthur, and most Human beings, being descended from interstellar travelers, and not the original primates of Earth, and is therefore not a part of the program to discern the question. It is found that, if anyone did know both the question and the answer to life, the universe, and everything, the universe as we know it would cease to be, and be replaced with something even more nonsensical.
  • 42 Books of Thoth which describe the instructions for achieving immortality. Thoth is considered the heart and tongue of Ra as well as the means by which Ra's will was translated into speech. Thoth is also involved in arbitration, magic, writing, science and the judging of the dead.
  • 42 is the number of cells in Connect Four.
  • Fox Mulder, one of the main characters in The X-Files lived in Apartment 42 at 2630 Hegal Place, Alexandria, Virginia.
  • 42 is the angle in degrees for which a rainbow appears.
  • In Romeo and Juliet, Juliet was to drink a potion which made her appear dead for 42 hours.
  • In ancient Egypt, the 42 Principles of Ma'at were an important moral code, similar in many ways to the Ten Commandments.
  • 42 Isis is a Main Belt asteroid named for the Egyptian goddess.
  • 42 appears in many of the works of Lewis Carrol (Alice in Wonderland), and is thought to hold a special importance to him.
  • In Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, the "oldest rule in the book" is rule 42: "All persons more than a mile high to leave the court."
  • The original version of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland contains 42 illustrations.
  • In House MD, House says his lucky number is 42
  • In the Bible, Revelations 13:5 "And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty [and] two months."
  • 42 is the number with which God creates the Universe in Kabalistic tradition.
  • "42" is the title of the fifth track on the Coldplay album Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends. The fourth track is titled "Lost!", and a bonus track on the iTunes version is titled "Lost?".
    • The first lyrics of "42" are "Those who are dead are not dead/They're just living in my head." On Lost, characters frequently experience hallucinations of deceased loved ones, and Hurley claims to have received a constant stream of dead visitors at Santa Rosa.
  • 42nd Street is the major east-west street of Times Square, in New York.
  • Approx every 42 month there is a Solar Eclipse. Where the Moon comes between the Earth and the Sun.
  • Jackie Robinson, the first African American Major League Baseball player, wore 42 on his jersey. It has since been retired throughout all of the MLB.
  • There are 42 Divine Principles of the Goddess Maat.
  • In the show It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Charlie has to pay 4200 dollars for a doctor to get rid of his mom's lung cancer.
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