The Swan
From Lostpedia
"Swan" redirects here. For the character in the Project, see Black Swan.
The Hydra • The Arrow • The Swan
The Flame • The Pearl • The Orchid
The Staff • The Tempest
The Looking Glass • The Lamp Post
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The Swan (also known as the Hatch) was DHARMA Initiative station number 3. It is located in the south-western region of the Island, about a mile inland (fifteen minutes away according to Juliet) from the Survivors' camp. According to the DHARMA Initiative it is located in grid 334 which is inside "Hostile territory". ("Some Like It Hoth") The Swan originally was designed to be a laboratory where DHARMA scientists would study the "unique electromagnetic fluctuations" emanating from this sector of the Island. However, after a mysterious "incident", a special protocol was instituted. Two individuals manning the station would take shifts pressing a button (entering the Numbers into a computer) every 108 minutes for 540 days per shift. One of the entrances to the Swan was discovered by Locke and Boone on day 16 of their arrival on the Island. The Swan imploded as the result of a system failure and fail-safe activation. A large crater now resides in its place.
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History
DHARMA Initiative
Stuart Radzinsky was the architect behind the Swan, having started planning and designing the station in 1971. DHARMA started building the Swan sometime in 1977 and Radzinsky was seen with blueprints and a survey map when he was stationed at the Flame that same year. He aimed to manipulate electromagnetism through experiments at the station and according to Pierre Chang, the project was "confidential". During construction, one worker died as one of his fillings was pulled out straight through his head by electromagnetism. One worker at the construction site was seen hammering The Numbers into the station's cover although their significance, if any, is unknown. ("Some Like It Hoth") ("Namaste") ("The Incident, Parts 1 & 2") When Daniel Faraday returned to the island in 1977 he immediately warned Pierre Chang that continued drilling would lead to a release of an unstable electromagnetic force, causing [[the Incident].("The Variable")
Little is known of what the DHARMA Initiative hoped to achieve via experiments at the Swan. According to the Orientation film, the station was originally constructed to be a laboratory where scientists could study electromagnetism. However, not long after their experiments began, there was an "incident" which required the establishment of a protocol wherein two men living in the station would push the button. It is highly likely the cemented-over door found within the station was also established at this time.
Some time after the Incident, Radzinsky was stationed at the Swan -- where he was joined later (after the Gulf War in 1991) by his partner Kelvin Inman. Allegedly at some point while Kelvin was sleeping, Radzinsky shot himself in the head, leaving Kelvin alone until Desmond's arrival on the Island on board the Elizabeth. Kelvin and Desmond as hatch-mates continued pressing the button for three years, until the day of of Flight 815's arrival. Desmond accidentally killed Kelvin at the cove. ("Live Together, Die Alone")
While at the cove, Desmond failed to enter the Numbers into the computer on time, which resulted in a system failure and a huge electromagnetic buildup. Although the system was eventually reset, the electromagnetic force was so strong as to be able to tear Flight 815 apart in mid-air. Desmond would not come to realize his role in the crash until more than two months later. Desmond continued to live alone for another 44 days before the survivors blasted open the Swan's hatch with dynamite. Shortly afterwards, Desmond fled the Swan, leaving it to the survivors. ("Live Together, Die Alone") ("Man of Science, Man of Faith") ("Adrift")
Orientation Film
The survivors found an orientation film within the Swan which was produced in 1980 by the Hanso Foundation, that described the origin and purpose of the station for new arrivals. In the film, Dr. Pierre Chang, using the alias Dr. Marvin Candle, gave a brief overview of the founding of the DHARMA Initiative and explained that the station was originally intended to study electromagnetism, but that an incident occurred that altered its intended purpose. He went on to explain the protocol to be followed by the station inhabitants in the wake of the incident. ("Orientation")
After the reunification of the Flight 815 tail section survivors and middle section survivors, Mr. Eko revealed a cut-out piece of the film to Locke, which he had discovered in another DHARMA Initiative station, the Arrow. In this piece, Dr. Candle explained that the Swan computer should only be used for entering the code every 108 minutes, and that using the computer for communicating with the outside world would compromise the project and possibly lead to another incident. ("What Kate Did")
The Others
The Others appeared initially to have no knowledge of the purpose or function of the Swan station. Shortly after the castaways entered the Swan, the Others became aware of the station via surveillance. On November 7, 2004 (three days after the castaways entered the Swan) Tom is known to have used the Pearl to observe the interior of the Swan. Two days later, Ben and Juliet visited the Pearl to briefly observe Jack. At that time, Ben outlined a plan that strongly suggested that the Others were able to send messages to the Swan computer from an unknown location. These messages were directed at and intended to manipulate Michael.
In the March 20, 2007 Official Lost Podcast, Carlton Cuse confirmed that The Others had no knowledge of the Swan station; hence, Radzinsky and Kelvin Joe Inman were not killed during the Purge along with the rest of the DHARMA Initiative.
In "The Hunting Party", when the Others encountered Locke, Jack, and Sawyer at the line, Tom hinted that the Others knew the survivors had discovered the Swan.
| “ |
TOM: Tell me, you go over a man's house for the first time, do you take off your shoes? Do you put your feet up on his coffee table? Do you walk in the kitchen, eat food that doesn't belong to you? Open the door to rooms you got no business opening? | ” |
Part of Tom's quote seems a blatant reference to the Swan station that the survivors were currently occupying.
During Ben's period of captivity at the Swan, there was a lockdown event in which the blast doors inside the Swan automatically lowered. Locke was pinned under the blast door and sent Ben through the vent system to push the button. At first, Ben claimed to have pushed the button, but later told Locke that he had not pushed the button and nothing had happened; he said the station was a "joke". It seems clear, however, Ben must have entered the Numbers as no system failure occurred. During the lockdown, supplies were dropped by parachute to a location just outside the Swan.
Season One (Days 1–44)
During the first season of Lost, one of the central plots was gaining access to the Swan, which they referred to as "the Hatch". The word "hatch" has since been used subsequently to refer to the entrances to other DHARMA stations.
The hatch was first discovered by complete accident by Locke and Boone. Locke dropped his flashlight and the sound of metal was heard from under the foliage covering the ground. ("All the Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues")
They proceeded to dig up the Hatch without telling anyone else at their camp. Their first attempt at opening it was with the construction of a large trebuchet, designed to swing a large piece of plane shrapnel into the hatch's window. This plan backfired when a sharp piece of the shrapnel broke off and buried itself into Locke's leg. ("Deus Ex Machina")
The second attempt was successful, as they used the dynamite obtained from the Black Rock to blow the hatch open. As they were setting up the dynamite, Hurley noticed the Numbers engraved onto the side of the Hatch made an unsuccessful attempt to stop them. The season ended with Locke and Jack looking down into the long shaft into the Swan. ("Exodus, Part 2")
Season Two (Days 44–67)
In the second season of Lost, the survivors ventured into the Hatch and met Desmond. Jack and Locke eventually set up a rotation of responsibility within the station wherein everyone would take turns pushing the button, which Locke believed to be of great importance. ("Orientation")
About midway through the season, a lockdown incident occurred. This event happened nigh-simultaneously with a parachuted supply drop outside and it is unclear if the two events were connected. ("Lockdown")
Upon discovery of the Pearl Orientation video, Locke lost all faith in the Swan, being led to believe the entire setup was nothing but a psychological experiment. Eko on the other hand, came to believe that pushing the button was of the utmost importance. ("?")
Later, Locke and Desmond conceived of a plan to not enter the Numbers and see what happens, proving once and for all that the station was just a psychological experiment. Eko's protests fell on deaf ears and he was shut-out of the computer room when Desmond brought down the blast doors. Inside, they let the countdown timer run out causing a system failure. The countdown timer flipped to five red hieroglyphs. The two of them came to the horrible realization that it was all real as a huge electromagnetic force surged up behind the concrete wall causing the entire station to shake. Metallic objects were yanked across the room by tremendous force, some bent and twisted out of shape. Forced to act, Desmond entered the crawlspace beneath the floor of the Swan and turned the fail-safe key. The Swan was completely destroyed, apparently imploding upon itself. ("Live Together, Die Alone")
Season Three (Days 68–91)
A gaping crater is left in the place where the Hatch used to be. It is unknown whether or not the whole of the Swan, or just part of it, was destroyed due to Desmond turning the fail-safe key. ("Further Instructions")
Later, Hurley discovers a DHARMA van with road map for a dirt road leading to the Swan station. The dead occupant of the van is wearing a work man jump suit with a Swan logo patch. ("Tricia Tanaka Is Dead")
Season Five
After the Island moved, Daniel Faraday, and some of others who were left behind returned to the Swan as a means of determining when they were in the Island's timeline. They first found the Swan as a gaping crater in the ground, which - upon their next timeshift - then returned to its original state before the implosion.
Although no one initially responded to Sawyer banging on the Swan's front door, Daniel later proved successful and had a brief encounter with a highly suspicious Desomond. Daniel told Desmond to find his mother -- a message that did not make sense until year's later after Desmond successfully left the Island. ("Because You Left")
Later in the season -- when a group of the survivors became stuck with the DHARMA Initiative in the 1970's, Pierre Chang brought Miles and Hurley to the Swan station as it was being constructed. There the two of them observed the engraving of The Numbers into the hatch door. ("Some Like It Hoth") Later the same group of time-stranded survivors were present for - and, ironically, may have initially caused the Swan's Incident. ("The Incident, Parts 1 & 2")
The Station
The Swan was originally conceived and designed to be a scientific laboratory, but after the incident it became a continually manned post with apparently the sole purpose of pushing the button. Dating from the 1970s, the subterranean station still had the conveniences and technology from that era when the survivors discovered it.
Purpose
According to the Swan Orientation film, the Swan was originally designed to be a laboratory "where scientists could work to understand the unique electromagnetic fluctuations emanating from this sector of the Island". However, after an "Incident", a protocol was introduced in which two people would take shifts pressing a button (e.g. entering the Numbers into a computer) every 108 minutes for 540 days, at the end of which replacements would arrive to take the place of the previous inhabitants. The Swan imploded as the result of a system failure and fail-safe activation. A large crater now resides in its place, located in the south-western region of the Island, about a mile inland of the crash of Flight 815. ("Orientation")
Rooms and spaces
Entrances
There were two known entrances to the Swan on opposite ends of the main corridor: a steel hatch atop a long vertical shaft roughly 50 feet deep, and the main entrance: a walk-in door with the Swan logo on the outside. Bridging the main entrance to the corridor was an airlock door, which was also visible on Radzinsky's blueprint. ("Namaste")
Along the entrance corridor, a broken section of the wall was filled in with a large amount of concrete, sealing off an area of the station where the incident occurred. The area exhibited a high degree of magnetic attraction to metals, such as Jack's key and Eko's cross. ("Man of Science, Man of Faith") ("What Kate Did")
The inside of the hatch had the word "QUARANTINE" spray-painted on it. ("Exodus, Part 2") as well as the Numbers printed on the side, which is the serial number of the Hatch. ("Some Like It Hoth")
Computer Room
Enclosed in a geodesic dome, apart from the main living area, the computer room was where the occupants of the station would carry out the task of pushing the button. Situated in the middle of the room was the Swan computer, into which The Numbers had to be entered every 108 minutes, according to the protocol set forth in the Orientation film. Around the perimeter of the room were various other machines, including mainframe computer components, reel-to-reel tape drive units, and two oscilloscopes. A countdown timer located on the wall above displayed the remaining time to enter the Numbers.
In a crawlspace below the computer room, accessible via a grate in the floor, was the fail-safe mechanism. In the event of a system failure (i.e., failure or inability to follow the protocol), the fail-safe could be manually activated to terminate the electromagnetic anomaly. Desmond was forced to activate the fail-safe after Locke destroyed the Swan's computer. The resulting discharge caused the entire station to implode. ("Live Together, Die Alone")
Blast door
Inside the Swan were a series of blast doors designed to seal-off the living space and the computer room during a lockdown procedure. A message would sound over the speakers notifying of the upcoming event, after which the blast doors would descend and the electrical power would be interrupted, causing the lights to flicker. ("Lockdown")
A lockdown incident unexpectedly occurred while the survivors were holding Ben prisoner, during which Locke's legs were crushed beneath the blast door near the mural. After Ben crawled through the vents to push the button, the normal lighting completely turned off and a different set of ultraviolet "black-lights" turned on. This revealed a large hand-drawn map on the blast door, supplemented with numerous equations and notations written in English and Latin. ("Lockdown")
Kelvin told Desmond that he had learned from Radzinsky how to fake a lockdown by touching two bare-wires together, forcing the blast doors to come down. This allowed them to work on the blast door map. At a later point, Desmond triggered the blast doors to come down as part of his and Locke's plan to keep Eko out of the computer room in order to not push the button. After manually initiating a lockdown, Locke destroyed the computer, which ensured that a system failure would occur. Realizing what they had done, Desmond was then forced trigger the fail-safe, and the entire Swan imploded. ("Live Together, Die Alone")
Living space
The living space was the largest part of the Swan where the occupants of the station would spend their time when not "working". It had many conveniences for its inhabitants: a bedroom with bunk beds,; a bathroom with a shower, sink, and running hot water that was described by Kate as having a sulfur smell; miscellaneous exercise equipment; a surveillance system featuring a telescope used in conjunction with a series of mirrors; a washer and dryer, seemingly newer than everything else, indicating they had been replaced; a dining nook; a center kitchen area equipped with an oven, stove top, and sink; and a lounge area, including a record player, LP collection, well stocked bookshelves, a ping-pong table, and a painting of a tree.
Bookshelf
The Swan's bookshelves contained a number of titles, including:
Pantry
The pantry was opposite of the living space's lounge area. The pantry's shelves were well stocked with food from the Periodic Resupply Drop, including notable products such as Apollo Candy Bars, DHARMA Ranch Composite, and Peanut Butter.
Armory
Adjoining the living space's lounge area was a gun vault. It contained a wide and formidable array of weapons, including pistols, semi-automatic rifles, bolt action rifles, assault weapons, shotguns, and grenades. The door had a combination lock that was changed several times by Locke. ("Three Minutes")
After the weapons were removed, the gun vault served as a holding cell for Ben starting with "One of Them".
Mural
Along the wall between the entrance corridor and the living area, was a large mural created by Desmond. (Secrets From the Hatch) Painted in an expressionist style, it contained an assortment of images and writing, including the Numbers 108 and 42, a boat, an arrow, and depictions of a black man and white woman.
Blueprints
Radzinsky was building a scale model of the geodesic dome on a set of Swan blueprints in the Flame when interrupted by the arrival of Jin. ("Namaste")
- A number of blueprints of the Swan station's interior design are found on the Season 2 DVD special featurette, Secrets From the Hatch.
- There also appears to be a blueprint on the DHARMA van road map. ("Tricia Tanaka Is Dead")
- A floor-plan blueprint appears in "Love Island" of Lost: The Official Magazine in an advertisement for a free poster that comes as a subscription reward.
- In the game Lost: Via Domus the Incident Room appears. The room's look and design was made to look like what the creator's had envisioned, through never before seen blueprints given to the game developers by the Lost set crew.
Blueprint gallery
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Electromagnetism
During normal conditions, the Swan is adjacent to an unusually strong magnetic field. The field is noticeably stronger near the mural. A section of the station has been sealed-off with a concrete wall that is several feet thick. The magnetic source behind the concrete is still strong enough to attract the key around Jack's neck, making it visibly move towards the wall. ("Man of Science, Man of Faith")
The Swan Orientation Film indicated that the original purpose of the Swan was to study or regulate these magnetic properties. On several occasions, the field has grown to immense strength during "system failures". ("Orientation")
Underneath the floor of the computer room, there is a fail-safe mechanism. Apparently, Desmond's activation of the fail-safe caused a drastic change in the magnetic field, resulting in the discharge. When Desmond did this, he was temporarily transported back in time, and was later found naked in the jungle by Hurley. ("Flashes Before Your Eyes")
In the Season 2 DVD featurette Secrets from the Hatch, Damon Lindelof described the Swan station:
| “ |
The function of the Hatch, what it is built for, is because there was this accident here. Basically, if you were to perceive the fact that the Hatch is a structure that is essentially a big thumb, and that thumb is sticking in a dike. And that dike is holding back this massive electromagnetic anomaly that is just sort of illustrated on the other side of this wall that makes Jack's key rise. That's what the design is. | ” |
In the feature Access Granted on the Lost: The Complete Third Season (DVD), Damon Lindelof described the electromagnetism:
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Let's just say, theoretically, inside the Island there was this ball of electromagnetic energy. And, let's just say, there was a group of people - we’ll call them the DHARMA Initiative - sort of drilling around, and doing general futzing on the Island, and they accidentally drilled into this hole, and suddenly that entire ball of electromagnetism became untapped, so they built this Swan Station above it, in an effort that it wouldn’t get completely out of control. So, by plugging that hole, you don’t actually do away with all the electromagnetism. It's still there. | ” |
The Incident Room
In the semi-canon video game Lost: Via Domus, Elliott Maslow discovers "The Incident Room" on the other side of the concrete wall. The Incident Room was accessed by a tunnel and a large locked door near the exterior of the Swan. ("Hotel Persephone") While there does appear to be an location on the blast door map roughly equivalent to the Incident Room, this location should not be regarded as canonical with respect to the television series.
The room contained a large reactor amongst a room full of severely damaged equipment. The reactor is tilted to one side, and discharging electricity and a fluid that looks like water. The reactor had the appearance of two large electromagnetic coils suspended over an excavation into the Island. Unlike the Swan, the Incident Room's machinery is in a state of disrepair, possibly due to the Incident. The Incident Room also has its own computer, much like the Swan's. ("Hotel Persephone")
Trivia
General
- Of all the season 2 main cast, only Claire and Shannon never appeared in any scenes in the Swan.
- For the first four seasons, the only time a survivor referred to the Hatch as "the Swan" was when Eko referred to it as such when looking at Locke's map. Every other time, it had been referred to as "the Hatch" ("?"). Sayid became the second 815 survivor to use the station's correct designation, during his drug-induced interrogation by Oldham ("He's Our You").
- Swan is the Coptic name for the Egyptian city of Aswan, the site of the modern day Aswan Dam. This links to Kelvin's Dam (theory).
- A female swan is called a "pen" (which is also an abbreviated version of Penelope).
- In to the Season 2 DVD featurette Secrets from the Hatch Jim Spencer says about the hash marks seen covering the wall in ("Adrift"): "These may be the days, they may be the weeks. But there's 9,000 hatchmarks here." If these marks represent days, pressing the button could have started in early 1980.
- Roger Linus was found dead wearing a Swan jumpsuit in the DHARMA van, but it is unclear if he was ever an inhabitant of the station. ("Tricia Tanaka Is Dead") ("The Man Behind the Curtain")
Cultural references
- The constellation Cygnus, or "the Swan", is also known as the "Northern Cross" because of it's distinctive shape. The tail of the swan is marked by the bright star Deneb, Arabic for "tail". Three fainter stars cross the line between Deneb and the star at head of the swan, Albireo.
- Swan in latin is Cygnus.
- The names of the stations seem to be related to the god Apollo from Greek mythology. Swans are sacred to Apollo, and circled around him when he was born.
- In Hinduism, the Sanskrit word for "swan" is "hamsa" or "hansa", and is used as the vehicle of many Hindu deities, such as the goddess Saraswati.
- In Irish mythology, the Children of Lir were trapped inside a swan.
- In Finnish mythology, Kalevala is a book, and considered an epic poem. Kalevala is said to be the National Epic of Finland. In Cantos 11-15, The main character Lemminkainen must kill the Swan of Tuonela. Tuonela means the land of the dead. "Swan of the land of the dead"
- Taiwanese performance artist Tehching Hsieh created an art performance in 1980-1981 in which he entered a room and punched a punch clock once per hour, every hour, for a full year. Photographs he took during this performance show him dressed in a one-color worker's uniform not unlike the DHARMA outfit.
Production notes
- According to the Season 2 DVD featurette Secrets from the Hatch, the Swan interior was originally inspired by Tomorrowland at Disneyworld. The featurette describes Tomorrowland as being decorated how people in the 1970's pictured "the future".
- The set dressing of the Swan is somewhat different between the opening scene of "Man of Science, Man of Faith" and subsequent appearances. This included things such as the bed being next to the computer, the type and placement of lamps, the style of record player and arrangement of records, as well as the relative cleanliness of the living quarters. These discrepancies led some fans to incorrectly conclude that there were two separate time lines. In reality, the producers simply decided to dress the Swan differently between its first and subsequent appearances.
- The armory was subsequently enlarged when Henry Gale became a prisoner.
Unanswered questions
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- For fan theories about these unanswered questions, see: The Swan/Theories
- When was the station completed?
- What is the the significance of The Numbers in the station's design?
- How and when did Radzinsky come to live in the Swan?
- How was the Swan's protocol set up after the Incident?
- Why did the DHARMA Initiative not automate or partially automate the process of "pushing the button"?
- What is behind the sealed section of the Swan and why did they feel the need to seal it?
- What is the purpose of the blast doors?
- What was the purpose of the Hatch exit?
- Why was it sealed and the ladder inside the shaft broken?
- Why was "Quarantine" written on the interior of the hatch?
- Why was the Pearl station set up to monitor the Swan?
- When did the Others become aware of the Swan's existence?
- Were they aware that the Swan continued to be staffed by DHARMA personnel after the purge?
- Were they aware of the Swan's purpose?
- Why did the Swan implode when Desmond turned the fail-safe key?
- If it was an implosion, why were some objects and people thrown clear of the crater?
- Why does the Swan logo appear on DHARMA items far more often than the other logos?
See also
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