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There's No Place Like Home, Parts 2 & 3/Theories

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Main Article Theories about
There's No Place Like Home, Parts 2 & 3 		Main Discussion
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See the Lostpedia theory policy for more details.

From Lostpedia Theory Policy: "A theory is an attempt to explain a certain mystery using logic backed up with logically consistent observations and facts. Without supporting evidence, statements are merely speculation. Speculation is similar to theories except there are no facts or logic to back the theory up." - This is a theory page, not a speculation page. Speculation without supporting evidence can be deleted. To respond to a theory, use the discussion page. Feel free to add supporting evidence to an existing theory.

Contents

John Locke

Locke as new/true leader

  • The conclusion of season 4 makes it pretty plain that Ben is making a great sacrifice in leaving the island, and that Locke is indeed taking over the leadership of the island. Too much would need to be disregarded to entertain the theory that Locke is not the new leader: Jacob spoke to him, Ben tried to kill him because he was jealous, Richard pursued him from birth, the Others made him kill his father, the island cured his paralysis, etc. These things along with Locke's acceptance of his destiny have been incorporated into Lost mythology for too long to be suddenly thrown out the window. They need Locke because he can hear Jacob - the ultimate leader of the Others.
  • Interestingly, for unknown reasons, it appears that the leader must be chosen from outside the core group of Others - i.e. from "off-island".

Ihe Island wants the Oceanic Six to return

  • Evidence:
    • Locke visits many of the O6 to try and convince them to return and Jack, Hurley and possibly Sun appear to already be preoccupied with thoughts of returning.
    • The island may be manifesting Charlie and Christian Shepherd to try to motivate Hurley and Jack to return - but both are unsuccessful. It pushed Hurley back into the mental hospital and Jack into substance abuse.
    • The island could conceivably use other Survivors, dead or alive, to try and get Kate (and Aaron) back, but apparently the island doesn't have much on Kate besides the black horse. **Given that these methods don't appear to have worked, Locke had to come in person to try to convince them.
  • Counter Evidence:
    • Claire came to Kate in a dream and tried to convince her not to take Aaron back to the island. If this is the island in control, it's contridicting itself. As far as we know (have pieced together), when the Losties dream it's more or less a message from the island. If the island wanted all of the O6 to return it wouldn't try to get Kate to leave Aaron behind.
    • However, Kate was not dreaming. She had wakened by the time she saw Claire. In her admonition, Claire does not mention "Aaron," "my son," "my child," or any other identifying term, other than "him." The Island may want Aaron back, but not Locke, even if Ben does.
      • Not only is the "him" referenced unknown, but the phrasing about "bringing him back," may have more to do with resurrecting a dead "him" rather than bringing him back to the Island. After all, Claire never mentions the Island in her warning.

The use of the Jeremy Bentham alias

  • Jeremy Bentham is most famous for his advocacy of Utilitarianism, whereby the "ethical" decision is the one that creates the greatest good for the greatest number of people [[1]]. During this episode, we find out that Locke has been approaching former Losties trying to bring them back to the island to resolve the "bad things" that have happened there which are, according to Locke, the result of their leaving. By asking them to return, Locke is asking them to sacrifice their off-island lives. Indeed, we see at the end of the episode that Locke has died during his attempt to bring the Losties back. The name "Jeremy Bentham" may refer to the sacrifice he asked the Losties to make, as well as the sacrifice he made leaving the island, and ultimately dying trying to bring them back.
  • "John Locke" and "Jeremy Bentham" are both names of English philosophers; Bentham (19th century) lists Locke (17th century) as an influence. Naming the character after the both of them implies that John Locke (the character) has somehow switched sides or changed positions on something. Locke the philosopher is most famous for his advocacy of natural rights; Bentham, on the other hand, was a fierce opponent of the concept of natural rights. See [2]
    • This dramatic change may indicate some transition that happens to Locke after the O6 leave the Island. Perhaps Locke encounters forces or circumstances that change him. He may end up more like Ben, or Jack or more like Bentham, after the forces of season 5 prepare him.
  • Jeremy Bentham believed in utilitarianism, an ethical philosophy in which moral behavior was defined as the action that benefited the greatest number of people. Locke asks the O6 to come back to the island (a major sacrifice for the few - especially Kate) to fix the after affects of their leaving on all the people left behind (the many).
    • In the episode Raised by Another from season one, Claire had a dream about Locke (the one where he had one white eye and one black eye). She asks Locke what's happening, to which he responds, "He was your responsibility but you gave him away, Claire. Everyone pays the price now." Quite possibly when Claire gave Aaron away to Kate, this began the tragic chain of events that we will see in season five. By attempting to bring the Oceanic Six back (which includes Aaron), Locke could be attempting to undo what has happened.
  • Jeremy Bentham had many areas of interest, one of which was economy. Bentham was an economist; Locke could be "The Economist" that Elsa was working for. However, this is unlikely - Elsa spoke German to 'the economist' on the phone. While Locke could have learned German, it's not the most viable situation.

Who will/has replace(d) Locke as leader of the Others?

  • The "special people" are those who have a connection to the island, and are able to see their future on the island. Evidence: The items Richard shows Locke are from the future (not the past like the items used to test a prospective Dalai Lama). The items, such as the "mystery island" comic, future Locke's compass, the Book of Laws Eko gave to future Locke, and the sand from the island are all tests of whether Locke has seen into his future on the island. Further, we know he has because of young Locke's drawing of the monster on his wall - which implies that he has already had a vision of being attacked by the monster in the future. This would indicate that "special" people are able to glimpse their future on the island. Given that the Others take this ability as a sign of their leaders (so far, Ben and Locke have talked about receiving instructions from the island through their dreams), other candidates for "special" people / leaders include:
  • Walt: Bea and Ben called him "very special." Locke may have visited him to try and bring him back to the island. Walt has appeared several times on the island after he left, never wanted to leave in the first place, may also have premonitions about what is going to happen on the island.
  • Ben - he says he is banished from the island never to return and that he "used to have dreams", but you can't count Ben out. He has profound knowledge of the island and his actions (helping Jack return) imply that his actions still revolve around the island.
  • Frank Lapidus: is associated with Abaddon, who found Locke and may be tasked with finding special people. When Abaddon defended his choices of Lapidus, Miles, Charlotte and Daniel to Naomi, he was insistent that these people be part of the mission. Their premonitions may have made finding the island possible. Lapidus may have had a premonition of the crash of Flight 815 and this is the reason he chose not to fly that day and blames himself for the death of the pilots.
  • Miles: is associated with Abaddon, who found Locke and may be tasked with finding special people. When Abaddon defended his choices of Lapidus, Miles, Charlotte and Daniel to Naomi, he was insistent that these people be part of the mission. Their premonitions may have made finding the island possible. Miles seems to have premonitions (finding the hidden money of a stranger in Confirmed dead, knowing about Ben's 3.2 million dollars), and this may be why he didn't leave the island - he knew the Kahana was going to explode. Also how he knew where Karl and Rousseau's bodies were.
  • Daniel: is associated with Abaddon, who found Locke and may be tasked with finding special people. When Abaddon defended his choices of Lapidus, Miles, Charlotte and Daniel to Naomi, he was insistent that these people be part of the mission. Their premonitions may have made finding the island possible. Daniel may have had a premonition of the crash of Flight 815 and this is why news of the flight makes him weep without him knowing why (i.e. something sad is associated with the crash of flight 815 in his subconscious).
  • No One. Locke has only just died and there is no suggestion at this point that another leader has been or will be chosen. In fact Ben's insistence on the return of Locke's body to the island suggests that Locke's purpose on the island is not yet complete. Likely, given that the deceased Christian has been used by Jacob. Locke's death is part of Jacob's plan and he is yet to fulfill his destiny.
  • Jack: Jack Sheppard is a natural leader: he will emerge as a full believer and new chosen one of the Island.
  • Aaron will be the leader. He is the only one known to have been born on the island. He has survived this whole time.
  • Hurley is the only other individual who has seen the cabin besides Locke and Ben. In fact, Hurley has seen the cabin twice, just like Locke. Hurley therefore is "special," although he thinks that maybe Locke, Ben, and himself are probably just crazy. However, Hurley has crucial people skills on the Island, not to mention the ability to diffuse tense situations and bring people together by finding common ground. If truly bad things happened after the O6 left the Island, then it is Hurley, the only "special" one of the O6, that must return to commune with Jacob and lead not just the Others, but also the Survivors of Oceanic 815.
    • This may hold more ground than any of the others mentioned. The first time Hurley saw Jacob's cabin it appeared out of nowhere, like Hurley was being summoned. When Hurley got scared and ran away, he turned to see how far he got away, turned back and it was there again and then the door opens like it was inviting him to come inside. ("The Beginning of the End") Like Ben had told Locke before their trek to the cabin, he told Locke that Jacob is not a man you go see, this is a man who summons you.
“

BEN: Something you should know, John, before we go. Whether or not you think he's the Wizard of Oz, I can assure you that Jacob is very, very real. And we're gonna go see him, and he's not gonna like it. In fact, I have a feeling he's going to be very...angry. And that's why my hand was shaking, because this is not a man you go and see. This is a man who summons you. ("The Man Behind the Curtain")

”

Why every one who has left the Island has to go back together

Why would Locke/Ben want/need the O6 back. In There's No Place Like Home, Part 1, Kate said that when she heard what Locke had to say about going back to the island, she knew he was crazy. Jack said taking Kate back to the island was the only way to keep her safe, but he did not mention anyone else going back. Given that the Others never showed any interest in trying keep the members of the O6 in the past (except for Aaron and attempting to kidnap pregnant Sun) and several times told them explicitly that they were "not on the list" or "bad," this raises the questions: Why would the Others suddenly want/need all of the O6+ back? (Locke visited at least Hurley, Kate/Aaron, Jack, and Walt that we know of).

      • When the wheel was turned The Island became unstuck in time. Just like Desmond and Minkowski The Island is visiting times in it's past and needs a constant. Since much more energy was released and the effect on The Island is significantly larger than what happened to Desmond a stronger constant may be needed and everyone who was on The Island in the time before the wheel turned needs to come back (This may exclude Desmond as he stayed on the freighter). Or one of the O6 could be the constant for as of yet unknown reasons. This explains why only people who were present when the wheel turned are experiencing the time travel.

The new/better leader hypothesis

Now that Locke is dead, a new leader is needed, and perhaps was needed all along.

  • The Others may have thought Locke was their chosen one, but it turns out it was one of the other Losties who was actually "meant" to emerge as the leader of the Others after the flight of 815.
  • This explains the "bad things" that happened after the O6 left - John was not able to handle the role.
  • This would explain why Locke was trying to get the O6 to return - so they could determine which of them was meant to be the leader of the Others.
  • Locke failing to kill Cooper meant he really wasn't ready/the person who should lead the Others.
    • This seems unlikely, as it was Richard who gave Locke the idea to get Sawyer to do the job for him.
  • This explains why Locke dies despite his seeming immortality up until this point (i.e. surviving a plane crash, an 8 story fall, being shot, healing from paralysis) - the island was helping him out all along (as it helped Juliet's sister. But now that it is clear he isn't "special" he dies or is murdered, something that was previously impossible.
  • Given what Ben and Locke had in common when they were "scouted" by Richard, these rough clues as to the identity of the "special" leaders might include: having bad fathers, troubled home lives, raised without mothers. Possible candidates who meet at least some of these criteria are: Jack, Walt, Kate, Sawyer, Hurley, or of course Ben again.

Circumstances on the island have changed

  • Jacob has made a new list, and this time, the O6 are on it. Now that they have left the island, their presence is somehow critical to its survival in a way that wasn't the case before they left. It can't be merely that their knowledge is a threat, otherwise the Others would simply kill them. (While Locke probably would not kill them Ben certainly would if that was what the situation called for), so we know they are needed alive.

Evidence:

  • Jacob likes to make lists, and Locke wouldn't leave the island unless he had been told to do so, especially if it was for the very uphill task of convincing the O6 to come back since he knows how much they will resist. If their presence had been critical before, the Others would have made a concerted effort to befriend and integrate them into their society as they did with Cindy, Locke, Zack, and Emily. As such, we are left to deduce that something has changed to make each of them critical to the island.
  • The agenda of getting all the 06 back to the island may merely be to ensure that none of them ever tell about the island.
    • It could be that there is new pressure on them that the Others believe might make them talk (evidence: Kate - a convicted felon on probation with a small child in her house keeps a gun handy, Widmore's men are watching Hurley, Sayid has killed/been shot by someone).
  • Locke needs their help to manage the island or events on the island. Each of the O6, beyond being "important" characters, were also instrumental, talented, creative, and highly valuable leaders and members of the survivor community. In a difficult situation, these would be the people you would chose to bring back. Locke isn't particularly clever or cunning, none of the Others are, that was Ben's department, and he's gone.
    • In a previous episode, Locke told Kate he lobbied that she be able to stay, but then the Others showed him her file of the "bad" things she had done. Now that the Others are basically homeless (the Barracks were destroyed), their food drops probably aren't being sent anymore (those were for Dharma), and they have a new/unsteady leader, they can't be so choosy.
      • If the Others were so impressed with Locke's ability to heal, why weren't they also impressed with how well Hurley's mental health improved on the island? Even Jack and Kate had their lives pretty well together on the island compared to their unsteady pasts.

The Island itself needs the Oceanic Six to return

There have been other instances in LOST where the Island itself is implied to possess some sort of ability to manipulate and/or control over events in the outside world.

  • While Ben may have been employing a metaphor and/or trying to manipulate Jack for his own ends, Ben notes specifically that the Island won't let Jack return alone. "You all have to go back."
  • Ben notes to Locke that whoever moves the Island cannot come back but does not explain why.
  • On departing the Island, Michael tries multiple times to kill himself. Tom later explains that no matter how many times he tries, the Island "won't let you".
  • Also referenced in the finale is Locke's belief that the crash of Flight 815 was no accident; all of the survivors were brought here for a reason.
  • Claire appears to Kate in a dream off of the Island. "Don't you dare bring him back!"

Moving the Island

Access to the Chamber

  • The pocket of negatively charged exotic matter is the source of the power to move the Island and of DHARMA's experiments in the vault. Behind the vault is one route of access to the Wheel Chamber. There are others, but the one through the Orchid is the fastest under the circumstances. At one point in its experiments, DHARMA placed an experimental object on a metal shelf in the vault. During the experiment, some minor damage occurred to the vault; however, there was not enough damage to reveal the tunnel behind the vault.
  • Given that there was a parka inside the Orchid, it does seem Dharma had entered the chamber for some reason, and perhaps sealed if off later.
  • There are stairs inside the chamber. Those must have been built by humans, most probably Dharma. Therefore Dharma members gained access to the chamber in the past but probably sealed it thinking that the negatively charged exotic matter is dangerous (maybe after making experiments or making a polar bear turn the wheel). It is known that they also sealed the magnetic thingy in the Swan.
  • Knowing about the tunnel and the incident in the vault, Ben loads the vault with as much metal as he can get his hands on. The resulting explosion tears open the back wall, revealing it to Locke and granting access to Ben.
  • The tunnel that Ben used to get to Smokey when Keamy's team attacked the Barracks looked really similar to the Orchid tunnel : old but still functional, same kind of polished rock walls... Besides, the Barracks one also featured hieroglyphs if I remember correctly, confirming these are like map indications, or maybe warning signals. It's likely there are indeed other tunnels everywhere beneath the Island (linked to Smokey's vents ?) and that the DI people never knew of them all. This knowledge has been kept secret by Richard and his people, that's why Ben now know about them, as he became their leader after the DI was purged. It's also probably how the Others attacked the Barracks and killed them : by using the tunnels they would have been able to infiltrate the whole place and leave the deadly gas everywhere before retreating to a safe place, waiting for it to wipe the DI. I bet we'll see more of these underground pathways in season 5... The Temple itself could be located underground.
    • Given how the Others seem to be able to get from point A to point B much quicker than possible overland, I would say that it's probable that there is a series of tunnels underground. Also it would explain the times when the Others seem to appear and disappear from thin air.
    • One flaw about the Temple station and their being more undeground tunnels. Why would Ben send Alex,Danielle and Karl through the jungle if the Temple was underground and if there were underground tunnels which were much safer, espically as he knew of the threat that was coming?
      • Danielle was not an other and could not be trusted with information about the tunnel system layout.
      • Ben is a grand master manipulator. He needed to get rid of Karl and Danielle. (Karl-danger to Alex. Danielle-threat to his role as parent.) He gambled they would be found by Keamy and that Alex would be recognized and therefore spared while Danielle and Karl were eliminated. However, "they changed the rules" and his daughter wasn't just spared, she was used as a bargaining chip. Even then, Ben was confident she'd be fine. And, if "they" hadn't changed the rules, she would have been and his plan would have worked.
      • If you look at the blast door map, it appears one of the as yet unidentified locations has no access to what appear to be a map of the underground tunnels. Given all these suppositions to be true, it's entirely possible there IS no underground access to the Temple - which, incidentally, makes it even more secure.
  • If the Island has moved in the past, then the chamber in the Orchid must have been blown up in the past as well. Why is it intact again when Ben moves the island? Could there be another way down to the wheel, or does the island fix the chamber when it moves?
    • The last time the Island was moved, the Orchid station didn't exist. DI discovered the chamber, had no idea what it actually was, and built the vault as part of their experiments on the exotic matter. The Island simply has not been moved since Dharma showed up.

The Orchid Wheel

GENERAL:

  • The Orchid Wheel is the device used to open the reservoir of the Island's "negatively charged exotic matter." There may or may not always be some flow of energy from the matter. The fact that DHARMA was able to detect it would argue in favor of some "seepage."
    • Dharma did NOT find it by detecting it, but the Black Rock crew accidentaly found it while mining the Island. Dharma simply found the mine with the Wheel while exploring the Island.
  • Both the source of the energy that keeps the chamber cold and the reason for doing so are unknown. The ice, itself, appears to be a product of condensation.
  • It does not resemble either the helm [3] or the anchor capstan[4] of a ship, such as the USS Constitution, in service since 1797, or the Black Rock.
    • Capstans take many shapes. Several look like the wheel room in the Orchid. A Capstan
    • True, but the target illustration shows the capstan with the bars inserted. They would be removed when not in use because they would take up too much space on the deck. (The illustration of the USS Constitution shows the capstan without the bars.) The bars on the Orchid wheel appear to be permanently fastened to the hub.
    • Maybe they can be permanently fastened because they're NOT on a ship? Of course, it's all speculation until you know what the darn thing DOES. Then you'd know if a winch, anchor, lift or lever type system was required.

OPERATION:

  • The wheel is designed to be operated by one or more human beings, as Ben demonstrates. Only three-eighths of the wheel is exposed at any one time. Tethering a donkey or any other draft animal to the wheel, assuming that there were sufficient room to do this, would require more time than the task of turning the wheel. The animal would then be able to push the wheel through a rotation of one-quarter of its circumference. The animal would then have to untethered, led back to the starting position, and re-tethered before beginning again.
  • Jacob is an avatar of the Island. He is too ephemeral and does not have the power to move the island on his own; he can order/ask/beg that it be moved but the act requires a human being.
  • The Orchid Wheel is not mystical in or of itself. It is a tool used to release the energy necessary to move the Island. That energy charges the device that actually moves the Island. Whether that energy is used for any other purpose is unknown at this time.
  • The time it took Locke to return to the top of the Orchid and walk the two miles to the place he met Alpert is longer than the amount of time Ben was depicted turning the wheel. Ben told Jack and the people with him to be off the Island within an hour. That would have given Ben all the time he needed to complete his task, to include closing the resevoir.
  • It must be pointed out that there has to be some other technology present behind the wall other then the wheel. True the wheel may be some form of release valve or on/off switch for exotic matter (which would enable the creation of a stable wormhole), but in order to control where that wormhole exits you would need sophisticated technology of some sort (or an intelligence). Without this the wormhole would no more likely exit somewhere in the ocean on Earth then it would anywhere else in the universe.
    • For all we know the island could be in space, we only saw it light up, not where it went. Thats why Ben says it is dangerous to move the island and its only a last resort sort of thing.
  • The wheel is only a facade of the actual technology at work. For example: if you were to place a World War I pilot in the cockpit of jetliner, they would be overwhelmed and be unable to fly but with proper automation the cockpit could be designed to look like a World War I cockpit and the pilot could then fly the complex machine. The Wheel (and perhaps Swan button-pushing as well) is given a primitive appearance so our undeveloped perception is able to operate technology far beyond our comprehension.

WHEEL HISTORY

  • There are hieroglyph-like carvings on the pillar when Ben enters the icy room. Two of them are pretty clear: a bird-like one that looks like the duck in "Sa-Rê", one of the religious names given to Pharaohs to mark their god-like status (possibly related to resurrection or immortality) and a square one depicting a "water piece" (possibly the ocean surrounding the island, or maybe an underground spring next to the Orchid). The latter has some "horns" on top of it though, so maybe it has a different meaning. There are finally three vertical slashes, possibly referring to three people, or three of something else. They could link this room to the Swan station and countdown clock, and possibly to former (and possibly Egyptian?) Island inhabitants.
    • The vertical slashes, or tally marks, could be keeping track of the number of times the island has been moved in that fashion.
      • The triangular top carvings could portray the mountains (i.e. the Island; that would be map indications). They may also represent a tidal wave created after the Island is moved, proving that whoever did these carvings knows how it all works.
      • Why would one need to keep track of how many times the island has been moved? Perhaps that is why moving it is dangerous. Perhaps you only get so many moves, and then something happens.
    • There is only one pillar featuring these carvings; the rest of the room isn't covered with them, and neither is the wheel. This seems to indicate that they are map indications.
    • There is a lantern hanging on the rock column above the carvings. The type is also know as a "hurricane lantern" (sometimes as a "barn lamp"). This type has been around since the early 1910-1920's, but unsure about this specific model. These are still being made today. Being fueled by kerosene is an advantage, as it stays liquid in frigid conditions.
      • It is the same style of lantern seen on the table in Jacob's Cabin.
  • The island has already been moved several times before. That is how the Black Rock got its position in the middle of the island: it just appeared in the open sea and lifted the ship up.
    • The island appear to "sink" into the ocean when it was moved. Thus, it could "rise" up to wherever it reappears. This could also add water to the theory as to why the Black Rock is so far inland. Rather than "popping" into existence, the island lifted it up when it reappeared there.
    • The island did look like it was sinking; there was a ripple effect in the water afterwards. Perhaps this will be the explanation (in the LOST world) for the December 2004 tsunami. The timing of the events on the island and time line to coincide with that major disaster.
      • That was just the ocean water filling in the space that used to be occupied by the island.
        • The same effect would occur if the island sank, but nevertheless I believe you are correct. In either case, however, the "implosion" would in turn create a massive suction around and under "ground zero" -- this is what drowns most folks on ships that sink. If the view we see of the island going >gloop< is meant to be the POV from the copter (at it seems to be) they appear close enough so that the air rushing in to fill the vacuum would've sucked in Lapidus and his intrepid passengers -- at the very least, this natural reaction would've convincingly caused the chopper to crash without requiring the writers' 'out of gas' bit.
  • The polar bear in Tunisia (possibly the same spot Ben ended up) could be an indication that DHARMA moved the island in the past, or experimented in the frozen chamber anyway. They could have used the polar bear as a guinea pig to test the properties of the frozen chamber.
    • This explains the remains of the Polar Bear found in Tunisia by Charlotte. Tunisia serves as a dumping location whenever the wheel is turned.
      • From the orientation video, we have seen that the chamber didn't send the Dharma bunny to far, into the past, in a room on the island. So far, only the FDW seems linked to Tunisia - where the bear was found. Either Dharma knows about the wheel and sent one of their bears wearing a Dharma collar, or the Others bothered to put a Dharma collar on a polar bear before using the bear to move the island.
  • The frozen chamber has a rickety ladder and a gas lamp in it. These are not the sorts of things that DHARMA would have put there. Was this chamber used by the Others, or maybe by the crew of the Black Rock in the past?

Questions about the wheel

Why would the person closest to the wheel go to Tunisia, and the Island goes the somewhere else?

  • Because of the yellow light emitting from the wheel would only reach the person turning the wheel.
    • That light could also reach anyone else in the wheel chamber.
  • The light is not necessarily what sent Ben to the desert.

Why did Halliwax say only organic matter should go in the vault? The wheel seems to have transported inorganic matter - i.e. the island, unless the whole island along with everything else on it is some sort of living "organic" being - that would be a weird season 5.

  • The Vault blew up when metal was put into it similar to putting metal in a microwave. Halliwax said that to prevent damage to the vault.
  • Describing restrictions on the vault is different than describing what the wheel does.

What happens if you turn the wheel the other way?

  • Nothing; the wheel only turns one way.
  • The Island time travels in the opposite direction.
  • The emissions stop, just as if you turned any other tap the other way. We do not have to see it happen for it to happen.

Ben's Destination and Timing

  • Ben's arrival date in Tunisia is synchronized up with the Island's new time, because they were moved by the same force.
  • Assuming that the island was off the coast of Australia, Tunisia was the Island's polar opposite; the person turning the wheel is sent to the other end of the earth.
  • The Island shifting forward allows Ben to access some important things because he needs funds which are only available to the leader of the People of the Island.
  • Ben moved the Island on 12/30/2004; he arrives at the hotel, still in the Halliwax parka and with the wound on his arm, on 10/24/2005; the difference is 298 days.
298 - 42 = 256
256 / 8 = 32
32 / 4 = 8
(the numbers)
  • Ben arrived in Iraq and soon afterwards lured Sayid into becoming his assassin after Nadia was killed.
  • At this point, Sayid, along with the rest of the Six, had been rescued, been to Hurley's party with Nadia, married Nadia, and lived with Nadia for a time before she was killed.
  • When Ben arrives in Tunisia, he asks the hotel receptionist about the date.
  • Ben (as Moriarty) did not need to have a reservation. He was a preferred guest. The hotel staff was not expecting him that day, but any day he arrived, they would find him a room, either in their hotel or in another with equivalent accomodations.
  • After arriving in Tunisia, Ben shows a passport of Dean Moriarty with his picture in it. Ben already believed that he was being replaced as leader because he no longer has dreams ("Cabin Fever"). When he went into the concealed room in his house to dispatch the Monster ("The Shape of Things to Come"), he took time to retrieve the Dean Moriarty passport. He would not have had certain knowledge, when leaving their village cabin, that Jacob would ask Locke to move the Island, but he would have known that he needed to be prepared for anything. Ben always has a plan, even if he just doesn't always know the outcomes.
    • A deleted scene for this episode on the Season 4 DVD depicts Ben riding horseback in Tunisia just after his encounter with the Bedouins. He stops at a stone wall, pulls one of the stones out and retrieves a ziploc baggie full of identity documents from behind it. A Canadian passport is displayed clearly. This is where he got the Dean Moriarty passport. Either he himself in one of his trips off the Island or someone working for him placed the documents there because Ben knew exactly where he would end up if he ever had to move the Island.
  • Ben probably did not need to go to Los Angeles at the time of Nadia's death, because of the impressive intelligence network the the Island has available to it.
  • Ben did not kill Nadia, nor have her death arranged. He had just arrived from the Island.
  • Ben recruited Sayid in 2005. It seems that Sayid is still working for Ben three years later.

Ben's Knowledge

Anticipation

Ben can anticipate his needs. This does not suggest that he is prescient, but it does make him a good planner. During the battle of the Barracks, he realized that it was time to confront Charles Widmore. He took time after tergeting the Monster to select the "Dean Moriarty" passport, some credit cards or money to funds his activities off the Island and his weapon (if he did not already have it). Afterward, events spiraled out of control. Ben accompanied Locke to Jacob's cabin and ended up in Tunesia ten months later.

Ben's DHARMA Knowledge

  • Locke, looking around in the Orchid Station, asks Ben, "What is all this stuff for?" and Ben replies, "Same as all the other DHARMA stations. Just silly little experiments." Ben is indicating that DHARMA is not responsible for anything consequential about the Island: not the wheel, not the Monster.

Ben was involved in a previous move of the Island.

  • At that time, he was the leader elect and Charles Widmore was the current leader in whom Jacob no longer had any confidence.
    • Because of Ben's knowledge of DHARMA (having grown up with them), he knew that metal in the chamber would blow it up. Someone (possibly Richard Alpert or Widmore) told him that the wheel was behind the Orchid Station.
      • The fact that he grabs the parka before going down indicates that he is very familiar with the wheel.

Counter evidence

  • Unless DHARMA rebuilt the Orchid station, the door would have already been blown by Widmore, if he had "seen" it.
    • There may be an alternate way into where the frozen wheel is besides The Orchid. There seems to be something on the other side--to have put the wheel there, they would have either had to have access to it from the other side, or keep turning the wheel as it was assembled.
      • If Widmore had moved the Island before, he wouldn't bother looking for it since he wouldn't be able to go back anyway.
      • Unless it IS possible to go back, or there is something there that he wants. But it seems that all he wants is Ben, at least that is all it appears Keamy et al. came for. Maybe Charlotte, Faraday and Miles were sent there for another purpose, but got side tracked into being the rescue crew.
  • Ben's statement about the person who moves the Island having an inability to return is not necessarily true; if it is, he may not have meant it literally. It simply could have meant it's next to impossible as that person would be shifted somewhere in the world, and thus, wouldn't know where/when the Island had moved to.
    • Ben is simply lying to Locke as usual.
      • Ben told Locke that the person moving the Island can never return so that Locke would stay.
  • Besides the fact that "Jacob says so", why would the Island still need to be moved if the threats were taken care of?
    • Widmore would still know where the Island was if it wasn't moved.
    • And the O6, and all the Losties who had left the Island at the time the wheel was turned, would definitely come back for their friends, blowing the cover of the Others who don't want to be found.
      • The Six may be glad to be rid of their "friends" on the Island -- and vice versa.
    • The events in the freighter and things like Keamy killing Ben's daughter caused this particular time ripple to be unfixable, therefore the only way to fix the original Time paradox (Theory) is to create a new ripple/loop by causing another time/space shift (ergo, moving the Island) and try, from this new time line to fix things and merge everything, but apparently, it all went wrong.

Orchid Orientation

Faulty video/machine theory

  • Comparing the earlier Orchid Orientation out-takes to this video, the out-takes look like aged and yellowed film, whereas the video appear whiter and cleaner. So the original shoot was on film, then the final edit was transferred to video tape. The fluctuations in sound are typical for an old tape and/or a VCR that has not been used is a while.
  • The movie starts to go backwards because the director/writers didn't want us to see the entire video so they made some technical problem with the tape as the excuse to end the segment.
    • The video simply had no more information on it the tape had ended. Or a part had been removed a little like the swan orientation video where part of it was missing. Because that part was missing the video had no more tape and so rewound like a normal tape would.
      • That is not the normal way a tape rewinds when it reaches the end of the tape. The video would go out and it would go into its "fast rewind". Instead it rewinds as if you were playing the tape and hit rewind, a "slow rewind".
        • The machine could just be faulty.
      • Faulty Machine is supported by Locke pressing the buttons to get it to play again with no success.
        • The tape malfunction was caused by Halliwax's experiment. What we saw was all there is.
          • Ben was being facetious when he told Locke that the video would answer his questions. Ben has never answered Locke's questions about the island, but promising to is the primary way he motivates Locke to go along with his plans.
            • Really, Ben knew it would answer none of Locke's questions. He just wanted to get Locke to shut up while he worked.

Content of the video

We see Halliwax with his rabbit, number 15. The setting is similar, yet different from the earlier Orchid film out-takes. His female assistant has been replaced with a male technician seated at the controls. While the dialog is similar to the earlier film, there are differences. In the earlier film, Halliwax mentions how you (the new recruit) were not told the true nature of your work until now, "for the security of your family and friends".

  • In the outtake (film), an accident occurs and a duplicate of the rabbit appears on a shelf behind Halliwax before he gets an opportunity to place the original number 15 into the vault. Halliwax asks about the setting and someone replies, "minus twenty."
  • In the final (video tape), Locke never sees the result of the experiment because the tape goes into reverse search, possibly because an electronic signal caused the camera to place a signal to so on the tape.

The bad thing that happened to DHARMA

  • The "bad thing" that happened to DHARMA that created so many problems for them and caused issues at the substations was the first time they found and turned the frozen wheel. They would have moved the wheel at some point to see what it did, causing the Island to move in time. This would have teleported anyone in the ice chamber to a different place (Tunisia?) and caused issues for DHARMA getting back and forth (basically cutting them off from the Island until they either made contact with the outside world again or left under the new bearings) and may have wreaked havoc with their substations. The only way DHARMA would have known to build the biochamber to move things around was to harness the power in its original form (the wheel) and see the results the first time, then experiment from then on.
    • Could a the Polar Bear in Tunisia have turned the wheel as part of the experiment and that is why Charlotte was seen digging up a bear?
      • I would think this happened second. I can't see them finding the frozen wheel and going "oh, we need to bring in a polar bear to turn it". I can see them turning it once and screwing things up, and then later on saying "okay, we need to turn the wheel again, what animal can survive the cold down there, is strong enough to turn the wheel, and is smart enough to turn the wheel without us down there? (hence the bear conditioning with devices). Because the bear has to be smart to operate the wheel by itself then this proves they know that they can't be in the room with the bear, hence they know the effects already of turning the wheel with people in the room (they did it once).
        • I'm sorry but this idea doesn't seem too bright. For one thing, the little ice hole Ben climbed through was not that big, it would have been a very tough fit for a polar bear weighing a couple hundred pounds. Also, how would the polar bear get down there. With the two ladders it seems about an 18-20 foot drop to the bottom room with the wheel. Did they lower the polar bear or just drop its ass?
          • Not being able to get a polar bear through the entrance Ben used doesn't mean anything; there could be another or multiple entrances to the FDW.
          • Also, polar bears don't start off big, they grow. If you are going to be experimenting on polar bears on a jungle island, you may need an environment suitable for a polar bear to grow and develop. Polar bear went into the FDW room as a cub, grew up, moved the wheel and wound up in Tunisia.
          • And it's also unlikely that they blew up the orchid to get in there, so there is probably another way.
  • The way Ben talks about the Orchid to Locke, I wonder if DHARMA weren't the ones who discovered the true power of the frozen wheel, but instead it was the Others, or some other party. Locke "What is all this equipment for?" Ben "Just like every other station, silly experiments", and then when Locke asked "Are they talking about what I think they are talking about?" Ben " What, time traveling bunnies, yes." I think DHARMA was short sighted in what the wheel could actually do and used it for just experimenting with bunnies.
    • Ben's statements very strongly imply that DHARMA had no idea whatsoever about the real powers of the Island and their significance for the "original inhabitants". DHARMA simply found a couple of phenomena they could not explain and did comparatively insignificant experiments with them, in the process angering the original inhabitants and (possibly unintentionally) wreaking havoc.

The "bad things" that happened

Caused by Jacob

The bad things, still unrevealed, are caused by Jacob, but he is capable of the things only because he was freed by Locke.

  • Keep in mind that we don't know that Jacob was a prisoner of Ben. In fact, given that we now know the cabin is not always visible to all people and that it does relocate, it is more logical to assume that the circle of ash was put there by Ben to remind him of where the cabin was.
  • Not only did Jacob ask Locke to "help" him (suggesting he needed help of some sort), but Ben also says "I guess you're getting what you wanted" (or something to that effect) to Jacob as he turns the wheel, again suggesting that Ben held Jacob in some sort of captivity, and now he is free to do what he would like.
    • No, he says "I hope you're happy now, Jacob" because he has spent his whole life carrying out Jacob's wishes and Jacob ultimately ditched him in favour of Locke.
      • Perhaps jacob could be "freed" though. If the island moves back in time perhaps jacob could be reincarnated? Or something of that nature. After many years of dealing with ben he could be very angry at his misinterpretations of jacob's will, and he could be punishing all those left on the island.

Caused by Miles, Charlotte, or Daniel

  • With the mercenaries dead and the remaining camps relatively reconciled in their mutual opposition to them, the only new element on the island is the remaining Kahana crew. They had to have been introduced for a plot-turning reason, and with bad things ensuing, one of them may be involved. Charlotte in particular seems to have a personal agenda (and a dark side).
  • Miles will become a key character in Season 5 - his apparent ability to communicate with the dead and hear/interpret the whispers on the Island will make him a valuable source of insights into how the island works and what has/is happening there. This may also make Miles a direct threat to Locke as the new leader of the Others (chosen in part because he heard Jacob), and may also be a threat to the Others as a whole, since he has a direct way to get information about the island that they can't manipulate or control.

Caused by everything put together

  • Locke is now accepted as leader of the Others. Now that the Survivors' leaders have all disappeared and rejoined the world as the Oceanic Six, there is a power vacuum that will eventually need to be filled. Sawyer, Rose, Juliet, Miles, Charlotte, and Daniel are all candidates for leadership, but none of them is particularly fond of any of the other Survivors. Considering the deaths that have occurred the leadership slate represents approximately one-third of the population. They all like Lock even less.
  • As a result, Locke will be unable to keep the tentative peace between the remaining Survivors and the Others as leader, and a conflict will ensue, one that he is impotent to stop. The Survivors will be regarded by the Others as newcomers and second-class citizens. Arguments will ensue of housing, food and other resources. The conflict will be violent. The Others do not hesitate to use force. The Survivors, under their new leadership, also will not hesitate to use violence to try to escape.
  • Locke will try (and fail) to keep the peace in an attempt to peacefully unite these two violent factions. Neither the Others nor the Survivors will respond to his pleas for non-violence due to long-standing and slow-to-change hostilities, and he will lose control of the situation. For this violent civil war between the Survivors and the Others to end, the Oceanic Six must return to retake the heavy burden that is the leadership of the Survivors. Their return is necessary as they were all brought to the island for a higher purpose in the first place, and one of those purposes is to lead and control the Survivors , keeping the uneasy peace between the two tribes (the Survivors and the Others).
  • There are two other aspects to consider as well. First, the Survivors tend to fracture into more than one faction, and with the introduction of Miles and Charlotte into the group, a split into two factions will occur: those who want to stay, and those who want to leave. This will further complicate the impending violence. Second, there is the wild card that is the passengers of the Zodiac. Their existence, whether they are transported with the island or not, will become a crucial story device at some point during Season Five.

Kate's dream

Kate was dreaming. After she heard creaking sounds, answered the telephone, armed herself, and talked with Claire in Aaron's room, she woke suddenly and found herself back in bed. She went to Aaron's room, found him sleeping comfortably, and twice said she was sorry. The garments Claire was wearing have no impact on the question of whether the experience was or was not a dream.

The reason for her sorrow is not specified, but one is left with only four possibilities:

  • Kate remains in California, keeping Aaron with her. This is unlikely because it would essentially write Kate and Aaron out of the story.
  • Kate remains in California, giving Aaron to someone else who is returning to the Island. This is unlikely, as Kate has come to think of Aaron as her son.
  • Kate returns to the Island, leaving Aaron in someone else's care. This is unlikely, as Kate has come to think of Aaron as her son.
  • Kate returns to the Island, taking Aaron with her. This is the reality that fits the long-term plot. Aaron would not have been born if he were not needed. One should not assume that Kate's loud assertions that she is not going back mean that she has not given in to the reality of having to go.

Counter evidence

  • There is not sufficient evidence to know what Kate is apologizing to Aaron for. What Kate was dreaming about may have nothing to do with her apology to Aaron. She could be apologizing for anything - including events we are not aware of. Either the "apology theory" needs to be supported by evidence or removed.
    • Kate apologized because she had to take Aaron off the island. She retrospectively realized that Aaron is actually part of the island and that he should have stayed there. Her dream was probably about the bad things that happened on the island after they left.
  • It doesn't make sense that Kate would be apologizing for her decision to NOT take Aaron back to the island - where there are monsters, kidnappers, and danger, where Claire was always insistent on getting Aaron get off the island. Even if Kate decided to take him back to the island, she would only do this if she believed this was in Aaron's best interest - in either case, no apology necessary.
  • One should not assume that Claire was speaking about Aaron when she admonished Kate not to bring "him" back. Like it or not, there is another "him" to be considered -- John Locke.
    • Not only could the "him" be John Locke, but "bringing him back" may refer to resurrecting John Locke, as in "bringing him back to life," as opposed to bringing "him" back to the Island. There is no evidence to support that "bringing him back" means anything specific, just as the "him" also is in question.
    • Or the "him" that should not be returning to the island -- Benjamin Linus.

Membata

The idea that a limited number of people escaped the aircraft before it sank and made their way to a small island is reasonable. A large number might cause someone to investigate the earlier statement that everyone died.

Once having agreed to a rough plan for reintroducing themselves to the world, the Oceanic Six, with Penny's help, search for an island on which they can allege they spent the one hundred plus days.

The island must:

  • Be close to the place where the bogus wreck of Oceanic 815 sank.
  • Be close enough to an inhabited island for the Six to make a journey in a raft.
  • Be uninhabited.
  • Have an age-indeterminant wrecked vessel.
  • Have recently been in the path of a typhoon.

After finding Membata, they spend some time, at a minimum, walking around in the sand above they high-water mark on the beach to leave evidence of their "residence."

The Oceanic Six board the raft, as shown, and arrive at Sumba island after spending approximately nine hours afloat. The Searcher monitors their progress for as long as possible to ensure their safety.

Fortunately, someone in the village where they wash up has a camera, sparing Oceanic the trouble of posing re-enacted pictures to document the return to civilization.

Orchid Wheel / Island Movement / Swan

  • The Orchid Wheel and the emergency discharge of the Swan have the same effect, both bright flashes and the same noise, accompanying a move of the Island, although the discharge was unanticipated. The island had been moved before; one move was "The Incident" to which the DHARMA Initiative refered. The Swan was expanded to be a control station for the teleportation properties of the island, enabling DI to keep the island anchored down where they need it to be. Also, when Locke let the countdown in Swan run out he was enabling the island to recharge and be able to move again.
  • When Locke didnt push the button and the Swan was destroyed, the island was moved. Many events were attributed to this "when the sky turned purple" as it did again after Ben moves the wheel. For example, this is why the submarine could no longer be used. Also, the island was in a "better" location before, where it was less likely to be found, but the movement done by the Swan allowed Widmore's people to locate it.
    • Didn't Ben & Mikhail admit that communications were fine, and the submarine problems were due to communications problems? I was under the impression that the whole submarine business was BS.
    • Someone wrote elsewhere - and it is worth pondering - that the submarine is a fake in terms of transportation to and from the Island. Most people are, to hide the travel method, transported into the Looking Glass while in an unconscious state, placed into the sub while still unconscious, transported to the dock area, and awakened. "Senior Management," such as Ben and Alpert travel the same way and:
      • Are not sedated because they are allowed to know what takes place.
      • Are sedated because the experience is traumatic, as demonstrated by Ben vomiting upon his arrival in the desert.
  • When the Swan was destroyed, Penny's station was able to pick up the electromagnetic signal for a brief moment. Since the same noise and flashes happened when the wheel turned, it could possibly be briefly spotted again.
    • Adding onto this, Charles and Penny Widmore both wanted to find the island for different reasons (Ben, Desmond) so it is likely that Charles Widmore was able to send the mercenaries to the island to find Ben in the same way that Penny knew where to look for Desmond. A man of Charles Widmore's power and resources could certainly keep tabs on his daughter's discoveries.
  • Now the island has been moved the drops from the outside world will no longer reach the island leading to lack of supplys for both the others and the losties.
    • Unless the island only moves in time rather than location.
    • Unless the drops somehow originate from the island itself (which implies a huge storage warehouse somewhere on the island, as well as planes), either by an automated supply system or via the Others.
      • Then how do you restock the warehouse? It's an unending question....

Ben off the Island

  • Ben loves the Island. It is the only good home he has ever known. His years in the Pacific Northwest with Roger, who blamed him for his wife's death, were traumatizing.
  • For the sake of "his" Island, he executed the mechanical function to move the Island to a, hopefully, safer place, knowing that, in a process not yet seen, he would be ejected and never allowed to return to his only true home. There was something wistful about the way he said, "I used to have dreams ("Cabin Fever")."
  • Ben has certain evil qualities. Telling Juliet "you're mine" is an example("The Other Woman").
  • We do not know for certain that Ben is trying to overcome his banishment. He has a task to get "all of you," back to the Island, however many people that represents. He does not say, "all of us."
  • Ben's ultimate punishment may be that "all of you" includes Penny and, as much as he wants to kill Penny to avenge Alex's death and to punish Charles Widmore, he will never be able to do that.

Daniel, Frank Lapidus, Miles, and Charlotte

Daniel, Miles, Frank Lapidus and Charlotte are "special".

  • The "special people" are not reincarnations. The items Richard shows Locke are not from the past (like those used to test a prospective Dalai Lama, which would imply reincarnation), but the future. The items, such as the "mystery island" comic, future Locke's compass, the Book of Laws Eko gave to future Locke, and the sand from the island are all tests of whether Locke has seen into his future. Further, we know he has because of young Locke's drawing of the monster on his wall - which implies that he has already had a vision of being attacked by the monster in the future. This would indicate that "special" people are able to glimpse the future (i.e. they are not reincarnations). This would explain why Daniel is mysteriously responds emotionally, crying, when he sees the crash of Flight 815, though he isn't yet involved in the mission. Also, this would explain why Miles doesn't leave the island - he knows the Kahana is going to explode - and this may also be how he found the money in Confirmed Dead. Frank Lapidus may have had a premonitions and hence didn't pilot Flight 815. Charlotte may also have these experiences since she seemed to recognize what Miles was talking about when he mentioned her trying to find the island.
  • Abaddon may be involved in tracking down "special people" - since we saw him with Locke in the past and advised him to go on the walkabout, and there is some mystery as to why he chose Frank Lapidus, Miles, Charlotte and Daniel, it is possible that they are also special people.
  • Their "specialness" may have given the Kahana/Widmore knowledge as to how to find the island - through their premonitions - i.e. the island drawing them toward it like it drew Locke through his dreams. This is why Widmore/Abaddon insisted to Naomi that these people - Daniel, Miles, Frank Lapidus and Charlotte, were the right ones for the mission.
  • To support this idea, we have her fascination with the island and the Dharma initiative as evidenced by her chosen career path (which is in historical sociology and timeless human behaviour) and activities in Tunisia. Also, note Charlotte's hesitance to discuss with Daniel her strange feelings about the island, saying "Would it make any sense if I told you I'm still looking for where I was born?" Her reluctance to explain herself to Daniel (who is no stranger to weird concepts) could indicate that Charlotte herself feels drawn to the island for reasons she is still unclear about, as Locke was.
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