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Contents 1 Ao-bōzu 青坊主 2 Aobozu's Theories 2.1 Current Theories 2.2 Old Theories 2.2.1 The Third Man 2.2.2 Season 5: Can Time be Changed? 2.2.3 The Flaming Sword: The Island as Eden 2.2.4 The Perilous Land: The Island as Faëry/Fairyland/Elfland/Alfheim 3 Aobōzu's Favorites 3.1 Favorite Characters 3.2 Favorite Episodes 3.2.1 Season 1 3.2.2 Season 2 3.2.3 Season 3 3.2.4 Season 4 3.2.5 Season 5 4 Miscellaneous

Ao-bōzu 青坊主

Aobōzu is a traditional monster from Japanese folklore, which has appeared in the art of Toriyama Sekien as well as the Hyakkai zukan, a collection of emaki scrolls by Sawaki Sūshi. Also known as: Me-hitotsu-bō 目一つ坊.

"When the wheat is green, the green monk is said to emerge from the verdant fields, and children who dally on their way home will be carried off by this monstrous bonze. Sekien Toriyama drew the ao-bōzu as an oddly-proportioned cyclops, which may have been inspired by other tales of one-eyed demons in priestly vestments, of which there are many." {The Obakemono Project}.

Aobozu's Theories

Current Theories

I've got nothing yet. Ever since "The Incident, Parts 1 & 2", practically anything can happen next. I'm leaning toward a reset, but past that I have no new theory to offer. More to be added once I have something (anything at all) to work with...

Old Theories

But possibly still relevant.

The Third Man

We have seen since season 4 of Lost that there is a rivalry of epic proportions between one Charles Widmore, former leader of the Others and current wealthy British industrialist, and one Benjamin Linus, former child of a Dharma Initiative janitor and Widmore’s successor, until just recently when he was forced by the will of Jacob to abdicate his position to John Locke. Ben has been seen to be on the side of the Island, despite his often extreme measures, while Widmore has been seen to be a self-centered and exploitative villain. But recent events in season 5 have suggested that this picture may be overly simplistic. Both Widmore and Ben desired the return of the Oceanic Six to the Island, and both seemed to bow to the new leadership of Locke (one albeit a bit less willingly than the other). There seems to be a third party involved, however, a group which seems to be aware of the activities of both, as well as some intriguing Island secrets (“what lies in the shadow of the statue?”). Perhaps this third party is the key to understanding the show. What if neither Widmore nor Ben are villains, but unwilling pawns in the agenda of a much more sinister individual, whose motives until now have remained unquestioned.

This person, of course, may well be Richard Alpert. He has been present on the Island since before the memory of any living character we have yet seen, and has always been shown to have some sort of leadership position over the Island and those who serve as the Island’s protectors. He has been seen, in 1954, to have been grooming Widmore -- as well as Widmore’s lover and confidante Eloise Hawking -- to become the leader of the Others, as well as having selected and nurtured Ben into that same role, in direct defiance to what he understands Widmore’s wishes to be. He claims to not answer to any leader we have yet seen, except Jacob. But we have never seen Richard communicate with Jacob. There have been hints (the grayish-white ash outside his cabin, his call for help to Locke in season 3) that Jacob is being controlled, or else manipulated, by some force. What if this force is Richard himself?

This would explain why he has been seen supporting both Widmore and Ben, and why the rivalry between these two, portrayed as so epic until this latest season, actually has quite petty, personal, and relatively unimportant origins. If Richard is the real villain, it makes sense that he would play both sides against the middle, so that whoever wins, he is the undisputed advisor without whose wisdom the day would not have been won. Leading the Others alone, the absence and unhealth of Jacob which we have seen might be attributed by his people to his own influence. With two bitter enemies to point the finger at alternately, the focus shifts away from him and to the activities of others. We can even see a bit of this happening now. Starting in mid-season 3, Richard has seemed to be skeptical of Ben’s leadership and desirous of Locke, the upstart newcomer; whereas now, as Locke is taking leadership competently (at last!) into his hands, Richard begins to express his doubts to Ben.

But the difference now is that Locke has died and been raised again. If Locke is not in fact evil (a distinct possibility, if this theory is wrong), then his resurrection, like the similar (but probably not exactly the same) resurrection of Christian Shephard, has put him more directly in touch with the wishes and purposes of the Island, and of Jacob himself. If Richard has some sort of power over Jacob, if he has placed some sort of curse or restrictive “magic” (for lack of a better word) on the invisible spirit of the Island, then it may make sense that the only way to free Jacob would be to “kill” this cursed form which Jacob presently occupies. Think of the Irish folktales in which a hero must kill his enchanted, magical horse in order to free it from its animal form and restore its proper one, that of a handsome prince; think Star Wars, a noted influence on this season, in which Obi Wan Kenobi tells Darth Vader that if he strikes him down, he will “become more powerful than you can possibly imagine.” Dead is dead, according to Ben. But what if it’s not? It wasn’t for Locke (if that is still Locke), and so it might not be for Jacob. If Jacob is something like the god or spirit of the Island, then there is a kind of appropriate logic in the idea of his having to die in order to return to full power.

Season 5: Can Time be Changed?

I've been thinking a lot about "The Variable". Probably too much. I can't sleep. So I thought I'd gather my thoughts into a coherent form here.

One of the biggest themes this season, since the arrival in Dharma times, is free will vs. fate. The idea which, until now, seemed most likely, was that history was set in stone, and it didn't matter what the survivors did while stuck in the past, because it had already happened, and anything they did wasn't an act of will because it had to have happened in order to fulfill history. This idea has been challenged a few times, and every time so far it has seemed to have prevailed. But seeming and being aren't the same thing. What if this seeming was never actually true to begin with?

It's important that I deal with this question before moving on to the most interesting aspect of "The Variable", because in order for this idea to work, there has to be a possibility that free will can happen. So let's look at the facts.

We've seen in season 3 that the universe has a way of course correcting itself. Now, this itself is interesting, if for no other reason than the fact that, if true, this course-correcting force is itself entirely mystical and can have no explanation in natural science. The idea of course correction implies a given course that is preferable, no, essential. And however it in actuality accomplishes the course correction, there must be some guiding principle behind it that prefers this essential course above all others. And freedom of choice must be anterior to preference. Otherwise Desmond's actions would have changed things, and without this preference (implying some kind of will that performs the act of preferring), it wouldn't matter if things turned out one specific way, or an entirely different way. Or, if "whatever happened, happened" is actually true, Eloise need not have worried about exhorting and pressuring Desmond (or Daniel, in "The Variable") into doing the things they (and the universe) want done.

So far, the biggest piece of what is supposedly evidence for the position of fatalism over free will is the fact that Sayid, in trying to prevent Ben from becoming the killer he ultimately became, ultimately ended up performing an act without which Ben never would have become the killer we know him now to be. But is this interpretation really true? On closer inspection, I don't think it is. All we have for evidence is that Richard claims being healed in the Temple will "change" him, and "steal his innocence". But when we next see young Ben, he behaves exactly as he had behaved before. Before being healed, his allegiance and sympathies were already on the side of the Others, and he had already felt disconnected and disloyal to the Dharma Initiative. Nothing at all, in his personality or his motivations, seems to have actually changed. His act of killing his father, much later, is associated with his act of joining the Others and participating (to whatever degree) in the Purge. This action comes from motivations and emotions Ben had felt long before being healed in the Temple.

So much for Sayid contributing to fate despite his own will. All we can say for sure is that his action did not end up changing the future. But it does not logically follow from this fact alone that it never could have. How could it have, though, when the logic of paradoxes and the "rules of time travel" seem to preclude this possibility altogether? There are actually a couple of ways of looking at this.

We've already noted the existence of some sort of "force" which course-corrects the universe. Had Sayid in actuality killed Ben then and there, it is conceivable that this "force" could have arranged for another individual -- possibly Widmore, possibly someone else -- who would not only be qualified but also have the right motivations (and this is selective, not determinative) to fill Ben's shoes, and make sure all of the things Ben was later to accomplish could still happen. Whether a similar course correction is possible or not in regards to the question of preventing the Swan Incident, as Faraday plans to do, does not affect the logic of this idea: though I believe that it would not be. Such a drastic difference between what was preferred to happen (the Incident), and the course of history that would have happened had the Incident been avoided, would probably be irreconcilable by whatever "force" is at work, unless this force is God or God-like. But that's the most interesting part about this episode, "The Variable". That very fact, the fact that here, finally, is something that can be changed -- this is what makes the possibilities so interesting, and, possibly, so meaningful.

The real genius of what could come to pass after "The Variable" is that the choice the survivors now seem to have before them is not whether they should act to change the future, but rather whether they should not act to preserve the future. What I hope will happen is that they will choose not to act, that they will choose to try to prevent Jack (who now seems the plan's biggest proponent) from carrying out his plan, as Charlie and Eko did with Locke and Desmond in season 2. If this happens, then whatever series of acts they choose in order to safeguard the future will accomplish two things: to fulfill the preferred course (or "destiny"), and to preserve the free will of the characters, and exhibit it in an honorable and meaningful way. I do not think that the Swan Incident will be prevented; otherwise, what's the point of this show, except to show us a meaningless tragedy? I very much hope that it will happen. But if it does, then the actions leading up to it will both preserve the history (future and past) of the show Lost, and allow our time-sojourners to make meaningful choices in the past without creating a paradox.

The final thing to address will be this possibility of a paradox itself. It is conceivable, though not preferable, and I sincerely hope this does not happen, that Jack will succeed in his plan and end up causing the whole history of Lost to have never happened. This will be seen by many to be a poor move, as it will be felt to be illogical and paradoxical, a poorly-crafted science fiction story. But is it? What proof do we have that the paradox is, in fact, impossible, other than sheer logic? I am not denying the logic itself. I am merely saying this: suppose you are sent back in time. Suppose you want to kill Hitler before he can commit genocide. Suppose you make your way to Germany, and get a gun, and find him alone in a room, ready to pull the trigger. What then? If things do happen that way, will you find that you suddenly don't want to do it anymore? Or will the universe course-correct?

Let's say it doesn't. You are standing there. All you have to do is pull the trigger, regardless of the paradox it will cause. You want to do it. Will you? As a creature of free will, you will say, either yes, I will, or no, I won't. You have that choice, regardless of the rules of logic. Free will is just as real a fact as the logic behind the paradox (the two are like an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object; probably the reason, to say nothing of physics, why time travel is really impossible).

If you don't believe this, then there is no choice, no meaning, and there is no point in discussing anything at all. So imagine you pull the trigger. What then? What will happen? Our experience tells us nothing about this. We have no way of knowing what will happen, or what is even possible in such a situation. But to deny such a situation is possible, given that you are standing there with the gun pointed at his head already (which is, more or less, the position our survivors are now in), is to deny a fact as real as the logic which impels you to argue against a paradox.

The Flaming Sword: The Island as Eden

Edit: After posting this theory, I inadvertently discovered that this theory has already been posted on Lostpedia, indeed in its own article. However, I am not taking this subsection down from my own userspace, since I came up with this theory with a friend of mine over the course of a phone conversation, without the aid of Lostpedia and its pre-existing theory pages, and did hours of my own research while putting together the following arguments.

It has been established since the end of season 4 that the Island has the ability to move. So...what if the Island was not originally an island at all, but rather a garden?

In the Bible, we are told that after expelling Adam and Eve from their paradisaical home, "...the Lord God stationed mighty cherubim to the east of the Garden of Eden. And he placed a flaming sword that flashed back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life." (Genesis 3:24) This was done because God feared man would live forever by eating of the fruit of the tree of life (Gen 3:22). We have already seen heavy suggestions that something about the Island has the ability to slow down or perhaps even stop the process of aging, in the person of Richard Alpert. Alpert appears from all currently available information to have been the earliest inhabitant of the Island, and his skin tone and hair color are very much like what one would expect of someone from the region around where Eden is supposed to have been (somewhere near the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, as seen in Gen 2:10-14). In Lost, the Island itself has a protector of its own, in the form of a "pillar of smoke" (a phrase used by Keamy in "Cabin Fever"). This could very well be the angel(s) described in Genesis as being the protectors of Eden (see below for further commentary on the monster and its specific form).

The theory that the tree of life, whether a literal tree or (more likely) a metaphor for the Island's healing and longevity properties, is what lies behind the hiding of the Island makes perfect sense when we examine both the Others' desire to keep it hidden from the world at large and Charles Widmore's desire to find it. Ben's explanation to Locke in "The Other Woman" as to why he wants to keep Widmore and the crew of the Kahana from finding the Island is almost exactly the same as God's reason in the Bible for wanting to hide and protect the garden of Eden; the fear that it will be exploited by humanity, which has always had a desire to live forever and conquer death. This is pretty much exactly what the Dharma Initiative was doing, and why it was ultimately purged: its attempt to harness the Island as a physical force to further its own Utopian social engineering. The problems women who conceive on the Island face are likely a reference to God's condemnation of womankind to painful childbirth after the choice of Eve to eat the fruit (Gen 3:16). This theory also explains the Island's mystical properties. The garden of Eden would undeniably be a holy place, given its intimate history with God.

The character of Jacob easily fits into this scenario. The Biblical Jacob is perhaps better known by the name Israel, which means "he who wrestles with God" or "he who struggles with God". But it wasn't actually God whom Jacob wrestled with in Genesis 32:22-31; it is widely held to have been an angel. The Jacob of Lost is probably not the same figure in the Bible, but was given this name because of the parallels with his namesake. Perhaps Lost's Jacob was the first human being since the Biblical Adam and Eve (which are possibly the same individuals whose skeletons Jack, Kate, Locke and Charlie found in the caves in season 1) to have found Eden. If so, he would have had to defeat the angel(s) set about Eden/the Island in order to protect it. Jacob's victory over this angel would explain both why he (and Ben, who is acting on his orders in order to protect the Island) can control it, as well as why it takes the form of black smoke -- a dampened, defeated form of the angel's flaming sword. Also note the Biblical Jacob's claim to have seen the very face of God (Gen 32:20).

The statue seen by Sun, Jin and Sayid also contributes toward the theory of the Island as Eden, and gives a hinting toward the reasons behind certain aspects of the Island: in a recent teleconference with Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof, it was revealed that in the original draft of the script for "Live Together, Die Alone", it had six toes instead of four, and that the change to four toes was a compromise made to make the statue seem less bizarre. In the same teleconference, it was stated that the Bible is suggested reading for future episodes. In Genesis 6:1-4, the Nephilim were giants, the results of interbreeding between humans and angels. Goliath, the giant that fought David, was one of them. The Nephilim were said to have six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot. Perhaps the statue was built by or in tribute to the Nephilim, who might have been the island's original inhabitants, or even the reason why the Island/Eden was moved from its original Biblical location; for God wanted them gone from the earth because of their sins.

This idea of Eden being hidden away not just from a humanity that would exploit it but also from God Himself, who wanted its Nephilim inhabitants dead, is supported by a curious line uttered by Ben in season 2: in the episode "Dave", he tells Locke that "God doesn't know how long we've been here. He can't see this island any better than the rest of the world can."

The Eden theory, I believe, accounts for most if not all of the Island's mysteries, fills many gaps in its history, and has very few holes. Of course, this is 'Lost, and even the most well-thought theories often turn out to be completely wrong. But as theories go, I believe this one is pretty watertight and comprehensive. There's only one way to find out if I'm right, and that is just to wait and see...

Please post any comments, questions, or disagreements about this theory on my Talk Page.

The Perilous Land: The Island as Faëry/Fairyland/Elfland/Alfheim

Though Lost has of recent been dominated by the sci-fi element, viewers would do well to remember that science vs. faith, or, more accurately phrased, skepticism vs. faith, is the show's central them. A theory along these lines, which I do not believe has been raised before, is that the Island is what Tolkien referred to as "the Perilous Land": Faëry itself. As Locke has said, as if summing up Tolkien's essay "On Fairy-stories", the Island is "a place where miracles happen."

The Others: These mysterious inhabitants of the Island were the first element of the show to suggest this theory to me. They fit the model of Faëry's denizens quite well, and in many ways. Most apparent is the name by which this group is known: the fairies were often called "The Good People" (out of fear of insulting them; this name mirrors a central concern of the Others on Lost), "The Fair Folk," and, most interesting, "The Other Crowd". Secondly, they are a mixture of natives, and those who were brought there, either by their own will or by the will of Jacob, just as Faëry includes the fairies themselves as well as human captives, brides, bridegrooms, and paramours. They vanish quite effortlessly into the surrounding landscape, coming and going with little more than whispers. Then there is their morality. As with the Good People of folklore, the Others seem to have separate standards for how they can treat outsiders, and for how outsiders can treat them. Like the Good Folk, they are known for taking people. The reasons for these kidnappings are the same in folklore as they are in Lost: their vitality and fertility is waning, and they need others to replenish their stock and aid in giving birth (fairies were known for absconding with brides and midwives). Just like Ethan and Goodwin, fairies infiltrate outside groups: they leave changelings in place of those they take, to observe and live as one of their new family. Finally, the Others seem to quite easily shift between two lifestyles, the modern, "J. Crew" wearing, Barracks-dwelling people and the primitive, dirty and savage-appearing "Hostiles": just as the Good People of folklore can be misshapen, ugly folk one moment, and, through the use of glamour, astonishingly beautiful the next.

The Island: "This is not your island. This is our island. The only reason you're living on it is because we let you live on it." As is explored in Tolkien's short story, "Smith of Wootton Major," humans are sometimes allowed to explore Faëry, but they are forbidden to enter certain parts of it. Taboos and prohibitions are common, and the violation of them results in swift and definitive punishment. Faëry is a place of startling beauty, of magic, and of forbidden things. This quite eerily mirrors the way in which the survivors are treated by the Others. They were forbidden to cross the Line. Jack was forbidden to call the ship. The breaking of both prohibitions caused undue tragedy in the story of Lost.

Time: Even the recent time flashes, Desmond's sickness, and the discrepancies between Island time and outside time (as explored in season 4) can be seen as fitting into fairy folklore. British folklorist Katharine Briggs explored, in her book The Vanishing People, how the supernatural passage of time is an all-but universal aspect of fairy folklore worldwide. Five minutes, or three months, or one year, spent in Fairyland, will correspond to one year, three hundred years, or a thousand years in the outside world. There is also the theme of longevity: within Faëry, humans will not age at all, or else their aging process is slowed to a minute rate, just as seems to be the case with Richard Alpert on the Island.

Ghosts/Apparitions: Though there are many different origins and blendings of themes in fairy folklore, one of the most apparent and most compelling is that they are the Dead. Often a living human will witness a troupe of fairies in revelry, sport, or festivity, and recognize someone they knew from life. Christian Shephard, Emily Linus, Yemi Tunde, and Charlie (in season 4) can all be seen as apparitions of people who have lingered in the world through their contact with Faëry.

Ruins: The four-toed statue, the ruins in the valley, and the Temple, can be seen as references to the fact that the Good People were once worshiped as pagan gods.

Though this theory is not very likely, certainly not nearly as much as is my earlier one on the Garden of Eden, there is much that lends credibility to it, though it is less comprehensive than "The Flaming Sword". Still, it is an interesting theme, and no one who has studied traditional folklore can deny the eerily familiar feeling experienced in "...And Found" when Eko and Jin witness the footsteps, dirtied and primitive and barefoot, of the Others from their hiding place in the undergrowth. There is something primal, magical, and haunting about the Island that resounds as well in the lore of the Other Crowd.

Aobōzu's Favorites

Favorite Characters

• John Locke
• Jacob
• Mr. Eko
• Benjamin Linus
• Michael
• Desmond
• The Monster
• Faraday

Favorite Episodes

Season 1

• Walkabout
• The Moth
• ...In Translation
• Deus Ex Machina

Season 2

• Orientation
• ...And Found
• The Other 48 Days
• The 23rd Psalm
• The Hunting Party
• The Long Con
• One of Them
• Maternity Leave
• Lockdown
• ?
• Three Minutes

Season 3

• Further Instructions
• The Cost of Living
• Not in Portland
• The Man from Tallahassee
• One of Us
• Catch-22
• The Brig
• The Man Behind the Curtain

Season 4

• The Beginning of the End
• Confirmed Dead
• The Economist
• Meet Kevin Johnson
• The Shape of Things to Come
• Cabin Fever
• There's No Place Like Home

Season 5

• Jughead
• This Place Is Death
• 316
• Dead is Dead
• Some Like it Hoth
• The Incident

Miscellaneous

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