Fixing the incident
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By spiderq
- Fixing the incident
- Created: Nov 7, 2007
- Last updated: Aug 14, 2008
- After episode: 3.22: Through The Looking Glass
- Status: Current
- Flag this theory:
Now “they” are trying to fix the rupture, get out of the vacuum and reset time back. . .
— spiderq
Okay, I have to admit that my idea for the “theory of everything” started with the hint at the ABC website about the “Casimir effect”* on the island and the bunny problem (2 15s that have to be kept away from each other. (new paragraph) i think that the island has this power: its electromagnetic field has created Casimir Effect, or a vacuum between time and space. Not to get all Star Trekkie on you, but it has pulled this place into a quantum string that crosses onto/into other timelines. Basically, it can pull people and things out of time. When Dharma, or whoever started to try to apply this, a rupture was created, which left “them” stuck. Now “they” are trying to fix the rupture, get out of the vacuum and reset time back by influencing a series of events toward a particular endgame before anyone else has a chance to get on the island and try to either use the power or shut it down for good before “they” have a chance to fix things. Once that endgame is achieved successfully, then time will be reset, and everything that has happened on the island since the “incident” will be put back in order, reversing any ill effects.
The reason I think that “they” are working the system to bring everyone on the plane, to manipulate Desmond into zapping it, etc., are the recurring “coincidences” that make sure that events and people are in place before Flight 815 takes off. I think “they” are able to jump around in time and space, and the whispered voices our pals here are echoes through time that bounce around when “they” move around. It’s why they are able to jump in, snatch someone and then disappear (and why the “others” can be bludgeoned to death when they try it). (new paragraph) i keep using “they” because I haven’t quite figured out who all of “them” are. Surely the lady who talks Desmond out of marrying Penelope is one. Desmond is pulled out of time after the hatch implodes and relives part of his past but with a twist. The lady explains to him that he is supposed to be on the island and press the button, or “they” will “all die.” Her picture is on the desk of the priest who first recruits Desmond and then lets him go just in time to meet Penelope. This also works with Kelvin, who first encourages Sayid to torture his commander in Iraq and, as he lets him go, gives him the suggestion that he will “meet a man on day” and how he will “know who to make him talk.” Kelvin is instrumental in getting Desmond off on the right foot in the hatch, paints the map on the wall for Locke, and feeds Desmond everything he needs to know to keep pressing the button until the plane arrives. Kelvin is clearly working out of time, and his actions are specifically targeted to produce and end result. (new paragraph) Kelvin is an obvious case (for me), but trickier are other possible cases of people who are placed in time to produced an endgame of events. Locke’s dad, for example, is key to both Sawyer’s and Locke’s life experience and arrival ont he island. Jack’s dad, too, makes me wonder. It is more than imperative that Jack arrive on the island with a daddy complex (like Kate, Sawyer, Sun, Jin, Claire, Walt, Locke, and who knows who else?) and a desperate need to prove himself worthy. The psychic who sends Claire on the plane with claims of his true ability also sends Eko on the same plane with claims of his dishonesty, claiming he has no psychic ability. Hurley’s imaginary friend, Davin, the federal marshal who is chasing Kate, the girl who changes Sayid’s heart, the bookie who sends Sawyer to kill the wrong guy, all are possible characters out of time. It is impossible for me to prove by what is available now, but I would not be surprised if more key characters are part of “them” trying to reset the rift. The question then becomes, not what is the “island” trying to communicate with our survivors, but what do these characters need to experience in order for them to follow a certain path that is necessary to “fix” the “incident?” (new paragraph) Jacob is a more clear example. He has complete control of Ben (we think), from allowing and curing his cancer and surgical damage to having him lie and kill his own people. I’m not sure if Ben knows how much a part of the endgame he is, but it’s pretty clear that he is working an angle to form events. Jacob is stuck in something like a phase shift, the vacuum created by the Casimir Effect. He can only communicate with certain kinds of people, ones who are receptive (or have similar phase energy). His asking Locke for help can mean one of two things. Either John is still necessary for the final endgame, OR Ben has gone off the reservation (a question for the next season, I guess). Personally, I’d really like to think of Ben as a Judas Iscariot—doomed to play the bad guy to the bitter end but all for the greater good in a bigger story. I guess we’ll see! Think of all the people who can see the dead (or missing) on the island. Jack (when his father leads him to clean water), Ben (when his mother leads him to the others), Shannon (when Walt leads her to her death), Locke (when Walt gets him motivated to climb out of the ditch and get to work and when Boone shows him he needs to save Eko). Kate, Claire, Charlie and Sawyer are almost receptive; their messages get muddled in dreams and hallucinatory interpretations. These are all people who have been carefully manipulated and cultivated for their “job” in the plan. (new paragraph) The most important key player by far, even more so than Ben (I’m guessing) is Desmond, whose entire adult life seems to have been manipulated. Desmond, along with Locke and Walt, seems to have an understanding of the “fate” of the island even if he cannot verbalize it. He is pivotal to restoring communication with the outside world by keeping Charlie alive until the right moment. He has “daddy issues” (with Penny’s dad), and after “sacrificing” himself to turn the kill switch, he has been included on the big plan. He is now an agent of “them,” helping set the pieces (people and events) in place even while following his own quest for reunification with Penny. (new paragraph) The kicker for me, and what started my whole theory, is in the flash forward of season 3’s finale, when Jack is about to throw himself off a bridge. He says, “Forgive me,” and if one listens closely, one can hear that word echo a bit. [Our castaways, when they hear the whispers, hear echoes of pivotal moments (“there will be a reckoning” for Sawyer, “Let it go,” for Jack) that have shifted them to this place and time with past experiences that prepare them to follow this path.] Only when this happens, does a car accident prevent Jack from killing himself. (new paragraph) Cool observation: I think the woman and the boy in the care accident are Juliet’s sister and nephew. The boy is 8 in the flash forward, which, if the time stays consistent in this version of the future, means that Julian, who was 2 when FLT 815 crashed, will be 8 in 2010, when the series will finale. This places the flash forwards in real time. Nice touch. (new paragraph) Getting back to Jack: he explains to Kate (in a nice reveal where we go “oooohhh, we are in the future!!) the “wrongness” he feels. They “weren’t supposed to leave the island,” he says. This is the exact opposite of Locke’s opening moments when he realizes that finally he has clicked into place, a nice validation of his life thus far. Jack, along with most of the survivors, will have to work out a way to “get back” and restore the time line, maybe by going back to one moment in time, when Jack hands over the walkie to Ben, perhaps, and disrupting events enough to produce a different outcome and finish the endgame. (new paragraph) If my theory is even partially correct, it would explain a few things. For example, why time has no meaning to the “others.” Ben waits YEARS to kill off the Dharma people. They also to not age: witness hot guy and possible Spanish sailor, Richard. It could explain why there are people to “watch.” Perhaps they are the control for the time line. Also, why is it so important for the others to do their “work?” They are always instructed to NOT interfere or divulge too much information. It would also explain why they are so willing to die and kill, both their own and our survivors. And why won’t Mikhail die? Could he still be necessary for plans to proceed? Or is he one of “them?” It is in his trunk that the tail survivors find the second piece of film (along with his glass eye). (new paragraph) The final thought for me, and the biggest question I want answered, is this: who are the man and woman that Jack and Kate find in the caves early in the first season? Jake takes the bag with the two stones in it—where does it go? If time shifts/problems have to be reset, then these two people, who have been dead over 50 years by Jack’s estimation, could be two of our survivors—even Jake and Kate themselves (wouldn’t that be COOL if they had discovered their own remains?)—who have gone back, sacrificing themselves, to save everyone else. (new paragraph) Timing is everything: the number signal starts 16 years from present island time to bring Danielle (with Alex) onto the island. Juliet and Desmond arrive on the island the same year. Clearly, only time will tell if my theory is worth anything. However, isn’t it fun to think about it? Rewatch a few seasons (during the strike) and see what you think! (new paragraph) The only questions I have left are: how are Alex and Aaron important? Why is Walt so powerful? Is Danielle one of “them” or not? What is the infection? I think the smoke/monster/security system is screening people to see where they fit in the plan, but who knows? Go for it guys! I’m totally jazzed to watch the story unfold!
*Casimir Effect: http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/physics/Quantum/casimir.html
Key characters
| Short Name | Full Name | Episodes | Theories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ben | Benjamin Linus | 3.20, 4.9, & 3” href=”/episodes/theres-no-place-home-parts-2-3/”>4.13 | 1817 |
| Desmond | Desmond David Hume | 2.23, 3.17, 4.5 | 897 |
| Jack | Jack Shephard | 1.1, 1.5, 2.11, 1.11, 1.16, 1.20, 3.9, 3.22, 3.1, 4.10, 4.12, & 3” href=”/episodes/theres-no-place-home-parts-2-3/”>4.13 | 1504 |
| John | John Locke | 3.3, 2.17, 1.4, 1.19, 3.13, 3.19, 4.11, & 3” href=”/episodes/theres-no-place-home-parts-2-3/”>4.13 | 1292 |
Key events
| Theme | Relevant Episodes | Theories |
|---|---|---|
| “Adam” and “Eve” are discovered | 1.6 | 171 |
| Jack finds empty coffin | 1.5 | 173 |
| Locke Can Walk | 299 | |
| Locke has close encounter with the monster | 1.4 | 203 |
Similar theories
| Title | Author | Cmnts | Votes | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Discussion on time | ProfOzone | 19 | 3 | +1 |
| THE ORIGIN OF JACOB | Steve | 10 | 4 | −4 |
This badly needs paragraphs. Good theories, especially complicated theories, are no good on here if people cannot read and understand them.
And my main question is this: If there are so many of “them”, able to do so much, don’t you think they’d come up with a better plan of getting a bunch of people onto the Island than via a plane crash? If they can jump through time and be anywhere, why not just go to the point before ‘the incident’ and STOP IT!?
You say “they”, being Richard Malkin, manipulated Eko onto the plane - but he was killed by Black Smoke. This suggests that there is no masterplan conspiracy of “them” operating behind the scenes.
Let me put it another way. Joanna, a girl on the flight, drowned when she went for a swim. It was a needless, accidental death. Now, she could have met and encountered any one of “them”; she could have met the psychic, the con man, Ms Hawking the jeweller, and if we had learned her back story them you could claim: She was PUT THERE! The fact is, she COULD have met any of “them”, we don’t know it, though, because she died and there was no need for her story to be embroidered into the story.
Ben even sent Others into the camp to capture Sun at the end of Season 3 with the express orders to “kill anyone” that got in the way. The Oceanic 815 survivors are as expendable as the people that didn’t survive the crash. That’s the point I’m making.
I’d give a +1 for the sheer effort of what you’re trying to take on, but the lack of paragraphs made this hard work, which has made me grumpy!
Spider…. Please edit with paragraphs. You have good ideas but it is so difficult to read this way.
It’s a good theory, but I agree, a little difficult to follow. Good comments too, but I do have a question. I think the part that interested me the most was the beginning about the vacuum between time and space being the dark territory. Isn’t that area where the whispers are predominently heard? I could be wrong about that, I don’t re-watch the shows and go on sometimes faulty memory. I think you’re theory could go toward explaining the whispers.
Ozzig, not sure about the whispers being localised.
Sawyer has heard them not far from camp when he went chasing a boar.
Sayid heard them on the way back from Rousseau
Ana Lucia and the tailies heard them just before she shot Shannon
Jack and Kate and Sawyer and Hurley heard them at the pile of messages at the pneumatic tube when The Others attacked.
Those are all the ones I can remember, and I don’t think they are restricted to the Dark Territory. Not 100% on how local they are to it, but the pneumatic tube bit alone makes me think they’re spread out.
Thanks for the explanation, AC. I wasn’t sure about the boundaries of the dark territory. Although, there might not be a straight line cut-off as would be shown on a map, but something that gets stronger toward the focal point and weaker as one spreads out. But the areas where the whispers were heard could be too far out.
Sorry guys! I have no idea why my paragraphs didn’t take. I retyped the whole thing, and now I have no wrap around! What is that crap?!!
My rudimentary study of the Casmir Effect suggests that it only applies to time forward. The vacuum created only suspends time: there is no “going back to before the vacuum was created” available. And the sub atomic particles used in the experiments do not have human will, so, I guess in the land of TV, moving about in and out of the vacuum could happen. I think the people who die are expendable because they have fulfilled their “job.” That’s why it’s important that Desmond keep Charlie alive until the coms are restored.
oh well, it’s only a guess!
Well, it’s long enough. And nicely typed.
You need to not use pre &/or code html tags in your theories … or redefine them as “inline” and not “block” too difficult to read with current browser widths. Please fix or delete -1
Okay, we are back to the lack of paragraphs. I have no idea about the pre/code or whatever it is. I typed this in my hand and it just came out that way, and the more I tried to fix it, the more jacked up it was! (this is the only website that happened. it’s weird!)
I guess I could just delete it, but I am reluctant to do that, and here’s why:
i LOVE that I got down votes due to format. Why? because I am a freshman composition instructor (at various colleges and universities), and for the last 10 years I have been trying to convince 17 & 18 year olds that format and grammar (and all that) are really important! Now i have actual PROOF!!
My argument or theory is lost in the format. how awesome. Still, I am sorry for that. I came up with the best thing I could think of!
Thanks!!!!