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I absolutely loved episode 409, especially when when we see Ben first inhale in the Sahara landscape.

Had a quick look, couldn’t see a post on this.

I noticed that in the opening shot, he is lying on very distinctive dry cracked earth, a patch that appears to be where water once was. In the blink of an eye the ground he is lying on is thick sand. See below.

hhh hhhjj

So assuming this is not a hideous continuity error.

Does this show that Ben is lying still while time passes around him, i.e he lies in the same place geographically while time rushes past him, the piece of land he is lying on goes through an ice age (hence the vapor and the jacket), a dried water region to it’s modern form the Sahara dessert in a matter of seconds…..A La H.G. Wells, The Time Machine.

or

That he lies still while his geographic location and date changes around him, i.e he goes from the Arctic to a dried water region to the Sahara.

Any thoughts??

While I am on the crazy time possibilities, noticed this too……………..

The shot of Ben surveying the desert in ‘The Shape of Things to Come’ (409) really reminded me of the shot in ‘Everyman for himself’ (304) where Ben and Sawyer are looking at the Island from Hydra island.

comp

The distance, the height, the way Ben looks at it. Just imagine the desert scene filled with water. Maybe the island is always in the same place but thousands of years apart, could this explain the polar bear remains in the desert? I wondered if the snow covered mountains outside the listening station resembled the above but I couldn’t find a screen cap.

Hope you loved ‘The Shape of Things to Come’ as much as I did! So many things to think about!

Thanks ; )

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 1588

Key episodes

# Title Aired Central character Theories
4.9 The Shape of Things to Come 4-24-2008 Ben 231
2.23 Live Together, Die Alone 5-24-2006 Desmond 295

Comments

  1. Mosh Apr 27, 2008 7:41 a.m. Comment: 1

    The last one makes perfectly sense to me! wow.. never thought of that.. but how do you explain the woman at the hotel said it was 2005? I don’t think a place can change that drastic in such a short period of time. But +1 for letting me think about this..

  2. Wombat Apr 27, 2008 8:34 a.m. Comment: 2

    Silly continuity error!! That’s all!

  3. frioat Apr 27, 2008 8:40 a.m. Comment: 3

    Wow…your point about the two shots is quite interesting. +1

  4. Wombat Apr 27, 2008 8:41 a.m. Comment: 4

    Silly continuity error. That’s all!!

  5. ZAMtendo Apr 27, 2008 8:46 a.m. Comment: 5

    For pointing out the metamorphic ground! Something to consider…hmm! +1

  6. Fate Apr 27, 2008 8:52 a.m. Comment: 6

    I love what you just pointed out!

    Maybe he was traveling between different timelimes. One timeline its the island in the ocean and the other its a desert.

    maybe very wrong but I still like how you figured that one out! +1

  7. highbrow Apr 27, 2008 8:54 a.m. Comment: 7

    I noticed the ground thing but definitely not the mountains. Interesting! +1

  8. Annie79 Apr 27, 2008 9:48 a.m. Comment: 8

    five, nice pick up! I never noticed the change in the sand. Your theory is plausible, considering this is Lost.

    I loved the comparison of the two pictures too. I’m not completely on board with that one, but anything is possible!

    +1 Nice to see you back!

  9. falco Apr 27, 2008 10:43 a.m. Comment: 9

    Nice catch on the two pictures! I wonder if they used the same location and then did some CGI over it. In a recent podcast they said that all of the Iraq stuff was shot in Hawaii.

    As for the cracked earth turning to sand…I think its just a continuity error. I’m guessing that he wears the parka because teleportation/time travel is cold.

  10. belle13 Apr 27, 2008 11:11 a.m. Comment: 10

    i think it is a continuity error but well done for pointing it out. i hadnt even noticed that! :)

  11. Lojozz Apr 27, 2008 12:32 p.m. Comment: 11

    I really don’t think that is a continuity error. Could extreme cold have done that to the sand? It looks in the picture like the ground has bit of ice on it. I think as Ben teleports in he brings the cold with him. This instantly freezes the ground around him but the heat of the Sahara soon melts it and it returns to its normal state. Or I could just be going mad.

    +1 for the comparison of the scenes though.

  12. AngeloComet Apr 27, 2008 12:52 p.m. Comment: 12

    Lojozz: “This instantly freezes the ground around him but the heat of the Sahara soon melts it and it returns to its normal state. ”

    Soon melts it!? In a second!?

    Nah, this has got continuity error written all over it. I would even hazard a logical reason being that solid ground (the cracked ground) was used to keep the crane scaffold steady for the camera used to create the dynamic above shot of Ben. Then they went to some actual arid, desert land and shot the rest of the scene.

    Good observation skills though, Five. Can’t take that away from you.

  13. lockeko Apr 27, 2008 1:13 p.m. Comment: 13

    I think I have to side with AC on this one.

  14. Lojozz Apr 27, 2008 1:18 p.m. Comment: 14

    AC: He lay there for a lot longer than a second.

    Surely they they could use CGI for the sand in the case you point out. Could they not?

  15. Irocz28 Apr 27, 2008 1:20 p.m. Comment: 15

    Continuity error or not, I never fault anyone for picking apart every scene. We need more of this stuff. Very, very good observation. +1.

  16. highbrow Apr 27, 2008 1:25 p.m. Comment: 16

    Yeah, he would have been lying there for more than a second or so… doesn’t he need to be sedated before he teleports? I thought he did and that he was just waking up…

  17. wtfsignmeup Apr 27, 2008 2:10 p.m. Comment: 17

    +1 Awesome obs :)

  18. RealSayyid Apr 27, 2008 2:29 p.m. Comment: 18

    I cannot believe this total crap received every single vote in 16!

    What are people smoking?

  19. Irocz28 Apr 27, 2008 3:21 p.m. Comment: 19

    Haha. Even though I gave this a +1 myself, RealSayyid is probably right. Although it’s a good observation, plus 16 on 16 out of 16 votes is a little steep.

  20. lubejob Apr 27, 2008 4:23 p.m. Comment: 20

    The 2 pics are enough for me to +1

  21. dizzy Apr 27, 2008 4:25 p.m. Comment: 21

    I really doubt a show like this would make that big of a continuity error.

  22. bludshot Apr 27, 2008 4:32 p.m. Comment: 22

    My theory isn’t looking so bad now eh? http://lost-theories.com/theories/2008/mar/18/island-really-anchient-submerg/

  23. Hume Apr 27, 2008 5:13 p.m. Comment: 23

    Set design said on an interview on Darufo, that CGI was used to create the dunes in the desert.. Looks like they got lazy…

  24. Hume Apr 27, 2008 5:14 p.m. Comment: 24

    Set design said on an interview on Darkufo, that CGI was used to create the dunes in the desert.. Looks like they got lazy…

  25. alice1 Apr 27, 2008 10:15 p.m. Comment: 25

    Five,

    This is an excellent observation and a thrilling possibility! An island of ice, a tropical island, or desert island; it may just depend on the “time.” Gasp!

    The computer generated image is irrelevant and doesn’t disprove your theory. Good job! +1

  26. TheLostmap Apr 27, 2008 10:52 p.m. Comment: 26

    You hve to be kidding me. The intial photo’s shows two completly different perspectives, one from directly above and the second showing sand 30 yards in the distance. If you review where Ben is, he is on a well traveled road that is flat and cracked, a road that supports vehicles. The second two don’t show the same mountain range. They obvioulsy are not the same.

  27. fivestades Apr 28, 2008 5:27 a.m. Comment: 27

    Thanks for the comments and further speculation!

    Yes AC, I had considered the solid ground idea for the ‘above’ shot but I still maintain that the cracked earth is too distinctive a location, it screams, dried water bed not desert. Plus it would be so easy to scatter some sand or post shoot smooth the cracks with a bit of cgi. But all of this depends on the Lost team being 100% error free which we know they are not!

    I sincerely apologise for any stress this may have caused a couple of you Ha Ha this is a lost theories site!

    TheLostmap what do you mean? “The intial photo’s shows two completly different perspectives, one from directly above and the second showing sand 30 yards in the distance.” sand2

    He definitely is on sand in the later shot.

    bludshot, I had not seen your theory, thanks for the link, great minds eh!

    Alice1 you nailed exactly what I was attempting to say. “An island of ice, a tropical island, or desert island; it may just depend on the “time.”

    So regardless of the possibility of a continuity error, I still say that

    We witnessed Ben traveling through time as opposed to arriving at a time.

    and

    That traveling may be done from a spot on Hydra island.

    Thanks again for the comments ; )

  28. TysonC Apr 28, 2008 10:28 a.m. Comment: 28

    The dried ground/sand observation is a good one.

    However, I don’t buy into the idea that the desert mountains are/were the island. The desert landscape is obviously in/around Tunisia - the western mediteranean. The island we know is in the south pacific.

    I’d be hard pressed to find a good reliable theory on how the island moved that far.

  29. highbrow Apr 28, 2008 1:28 p.m. Comment: 29

    I’m totally on board with the “depending on the time” theory… Sounds awesome!

  30. eteo May 2, 2008 5:42 a.m. Comment: 30

    I’m absolutely sure it is a continuity error. Rewatched it again but i am sure. I’m also sure that the sahara is not the island. Watch the formations of the mountains on both the island and the dessert. A total mismatch. I’m sorry.

  31. Kuarlos May 2, 2008 7:48 p.m. Comment: 31

    Yea, continuity error, they made the first shot on a dried river bed, then upped and moved location to sand… just for a laugh, bear in mind that nowhere even remotely like the river bed shot is gonna be found in a desert, or in an area totally covered by sand. Error? no way. Intentionally misleading? maybe…

  32. Marielenh4 Jul 24, 2008 1:56 p.m. Comment: 32

    The similarity between the two sceneries is well found. Nice one.

    The sand observation. Wow. I like that theory. But it is possible that it’s a continuity error. Either way, it’s a good find.