Must Read: The Coffin
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By Irocz28
- Must Read: The Coffin
- Created: Mar 2, 2008
- Last updated: Aug 14, 2008
- After episode: 3.22: Through The Looking Glass
- Status: Current
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I am going to attempt to take everything we know about the individual in the coffin and narrow it down until we have only One. FYI - I am only including relevent characters. For example, I will not include people like Tito Reyes or Thomas (Claires old BF).
Although I have not seen it, it has been stated by many Lost fans that the individual in the coffin was a man according to the obituary in Jack’s hand. Therefore the most possible characters are: Sawyer, Locke, Michael, Walt, Ben, Sayid, Jin, Aaron, Hurley, Desmond, Bernard, Miles, Daniel, Frank, and Charles Widmore.
Aaron: Not him. Casket is too big. Kate would have went. So many more reasons, I won’t get into them.
Charles Widmore: Not him. Nobody came to the funeral. He had a daughter, plus he was a very prominent businessman with contacts all over the world. I’m sure someone would have came.
Miles, Daniel, and Frank: Not any of them. The news of this brought Jack to tears. I can’t imagine any of these characters becoming that close to Jack to have that type of impact on him.
Bernard: Not him. First of all, he is not that important of a character. And i know he is not going to leave the island because Rose can’t leave.
Jin: Not him. His wife would have came to the funeral. If she is not alive, he still had a family of his own back home plus a large extended family due to the marriage. Someone would have came. Plus, Kate would have had no reason not to go. And Jack would have called him a “friend” if asked “friend or family?”.
Michael or Walt: Not either of them. If either of them died, the other would have gone to the funeral. Plus, Kate says “why would I go”, implying that she didnt really care for this person. I understand that Michael betrayed them, but i think they all understand he did it for his child. I don’t think she despises Michael, or especially Walt, enough not to go. I also think Michael has a living mother who would have went.
Desmond: Desmond has Penny. She would have went. And if it was Desmond, why wouldn’t Kate go? I can’t imagine her having a problem with Desmond. And unless he does something really dispicable, Jack would refer to him as a “friend”.
Hurley: He has family. Someone would have gone. The coffin was too small. Plus, why wouldn’t Kate go to his funeral? Everyone loves him.
Sawyer: Not him. Kate would go to his funeral. Sawyer does not have it in him to betray Kate to the point where she would not go to his funeral. He cares for her too much and vice-versa. Plus, although they have had issues, I do think that Jack would refer to him as a friend if asked “friend or family”.
Sayid: Not him. I do not think it is any of the Oceanic 6. Nobody went to the funeral. They are famous now. There would have been at least someone there (maybe press or reporters). Plus, he and Jack really respect each other. I don’t understand that if it was him Jack would respond “neither” when asked “friend or family”. They are friends.
Ben: Close, but no cigar. It’s not him. First of all, Jack hates him and he has obviously not changed. He is sending Sayid around killing people. Would the death of this type of person really bring Jack to tears? Probably not. I’m not saying it cannot be him, but there is more support for the next person.
Locke: Bingo. It’s him. Think about it. There is no real family left to come to the funeral. Locke and Jack have enough of a history to bring Jack to tears when he gets news of his death. They were through a lot. But, Jack would still not refer to him as a “friend” when asked “friend or family”. They are not friends, they are total opposites (if not enemies). Kate states “why would i go” when asked why she wasn’t there. This person in the coffin obviously must be capable of doing something so bad that the idea of going to his funeral appauls Kate. We know Locke will do anything to stay on the island, no matter who it hurts. Maybe the person in the coffin is ultimately responsible for the death of Claire, leaving Kate to care for Aron. Locke is capable of this, more capable than anyone else on the island. Kate would definitely not go to the funeral if this is the case. Plus, Locke is not one of the official “Oceanic 6” therefore not achieving celebrity status that would warrant a big wake or funeral.
Locke is forced off the island, perhaps by Ben. Locke gets off of the island in a manner that is unbeknownst to the rest of the world, as opposed to the very public manner the O6 got off. He does not achieve celebrity status, nor does he want it. He is once again in a wheelchair and very miserable. Locke dies in one of two ways: 1) He kills himself because he is once again paralyzed and miserable because he knows he can never get back to the island or 2) Sayid kills Locke through Ben’s orders. We can all see the rift building between Ben and Locke in recent episodes.
Thats what i think. Thoughts?
Key characters
| Short Name | Full Name | Episodes | Theories |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | 1229 |
Key episodes
| # | Title | Aired | Central character | Theories |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.22 | Through The Looking Glass | 5-23-2007 | Jack | 1251 |
Key events
| Theme | Relevant Episodes | Theories |
|---|---|---|
| Locke Can Walk | 288 |
Key locations
| Theme | Relevant Episodes | Theories |
|---|---|---|
| The Caves | 1.7, 1.5, 1.6, 2.1, 2.2 | 175 |
It may be that you’re misreading Jack’s tears. It’s generally strange that Jack is crying for someone who is neither friend nor family. My theory is that Jack is not crying for the person who died (otherwise he would at least call them a friend) but for what the person’s death means for him. More concretely, I think the person in the coffin is Ben. Jack cries because he knows that Ben is the only person who knows how to get to the island. That’s why he’s crying all through the episode, especially when he shouts ‘We have to go back!’ to Kate. The island and everyone still on it is now, excuse the pun, LOST to him forever.
Good theory i like how you did the elimination technique thing, i would give u a +1 but somethings wrong with my comp wont let me
Imaginary high 5
ps; can u tell me why it couldnt be Jacks ex wife???
Hi there.Great theory .I agree about each caracters you have mentioned except Ben and Locke. First of all Locke would never leave the island ,if he was forced i think he would rather died fighting for his stay .He thinks of himself as a island defender and protector.Nope def not John Locke. Ben ,you are right Jack hates him so does Kate but so far we learn that Ben did not lie entirely. and he was right about people on the freghter ,not a rescue . I think and i had for awhile now that Ben is not a bad guy. I think that we will learn a lot more about Ben and Others why they do things the way they do it. It could be Claire .And at the funeral home i think Jack said familiy or friend “either” I think reason Kate did not came ,her and Claire had a fall out ,maybe Kate got Aron couse Claire was not able to care for him ,maybe she went nuts due to the “side effects” or something but i think it’s Claire. Thats why Jack wants kill himself its his sister and its his fault that they got off island and she got sick or something coming back. Maybe thats why he is trying to go back ,maybe in time,to corect all of his bad decisions.and we know he repets them offten. It’s Claire.
Helen. Jack said “neither”. This eliminates Claire right off the bat. Plus, I am pretty sure it is a man. Also, I am pretty sure Claire isn’t getting off the island. That is why Kate has Aron.
Thanks for the compliment Stickman!
Cronopio, I like your thoughts on why Jack was crying and why it could be Ben. He would be my second guess, but I think there is a lot more support for Locke.
Great theory. +1
Cronopio, I also think that there are more people besides Ben and the Others that know how to get to the island. Besides the Losties, Desmond, Nadia, and Frank have all gotten to the island. Matthew Abbadon may know how to get there, and maybe Mr. Widmore does too.
yesssss, i to think believe it is Locke. i think something terrible is going to happen, and we’ve already seen Locke losing favour with the other losties, and gradually becoming more of a Ben style dictator. and you are right that him and Jack have become enemies, increasingly so, and they have always been opposites (faith and science). I think Jack goes to the funeral because i think he is that kind of person anyway, and hes so obviously distraught when he hears about the death because by this point he desperately wants to get back to the island, and Locke could have been a vital key to that. So by this time Jack had come around to Lockes way of thinking, but it was to late. It would definitely explain why Jack would say he wasn’t friend or family.
its deffinitely either him or ben i reckon
Thanks everyone for the feedback.
I orriginally thought it was Ben but I’m really starting to think it’s Micheal. Why? A number of reasons really. First off, Hoffs Drawler, the funerel parlor is located in a very black neighborhood. The man in the funeral parlor is black. The newspaper cliping revealed the man was a New Yorker — Michael is a New Yorker. The news paper revealed the deceased had a son — Walt. The news paper also revealed the name of the person as being John Lantham or something close to that. Michael was probably living under an alias. When asked if he is friend or family, Jack replies neither because his escape involved betraying Michael in some significant way. Jack therefore no longer considers himself a “friend”.
Miles, Daniel, and Frank are to new to know what there relationship to Jack will be. We know it’s currently 2004, Dec. 24. In the flash forward, it’s likely 2007. It appears to be the date on the article, and it is after Kate’s trial which occurs in 2007. You are making a lot of assumptions with a whole lot of history to unfold. The article also appears to state that the deceased left behind a teenage son. I believe Locke is a very unlikely candidate, they would have a lot to explain. I do agree it’s not one of the O6, the name doesn’t belong to anyone we know, so they probably changed their name. I believe their other more likely candidates.
What are you talking about Red? Can you send me a link, a screenshot, or something to prove the newspaper said all of that. It didn’t say he was a New Yorker or had a son called Walt.
And I’m not even going to get into your whole “black neighborhood” thing. That is just wrong.
http://www.lostpedia.com/wiki/Newspaper_clipping
I have seen other discussions on the obit referencing a son, though not by name.
I think the person in the coffin will be a character who is yet to be introduced.
The logic behind your theory is valid, however.
Ok. My bad. I saw the clipping on Lostpedia. It does say the person is from NY, but there is nothing about a surviving son.
Even if there is, I am still not giving much merit to the obit and what it says. It is all probably a cover up or alias of some sort. I think the characters reactions tell the true story.
We know that it’s a he, Kate said- Why would I go to his funeral ?
Also in lostpedia.com, as I keep referring to it, it says that the writers have confirmed that the person in the coffin was a character we already knew by the end of season 3.
http://bp0.blogger.com/_RrObyQ3XzcY/RlUe-1Yihsi/aaaaaaaafkw/ucINFuG1jfo/s1600-h/newspaperclipping2.jpg
The following is from:
http://paullevinson.blogspot.com/2007/05/lost-new-questions-2-whos-in-coffin.html
”The crumpled newspaper clipping in Jack’s hand may say “J… ….tham” - according to a screen shot all over the Web. Jeremy Bentham was one of the founders of the Utilitarian philosophy in the 19th century - the path to goodness consists of finding or doing the greatest good for the greatest number of people. Bentham developed this philosophy with James Mill, whose son, John Stuart Mill, refined it (JS Mill argued, correctly I think, that there are qualitative differences between goods - saving someone’s life is worth much more than giving someone $100 as charity). This philosophy is certainly not irrelevant to the castaways, and the whole story of Lost…. Bentham is also known for devising the Panopticon prison - a design which allows the prison guard to observe all prisoners, who are unaware that they’re being observed - a state also not exactly alien to Lost…. In any case: if the name in the article is indeed Jeremy Bentham, this would be consistent with major characters in Lost having the complete or partial names of great philosophers - John Locke, Hume, Rousseau.”
So Michael, Ben and Locke are all among the candidates. Also keep in mind that the person died in New York, but was brought to LA for the funeral. And how about Jacob ? I hope we see more of him this season, enough about his Phantom of the opera image, lol.
no not locke the writers wouldn’t send him off the island
and jack would cry over ben if ben was his only way back to the island
Zoso, why wouldn’t the writers send him off the island? With all these flashbacks and flashforwards, just because you get off the island in a flashforward doesn’t mean the writers can’t write episodes with that character still on the island in the present time.
And it has never been written in stone that Ben is the only person that knows how to get back to the island.
IrocZ - Please spare us the dramatics regarding the black neighborhood thing as you call it….was it not a black neighborhood? Are you so afraid of being called a racist that you pretend to above it all and feel the need to kiss ass? You don’t have to feel guilty about being white. Oh yeah, I forgot, your best friend is black.
Who said anything about racism? I was just saying what does the color of the neighborhood in which the funeral home being located in have anything to do with anything? Does that mean it had to be Michael because it was a black neighborhood? I am not afraid of being called a racist because I am not one, but i guess you are.
Although it might end up being Locke, I don’t agree with your reasoning. Any one of the characters you’ve discounted could still be contenders. This show has constant plot twists. Any one of them could end up being a traitor and therefore snubbed by their former island or real world friends. Imagine we discover that one of the main characters has murdered someone in cold blood. That alone could be reason enough for no one to go to their funeral. Plus familial ties in this show are quite contentious. I could think of a million reasons we may later uncover in the show why someone could disgrace their family and therefore have no one at their funeral. Your logic has too many holes, but I think in all probability it will end up being Locke, just on a hunch.
Raven, I understand what you’re saying, but it is kind of hard to predict the future. I don’t know what the twists and turns of the show will be. I based this on what we know NOW about the characters. That is all I really could do.
Maybe the guy in the coffin was Jack’s dad. Yeah, I know he’s family but didn’t Jack hate him? Maybe he disowned him and no longer thought of him as his father?
You have given us 15 very reasonable choices. There has been a post in favor of every one of those candidates.
I keep saying that it can’t be any of those obvious choices. The writers simply cannot settle for having 1/15 of their audience sitting back and saying “I knew it” when the coffin contents are revealed.
I have no idea who is in the coffin. All I know is that it is going to knock our collective socks off.
I see where you are coming from Quarantine. And i agree that it is going to knock our socks off. However, i think the only was it is really going to “knock our socks off” is that if it is someone I have mentioned above. If it is not one of the obvious choices mentioned above, then it won’t be that big, because it will probably a nobody. That is unless a very very very important character is introduced very soon.
Think about it. What if in the very next episode the person in the coffin is revealed and it is Locke, or it is Ben, or Sawyer. Are you telling me that that wouldn’t knock your socks off?