Your Voice: Course Correction in the ‘Lost’ Universe
Submitted by Will O.
When thinking about how the producers of the show have repeatedly said Lost is time-travel paradox free, I decided to watch all the Desmond episodes over again to see if I could get any clues as to how such a bold statement could be true. The answer is explained by Mrs. Hawking in "Flashes Before Your Eyes": The Universe has course correction. This, of course, is not just limited to death, but rather has a greater, more significant importance, which I will try an explain in the coming sentences.
First, let us look at what happened in Desmond’s ‘lucid flashback’, aka Desmond’s first leap through time. In it he met with Charles Widmore, ran into Charlie, went to the pub with his friend Donovan, and met Mrs. Hawking, who explained to him that fate is ever present in this world. She is able to convince him to give up marrying Penny. However, let us consider that there are two things he didn’t do the first time around: Run into Charlie and meet Mrs. Hawking. Let’s tackle Mrs. Hawking. One might consider that taking the time to explain the Universe to Desmond impacted her future. However, whatever theory you apply to Mrs. Hawking, it is undeniable that she is the force of universe course correction in Desmond’s life at that moment. Her motives (which are for someone else, not I, to explore) not withstanding, she is necessary to ensure that the future does not change. As such, and since she talks of fate, let’s assume she was fated to talk to Desmond, and therefore her path would require no such course correction.
Before we examine the implications of his meeting with Charlie, let’s briefly explore the reasons as to why the universe would want Desmond to go to the island. Mrs. Hawking explains that it is to push the button, but I am not inclined to trust her here. Desmond eventually fails in his ‘pushing the button’ quest, at first briefly and then catastrophically. As such, we are presented with a few other possibilities we must explore:
A. Desmond was on the island to turn the key. This allowed the location of the island to become visible, not just to Penny, perhaps.
B. Desmond is there so Penny will look for the island. Perhaps Mrs. Hawking is not on the Widmore side of things, but rather is aligned with the forces of good (which Penny is undeniably part of) and Penny needs to be looking for the island in order to protect them.
C. Mrs. Hawking is aligned with Charles Widmore, and, furthermore, knows the future. As such, she knows that Desmond is not only present, but instrumental in the many events that lead to Charles discovering the island (his own boat crash, the crash of Oceanic 815, the ‘purple sky incident’).
D. The final possibility is based on the theory that the Others are capable of time travel (at least some of them) and immediate transport off the island. This suggestion, that Mrs. Hawking is a (so far unseen) Other, has interesting implications.
Finally, for the proof of the universe’s course correcting nature, we must only look at Charlie. When Desmond met Charlie in the past, he told Charlie about the island, among other things. While this meant nothing to Charlie at that point, the moment he landed on the island, and more-so after Desmond was discovered, he would begin to put the pieces together. However, the Charlie that landed on the island didn’t have that knowledge. Therefore, following Desmond’s return to the present (which saw Charlie already survive), the Universe saw only one solution to the paradox of Charlie: it began to kill him. However, since Desmond could see into the future, he could prolong his life, but never save him. Charlie could have put everyone else on the island in danger. This is sort of a converse of the theory that no real harm can come of Hurley — he seems to be protected (possibly in the same way as Michael and Jack being unable to kill themselves). Hurley, as evidenced by the scene where he crosses the bridge in "Numbers", seems to be protected, and he can share his protection with others, such as Charlie in the infamous ‘van’ episode. Similarly, the way the universe was going after Charlie could harm others, as, it seemed, Claire was the cursed one at first.
Furthermore, examine the other people Desmond came into contact with: Penny, Charles, and Donovan. Desmond didn’t tell them anything about their futures, or at least nothing specific. The exception is Daniel. It is suggested (rather, implied, since they made a point to show that he was exposed to massive amounts of radiation) that Daniel will jump through time, and he may also be protected. Or he may be in danger.
Anyway, sorry about the length, but hope this offers some insight into time-travel.
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"Your Voice" is a new TTS series in which Tail Section fans submit their articles, theories or reviews to be published on The Tail Section for all their fellow fans to read. Have you spent far too much time pondering the origins of the DHARMA Initiative? Have you alienated your co-workers by rambling about Daniel Faraday’s wacky time anomaly experiment? If so, we want to hear from you. Send your own Lost theories, reviews, or general thoughts to Editor(at)TheTailSection.com. Please keep all submissions between 300 and 1,000 words. We will read through all submissions and contact you if we publish your entry. You will also receive byline credit on our site.
Interesting thoughts. Regarding Charlie: I’m not sure if he would remember some random guy accosting him on the street and talking about some Island. After all, he was a druggie back then, and as strange as that encounter might have been, I personally have forgotten weirder stuff in my life and I’m not addicted to heroin. I buy that Charlie doesn’t remember. Let’s not forget the characters are supposed to be human and what human has a perfect memory?
Regarding Mrs. Hawking: Speaking of human, I’m not sure she is. I always was of the mind that she might be an “agent of fate.” Now that we know the Islands power can extend throughout the world, I think she may be like Ghost-Charlie when he appeared to Hurley at the beginning of season 4. Real but not necessarily of this world anymore. I mean, how else can she know all this universe stuff and the death of Red Shoes?
Anyway, good theories Don.
Comment by SteveD — April 9, 2008 @ 7:04 am
These are interesting ideas, but my take on Charlie is that the universe needed to kill him because he was the only one capable of overriding the jamming signal, because he was a musician and was capable of figuring out the code, which was programmed by a another musician. In other words, the universe did NOT want that jamming stopped. Otherwise, why couldn’t the universe have dealt with the paradox by killing Desmond?
As to whether characters remember their prior encounters with Desmond, this is all very unclear. It does not appear that Faraday remembered Desmond when they met at the helicopter. And the producers remarked that one of the open questions is whether Desmond went through all those years knowing that he had to call Penny on 12/24/04. In other words, did he know this while he was wasting away in the Swan for so long… I think the key here may be the memory problems that Faraday exhibited. When asked if it was amnesia, he said it’s DEFINITELY not, implying it’s something far more strange. My feeling is that this amnesia-like phenomenon has something to do with how the universe prevents paradoxes. It prevents you from remembering things which would cause them.
Comment by BobW — April 9, 2008 @ 8:37 am
My counter arguement to your point on Charlie, Bob, would be why did his deaths begin only after Desmond returned from the past?
Comment by Will O — April 9, 2008 @ 9:26 am
Will, the reason may have been because the jamming didn’t begin until about the same time that Desmond went and came back from the past. Ben started the jamming in the aftermath of the discharge because he knew the island’s location had been compromised. It was at that point, which was coincidentally the same time as Desmond’s return from the past, that Charlie became a threat to the continued jamming because he alone had the skill to figure out the code. So it was at that point that he became marked for death.
This is just a possibility. What you say also makes sense. But it just struck me as strange that the writers threw in the bit about the programmer of the code being a musician.
Comment by BobW — April 9, 2008 @ 12:22 pm
just a quick thought, I was with you about the idea of Charlie remembering, because of Charlie’s finger art in the pilot, FATE and later LATE. But, then my thought goes out the window if he didn’t have any memory of that meeting with Desmond until just before the island or fate itself started trying to kill him.
Comment by Heather — April 9, 2008 @ 3:52 pm
Great submission will o you gave us a lot to think about. Heather I think you on to something regarding Charlie’s finger art. I believe it was a clue the writers were giving us early on. Here is one thought I have regarding Desmond. Maybe all he had to do is make contact with Charlie on the island to fulfill Charlie’s fate. Also, let us not forget that Desmond made contact with Jack running stairs in the stadium. These random meetings could be quite significant. In short, Desmond is a constant for Charlie, Jack, and Daniel. He is a constant in the universal equation for the course correction.
Comment by pjpuma — April 9, 2008 @ 10:41 pm
My questions is: I understand that Charlie’s death was fate much like everyone elses is, the thing is if Des had let charlie die ealier (lightening or drowning) would the freighties still have come or found the island, did Desmond by saving Charlie all those other times not change “fate”? And in addition to that Charlie sacrificed himself coz Desmond vision showed Claire and Aaron being rescued yet we all know that Claire doesn’t get rescued, so does this mean fate can be altered or will the universe course correct this as well?
Comment by Sbujero — April 10, 2008 @ 3:59 am
I just can’t get behind this theory. I’ve read some complicated ones out there, but wow dude… this one is nuts.
You mention earlier that time-travel is debunked by the producers… and you say that you’re going to give answers to why this is true. To me… you’re saying you agree with the producers that there is NO TIME TRAVEL. But yet mention in your reasonings that the Others can time-travel. Seems to me you just contradicted yourself. Am I reading this wrong?
This theory is much more than the average fan can wrap their brains around. No show in the history of television has been so elite that only people who watch every episode back and forth and this way and that way and read about things online can be into the show. I can’t imagine DL and CC would do that to just the average fans of Lost.
Even so… I just can’t follow this one. too many details focused on only ONE person (Desmond). I just don’t see this being a legit theory. With a show like this and your theory of course correction… it would have to apply to the WHOLE SHOW… not just Desmond and the people he’s met along the way. Explain Locke’s connection with the island? Explain his paralysis cured? Why doesn’t he want to leave the island? Explain the smoke monster? If course correction is the underlying theme of the whole show, it would have to explain EVERYTHING… not just Desmond.
What are your theories on these and many… many… MANY more island mysteries? Are Desmond and course correction the answers to it all? come on man.
Comment by dj300 — April 10, 2008 @ 10:54 am
Mrs. Hawkings is Ben’s grandmother! When this is revealed on the show remember this thread.
Comment by I've got it — April 16, 2008 @ 5:42 am
Mrs. Hawkings is Ben’s grandmother! When this is revealed on the show remember this thread.
Comment by I've got it — April 16, 2008 @ 5:42 am
Don’t know if anyone will read this, but the “musician” who originally programmed the code WAS Charlie. He time traveled too. Remember how Desmond wrote down Penny’s number? And then used it later on the boat? I think that Charlie was in the present (when he died) and bounced back and realized he needed to be able to enter the code in the future, so he picked the song “good vibrations” (which is a funny song considering the properties of the island..sound and vibrations…) because he knew that in the future he’d need a song he could remember and would know by heart.
Comment by tawnry — April 17, 2008 @ 11:59 pm
Faraday said, “you cannot change the past” BUT he didn’t say you can’t change the FUTURE. I think the reference to “course corrections” is NOT just about “course correcting” the past as an analogy. I think it applies to 2 other things.
1- Going to and from the island. I believe that you must (as has been said) enter and leave the island on the SAME course. Entering on different courses alters what/when you experience on the island. The same with leaving. I too suspected (at one point) that Ben sent Michael back to a time before he every got to the island. Thus he was never got on the plane, thus he can be alive and NOT be one of the Oceanic Six. If you enter on one course and leave on another things get really screwy. Perhaps this is why Jacob is the way he is - he came in on a weird course that left him the way he is…
2- Course Correction and Flight 815. I think that ONE of the 815’s we’ve seen is the “course corrected” one. Meaning, I don’t think the plane at the bottom of the sea is a “plant”. (I think all of the “evidence” that Michael saw is pics of the flight 815 that was suppoed to crash instead of landing on the island). I think the rest of the documents are fakes - purchase order, grave pics, etc. They tell Michael all that stuff just to win his sympathies). I think it is the result of one course of events. What got the plane off course to begin with? Did someone sabotage the plane so it would get them to the island so some would survive? Did the plane naturally go off course and the pilot trying to “course correct” got them to the island? What if they “accidentally” got to the island, and then in the end they learn that the intended fate of Flight 815 was to crash and everyone die. (Much like Charlie’s fate). Maybe all of the losties do die, and the 6 who survive finally figure out and accept that the plane was supposed to crash and they feel so guilty for being alive so Jack says, “We have to go back”. By this he means that they have to go back, stop someone from sabotaging the plane so it doesn’t get off course and end up at the island, but instead ends up in the Ocean and they all die together.
Comment by tawnry — April 18, 2008 @ 12:19 am