Your Voice: Real Time vs. Island Time
Submitted by Dan Berry
Recently I watched an interview headed by one of G4’s Attack of the Show hosts with Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse. This interview took place right after "The Shape of Things to Come" aired. In the interview, the writers discussed the ramifications of Flash Forwards and hinted toward the concept of a Flash Sideways. On my six hour drive between Knoxville and Memphis, TN, I began sorting out the events in Season Four pertaining to the time variation that surrounds the island. Clearly something big happened when the fail safe key was turned; more than we think. It’s my belief that the Swan station has something to do with unhinging the island time from reality. Not necessarily a time loop. I believe that the island is simply in some sort of perpetual state. Either that or the presence of the vile vortices creates a time barrier. Doesn’t matter.
What I noticed is that the moment the fail safe key was turned Desmond is thrust into a time in his life that is almost 4 years in the past. I believe that the island was somehow dangling just outside reality in this area. When the island was put into this state, it must have been unhinged from the natural timeline, so now that the fail safe is turned, it is no longer sitting still; instead it is now progressing on a new timeline, along with the events that take place on the island. With two parallel timelines, the present is progressing naturally, while the island’s timeline is both progressing and shifting, meaning that when Michael leaves the island, it would be as if he was on an accelerating subway car and he is stepping onto the platform (the symbolic present day timeline). Michael therefore lands in a period in the past, before 815 even took off. This would explain how he is able to make it from the island and get an apartment and Walt is able to grow older until the moment Locke sees him again on the island. Evidence of this phenomena was presented with Daniel Faraday’s experiment and the Doc’s body washing on shore. The island has been accelerating toward present day, yet since it has been unhinged, it will not stop when it catches up to the present.
Daniel’s payload is fired days before the island’s timeline becomes synced with reality. When the payload is fired from the freighter, island events are occurring before it is fired. It takes three hours to reach the point in time where the rocket is fired. Therefore the island at this point is in the past. This would also explain why it takes so long for Sayid and Desmond to reach the helicopter from the beach camp’s point of view. Yet when the Doc washes up on shore, the island has already surpassed reality and events taking place on the outside have yet to happen. This means that the island events are taking place in the future, and leads me to believe that the Flash Forwards will soon become Flash Sideways, because the events in reality and the events on the island are occurring simultaneously. Eventually the island will surpass even the Flash Forwards, which will become Flash Backs. This presents the possibility of Jack and friends returning to the island’s past, which will probably result in Jack and Kate being Adam and Eve.
What do you think?
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I don’t know what to make of theories that say that the island “exists” in the past or future. Every island on Earth “exists” in the past and the future, but that doesn’t make them special. The island of Hawaii “exists” in the year 2007, in the past. Presumably it also “exists” in the year 2009, in the future.
Perhaps this is just another way of saying that when you arrive on or leave the island, you travel into the past or future? This is a far cry from saying that the island somehow exists exclusively in the past or future…. It just means that the survivors traveled through time when they arrived on the island, or when the failsafe key was turned, and now exist in the past or future relative to what they think the date SHOULD be.
Comment by BobW — May 14, 2008 @ 8:47 am
I don’t think the turning of the key is what unhinged the island from the timeline.
I dont think ben intended for the hatch to be blown up, the fail safe key turned ect. He’s manipulative.. but I got the impression they didnt like the plane people in the hatch.
Although the sky turning purple could of been it jumping timelines, dimensions or something. And the light not scattering right a result of being out of sync with the outside of the bubble??
I see the heading to get to and from the island is just a weakness in the time bubble that surrounds the island. And this was there before the flash was it not? Sure we didnt know this until the moments after the flash.. but that means ben ect would have to know exactly when every things going on and when. All a bit..
Also i think the bubble directly relates to how the island disappeared from the dharma people and how they haven’t been able to find it until the hatch blowing up, weakened it or did something to it.
The freighter people want to kill everyone on the island, this has to serve a purpose with why the islands so hard to find. So i wouldnt rule out that there’s some sort of effect controlled or created or has to be maintained by people on the island. Even just the presence of people in sync with the island or something.
some random ideas
Comment by Grinspoon — May 14, 2008 @ 9:03 am
It could be that the island is a place that allows time travel without the resultant “paradoxes” that could result from it. If it is totally sealed off from the outside world in terms of cause and effect, then you could go back in time on the island without any consequences. The producers did say that they like the idea of time travel, but NOT paradoxes… so this may be a hint. Perhaps the reason that it’s necessary to kill everyone on the island is that their existence will somehow create a paradox now that the island had been found, and this must be avoided at all costs.
Comment by BobW — May 14, 2008 @ 9:10 am
I don’t like the time travel theories. Time travel gets really messy really quickly. They may be able to avoid paradoxes by limiting travel to mind only (a la Desmond) or by only allowing people to go forward.
I think the full-on time travel ideas would lose a lot of viewers. It would turn the show from a mystery/drama/action to a sci fi show. The hard core fans might stick with it, but I think they would lose a lot of casual viewers if they did something like that.
Comment by Eric — May 14, 2008 @ 9:37 am
Not bad… Seems possible.
Comment by Brian Reid — May 14, 2008 @ 10:46 am
Dude…they were kidding about flashes sideways.
But I think they’ve already addressed Michael having done all that in such a short time, and basically chalked it up to suspension of disbelief. It’s not impossible, just unlikely. And when we saw Walt living with his grandma, he didn’t look like Taller Ghost Walt.
Comment by Devin — May 14, 2008 @ 11:11 am
So far in the show we’ve seen time traveling, but not in the “Back to the Future” kind of way, it’s had a twist, like Desmond and Minkowski’s conscious time traveling and maybe even Ben somehow traveling to Tunisia. I think this might have been time traveling as well since he had to double check the date. So, I don’t think it’s out of the question to do more time traveling, but I don’t think its going to be very straight forward. Perhaps the island is a sort of hub from which you can to a variety of other times and places easily, if you know the correct route.
Comment by AnotherOther — May 14, 2008 @ 12:19 pm
It took 30 minutes for the rocket to land on the island, not 3 days. COnsidering you took an obvious gag on AOTS and ran with it, I’m starting to seriously think you’re reaching just to put content on the site and compete with Doc.
Comment by Steve — May 14, 2008 @ 4:12 pm
It’s not all that hard to believe, and how do we know if “flash sideways” is a gag? I haven’t seen the interview so maybe they made it obvious but it makes sense. It’s entirely possible they could show jack on the island, then cut to a scene of Jack at the hospital, and both could be happening in real time simultaneously, but off-island time has lagged behind so he technically can be in two places at once (note I did not say “at the same time”). You’re all thinking of a flash sideways and saying it’s just a scene cut but it can be something more meaningful.
Comment by Darel — May 14, 2008 @ 4:51 pm
Eh… I disagree with Jack and Kate returning to the island due to Aaron’s alleged significance… what if Aaron and Ji Yeon return to the island’s past once they grow up
Comment by Greg — May 14, 2008 @ 6:26 pm
Good thoughts. Take a step back though and answer this question, if the failsafe key started this progression, then what would happen had the key not been turned? Obviously it was a failsafe from something…
Comment by heffe — May 14, 2008 @ 6:58 pm
not bad. couple things though. regarding michael and getting back to the mainland before 815 even took off; not so. you will recall that when we see him back in new york he talks to his mother who says(and i paraphrase), “Your plane crashes, you’re supposed to be dead, and then three months later you just show up and we’re not allowed to talk about it?”
Comment by mike — May 14, 2008 @ 11:38 pm
I think you might be on the right track. I noticed something in the first flash-forward last season: Jack’s beard has a lot of gray in it on the island and in the flash-forward there was no gray at all. It’s been the same way this season. Maybe it was a trick of lighting but I don’t think they do that on Lost. After seeing last year’s season finale I wondered if the Oceanic 6 had somehow returned to a time period BEFORE they had crashed.
Comment by Glenn — May 15, 2008 @ 4:19 am
Disagree with the Michael / Walt theory as his mother makes mention of him miraculously appearing after the flight he was on crashed, but her not being able to tell anyone or use their real names.
Comment by Matt — May 15, 2008 @ 2:08 pm