Why Do They Need to Go Back?
The entire premise of this season has been that the Oceanic 6 need to go back in order to save the people left behind in the Island. In the latest episode, John Locke succeeded in realigning the frozen donkey wheel, sending him off the Island. But what next?
In theory, it seemed as though the wheel being off its axis, spurting gold dust into the air, was the cause of the time jumps, and by pushing it back into place, Locke possibly solved the time jump problem. But if that’s the case, why do the Oceanic 6 need to go back?
Of course it’s clear that the time jumps aren’t finished because Faraday hasn’t told young Charlotte to leave the Island yet. But if that’s true, then does it mean the donkey wheel had nothing to do with the time jumps?
I wish I had an answer, but that’s why I’m asking you. Will the time jumps stop because the wheel was put back on its axis, and if so, how is bringing the Oceanic 6 back to the Island integral to Ben’s scheme?
Furthermore, a point that’s never been addressed is: what happens when the tie jumps stop? The people on the Island will theoretically be stuck in whatever time they last jumped to, and if that’s in the past, then coming back to the Island won’t mean a thing for the Oceanic 6.
Also at question is how time operates differently on and off the Island. From what we’ve seen, it’s only been about two or three days max on the Island since the Oceanic 6 left, yet off the Island, three years have gone by. Did Locke live off the Island for that whole time?
When Ben moved the wheel, he jumped about 10 months into the future and landed in October 2005. Since Locke left shortly thereafter, one assumed he also landed some time in late 2005. About two years later was when he visited Jack, Kate and Walt before dying.
With the amount of time that’s passed, if the Oceanic 6 do return to the Island, when will it be? Back a few days after they left, in Island Time? Or is it the future, and the survivors have conveniently time jumped to that same point? Or do they return only to find the dead bodies of their friends who were stuck in the 1950s and have died after spending the rest of their lives on the Island in the past?
I feel like this season has provided a ton of answers, yet all I seem to have are questions. That’s just another one of the mysteries of Lost.
I’m guessing that the time jumps don’t stop completely until all the O6 have returned. The reason that Ben only had 70 hours to get everyone together is because that was how long Ms. Hawking had calculated the island would stay in the present time before jumping away again. (Perhaps getting some of the O6 back will buy him a little extra time…)
If this is so, then the people on the island will have only experienced a few days time, but the people off the island, where it’s jumped to, have experienced several years…
Perhaps Locke’s realigning the wheel don’t solve the problem but simply gets him off the island, so he can help solve it.
Comment by wesb — February 13, 2009 @ 11:53 am
I think that Locke stopped the time jumps when he turned the FDW, but now the survivors are stuck in a time period during the Dharma reign. I don’t have a theory as to why the O6 need to go back though.
With time travel on the table now, I don’t think it matters how much time passes on the island versus the regular world. I think that the O6 need to go back during the right window of time to get to where they need to be during a certain course of events on the island. Like their timing is crucial to save everyone from whatever they’re in danger from…the purge maybe?
Comment by ami — February 13, 2009 @ 1:45 pm
I believe there places on the earth that are portals to the island for a certain time . But maybe only one person can go back through each portal at a time. Like Ben and Locke, because why wouldn’t they just get everyone together at the wheel and all go home at one time. I believe also that everyone is connected with the island or has a blood relative connected. So they have to be on the island because they (or family) were never supposed to leave in the first place. They were never supposed to leave or would have never been born if their parents hadn’t left. Hence, the island will do anything to get them back. And others are killed because they didn’t pass the test to stay and live on the island (smoke monster test) ie Mr Eko not repenting. You know these are just guesses and there are only two people in the world who really know for sure.
Comment by Good — February 13, 2009 @ 3:06 pm
“Furthermore, a point that’s never been addressed is: what happens when the tie jumps stop? The people on the Island will theoretically be stuck in whatever time they last jumped to, and if that’s in the past, then coming back to the Island won’t mean a thing for the Oceanic 6.”
I think that Richrd Alpert can control his own time travel, and so he will at some point return the losties to the right time.
As for the jumping, I think that is all down to fate, and the fact that all this was going to happen anyway. Daniel says you cant change the past. In 1988 I think Jin showed Danielle to the radio tower which was how she got to send her loopd message out, and Daniel Faraday told a juvenile Charlotte never to return to the island. Therefore all this was meant to happen, and some things cannot be changed.
As for the time difference, the island never seems to go into the future, maybe because the future is not ALL set in stone. Mayb I’m talking twoddle, who knows
Comment by Kellybee — February 13, 2009 @ 4:05 pm
I think a good chunk of this can begin to be explained by Desmond’s involvement (i.e. Faraday: “Desmond Hume is my constant”).
(This we know:)
Faraday seems to be sure that Desmond’s intervention is the only way to save the lives of the _people_ that we currently see trapped in a (functionally infinite?) time-jump loop, where neurological breakdown is an eventual certainty. How Desmond achieves this is simple to rationalize-1. Desmond is sent back and 2. Extrapolate the events ‘The Constant’ to the Charlotte/Miles/Sawyer/etc.
(From this I suppose…:)
Locke’s journey, then, must be island-centric, and not people-centric. Otherwise, Faraday and Locke are both attempting the same aim (save the lives of the people left behind). In regards to the narrative, at least, this certainly doesn’t make sense. Additionally, attempts by Ben, Alpert or the Island (Christian) to conveniently blur the lines to Locke between this distinction (’save the people’ vs. ’save the Island’) explain this ambiguity. Obviously something very wrong happened to the Island when the O6 departed, but perhaps ‘It happened because you left’ is a simple substitute for ‘To fix the Island, you need to go back’.
MY GRAND PROPOSITION: Yes, they 100% ‘should’ go back. All the signals to the contrary (Island possessing Charlotte to tell Jin not to let Sun return, Claire telling Kate not to let Aaron come back) are actually integral events propelling them towards returning (Jin’s ring that Locke gives to Ben is used to bait Sun to return, Kate becomes paranoid and further freaked out by the lawyer into trusting Jack).
(What does this mean happened to the Island?!)
This, to me, is the big glaring question. We still don’t know (beyond ‘moving’, ‘through time’?) what the moving the wheel did to the Island, or more importantly, what the Island is _doing_ consequently. Likewise, what did O6 leaving the Island ‘do’? Beats me. Maybe the departure of the O6 violated some rule/tenet of the Island’s existence. And perhaps that destabilized the ‘control’ exerted over the Island, swinging it back into play between Ben and Widmore.
(What don’t we know)
To me, there seems to be 3 separate ‘saving’ events happening:
-Locke fixing the wheel
-Desmond returning
-O6 returning
And so if the two things that need ‘saving’ are 1. The Island and 2. The People, you basically can do your own math. Maybe the O6 returning is what ultimately ‘course corrects’ the Island, and having an oscillating time-control wheel situation is just generally shitty (irrespective) and could definitely use some bodywork.
In regards to whether or not the time-jumps ‘stop’ now that the wheel is fixed, we’ll know really soon, resolving some of this.
I just want to find out about Adam and Eve already, you guys.
Comment by Finchmeister — February 13, 2009 @ 5:26 pm
Why do you call it a donkey wheel? That always bugs me when I read it.
Comment by Dale — February 13, 2009 @ 10:38 pm
Dale,
It refers to the its codename by the Lost producers on their podcast.
Their codename for the fact that the Season 3 finale involved flash-forwards was “the snake in the mailbox.”
So when they announced that the codename for the Season 4 finale was “The Frozen Donkey Wheel,” everyone tried to figure out what that meant. But ironically, it actually was a frozen donkey wheel.
Comment by Comans — February 13, 2009 @ 10:53 pm
My question is why does John always “in the island” instead of “on the island”?
Comment by Cody — February 14, 2009 @ 9:52 am
Sorry, i meant “Why does John always say”. i forgot the word “say”. And by John i meant the guy who runs this site.
Comment by Cody — February 14, 2009 @ 9:54 am
Finchmeister…I like your theory…What it the O6 or rather all the people on the island are the ISLANDS constant in some way? And in essence the island is experiencing the same sickness that Charlotte did.
Comment by Darth Holden — February 14, 2009 @ 3:19 pm
Im wondering if, by chance, the o6 and John Locke return just about the same time they left. With the rapid changes in time, perhaps there will be no loss on the island…
Cody, I am not sure what you are referring to. I can’t think of an instance where Locke has said “in the island” or “on the island”.
Comment by Andy — February 15, 2009 @ 3:13 pm
=====Kinda Spoilers from new issue of EW========
SPOILERS
SPOILERS
SPOILERS
There is a photo of Jack, Hurly and Kate in Dharma times with Lays around their necks, like Ben’s family was given when arriving. The reason I’m assuming Dharma tiems is that in the photo there are two brand newlooking Dharma buses behiend them. Also there is another picture of Ben with Sun behiend him about to hit him with something, and it’s a pic of them on the island, and this hasn’t happened yet
SPOILERS
SPOILERS
SPOILERS
I was kinda upset when seeing these pictures because they blatently spoiled future events with no warning at all.
Comment by Scott — February 16, 2009 @ 9:59 am
Finchster, I agree Desmond is vital. Desmond is the only person in the world capable of changing the course of time. If he wasn’t supposed to marry Penny, he would never have bought the ring. Why did Ms. Hawking have to go out of her way to work in a ring store and specifically tell Desmond NOT to buy the ring? If she knew he wasn’t going to ask Penny to marry him, there was no point in her going out of her way to explain this to Desmond. The fact that she did guide Desmond on his journey and was quite scared that he would buy the ring, goes to show that Desmond can change the course of time.
Comment by BlutoSchmooto — February 16, 2009 @ 10:06 am
good call on Desmond.
although I think all this ‘constant’ crap(kate is sawyer’s constant, the losties are the island’s constant(really..?), etc.) is bogus. it was significant for the Dan/Desmond thing, but after that it seems like an explanation that doesn’t really explain anything, you know?
Comment by ianmalachi — February 16, 2009 @ 12:35 pm
Either the 06 people are each a constant for someone on the island* and thus their returning saves them all, or the idea of a constant is dead. I’d like to think there is a more important reason for the 06 to come back. If this is the case then this sickness is nothing more than a device to create dramatic tension at this point which I believe is all it is.
* Farraday may have been on the island longer than the people in the party and the only reason he hasn’t gotten sick yet is because he saw Desmond in the hatch when they went back int time.
Comment by Blutoschmooto — February 16, 2009 @ 6:55 pm
I think the reason everyone needs to return to the island is because they’re all dead. When the plane crashed it hit the window to the island and everyone’s consciousness, along with everything they had with them (plane), landed on the island. The plane and everyone in it still landed in the ocean in real life and everyone died (plane being found in the ocean).
When the O6 left the island and re-entered into the “real world” they created a double existence. They had dead bodies in the real world, and their living selves. That’s why they have all the spirits trying to get these guys to return. The paradox of having died but still existing in the real world is tearing apart the island and maybe soon the real world.
Comment by Gavin — February 17, 2009 @ 9:23 am
I don’t remember where it was read, but the producers on many occations have said that they are not all dead (or in limbo/purgatory) and that it isn’t just “some dream”. What’s happening is happening.
If by some chance they were all dead and they decided to go that route, the whole series would have been a giant cop out, and everything the survivors have done has been for nothing and a waste.
Comment by Scott — February 18, 2009 @ 7:51 am