My Pre-Season Theories

This is the final pre-season stall blog. By the next time I write in this we will have seen two brand new hours of Lost. The end is quickly approaching! As mentioned in previous entries, the purpose of this entry is to share my hypothesis of what I think will happen this season. This is based on what I have gathered from the show and occasionally clues that the producers have alluded to. Spoilers have NOT been consulted to create my theories, so if I end up being right then it is purely coincidental based on educated guesses. Also, my theories are under the assumption that the hydrogen bomb went off last season, however, I do not think it will completely, permanently, change things. With all of this being said, let us begin.

For starters some pretty significant characters are going to die. I’m not really sure who they can afford to kill off but I would say Sayid for sure. Every character has had their chance at redemption and he took his but then soon fell back into a bad life of killing people. For goodness sakes he shot a young teenage Ben Linus. In addition he has nothing left to live for. His love, Nadia, was killed. There is nothing for him so he is expendable. I’d say that Hurley is safe; you can’t kill the lovable fat guy. Sawyer will probably do something heroic, but who knows, that would be very predictable.

Jack is probably safe as well, but I will discuss that later. The only reason he may not make it is that when they originally wrote the first few episodes the producers wanted to kill him off. I feel that Sun and Jin will be together in the end. They have had them separated too long and nearly run that story into the ground. Really I’m just babbling at this point as to speculate people’s fates so I will go on, but I feel that Sayid won’t make it.

I do not think that Locke is completely out of the picture. I am not sure if he is ultimately dead or what, but I’m sure that if he needs to be alive then the writers can find a way for him to be alive. Whether it was the fact that Jacob touched him and others or some other reason, Locke will probably be alive. Plus, the whole Man of Science, Man of Faith thing will be the culminating dynamic of the series, so I feel that Locke must come back to assume his role as the Man of Faith. I believe that Locke and Jack will become the new Jacob and Jacob’s nemesis respectively. They represent such strong opposing forces that if Jack does not continue to believe in faith like he was starting to in season five then he will take Jacob’s nemesis’ spot. Possibly Jack will end up taking Jacob’s spot, but someone will assume Jacob’s role, if not also his nemesis’.

I think the island has some sort of pattern that Locke and/or Jack will serve as for the next group of people that come, just as Jacob and his nemesis have for our people. It should be noted that Jacob and his nemesis wore white and black shirts in the one time we saw them together in what we believe to be their true forms. This goes back to the season one scene where Locke explains backgammon to Walt. Since then black and white has been a symbolic theme throughout Lost. Also, to help further the pattern theory, Jacob tells his nemesis that “It only ends once. Anything that happens before that is just progress.” Now I don’t put a lot of stock in my speculation of this, but just a possibility.

While on the subject of Jacob, I’m not sure he is ultimately dead. I feel that he was careful to cover his bases. Either he knew he was going to be killed and that is why he touched everyone for some reason, to be resurrected or have something to bring him back. Now, go with me here, what if Jacob touching everyone is similar to Voldemort creating horcruxes in the Harry Potter series. (Lost draws on many books and movies for ideas, why not Harry Potter here.) This may be similar in the fact that maybe by Jacob touching people he can inhabit their body especially if they are dead now. Maybe Locke can come back again in the spirit of Jacob. Locke could be a pawn of both sides. Or the fact that Jacob touched Locke and the others means that they cannot serve as the “loophole” for the Man in Black (Jacob’s nemesis).

Even if Jacob is dead, he is not out of the picture. Too many people on this show can talk to dead people (i.e. Miles and Hurley). Hurley has been able to and it really has not served hardly any purpose yet, but I’m sure it will. Also, we cannot forget that the brief conversation that Jacob had with Hurley was about how Hurley is not crazy, that he really can talk to dead people, and that it is a blessing that he can talk to the dead. This little ability may help the characters as it can provide a channel to communicate with Jacob. Everything in this show has a reason and purpose and I think this may be the reason for Hurley’s ability to talk to the dead.

As the season progresses I believe that it will be revealed that the famous Adam and Eve skeletons belong to Rose and Bernard. They are expendable and will probably be left in the days of the DHARMA Initiative, die there, and be placed in the caves. If just makes sense for it to be them.

The relationship between Widmore and Ben will finally be revealed this season and I have always believed this, both are good guys, relatively. They are both on Jacob’s side of the war and work for him, but there is one major difference. Widmore wants what it best for the Island. Ben wants what is best for the Island as long as he benefits and can lead. As soon as he had to give up his position to Locke he tried to kill him multiple times and was finally successful. There are some instances where Widmore seems a little excessively hostile, but I feel that his actions can be explained if we knew the whole story.

Another aspect we must cover is the new story telling form that Lost will undoubtedly employ. The producers have hinted that like the past few years they will employ a new narrative. Seasons one through three used flashbacks, then season four started and took advantage of the flashforward. Seasons five started a new thing where they toggled between the past and the future. I think that this season will have the characters flashing through alternate timelines. (This will include their bodies shifting through time, or maybe just their conscious, like Desmond’s conscious time jumping in season four. Maybe that is why Desmond’s mind did that in season four, to prepare us for this happening again later in season six). That is what will allow certain dead characters to “legitimately” reappear for a short while. I believe that is why Jacob gave Hurley a guitar when he was going back to the Island. Not only did it help recreate the circumstances of the original flight, but I feel that he knew that Charlie will briefly show up. My prediction: the season will open up with Oceanic Flight 815 (the original flight) safely landing in LA. (This will help meet the shock value that they usually have for the first scene of the season opener). From then on they will toggle through alternate timelines for a short while before they end up syncing up with the correct timeline.

I’m going to make a finale prediction now too. Each finale has an explosion, some bigger than others, but they are generally getting bigger and bigger. (1:the hatch door, 2:the Swan Station, 3:barrels at their camp and the window of the Looking Glass, thus flooding it, 4: a whole freighter, 5: the hydrogen bomb). With all that being said, what is bigger than a hydrogen bomb going off? How about a natural explosion? Maybe a volcano? Yes, there is a volcano on the Island. Like I’ve said over and over, they rarely do and say things for no reason. In the season three episode “The Man Behind The Curtain,” young Ben is told that there is a volcano on the Island that hasn’t gone off in a “very long time.” I’m not sure yet what the ramifications will be yet for it going off, but I think it will.

One last finale prediction, the series will end with the “pattern” I’ve already theorized about starting all over. Is no one else intrigued that the show has suddenly picked up a great number of kids? We already know Walt is special and goodness knows they talked Aaron up so much to be something special. If they don’t revisit that then that whole story arc and dilemma will have been made up just to scare and intrigue us for a while. Jin and Sun had Ji Yeon. Desmond and Penelope had Charlie too. I think due to the strange time abilities of the Island these children will show up at the end of the show grown up or we will see the future when they are naturally grown and they will have their turn on the Island. We’ve already seen how the Island likes to keep it all in the family. I may be off a little, but I’m sure the kids will be of the utmost importance.

Finally, a few quick thoughts. We cannot overlook the strong Greek mythological overtones throughout the series. I think that explains why a loophole was the only way for the nemesis to kill Jacob. The Greek gods used heroes to do their work; there were rules about how the gods could intervene. Will other characters be used as pawns by the Island “gods” to do things just as the ancient Greek heroes were? Look for Greek symbolism to help predict things. Also, if the Island ends up having a name I guess it would be Ogygia. This is an island in the Odyssey where Odysseus was kept for seven years by the nymph Calypso. It is said that you can’t find Ogygia twice. So, similar to the Island, it is hard to find. However, our Island differs since people have come to it multiple times. Not a perfect metaphor but a possibility. Although, I do not have a lot a stock in this postulation, however, I guess it could happen. My guess, they have gone this long without naming it, they will not now.

Now I do not know when the statue of Taweret was destroyed, Ben claims it was like it currently is (just a foot) when he first arrived on the Island, but who knows. If that is true then it will most likely throw this theory out the window. However, I cannot help but wonder if its destruction was what made it impossible for women to have babies on the Island. After all Taweret is the goddess of childbirth and fertility. It just seems weird for this possible connection to be there and it not really connect.

My final prediction before the season starts deals with a medical procedure that many may have forgotten about that took place a little over halfway through season four, Jack’s appendectomy. When writers strike happened during the fourth season the producers went on record saying they had to put off some things they wanted to do in season four until season five, like furthering the freighter folks’ flashbacks. They said though that they needed some things to happen in season four, like Jack’s appendectomy. My question: why is an appendectomy so important? I thought it would end up being more important when he was off Island, like somehow it would be revealed that he “lost” his appendix while allegedly being lost at sea for 3 months, thus exposing up their lie. That never happened though. I have two ideas. One, if they do start flashing through alternate timelines, it will be like their whole bodies are shifting, he’ll notice a scar on his body which will affect these alternate timeline flashings. Call it a constant. I don’t know; a weak theory I know but go with it. Or maybe that story is finished and it simply was done to show that Jack had fallen out of the Island’s good graces and allowed to get sick which is unusual since it normally heals you and prevents you from being sick. The second is probably most likely, but who knows!

That is all! I know this has been a very lengthy post but I hope you enjoyed it and I hope it got you thinking. Please, respond with any comments, questions or theories of your own. Until next week when we have seen a little bit more Lost, Namaste.

Steven