The Best Lost Theory You Haven’t Heard Yet
What did we learn from the finale and more importantly, what is my new theory? Patience my new friends, patience. Let’s look at each question individually. First, what did we learn from the finale? We learned several important chunks of island mythology. We learned about the mysterious Kelvin that Desmond first mentioned back at the beginning of the season. As it so connect-the-dot-edly fits, Kelvin was somebody we saw before. He was the American military leader who persuaded Sayid to ‘do whatever necessary’ to ascertain information during the first Iraq war. Second, we now know that Kelvin was stationed, in Iraq, with Kate’s dad. In the episode One Of Them, another soldier, in Kelvin’s vehicle, has a photo of Kate as a child. He is inquiring whether Sayid has any children. (The photo is an actual photo of Evangeline Lilly, aka Kate, as a child.)
Through Desmond flashbacks, we learn that it was Kelvin who did some (all?) of the black light map drawing that Locke saw in Lockdown. We know that Kelvin knows that the island, or at least the section surrounding the Hatch, is not infected. The sole purpose of the suits and air tanks is to convince Desmond to stay put. Why? Loneliness? Doubtful. Necessity? Almost certainly, but necessary to who? That is the question. It is also one that we don’t have an answer.
Perhaps the biggest piece of info regarding Kelvin that we learned it that Kelvin joined up with the Dharma Initiative after leaving (voluntarily?) the military. Why is this so important? Well, it lets us know that the Dharma Initiative was not against hiring formerly high ranking military personnel. When watching the film from the Orientation episode, we were told that the DeGroots wanted to conduct several experiments and there was a spliced mention of a Utopian society. These film splices are something that Kelvin explains that his partner, Rudzinsky, did. So then, what would an Initiative with peaceful, Utopian ideals in mind need with a war veteran? Is it possible that there is no connection here? I doubt it. Remember the tag line for Season 2 – Everything Happens For A Reason. It is not coincidental.
One last Kelvin tidbit that I need to mention is one that is both scary and promising, depending on what you personally think of The Others. Remember back when Ana-Lucia killed Goodwin, they shared an apple before his death. (The snake tempted Adam with an apple, more about this later, keep reading.) The knife used to cut the apple had US military stampings on it. Again, going with the ‘no coincidences’ line of thinking here, I put two and two together and ass/u/me that Kelvin is responsible for that knife not being only on the island, but also in the hands of somebody who is a confirmed Other. What does this add up to? Dharma’s connection to the military? Kelvin is/was an Other? Only time will tell because Carlton Cuse, Damon Lindelof, and the ‘Others’ aren’t telling yet. I have more explanations for this but they will have to wait for another topic.
Before I let loose my new theory, I need to tell you about one other nugget of island mythology revealed in the finale. This is the moment where we (along with Sayid, Sun, and Jin) see the statue of a foot with only four toes. When I first saw this scene, I remarked that it did not look like a human foot, nevermind the fact that there are only 4 toes. The structure of this foot looked different. The toes are much fatter and the toes take up the majority of the foot. Look at your own feet, toes are only about 1/4 of the total length of any foot (on average). To me, the toes/foot resembled a paw.
After the finale I downloaded the official ABC podcast featuring co-creators Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof. The helped shed some light on the statue. They said that to them, which means that it is the truth, the statue appears as if it is upwards of 60 feet tall. They said that is is important to know who built the statue but it is more important to know where the rest of it is. They say that the statue “could” have been part human and part dog. That, of course, means that it was. It came right from the Creator’s Mouth.
This is what leads me into my new theory. Now before I go further, I’m sure that somebody has thought this before. I highly doubt that I am the first. It is just a theory that I have had since part way through Season 2 that I doubt ever read about in magazines or in LOST chat rooms/websites.
See if you can piece it together from these important connections that the show (since Day 1) has given us. What is the nature of our Lost Survivors? Are they good people at heart or are we just sympathetic towards them based on small parts of their lives that we know? How many of them have committed murder? Ana Lucia, Sawyer, Kate, Hurley (says he killed some people), Michael, Eko. Those are the confirmed. I have my reservations about Jack, Jin and possibly Locke as well. In all of those instances (with the exception of Hurley, but we haven’t been told the circumstances of it yet), the murders were not random or accidental, they were pre-meditated and cold blooded. What Michael did to Ana was one of the most brutal, heartless acts I have ever seen any person do, on television. There were numerous other ways he could have gone about bringing Jack, Kate, Sawyer, and Hurley back to the Others. I won’t even go into Ana-Lucia’s total lack of respect for life. The fact that she could joke about not being able to “even” kill Henry, was character defining. She said it so nonchalantly, like somebody else saying “I couldn’t even remember to bring home milk. That simple task, and I didn’t do it.”
Now look at some of the character arcs we have witnessed. At the beginning of Season 1, look at Sawyer. He was selfish, ruthless, and a nasty person. He horded everything; nearly letting people die, all for self preservation or bargaining chips for later times. Evil. As Season 2 began, he became more sympathetic, he lightened up, he tried hard to overcome this personal demon. Kate even joked that everybody was liking him now. So what did he do, helped kidnap Sun, just to get all the guns, and admit to Charlie that he “never did a good thing in (his) life.”
Now Locke. He has serious problems with anger. He may or may not have knowingly sacrificed (killed) Boone, just to appease the island, as he puts it. His strong point is his faith, but his faith is quite easily swayed based on minor distractions. He is not fully grounded in his beliefs. I’m sure he survived the finale and we will learn much more about him next season. Lindelof and Cuse said, in the last podcast, that, in Season 3, we will find out why Locke was in a wheelchair.
The character of Kate seems obvious. She is highly self motivated, to the point of armed robbery, assault with a deadly weapon, attempted murder, revenge, all just to satisfy her desires for what? A toy plane, that’s what.
I’ve already discussed Ana and Michael and we all saw the horrors of Eko’s flashback. By now you should see where I am going with this. If not, how about 2 more very important clues to support my belief. The statue. The creators admit is is part dog and part human. Sound like anything to you? If you look to mythology you will hear mention of Cerberus – the part dog beast with multiple heads who stands guard over the gates of Hell. Yes, Hell. You may think I am assuming to much with Cerberus but he is mentioned many times on the black light map that Locke sees during the lockdown. There are many accurate depictions of the map to be found on the web. Try Entertainment Weekly’sLost page to see what I mean. It mentions Cerberus activity in the area of the Hatch.
Also, why has nobody ever gotten off the island? Desmond sailed around the world and he couldn’t find any islands. There are hundreds of islands near Fiji. If he was there, he would have found them. Nobody can get off (across) this water. Cerberus stands guard over the gates of Hell at the River Styx. It is the river of the dead. There is a giant part dog statue standing (what’s left of it) guard over the water.
I am theorizing that our LOST castaways are NOT in Purgatory, they are actually in Hell. Here me out, it is not that clear cut. Hell, as we are to believe, is a place from which there is no return. LOST. Hell is for the bad people in the world. LOST. Hell is for those who can not overcome their evil natures and personal demons. LOST. The LOST Experience online game, run by ABC this summer, is monitored by somebody named ‘Persephone’. That was also the name of the wife of Hades. Hell. LOST. Henry and the Others’ have a list to save the ‘good people’. Ana Lucia was told she wasn’t on the list because she wasn’t a good person. Lastly, just look at the damn name of the show – LOST. Who are those who are in Hell? The lost souls of the world. It is very possible that this is the situation here.
Before you attack this theory, let me add that I don’t necessarily believe that they are all in our childhood image of Hell with flames and the devil. I also don’t believe that they are dead. The creators have said, in so many words, that they are not dead. Then how can they be in Hell you ask? Simple, I think that they are being given their (individually speaking) last chance at redemption. This is much different from Purgatory. In Purgatory, you are dead and have the chance to go to both Heaven or Hell. I don’t believe that out LOSTies have these options, at least not yet.
I think that if they overcome their demons, change their life, they get to leave the island. This is done on a case-by-case basis, not all or none. Those who can ultimately win their struggle, will just get to go home. This would explain why their are dogs and children on the island. Much to Pat Benatar’s disbelief, Hell isn’t for children. They are “in a better place” and “safe now”. Ana Lucia failed to change, I believe. Michael is heading down an evil path as well. There is no way that he is getting rescued in that boat. Mark my words.
The ‘monster’ picks and chooses who to ‘take’. The monster could be Cerberus and by ‘takes’ it could just be letting people into Hell. Locke wasn’t hurt, Eko wasn’t hurt, they were changing for the better at the moments of their encounters. (Only potential problem here is that the black smoke thing that they both saw apparently is NOT the monster. Cuse and Lindelof said that in the podcast and dropped the ultimate quote of speculation for this summer regarding the monster. But that is for a different article.)
Would Ana Lucia have been spared had she encountered Smokey? How about Michael? Henry Gale keeps saying that they are the good guys. Maybe they have resolved their struggles. Maybe they just need time or the opportunity to get off the island. Maybe they aren’t “attacking” the survivors. Maybe they are trying to help. Maybe they have information about the overall importance of the survivors’ fates. I guess we will have to wait.
Last point I need to make is this. I hope that I am completely wrong about this theory. I don’t want to believe that many of our favorite characters are truly evil at heart. I love this show. I am invested in their lives. I don’t want them to fail. Maybe that is the point though. Maybe, with time, and more seasons, they will ultimately prevail. We have been told that in the final episode of the series, hopefully not for many years, we will then and not until then, learn exactly what the island is. How shocking would it be if the final 3 minutes of the series ended with all remaining LOSTies being rescued, then we see the camera pan out high above the island and in the final scene the island bursts into flames, its true nature – Hell.
Would the writers/creators be so bold as to pitch such a series to ABC? Would any network green light this scenario? It would be bold and it would bedaring. It would also be groundbreaking, something television so desperately seeks. If done under the radar, and everything on LOST is, it could be pulled off. I just hope that I am wrong. Namaste.
