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PaulW, if you are asking about my Grand Unified Theory of LOST as it appeared in USA Today, then here it is (along with Cuse and Carlton's comments), but please do remember I was limited to only 250 words. There are way more angles not covered in this blurb than are present. As Punaweb readers doubtless know by now, it is difficult for me to say anything in 250 words or less, let alone describe an entire theory of LOST.
Theory: The diabolical experiment
Matthew Abbadon (the thin man who recruited the freighter crew) gains control of Aaron. This brilliant boy is fated to grow up and eventually work in a secret "Area 51" military laboratory on a remote Eniwetok-like island. A diabolically powerful experiment goes very wrong, and Aaron is trapped in another dimension, eternally unstuck from normal space-time and only partly able to contact this dimension (as through Ben and the dead, like Jack's dad and Charlie).
We know Aaron (as an adult after the disaster) by the name "Jacob." Everything that happens in Lost is part of a desperate millennia-long effort orchestrated by Jacob to alter the flow of events such that his original fatal error in creating a space-time rift is averted at the critical moment. Across centuries Jacob manipulates forces to gather the interconnected Lost-ies; their fates are all bound together with his fate.
Jack the healer exercises free will and (thanks to eventually working together with Locke, and most especially thanks to the love and sacrifice of Kate) rescues and cures Jacob, so healing the space-time rift and saving the world. Jack and Kate will live the rest of their lives together in love, ultimately becoming the island's Adam and Eve at rest in the cavern.
Cuse: "First of all, any theory that contains the words 'a diabolically powerful experiment goes very wrong,' I love. That's the foundation of 100 great science-fiction stories."
Lindelof: "It's a wildly imaginative theory. … This is a great theory because it's time-travel-related and it's saying Aaron is Jacob. … There were people earlier this season who were thinking that Harold Perrineau (Michael) was playing a grown-up version of (son) Walt. People keep going to this place. It's sort of a great Rod Serling Twilight Zone device - a future version of yourself comes back and warns a younger version of yourself not to do something or to do something. But we're not dealing in paradox (on Lost). We really limit ourselves.
"And we like it because it's very character-based. Whereas many of these theories don't even mention any of the characters, this one mentions Abbadon, Jack, Kate, Locke, Aaron and Charlie. It's nice to have the focus on our characters."
Cuse: "The fluidity of space-time is something which is very much on the right track in this theory. Even if some of the specifics are not quite right, there's a lot of free thinking in this theory."
Lindelof: "It's not exactly the most accurate theory in the world. But there is a lot of supporting evidence, a lot of thought. Obviously, this person watches the show very closely."
Grade: Cuse and Lindelof, both A-minus
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Regarding just the polar bears, specifically, it may be they came through a wormhole connecting the island with the arctic -remember Penny's listening station up in the arctic and the extreme cold at the bottom of the Well (later to be found beneath the Orchid station?) just as the wormhole connects with Tunesia, but I think it more likely the DHARMA Initiative scientists brought the original polar bears to the Hydra station (the one dedicated to zoological research) located over on the smaller island just offshore from "the" island and after the bears (which Mr. Tom "of Finland" Friendly commented were smarter than Saywer) escaped in the aftermath of Ben and the Others killing off the DHARMies, the bears then survived despite the island being tropical due to the same properties which allowed Rose, John, Jack, and others with mortal wounds to survive when under any other circumstances they would have died. Since polar bears are very good swimmers they would have no trouble paddling over to the main island, frightening Kate, and then charging Sawyer. Maybe.
LOST is such fun because of the opportunity for guessing what is going on and predicting what will happen, imho. I have been wrong quite a few times (such as when I predicted either John Locke's or Richard Alpert's face would be revealed on the Four-Toed Statue) but so far have been right more than wrong. Apparently nobody else on the planet but me thinks there is a LOST-Dark Crystal connection but I am still expecting to see some allusion or tribute to Dark Crystal somewhere, somehow, before the end. Of course (as with the obvious and HUGE influence of Roger Dean's art going 100% completely unacknowledged by Avatar's creators) just because an influence exists does not mean it will always be acknowledged.
By the way, it was only after we had purchased land in Puna and decided to move here that I heard about LOST and started watching it (old episodes on DVD at first). I am enthusiastic about LOST but not so enthusiastic that I'd move here just because LOST was filmed in Hawaii.
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Nirvana vs Rick Astley
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0e9J6Kc6QQ&feature=fvw
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Astonishing skill! This archer is a real-life Legolas and then some!
http://geekologie.com/2013/11/real-life-...rs-anc.php
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Steven, love your theory. Partly right maybe ... I like that you focus on Aaron. He's been central since the beginning. My question though, is who is the Esau (Titus Welliver) character? Is Jacob really the good guy, or could he turn out to be the force that needs to be stopped? Who is to tell which is really the dark force? Black is white and white is black.
About their comments - Darlton can be full of it too. >>> But we're not dealing in paradox (on Lost).
Oh yes they are. Locke's compass, for one thing. The fact that Richard Alpert only went to see John because John told him too, not because he had heard John was special. Which then pulls John into the story that lands him on the island so that he meets Alpert, and provides him with a compass that originally came from himself, except he got it from Alpert, but he also gave it to Alpert. The artifact with no origin point. That is a time paradox. See "By His Bootstraps" or "As Never Was."
I do enjoy time travel stories, but my Lost interests are more with the literary connections, world mythology and religion. I am interested in the Moses and Aaron tie-in, the Egyptian cross, Jacob and Esau, the I Ching, the Taoism with the Ying-Yang black and white polarities. I like symbolism. I like the references to the Third Policeman, a book I had read before LOST tied it in.
Speaking of unacknowledged influences, somebody on that team knows Finnegans Wake and is using the heck out of it. Too much to be a coincidence. Whether it's an homage or more to it I don't know, but I think the theme of polar brother characters triangulated with women was taken straight from Joyce. That is key to the Wake. Shem and Shaun the brothers, who are also Jacob and Esau. I saw that before Jacob and his dark opponent came into the story, and their appearance clinches it. The Wake may be a book about a dream, or not, but mostly it's about family dynamics. And so is LOST. They all have father issues.
Joyce's characters are Shem and Shaun, the bad twin and the good twin, are in non-Irish names, James (Seamus) and John (Shaun). Jack and John are of course the same name. James/Shem is the bad twin but the more entertaining. John/Shaun is the good boy who's too full of his own righteousness. And they flip around and take on each others' qualities. I'm not sure who the very literary person was who was writing for LOST. I suspect it was Javi, and when he left there was a certain subtlety that was lost to what Darlton consider way cool moments.
Did you read The Bad Twin Stephen? I just read it again. It makes more sense now that they've introduced Jacob and his agelong opponent.
I think the island is Purgatory, but not in the sense that they are dead. They are all in need of a second chance though. Purgatory in this world.
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Bravo, AlohaSteven! Finally it all makes sense.
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aloha all,
i am a HUGE lost fan! have been since the beginning. while i was in china i picked up all of the box set seasons so i have watched each season countless times. i love the writing, characters, music, everything. will be kinda sad when lost ends...
no theories as to what i think is going on, i like to be surprised...
can't wait for the premiere...
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Can't wait to see it start up again. I heard the guy that plays Hurley was in Puna a few months ago on the Lava Ocean tour. If Matthew Fox also wants to visit he's welcome to stay at my place, as long as he can first time travel into the much hotter 2004 version of himself.
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My question though, is who is the Esau (Titus Welliver) character? Is Jacob really the good guy, or could he turn out to be the force that needs to be stopped? Who is to tell which is really the dark force? Black is white and white is black.
Just as a sheer speculative hunch and tying this element in with my Diabolical Experiment theory, I'll guess Jacob's Nemesis (the Titus Welliver character) is the all-growed-up version of Desmond and Penny's boy, lil Charlie. He and Aaron (aka Jacob, if my theory is correct) are bound together from earliest childhood. Stands to reason if Aaron commits the fateful Promethean act which ruptures time and space then his quasi-brother lil Charlie would be there with him. As to which is the dark and which is the light force, if in keeping with the overall motif then they would alternate in keeping with point of view, perspective, and so on. Have you noticed even the big LOST title logo has switched from light on dark to dark on light?
No, I have not yet read Bad Twin, though I have a copy. I've been waiting til the end for that. Now I am also looking forward to reading Finnegann's Wake, too; thanks for mentioning the resonances, KathyH.
holahan, finding LOST while in China? I bet there is an interesting story there. Is LOST broadcast there, dubbed into Chinese, do you know? In general I too think the show is great but the aspect which I think is weakest is the music. Very heavy-handed use of the music to cue intended audience reaction, almost like being clubbed over the head or drowned in a vat of syrup sometimes. There was one scene in particular where they took big potted plants and buried the pots in sand on the beach --right where the salt water and wind would have killed such plants dead-- which was just awful (sort of like using a trash can lid on a fishing pole for your film's flying saucer, and letting the tip of the fishing pole dip into the camera frame too) but in general I'd agree the show is outstanding.
robguz, I wonder how much the actors (meaning, both male and female actors) are like their characters. I saw an interview somewhere with the fellow who plays Hurley and he said he basically is just like the character he plays so in a sense he is not acting so much as saying lines; what a great neighbor he'd be to have in real life -such a friendly and honest fellow. Matthew Fox's character is so awful in some regards that I hope it is nothing like the actor himself. They all seem like very skilled actors and interesting people, given how well they play those parts. The actors I'd most like to play chess and sip tea or mai tais with over conversation on the lanai are those who play Benjamin Linus, Danielle Rousseau, and John Locke. They seem like fascinating people. Everyone also seems to have a character or two on LOST after whom they secretly or not so secretly lust a bit, too, like your interest in the early Dr. Jack. It amazes me how many women are totally wild about Sawyer and Sayid; yes, they are handsome fellows, but to go completely unhinged about 'em? Everyone responds to some surprising type or another (or several) of eye candy & attitude, I suppose. In my younger years I would not have hesitated to be a total fool, myself, in making a play for the remarkable Boone.
By the way, just as I only became aware of LOST a year or so after we purchased land in Hawaii and decided to move over here, I picked out and purchased the front doors for our house a year or two BEFORE we saw the exact same doors in LOST. Hurley's parents house in El Lay has the exact same doors (they are from Home Depot) with the Vesica pisces outlined in beveled glass. When I saw the front doors of our house in LOST I was surprised, then thought "Oh hell, now everyone is going to think we are LOST fanatics." For the record, we chose the doors before they showed up in LOST.
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Nirvana vs Rick Astley
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0e9J6Kc6QQ&feature=fvw
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)'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'(
Astonishing skill! This archer is a real-life Legolas and then some!
http://geekologie.com/2013/11/real-life-...rs-anc.php
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Posts: 485
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PS: http://www.theonion.com/content/video/fi...romises_to
)'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'(
Nirvana vs Rick Astley
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0e9J6Kc6QQ&feature=fvw
)'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'(
)'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'(
Astonishing skill! This archer is a real-life Legolas and then some!
http://geekologie.com/2013/11/real-life-...rs-anc.php
)'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'(
ooh, I like the idea about Charlie complementing Aaron.
I would read the Bad Twin before it ends. It's not a great book as it was commissioned to be written as having Easter Eggs for LOST fans. It doesn't have outright spoilers. It does deal with the idea of mirror twins, and which is the good twin, which the bad -- or are they both good and bad? It features a literate old Jewish commentator called Manny Weisman ( Wise Man), who brings up some iconic literary figures such as Odysseus and King Lear who blundered when it came time to abdicate to his heirs. I feel there must be a Father figure associated with Jacob and Esau. They need an Isaac.
Desmond of course plays Odysseus, with his Penelope and the long separation after his boat crashes on an island and he is imprisoned in a cave (the Hatch).
>>> I am also looking forward to reading Finnegann's Wake,
hey, I would be interested in that. It's best as a group read.
Some more name coincidences:
The famous first page of the Wake refers to Tom Sawyer (Top Sawyer) and Twain. Adam and Eve and an Edenic Park (Phoenix Park in Dublin) begin the story, along with the word "recirculation." A reference to Vico's cyclical theory of history. Phoenix of course is regeneration and renewal. The Wake ends with the word that should have been at the beginning. THE. It's a circular book, without beginning or end, a loop.
The patriarchal father figure, the dreamer, is known as HCE and a number of phrases that use those letters, including HERE COMES EVERYBODY. The theme of the Wake is, literally, You All Everybody. He is also associated with the word Hatch. The female figure Kate is an alter ego of the maternal figure Anna Livia Plurabelle. The book's females are the daughter, the mother, and the crone (Kate). Anna Livia is much like Anna Lucia mixed with Libby. Anna Livia or ALP is a symbol of the River Liffey but also in Roman Numerals, the number 111. (Livia - eleven). This is the number of renewal. She ends the book.
The other feminine figure is Issy, the daughter. She was modeled on Lucia, Joyce's daughter. Issy is also Isolde and Tristan, subject of one of the most famous love triangles in literature, but also Isis, an Egyptian goddess triangulated between brother/husband and son.
The story of Isis, osiris, Seth, and Horus is worth rereading and thinking of LOST. That 4-toed statue is an Egyptian god, and Aaron and Moses came out of Egypt.
http://www.egyptianmyths.net/mythisis.htm
Note all the emphasis on the coffin and gathering up the pieces of the body.
Horace (Horus or Roman poet) is a leader of the DHARMA Initiative, and SETH Norris is the name of 815's ill-fated pilot. Coincidence?
Back to Joyce and the Wake - Lucia, or Lucy, means light, and is the patron saint of blindness. Joyce was going blind, so his daughter's name makes sense, and of course John Milton who made Lucifer a hero in Paradise Lost, was blind, but I digress.) Lucifer, Satan's name before he fell, signified light. Lucia, Kate, Anna in LOST? Besides Ana-Lucia and Kate, Kate used Lucy as an alias. Claire means clear or bright, which is rather like light/Lucia/Lucy. Interesting factoid, originally Jack was scripted to die in the pilot, and Kate was to be the leader of the Losties. ABC insisted that Matthew Fox had to stay and Jack lived. For me that increases the Jack/Jesus analogy; he was conceived as a martyr figure.
A compendium of LOST names and their traditional meanings:
http://www.longlostlist.net/listforum/de...ames_c.htm
Some more on men's names:
James and John, apostles, were brothers. Which works out well in the Shem/Shaun scheme Joyce uses.
Sawyer's daughter is named Clementine. The writings of Pope Clement, the Clementia, center on Peter, James, and John.
James Ford was an interesting river pirate, a ferryman, as it mentions in the name list.
But what struck me about his name at first was that Jesse James (outlaw) was murdered by Robert Ford. So James Ford has the names of both the famous outlaw and the man who killed him. Which one the LOST writers intended, I don't know.
JACK is a nickname for both John and Jacob. One might assume Jacob has a flock and is a "Shepherd" - as he weaves wool.
''Every single name on the show has purpose and meaning." --Damon Lindelof.
and it's late so she stops awkwardly, but really there is a lot of Finnegans Wake stuff in LOST, too much to be coincidence. You All Everybody, like I said, IS the theme of Finnegans Wake. The dreamer's mind encompasses all dualities, all triangles, all mythology, all literature, history, and philosophy, recirculating it all in a meditation on original sin, the Fall, temptation, redemption, forgiveness.
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Aloha everyone,
I'm brand new to Puna AND I'm a lost fan. Would love to get together to watch the season premier (though I just saw it on Waikiki...).
AlohaSteven, PM sent
Cheers and look forward to seeing you all around,
Will
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Just got back from the premiere and thought i'd post some pics.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/47059092@N0...193386099/
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