Significance of Daniel's death

To start off, you need to realize that Eloise is fully aware that she is the reason her son is dead. She might not understand it right away (ie. in 1977), but by the time Daniel is an adult, she has to know what will happen.

Yet she sends Daniel to the Island (in 2005) anyway. She is the reason he accepted Widmore's offer, and this is what she is talking about when she angrily tells Widmore that he knows nothing of sacrifice.

The question is why does she do it? He's her son!

There are two options here, in my opinion.

A.) The "course correction" theorem is inviolable. She knows she kills Daniel, and also knows she can do nothing to stop his death. She must simply live with the consequences.

B.) Daniel has gone rogue, and is disregarding the laws of time travel. Hawking's role in The Constant seems to be one of a Time Cop of sorts. She exists to stop Desmond from changing the timeline by proposing to Penny, among other things. If Daniel is now working to change the timeline, then it is her duty to stop him, and the way she does that is by convincing him to return to the Island and his certain doom (at her hand).

Tragic.

It also lends more meaning to Eloise writing "I will love you no matter what" (paraphrased) in the journal she gives Daniel.

Of course, if Daniel survives being shot in the back, then none of this is valid. But I'm 99% certain that he's gone.

The Variable

This episode was packed with stuff, I suppose to make up for that lame clip show last week. Let's get into it:

1. First of all, The Return of Faraday was a trap. Writers had Miles overreact a bit to make it seem amazing that Daniel was getting off the sub, when really, it was no big deal. We didn't know where he was, but Miles and everyone else did.

2. Lots of Daniel information here. Obviously, the big reveal is that Widmore is Daniel's father (probably). While Eloise's slap at the pronouncement indicates it's not that clean-cut, I'm taking the statement at face value for now. My guess is that Penny is Widmore's daughter with another woman (a mainlander), making Daniel and Penny half-siblings.

3. Daniel is entirely unaware that Widmore is his father. I wonder who he thinks his dad is.... All the Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues.

4. Widmore personally recruits Daniel to go to the Island. The main reason is to help Widmore gain control of said Island, and the secondary reason is that the Island will heal Faraday. It explains the scene with Charlotte and Daniel and the memory cards last season, and explains why Faraday has gotten progressively more lucid.

5. The nature of Faraday's illness is explained. He retains some level of base knowledge; he knows who he is and know his mother. He knows he used to be brilliant, and knows he's forgotten things. But he is unable to remember specific information from his past, and anything new he learns will be forgotten by the next day.

6. This is the result of the experiment he ran on himself at Oxford, presumably the same experiment he ran on Eloise the rate and Theresa, his lab assistant. If you remember, the experiment with Eloise (that Desmond witnessed) was transferring the rat's future consciousness into the present animal. The rat then successfully navigated a maze that Daniel would not teach it for another five minutes. The rat died as a result of this expirement, and we assume the same experiment put Theresa the lab assistant in a coma.

7. Daniel believes his mother was wrong in sending the 316-ers back to the Island. We're not sure why.

8. The Incident Chang referred to in different Dharma orientation videos was the result of Dharma workers drilling into the ground at the Swan site and releasing a ton of energy. Daniel confronts Chang not to prevent the Incident from happening, but to make Pierre worried enough to send the women and children away. This is presumably how Charlotte and her mother get off the Island and maybe how Chang is separated from his wife and Miles.

9. Faraday is currently on a mission to try and "change things", even though he previously believed he could not. I think Charlotte is the catalyst for this. He believes that if he stops the construction of the Swan, then Charlotte will never return to the Island, and she will survive. This ignores Hawking's "course correction" speech to Desmond in The Constant, in which she teaches that the universe will fix any attempts at changing the timeline. Daniel may prevent Charlotte from returning to the Island, but then she might die in a car crash around the same time anyway.

10. Daniel is shot (and killed?) by a young Eloise Hawking in 1977, as he threatens to shoot Alpert. I will get into this in my analysis post.

Good episode. Seems like the writers are ramping up for a great season finale in four or five episodes.

Commentary and theories on "Some Like it Hoth"

-Faraday. Like I mentioned earlier, it seems that Miles is astonished to see him. Last we saw Daniel, it was within hours of Sawyer snowing Dharma into thinking he and the other Left-Behinds were legit. Daniel is distraught over Charlotte's death. Next thing we know, it's 1977 and Sawyer is telling Jack that Daniel is "not with us anymore."

So here are my theories:

1. Faraday somehow managed to sneak off the Island without anyone in Dharma noticing, get back to the mainland and get recruited into Dharma as a scientist working out of Ann Arbor, Michigan.

2. OR 2008 Faraday died in 1974-ish, and his consciousness was transferred to 1977 Faraday, leading him to want to return to the Island, and therefore seek out Dharma.

We've seen consciousness be transferred through time and space before, both in "The Constant", with Desmond and Eloise, the rat.

Or 2008 Desmond just went on a trip and came back, and Miles is overreacting. Trap by the writers.

Of course, we've seen Daniel in the Orchid, dressed a construction worker, hiding from Pierre. This could indicate he's with Dharma as a scientist, but not allowed to see the Orchid or Swan, so he has to infiltrate the sites.

-Miles shows his human decency for the second time by refunding the money of the dad of the dead football player. He did a similar thing when Ghostbusting the room of that grandma the first time we see him.

-What the heck does Pierre want with a dead body at the Orchid?

-Hurley writing The Empire Strikes Back is awesome.

-How dumb is Phil? "Have you told anyone else about this?" Any time ANYONE asks you this question, watch out for a gun to the head or punch to the face. Or crowbar to the back of your head. Sheesh.

And what are they going to do with Phil? Either they keep him locked in a closet forever, kill him, or bring him in on their secret.

-Miles was recruited to help find Ben, but never exactly gets to do that. Kinda weird.

Some Like it Hoth

On to the learning:

1. Pierre Chang is definitely Miles' dad. This has been the speculation since Miles was introduced (go go racism?), and now it's confirmed.

2. Hence, Miles was born on-Island and left it at a very early age. Either that or Pierre left.

3. Miles' powers are explained. He doesn't hold conversations with the dead, he is only able to glean impressions and feelings off a body (not ashes) as to who the person was. (I assume he'd have an equally difficult time reading someone who'd been eaten by a lion.)

4. Dharma is currently building the Swan and Orchid stations (1977).

5. Bram tries to convince Miles to not accept Widmore's offer. That allies him with Ben, right? Making him an Other? So is Ilana an Other?

6. Pierre really does care for lil' Miles. Why Miles never knew him growing up is a mystery. The Purge doesn't happen until 1992, and Miles was 15 then.

7. One can get very, very close to one's past self while time-traveling and there do not seem to be any negative effects.

8. Faraday is not dead. Miles seems very surprised to see him, indicating that Daniel has not merely been on an extended trip to the mainland.

Some Like it Hoth - Questions

Since I'm an author on here, I figure I need to make some contribution. So for all those anticipating tonight, some questions that I'm pondering.

Some Questions to Ponder Tonight

1.) What is Miles' role in the Lostie's "destinies?" Is it a coincidence that a man who talks to dead people lands on an island where dead people randomly appear?

2.) In 1977, does Pierre Chang already know "the truth?"

3.) Where is Faraday? Is he still alive, is he planning something? Has he gone all "Anakin Skywalker" in a misguided quest to prevent the death of his love, Charlotte?

4.) "Some Like it Hoth?" Let me guess: The Empire finds the Island, only after Admiral Ozzel (in a mistake that costs him his life) brings the fleet out of lightspeed too early, alerting the DHARMA of their presence in time to raise their shields, putting the Imperials in the position of having to wage a costly ground battle with AT-AT Walkers.-- (OR maybe they just talk about Star Wars for a few minutes and make a metaphor poignant enough to give the episode its name. Whatever.)

Let's hope we get some answers tonight. (And if we know Lost, likely more questions.)

Smokey stuff, cont'd

-Does anyone else thing Ilana and her followers are being controlled by Smokey, just like Rousseau's crew? "What lies in the shadow of the statue?" sounds like a question to see who is under Smokey's control and who is not.

-The painting in the underground room at the Temple showed what I think is Anubis summoning Smokey. Anubis is the jackal-headed Egyptian god associated with death and the afterlife. One of his jobs is to weigh the hearts of men to see if they are worthy of continuing to the afterlife, as depicted here:

The hearts are weighed against a feather. If your heart is lighter, than you are good to go.

Now, the question is... was Smokey created by the Egyptians, or was he merely worshiped/used by them? It seems that the Island, at one time, was home to Egyptians... either they crashed there or the Island was very close to Egypt at some point in its history and was actually part of the kingdom.

Question for Monday

What appeal does being leader of the Others hold? I understand that for Locke it means being special and having a purpose in life, but what is so attractive about it to Widmore or Ben?

Widmore, especially, didn't find everything he wished for on the Island; he went off and got a wife and started a family.

You don't get a nice car or more money or anything. Your decisions are always subject to Jacob (Alpert), and you spend most of your time doing what he says. It's not like you can be promoted to the new "Jacob" one day, is it?

John's Late-in-the-Week Post: "Dead is Dead"

Ok, Losities.

"Dead is Dead" was awesome. Do doubt one of my favorite LOST episodes eva.

So this week's post is a bit different.

Here's a potential convo Ben and Charles, who in the following script will be known as Widmore.

Because it's his last name.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Ben: (sitting in the shadow of "the statue") So, uh, Charles..

Widmore: Yes, boy?

Ben: Why were you so mad that Richard allowed the island to save me?

Widmore: Oh Ben, I don't--

Ben: --Seriously, that really sucked, old man. Did you want me to die? My father basically left me for dead...at least emotionally.

Widmore: Listen, Ben, all I want to do is finish carving this blasted statue so I can get on my merry way and be judged by the island. I don't have time to hear the daddy-son issues of your soft underbelly.

Ben: (widdling a piece of wood) I mean, I just thought you might--you know--learn to love me the way I know and you know the island does. The island loves me, Charles. I guess that's why I feel so attached to it. I kind of attach myself to anyone that shows interest in me. Honestly, I don't know what I would do if I found a smart, doctor-like blonde with a penchant for delivering babies....ooh, that would be nice. Oh, and check out this book that washed up on shore.

(Hands Widmroe a copy of The Dark Tower)

Widmore: Stephen King? Please. Canterbury Tales only, boy.

Ben: So why are you carving this gigantic statute? And what is judgment?

Widmore: Dear Dummy, This statue has been erected since before 1965 and is more than 20 feet tall. It is a near impossibility that I, or someone like me, erected it. It most likely came from aliens, since it is the only science fiction subject yet to be established in the mythology of our island. Signed, The Guy Who Just Can't Seem To Rid Himself Of You.

Ben: And the judgment?

Widmore: The island is mad because I've been carving "Charles + Ruth" in trees all over the place. Apparently there is some destruction of chattel and property statute that prohibits such defacement. What a load.

Ben: Rats.

Widmore: Well, I guess I'm going to hop in the sub, jet-set around the U.S. for a while, skip on over to Jolly Ole' for a bit, then have a baby with someone who is not one of us. See ya round, Boy.

Ben: Don't worry, if you're ever banished for breaking so many rules, I won't gloat. But I will consider killing your future daughter as revenge for your hand in the killing of my daughter. But it will probably be my own fault that she dies anyway.

But I don't think in judgment Inchoate Offenses are really considered. I might be up the proverbial creek without a paddle.

Widmore: Bummer.

Ben: Yeah.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

OK, so I'm not sure where all that came from, but a couple of unanswerables so far: What is the statue? What happened in its shadow? How does Smokey know exactly what is in the minds of those it judges? And why did Widmore try so hard to find the island (and says himself to have failed), if he "understood" so much that what the island wants cannot be changed? He makes reference of that to Ben just before his banishment and is yet driven completely.

Also, if anyone doesn't know yet, I did not see James in the scene when Claire has Aaron in Season One.

Alas.

A treatise on ye olde "smoke monster"

Last night's episode made me think about the smoke monster a bit, and here's what I came up with:

Smokey manifests in four separate ways, at my counting:

1. As smoke.

2. Taking the form of a person. See: "Walt" appearing to Shannon, "Yemi" appearing to Eko, "Alex" appearing to Ben. In these situations, Smokey makes little to no effort to mimic the individual; he takes on the form to evoke an emotional response in the person he's working with.

3. Altering people, ie. Rousseau's group. Also potentially with Ilana and the 316-ers following her.

4. A theory, but Smokey may be able to use dead bodies to engage in face-to-face conversation. Christian is the main reason for my theory... we have no idea what he is, and "puppet of Smokey" makes as much sense as anything else. This form differs from number 3 in that Smokey works harder at passing himself off as the person he's masquerading as. Either that, or the person retains a level of their own personality and control? This is getting creepy.

Now, assuming my last theory is correct, does Locke fit here? The writers are doing their darndest to make us think it's a possibility, anyway. Locke leaves Ben before Smokey arrives and then returns after Smokey is gone, Ben calls Smokey and Locke comes out of the jungle, etc. Locke also questions Ben about his choice to move the Others to the barracks, and knows as much about the temple as Ben does. In general he's not acting like your typical pre-death Locke.

Last night's episode also solidifies the Island's endorsement of Locke as Ben's replacement (insofar as Smokey speaks for Jacob). "I know you're already planning on trying to kill John again," Smokey says. "I recommend against it." In this case, why allow Ben to live? If he is no longer the leader of the Others, and he's a threat to the current leader, what purpose does he serve?

The scene also solidified Smokey's role as judge. He judged Eko for Eko's past sins, found him unrepentant, and killed him. He judged Ben for Alex's death, found Ben sincerely repentant, and spared him.

This ties nicely into the Anubis theories, but I'll save that for tomorrow.

Dead is Dead

I enjoyed the Ben/Locke interaction last night. I hope we get more of it in the coming weeks.

Here's what the LOST writers gave us:

1. Charles from last week's episode is Widmore.

2. Ben is the one who took Alex. I guess that makes sense, but I never put it together. Also, Widmore ordered Ben to kill Rousseau (and assumed he'd kill Alex?).

3. "When you hear whispers, run." That was interesting.

4. Widmore was booted from the Island for having a separate life off of it. This also explains that...

5. Penny was born off-Island.

6. Desmond is the one who beat Ben up on the docks.

7. Ben was unable to go through with killing Penny after seeing lil' Charlie, and thus Penny, Charlie and Desmond are most likely still alive.

8. Christian told Sun to wait for Locke if she wanted to find Jin.

9 We learn how Ben summons the Monster.

Posts to come.

Theories on Whatever Happened, Happened

-Time travel clarification based on what Miles said: if you're traipsing about in your past (ie. you left 2008 to go to 1977), you have no guarantee of surviving. This is your present self in 1973, and since you never existed past 2008, you can die without negatively affecting the timeline.

However, people who are in the time they're supposed to be in (ie. lil' Jack in 1977 or lil' Ben in 1977) cannot die unless the original timeline has them dying at that moment, anyway. You can't kill JFK, Jr. as a time traveler unless you get him from the grassy knoll.

Clear?

- I'm intrigued by almost everything in the scene with Alpert. First off, Ben will be changed forever, and be an Other from that time on. His innocence will be lost. Is this part of the process of becoming an Other? Did Juliet do this? Widmore? Ethan? It does seem like the one defining characteristic of an Other is undying loyalty to the Island and the willingness to do just about anything to protect it (though Juliet sort of defies that stereotype).

Also, one of the Others mentions the fact that "Ellie" and "Charles" won't like Alpert taking Ben. Charles has to be Widmore, right? And could Ellie be Ms. Hawking? Her first name is Eloise.

And then there's the fact that Sawyer basically goads the Others with the fact that they don't want war any more than Dharma does. The Others live in an uneasy peace with Dharma for almost 20 years... and then in 1992, the Purge takes place. What changed between 1977 and then?

-Do you think Locke is ticked at Ben? Ben was honestly surprised to see Locke alive... he can't pull off a "I killed you so you could get back, it was the only way" argument. Or at least, if he does, I hope Locke isn't so gulliable as to believe it.

-It turns out that Ben's dad really is a good guy at heart. He just allows his grief for his wife and the bad situation he's in control how he acts towards his son. That said, Ben still kills him in cold blood in 1992. If Roger had some kind of change of heart after Ben's shooting, is it possible that he tries to reconcile with Ben, but New Ben won't have any of it?

-Jack refuses to save Ben, thereby causing Ben to become who he is in 2004. I think this is just another object lesson on Whatever Happened, Happened. Acting won't change the timeline. Not acting won't change the timeline.

-Someone on Lostpedia made an interesting observation comparing the kings of the Old Testament to the leaders of the Others:

A good comparison for Alpert might be in the Old Testament, where the prophet Samuel picked the first couple of kings of Israel (Saul and David), but had no real power himself. Does, then, Charles = Saul (the rejected/banished king), Ben = David (the one who fully vanquishes his people's enemies), and John = Solomon (king of the "golden age")?

Interesting theory.

That's all I've got. As always, your thoughts welcome.

Whatever Happened, Happened

To get started, my favorite part of this episode is when the writers used Miles and Hurley to take out their frustrations on the (apparently) stupid LOST fanbase.

DEAR LOST VIEWERS: WHAT HAPPENED, HAPPENED. PLEASE WRAP YOUR HEADS AROUND THIS VERY SIMPLE VERSION OF TIME TRAVEL WE HAVE CHOSEN TO USE ON OUR SHOW. YOUR OVERLORDS THANK YOU.

Good times. Without futher ado, here is what we learned from LOST last night:

1. Kate told Cassidy everything. I'd forgotten that she and Kate were tight, but remember how Kate helped her out after Sawyer left Cassidy and Cassidy was trying to make a living conning people? Well, she did. And then Cassidy helped Kate get in touch with Kate's mother. They are tight.

2. The reason Kate returned to the Island was to find Claire, whose status of "living or not living?" is not exactly clear. But good luck with that, Kate. Oh, and Aaron is with his grandma. Why Kate couldn't just tell Jack that, I dunno.

3. Jack didn't return to the Island to save the left-behinds, but instead came back for his own, more selfish, reasons.

4. We learn for sure what Sawyer whispered to Kate in the helicopter, but come on, we already knew it was about Clementine.

5. Ben is taken by Alpert to go through a process that will change Ben forever.

6. My theory as to why Ben messes with the 815-ers is temporarily out. If lil' Ben will lose all memory of "this" (the shooting?), then he won't remember it was Sayid who shot him. I suppose later on he could find out the truth, but it doesn't seem good.

Theories to come.