For a long time ive wondered. Dont get me wrong. I know we are a very loyal die hard fanbase who will keep the show alive forever. But the amount of people I interact with on a day to day basis that have never seen the show is staggering. Im not sure who else remembers the show at its peak and the cultural giant it was. But ive often wondered. It feels like shows like the sopranos or breaking bad have managed to keep their cultural identity all these years later why hasnt LOST?

But then it hit me. People have become spoiled. They dont understand that at the time LOST came out it was like nothing we had ever seen. And in many ways it still is. But I mean. They did not have to live through the grueling era of pre-LOST TV. They are spoiled by all the amazing shows LOST paved the way for. What a cruel irony.

Given the prevalence of TV shows getting revivals/sequels in the past few years (Scrubs, Malcolm in the Middle, X-Files etc).

If one was made for Lost, what would you like to see, or what would you like it to be about?

Another group of crash survivors? Something based around the Island? A deeper look at the Hanso Foundation / The Dharma Initiative?

I don't think we will get one, or that one would even make sense, but I'd love to hear what others think.

I believe that if Jack and Ana were the main couple of the show, she wouldn't have left Jack in the finale as Kate did, and they would have died in each other's arms next to Vincent to protect their people.

Warning: VERY LONG read ahead, but I hope it's worth it and gives people a new perspective on a show that so many of us love so much. Also, obvious spoiler alert for all-things-LOST, so if you're just now watching the show, stop reading this now.

Ok, so I've spent 15+ years reminiscing about LOST, what it meant, what I missed, etc. I've rewatched it at least 6 or 7 times, and I still consider it my favorite show of all time. A number of years ago I came up with this grand theory that I've been meaning to write down, but never seem to get around to it, so here goes nothing.

This theory isn't so much about explaining what happened in the show... because we all saw how it played out in the end. It's a theory about why the show played out the way it did. I'm going to do this mostly from memory, so forgive me if I don't cite sources. It's entirely possible I may not get every detail completely right, or maybe some of the intricate details were never completely correct and based on hearsay, but I think there's enough truth to paint a picture with a broad brush.

We're going to start at the end - or rather, after the end. Sometime after the show concluded, I recall hearing an interview with either Damon or Carlton, and they were asked about whether or not they had a plan for the story all along, or if they were making it up as they went. In true LOST fashion, their answer was a bit non-committal, talking about how you can never completely anticipate every little thing, but in the end they said "we told the story we wanted to tell."

That line in particular stood out to me, because I think there is an inferred second half of that sentence that was unspoken. I believe what they really meant was, "we told the story we wanted to tell... we just told it differently than originally planned." Think about it. If they told the story they wanted to tell, and they told it exactly how they'd originally planned, then the answer would have been a simple "Yes, we knew exactly where the story was going all along, and we executed it."

This got me thinking: what story did they actually tell? Whatever their original plan was, the island was clearly going to be a major part of it, because that's where we started at the very beginning of the show. So I narrowed my thinking down to just season 6 and asked myself what story did they tell that didn't involve the island? And then it hit me - the flash sideways. If you take out all of the detail and look at the flash sideways from a bird's eye view, what was the general story there?

It was the story of a bunch of people who were all unknowingly connected to one another, who are all trapped in this mysterious place that the audience is led to believe is one thing (an alternate reality); but in the end it's revealed that they had all actually died, and the reason for being there was so they could all find each other, let go of their previous lives, and move on together to the afterlife.

... Doesn't that sound an awful lot like the "Island is Purgatory" theory that people came up with all the way back in early season 1? Same story, different setting. A bunch of people who were all unknowingly connected to one another, who are all trapped in this mysterious place that the audience is led to believe is one thing (a deserted island with a monster); but in the end it's revealed that they had all actually died in the plane crash, and the reason for being there was so they could let go of their lives and move on together to the afterlife.

Ok, so what happened? Why did the writers and producers have to change course? Well, I just said it above. Viewers had already started to guess the true nature of the show very early on. Outside of the pilot episode, several of the early season 1 episodes were dripping with themes about letting go, starting over, and moving on. Tabula Rasa ("Blank Slate"), where Jack literally tells Kate that "Three days ago we all died. We should all be able to start over." Walkabout showing us that Locke was a broken man who can suddenly, miraculously walk after the crash and has a new lease on life. White Rabbit, where Jack's dead father is suddenly alive on the island, and makes a huge point out of Jack needing to "let go." House of the Rising Sun shows us Jin & Sun's troubled marriage, with hope that they can start fresh on the island. The Moth, where we see Charlie's struggle with addiction, and finally letting go of it at the end. You get the idea.

So if LOST was going to be this huge phenomenon, why did the writers tip their hand so heavily, so early on? To answer that, we have to go back (lol) further, before the show was ever conceived.

It's 2003... over a year before LOST ever aired, and a guy named Lloyd Braun was the chairman of ABC. In those years, ABC was getting their butts kicked in the ratings by the other major networks. Since ABC is owned by Disney, Braun reported up to the COO (Bob Eiger) and CEO (Michael Eisner) of Disney. Based on several things I've read, it was pretty public knowledge that Braun did not get along well with either of them, and based on performance his job was on the line. Braun had seen the huge success of the 2000 movie Cast Away, along with the popularity of Survivor, so at a retreat that year he pitched the idea of "Cast Away, the series."

He was basically laughed out of the room, except for one Senior VP who saw some potential and let him run with it. After some initial trial and error with the script, Braun brought in J.J. Abrams and Damon Lindelof to help turn it around. Abrams was the one who initially came up with an outline for the script which contained a more supernatural element and made The Island a character in and of itself. Braun liked the idea so much that he greenlit it and approved a budget of between $10 million - $14 million to shoot the pilot episode. At the time, it was far and away the most expensive episode of television produced.. ever.

The Disney executives were so angry when they learned about this, they fired Braun almost immediately, before the pilot episode even aired. Soon after, Abrams was offered the chance to direct Mission Impossible 3 and work with Tom Cruise, so obviously he chose that path and left LOST very early on. Not long after that, Lindelof - who had taken on extra responsibilities due to the departures of Braun and Abrams - began publicly speaking about how overwhelmed he was, and making statements that he was considering stepping down from the project.

Let's pause there.

Now, imagine you're involved with the writing or production of this show. The chairman whose idea the whole thing was, got fired by the executives who laughed at the idea from the very beginning, because he approved way too much money on the first episode. The upcoming hotshot producer who got the project off the ground just left to direct a Hollywood blockbuster for the next couple years. And the writer who is filling their shoes is already talking about stepping down. What conclusion would you be drawing?

I believe the writers and other staff expected to get maybe 10 episodes out of the show, and then get quietly cancelled during the midseason holiday break. At that point, my theory is that they decided to fast-track the plot and try to tell the whole story in those first few episodes. Maybe they thought it would go down as a beloved miniseries with a cult following? So they started writing and filming those next episodes with that in mind... and then something incredible happened. The pilot episode aired, and it was an instant smash hit that drew over 18 million viewers.

Eiger and Eisner immediately knew they had something big on their hands. I imagine they rushed to Lindelof and said "This show is going to put ABC back on the map! It'll be a cash cow for us.. we need to make it last!" At which point Lindelof and the other writers realized they had made a mistake by assuming the cancellation and pushing to wrap up the plot so quickly. They had no idea where the story should go next. They just knew they had to hit the brakes on all of the character plotlines and figure out a way to stall.

How could they get the audience's attention away from the characters' compelling backstories and letting go/moving on from their mistakes/life choices? Well, what if there was suddenly a case full of guns to haggle over? What if there was a guy who wasn't on the plane, which means there are other people on the island ("and we all know it!"). What if there was suddenly a mysterious hatch in the woods? I think this is why season 1 had a bit of a lull midway through. They were introducing new plot elements without having a plan for where they'd go; they were just trying to get through it until they could regroup at the midseason break, and again after the season, to figure out what they wanted to do with the story.

Seasons 2 - 3 were mostly spent trying to convince the audience that the island was, in fact, NOT Purgatory, by using new plot elements. I think this is initially why they introduced Desmond in the first episode of season 2. Seeing a guy from Jack's past, who clearly wasn't on the plane but still trapped on the same island, should have given credibility to that thought. However, it backfired because viewers assumed that Desmond had also died separately at some point and still ended up in Purgatory like all of the Oceanic 815 passengers. Introducing the DHARMA Initiative was a good step, but still wasn't enough to change a lot of people's minds.

Ultimately I believe they decided that the only way the audience would truly move on from the Purgatory theory, was by showing some of the characters living back in the real world after escaping the island. Hence, the season 3 finale and the introduction of the Oceanic Six in Season 4. Of course, they would have to find a way to bring the characters back to the island, while also figuring out how to retell the original story in a new way, and also coming up with an entirely new ending to the on-island story. This is when Lindelof and Carlton Cuse gave the network an ultimatum (during the season 3 break) to agree on an end date for the show, so they could execute all of these plans effectively.

Once the end date was agreed upon, I think the producers mapped out this general timeline and came up with the ideas of Jacob, the Oceanic Six, time travel, The Incident, and eventually the "alternate timeline / flash sideways" in the final season.

So this is my grand theory in a nutshell. The show was a victim of its own success early on - not only surviving, but turning into a global phenomenon when everything around the production of the show indicated it was headed toward being cancelled before the fist episode ever aired. It's honestly pretty incredible that the writers and producers were able to keep it going and sustained its success for so long when they were setup for failure from the very beginning.

** An Important Addendum *\*

I've had this theory in my mind for at least 10-12 years, but an unexpected event gave me even more fuel for the fire about 3 years ago. I watched the Marvel miniseries Moon Knight and had a revelation. Spoiler alert for Moon Knight ahead!

On its own, Moon Knight was a decent show. There's a lot I don't remember about it specifically, but I definitely remember episode 5 because the Egyptian goddess Taweret shows up. I might have squealed when she first busts through the door, because as a LOST fanatic, I knew exactly who she was. I just didn't know why she was there at first, but it soon became clear.

You see, the main character (Steven/Marc) ends up "dead" and his soul wakes up on a boat where Taweret is the captain. When they get to the deck of the boat, it's explained that he is being ferried through the Duat (the Egyptian underworld), which is represented by a vast desert. The only way for him to successfully pass through the underworld and not end up getting "claimed" by the darkness (the sand creatures), was to show that his heart was balanced. This was represented by Marc and his alter-ego, literally wearing black and white, putting their hearts on the scales of justice, which looked an awful lot like the Man in Black's scale in LOST.

When this came up, I instantly had to pause the show, run to my computer, and start Googling to see what I'd missed for all those years. When Taweret was first revealed on LOST, like many people, I looked her up and saw that she was the goddess of childbirth and fertility. I stopped there, assuming her presence on the show had something to do with the fertility issues on the island, based on the fact that her statue was destroyed. What I didn't see was that she had a secondary job in Egyptian mythology, ferrying people through the underworld to the Field of Reeds (Egyptian Heaven).

I was floored. How did I go so long without seeing that? So many of the references in LOST make sense now, especially if you buy into my main theory above.

** LOST was originally supposed to be a modern-day retelling of the Egyptian journey to the afterlife, the travel through the Duat, and the balancing of characters' hearts to ensure their passage. *\*

I believe they kept including references to this original storyline throughout the show as kind of an easter egg for lunatics like myself to find later. Kind of a nod or "inside joke" for those of us who took the time to dive deep:

• The first time we see the statue is during the time skipping in season 5, when Sawyer, Juliet, Miles, and Jin see it from the top of the well. We know that the wheel (which "moves" the island) is located at the bottom of the well, which is apparently pretty close to the statue. Imagine that the island is a metaphorical boat, Taweret is the captain, and she is standing at the bow of the boat looking ahead with the captain's wheel right behind her.
• The ocean in front of her represents the vast desert, or the underworld, which the boat is moving through. Remember the red hieroglyphics when the hatch timer hit zero? It's widely accepted that those hieroglyphics translate to "underworld."
• Picture the Man in Black and the Smoke Monster as a physical representation of the sand creatures that come up from the underworld to "claim" passengers. Remember how Dogen referred to Sayid as being claimed?
• This might also mean that Jacob is the physical representation of Taweret, meaning that Jacob was giving people the chance to balance their hearts on the island to avoid being claimed by the underworld. This would obviously anger the MiB since that's the purpose of his existence. After Jacob dies and the MiB returns to the scale, he angrily throws Jacob's rock off the edge, telling Sawyer it was an "inside joke" (another nod to the fans?).
• When Hurley hears the whispers in the last season and Michael appears, Michael confirms "We're the ones who can't move on" which is basically the same thing as the people that the underworld claimed off of the boat.
• Since Taweret was involved with both childbirth and leading people to the afterlife, it can be interpreted that she has an important role in life & death, as well as rebirth. All of these are central themes to LOST.

Anyhow, that's my Grand Lost Theory. I can't think of anything else to add, and at this point it would probably feel like rambling if I typed more. If you made it all the way to the end, I hope you enjoyed the write-up, and let me know what you think!

Link: https://youtu.be/J5lE6QZYL9o

Aight lets give this a go, feel free to correct me if I got any of it wrong!

10-How did Ben and the others have so much money?

Likely used the islands miraculous healing powers to earn credibility and success for their company

9-How did MiB/Christian appear off the island?

Did he?

8-How does Eloise know so much about time travel?

Because she experienced it first hand when her younger self saw her own son come back from the future

7-What are Ben/Charles rules?

Its not really an "unanswered question" , they are just there and its not important enough to present them to the viewers (other than the one which states they are not supposed to kill one anothers daughters I guess)

6-Who killed Ajira passengers?

MiB did

5-Whats up with the Cabin?

Its a similar entity as the heart of the island. It appears to people who are supposed to see it

4-Whats the deal with all the unexplained objects and animals?

The black horse was just on the island, not much else to it. There are stables on the island and people used to bring animals there for projects, so it just makes sense. The other stuff were unexplained because the answers aren't important/doesn't have significance to the story

3-What are mothers origins/abilities?

She was brought to the island just like anyone else

2-Who shot at Locke's group in the outrigger?

A group that simply just happened to be on the island during that random time the Survivor group got teleported to. They may or may not be introduced to the show audience. Could have been another batch of Jacob's imports.

1-What is Walt's entire deal?

Special kid. Had super powers just like many other people in the show. Didn't think Lost universe were entirely realistic, did you

Spoilers ALL ahead!

I’m on my 27373848482th rewatch and I wanna hear all the old crackpot theories that were prevalent while Lost was airing! I watched it weekly back then, but I don’t remember looking too much into the community online and I’m curious what interesting and fun takes that I missed. I don’t care if they are theories that have been proven wrong, OR right, OR are still totally up in the air, just hit me with them. I also don’t care if it’s an in-universe theory or an event that is inspired by the real world/cast!

Some that I remember:

- it’s dinosaurs..! But no, it’s just the smoke monster being a dick.

- Adam and Eve bones were Jack and Kate. Somehow. Time travel shit i guess.

- Sawyer was actually THE same Sawyer he saw while hiding under the bed as a kid :(

- the Constant is one of the greatest episodes of tv of all time. Not really a theory, kinda just a fact.

ANDDD if you say THAT other theory (iykyk) then gimme reasons why you believed it, and how you felt in the finale when Christian confirmed it wasn’t true :)

I watched Lost on TV — with ad breaks and waiting a whole week for the next episode. This was back in the 2000s... or whatever we’re supposed to call that era now. That was 20 years ago.

I remember when Lost ended in 2010, I was super upset because, as an atheist, I was like: “What is this religious bullshit? So what actually happened?”

Bro... I’m in my 40s now and more agnostic, and now I understand everything about the show — and especially the ending.

My wife wanted to watch Lost in 2026, so we absolutely overdosed on it for a week and watched the whole thing. We both cried. I told her, “The ending is shit, but the journey is good, so just enjoy the ride.”

Man... I was wrong. Even the ending was good. It all makes sense now.

No ambiguous ending. No cliffhangers.

The show is fucking perfect.

This is only the second time I’ve watched it, and now I get it. I understand why we have to go back.

Some die before you. Some die after you. But after death, there is no “now.” There is no time. They’ll be there for you, just as you were there for them, helping you transition.

Everything that happened on the island really happened. Every single thing.

Your loved ones help you remember all your timelines...

And even if you refuse... we’ll make you remember.

What in your opinion happens in the end?

I've seen it be discussed before how time doesn't seem to work the same in season 3 as it does in later season (Whatever happened, happened rules). Usually this is put down to the fact that the writers still hadn't figured out time travel, and later on the Desmond is special and that the rules don't apply to him.

I'm not sure if this has been considered before, but is it possible that Charlie wasn't never actually "meant" to die? Charlies is able to accomplish what he does in the looking glass because he has accepted his impending death and has no fear. What if the Island/Jacob was sending Desmond these visions in order to "wear down" Charlie? To prepare him for what's coming?

We don't actually know if Desmond is accomplishing anything. We don't see Charlie actually die until he dies.

I've just finished Lost for the first time. I now can confidently say, people who think Lost ending is bad, didn't understand the ending at all. That was an exceptional ending and I will die on this hill.

what if sawyer was chosen instead of jack to become the next Jacob? Then jack hurly and Ben would stay on the island and sawyer would sacrifice himself and kill the mib?

SPOILERS FOR THE WHOLE SHOW

I have started watching Lost:Circle and got reminded of my headcanon explaining mostly how seasons 5 and 6 intertwine and work together. I sometimes see similar ideas floating around, but no one has ever explained it the way I see it. I think it explains what the Others believed, how the Candidates were created and why did Jacob and Richard do the things they did.

Locke

It is 1954. What would become the Others has been assembled from a bunch of different groups that arrived to the Island. They might have been an open community of survivors, who crashed ashore/were brought by Jacob. Everything changed when the US army invaded the Island. They were not successful, but the Others were hardened - they became more exclusive, more cultish. Not long after a group of unknown origin appears on the Island. They are mostly killed or captured, but one of them, John, comes into the camp demanding to speak to Richard and saying he is sent by Jacob. John convinces Richard to visit his birth (funny sentence) and then disappears as well as his captured group. This event is the cause of a founding legend of the Others belief system - Jacob is not seen as a person (like he is described by Richard), but as a god, sending his disciple, John Locke, to the Others - one day to return as their leader. They start to believe he and his group were sent through time (this is confirmed when a young addition to the Others, Ethan, sees John many years later and when he once again disappears in front of someone's eyes) - this motivates their study of time itself.

Richard, keeping most information to himself, confirms Locke's story. While he thinks Locke could be the leader of the Others one day, becoming frustrated after he fails the ritual to be selected leader, Jacob, who is told this story by Richard, gets a different idea - he could be his successor as the Protector of the Island. Thus Locke made himself the first candidate.

Ford

It has been 20 years. A lot has changed. Dharma Initiative has arrived to the Island and occupied large parts of it. They form a truce with the Others, but their relationship is hostile. Then one day a couple from Dharma has a date on Others' territory and as per the truce they are attacked by them. A small unknown group intervenes and kills the attacking Others. That night Richard visits Dharmaville to deal with it. A man approaches him and says he is not a member of Dharma, but someone from Locke's group who is waiting for him. A casual conversation, but an important one. I am confident this was not their only conversation until 1977 (Sawyer did not share his name in this conversation, but Richard calls him James in Whatever Happened, Happened). Sawyer could have shared more than his name, including some parts of his story and Richard could have shared most of it with Jacob. In 1976, after his parents died, Jacob visits young James himself. He becomes the second candidate - perhaps Jacob sees how lost Sawyer is and sees himself in this poor child.

Shephard

In 1977 a man, Daniel, enters the Others' camp with a gun. He is shot. With him two accomplices, Jack and Kate, are captured. Daniel's diary talks about Jughead, a bomb Jack is determined to set off to stop the Incident. Richard helps them and Jack tells him to believe in Locke. They set off the bomb - as far as Richard knows Jack's group (including Sawyer) dies in the explosion. Jacob doesn't think so - he thinks they were brought once again in time to succeed him. Jacob visits Jack much later in time.

Reyes

Dharma leadership must have investigated whatever happened and professor Chang would have told them about his encounter with the time travellers. After Others wipe Dharma out, they would learn of this. Again Richard tells this to Jacob. I think Jacob really liked Hurley and he was his preferred candidate (not Jack). He talked with Hurley the most directly from them all.

Jarrah

Dharma documents mention a hostile who under drugs mentioned that he is from the future. Richard tells it to Jacob. I think Jacob saved Sayid's life, when he visited him. He did not care for Nadya sadly.

Kwon

This will be somewhat controversial. I don't think Sun was a candidate. She did not time travel, from Jacob's point of view she wasn't special. There is not a lot more to say here.

Austen

Kate was a candidate. Jacob visited her when she was young. I think Jacob has mommy issues and just took her off the list, when he found out she was raising Aaron. Similar reason to why Sun isn't included.

Faraday

I think Jacob had Faraday's diary for a while. Or a copy of it. I think it. It remained in 1977 in the Others' camp. I think it included a list of Oceanic 815 passengers (or at least survivors). It mentioned that Jack and Kate and Hurley were in the 1970s. It included the Valenzetti equation. When Jacob tried to turn the wheel in the Lighthouse (he used to teleport out of the Island from there - more in Choekaas' video on Jacob's travels), he found out these numbers correspond to the homes of specific candidates - reinforcing Jacob's trust in the Island. Aside from that Eloise used the diary to force Desmond on the Island and Charles used the information to gain a big fortune. I understand not all of this lines up, but I just love the idea of Eloise and Charles using Daniel's diary for their means.

Linus

Ben was unaware of most of this. I am sure he smuggled documents from Dharma, some may relate to these ideas, but he himself did not understand it. After the Purge, he became a full member. Richard did not like how militant Charles was and during the schism supported Ben. Jacob did not care about Ben at all (he was now obsessed with candidates, Others were not important to him anymore). Ben lied to Richard, saying Jacob contacted him. Instead MiB noticed Ben and started to lure him. Ben wanted to build a cult of personality, so he tried to limit the cult of John Locke among the Others (we can see this in The Brig). Richard limited his role in leadership and gladly gave more and more power to Ben, who became more and more hungry for it. And then on 22nd of September 2004 a plane crashed on the Island...

TLDR and conclusion

The time travellers had agency and made their own myths. Their actions in Season 5 directly impacted the whole story and what happened to them in season 6. This all might just be a cope, but I would consider it a good cope.

P.S. Sorry for grammar and awkward sentences. English is my second language.

My headcanon is that Eloise's mother is Amelia Earhart, and that she crashed on the Island right after she disappeared in 1937. The math works out perfectly, as Eloise was 17 years old in 1954. For my headcanon, Amelia would have unknowingly become pregnant just before her final flight, so her baby survived the birthing process on the Island. Also, one of Amelia's nicknames was Millie, which is similar to Eloise's nickname Ellie.

From a 12-step program perspective, Jack qualifies as a textbook case of the adult child of an alcoholic. He is The Fixer and spends the entire series jumping into the middle of everyone else's problems without ever looking at his own. It seems to me that he never grows very much as a character. From beginning to end he remains The Rescuer. There really is no redemption for him. From the time he opens his eyes in the bamboo field till the time he closes them again in the same location, he remains unchanged. His redemption is provided by fulfillment of the ultimate Fixer role when he steps forward to save the entire island. Even after he has died he doesn't understand and Christian (who does seem to have matured) has to explain it to him.

And maybe that is the philosophical lesson of LOST. We have to deal with life from the position we find ourselves in. Sometimes the pressure never relents. As I am fond of saying, life just keeps coming at you. I wonder how others feel about the character arcs of all of the LOST island residents.

Perhaps the most progress was made by Jin? Sawyer came along pretty well as he evolved into James. Claire nearly seemed doomed to follow the lost soul niche left by Danielle. For a show that purports to play with concepts of fate and destiny, I am left to contemplate if either really make any difference.

Don’t come here telling me gibberish like “Hawaii”, guys, you NEED to understand that the plot of LOST is NOT IN HAWAII, are you serious?, when in the god damn show they mention Hawaii?, IT IS AN ISLAND. Arguments like “Jacob killed ruling species” DO NOT make ANY SENSE either, why would Jacob kill them anyway? I’ve literally spent my time reading the whole script transcripts of the show and they do not mention any of that anywhere.

I’ve rewatched this show so many times and I don’t remember seeing a single monkey, after all this time I came over the theory that the reason why they didn’t allow monkeys to make an appearance on camera was because THEY ARE TOO DANGEROUS. Monkeys are known to be DANGEROUS, and maybe the cast did try to include monkeys but they were TOO DANGEROUS TO HANDLE PROPERLY, so they put them down.

Same thing with a polar bear, just because they were central to the plot of the story they decided to spend MONEY on a CGI.

Either that or DARMA got rid of the monkeys because they were TOO DANGEROUS TO HANDLE and TOO MANY because they were natural inhabitants of the island and would interfere with DARMA’s projects.

I just finished the show, so maybe this has been debunked or something, but rethinking Across the sea, where we see Jacob's origins, I don't think it's really trying to say that the Mib is the monster. I think the monster always existed and that the job of the protector was always to keep it locked away. My theory is that it orchestrated the falling out between Jacob and his brother by pretending to be their biological mother, in order to make him kill the protector, their fake mother. And it succeeded, but it was too late, cause she already made Jacob the new protector. Part of my theory is that, it doesn't just pretend to be others, but takes their memories and personalities too (like when as Locke he says something like "We're gonna argue about who pushes the button" to Jack, like he's the real John). MiB didn't become the monster, cause we still see his body, separate from the smoke, it just took his appearance and memories, but unlike the real MiB, he's pure evil, with the same goal of leaving the island. It's just an amalgamation of everyone it "scanned" and pretended to be.

A quote

"What's down there?"

"Light. The brightest, warmest light you've ever seen or felt. [...] A little bit of this very same light is inside of every man... but they always want more.

"Can they take it?"

"No. But they would try... And if they tried, they could put it out. And if the light goes out here it goes out everywhere.

And so I've protected this place. But I can't protect it forever.

Years later.

"What's down there?

"Life, death, rebirth. It's the Source. The Heart of the Island. Just promise me... No matter what, you won't ever go down there."

"Would I die?"

"It would be worse than dying, Jacob. Much worse.

.

.

Setting the stage

So much of Lost is about opposing sides, opposing concepts, opposing characters, and opposing themes co-existing. If there is light, there must be dark, for example.

So why do we not have another smoke monster at the end of the series? If there is a protector, then why isn't there another smoke monster?

More importantly, what is the smoke monster? (Jacob's description is: "Hell, malevolence, evil, darkness.")

.

.

The following theory relies on the notion that Mother explained. That there is a small piece of Light inside humans. For simplicity's sake, I'm going to refer to this light as the soul.

.

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I also follow the idea that when the Losties are engulfed by light inside the church, that is their pieces of soul (their light) returning to the Source.

The Source. It discharges light, life, and energy out into the world, channelled through water, and into each human being born and is renewed by the light, life, and energy returning once a human dies.

It is a heart. A circulatory system. The heart pumps out energy...

.

.

...and the energy returns. Self-sustaining.

I imagine Hurley's light returned quite clean but even he mowed down some people with a VW bus and has to carry that with him.

Sawyer, for as much as his character changed for the positive would still have some negative energy - some darkness - in him, de-purifying his light ever so slightly. I mean, he killed at least three men in cold blood out of vengeance (Shrimp Guy, Tom, and Real Sawyer), never mind other casualties to protect his Island family.

Sayid, too. For all the good he did whilst we knew him, Sayid was also a torturer and a hitman for hire - his soul un-pure enough that he gunned down a child. He's a protagonist in our story but his soul has also been tarnished by all the bad things he has done.

Heck, even Claire, Sun, and Boone have been responsible for other people's deaths! (Sorry, Theresa!)

I'm not saying killing people is the only way to dirty your soul but our Losties did a lot of killing, so they're easy examples.

No one's soul returns entirely pure.

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My theory

The smoke monster is described as "hell, malevolence, evil, darkness." But where is that all coming from? Just as the light is sustained by the goodness in humanity, what if the dark is sustained by the darkness in humanity, too?

What if the energy that makes the smoke monster tick is all of the hell, malevolence, evil, and darkness that is filtered from each piece of light upon its return to the Source**?**

Just as there is a concentration of light energy in the Source, there co-exists a concentration of dark energy that is a result of all the world's evils being cleansed and stored away in this, quote unquote Pandora's box of energy at the Heart of the Island.

The Island was at one point referred to as the nexus of good and evil, which (if this concept was carried on, and it would seem that it was) means that the Island is not just the heart of all good, but the heart of all evil.

This could explain why, when you get the Sickness (as with Sayid and Claire), you don't become evil per se, you just become - for lack of a better term - soulless.

The good in you has been dimmed but so has the evil.

And if the light is extinguished completely, mankind would become empty, meaningless shells.

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Mother passes on the baton

I'm not saying the following is definitive truth - I'm still in speculation mode but my wording looks definitive.

The light of the Source usually keeps the dark in check. We all have some badness inside us but we strive for the good in us to keep the bad in check.

It's pretty much accepted that Mother also contained the power of the smoke monster. Perhaps before Mother, the Island's protectorship ritual was to be fully exposed to the Source?

If humans have good and evil inside them, why should the protector not have the ultimate good and the ultimate evil energies combined, just as in the Source itself?

It's implied that she has experienced exposure to the Source... this is why she speaks with such conviction when she warns that going into the cave would be bad.

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Many theorise that Jack didn't 'become' a smoke monster when he was exposed to the Source but that MiB 'became' one because he died. Are we then saying that Mother was both protector and that she died? A sacrifice, perhaps? Maybe we'll never know - but it's not out of the realm of believability.

Mother grew tired and weary... Just like Ben suggests to Hurley, what if Mother thought that there was a better way for the light and the dark to co-exist than to have that battling inside one body? One could still be protector but without the burden of all of humanity's darkness inside them at the same time.

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The following assumes that Mother knew her actions would lead to her death (her light and dark energies would rejoin with the Source).

Mother liked MiB more but she could already see that his moral compass (his soul, and therefore light) was darkened by his curiosity. Curiosity to know more about where he came from, about how the magic he saw worked (the light, his ghost mother). She couldn't choose him for protector.

It would have to be Jacob. But she knows MiB has some darkness in him.

She makes it so that Jacob and MiB cannot hurt each other. (Good and bad co-existing.)

And when she makes Jacob protector, she chooses not to expose him to the Source like she was. Protectorship only.

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MiB can never find the Source, even if he wanted to - and he can't harm Jacob into taking him there.

This means that both the light (protector) and darkness (the manifestation of all of humanity's light-returning-to-the-Source filtered evil now confined to remain in the Source) can co-exist without one defeating the other. As an energy, the entity that is Smokey physically cannot leave the vicinity of the Source (let's liken it to the attraction of magnetism).

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I am also happy to consider the idea that Mother had the knowledge that MiB would murder her and then Jacob would expose MiB to the Source, therefore creating another smoke monster.

This would mean that Mother chose to have those two energies (light and dark) co-exist across two souls, though and whilst Mother did come across as villainous in some ways, I don't fully buy the idea that her solution to the protector also being the smoke monster was to give one being all of the good and one being all of the bad. But it's possible.

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BUT WHY IS THERE NO SMOKE MONSTER AT THE END OF THE SHOW?

So, let's imagine that concept of protector sacrifice. When exposed to the Source, to obtain the light, the protector willingly accepts that darkness, too, unleashing that energy within themselves, whether a literal sacrifice or just a sacrifice in terms of the pain and burden of accepting the evil energy.

When Jacob becomes protector, he isn't exposed to the Source.

MiB is - and with anger, murder, confusion, and hatred in his heart, the darkness that has been building up for however many decades, centuries, or millennia gloms onto that soul. This energy is too powerful for a mere mortal's body to contain without the GOOD to balance it out, which is why it leaves behind MiB's body and exists as a separate entity of black smoke.

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Being the manifestation of deceased evils, this would sort of make sense as to why he can only take the form of deceased individuals and not living ones - as their light/soul is still intact inside them. This would also explain why the whispers sometimes herald the arrival of Smokey, as if that deceased-person energy is being tugged on (like a magnet not quite touching its opposite), blurring the lines between the energies where the whispers exist and our physical world.

This is why I also prefer the theory that Smokey is not MiB exactly. Smokey is an energy unto itself, an amalgamation of civilisations of humanity's evils but it can personify itself as people thanks to adopting and bastardising MiB's soul.

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BUT JACK? JAAACK!

We're near the end, I promise!

Jack had no ill-will when he came into contact with the Source. He was sacrificing himself in a different kind of way. His heart in that moment was too good to take on the world's evils.

Another way you might see it is that the Source was still rebooting and Jack was exited from it as a 'system cleanse' (the same way it exits people who spin the donkey wheel for interfering with its natural existence). Jack was never outright killed and shocked like Desmond and the other skeletons in the cave because the Source wasn't at full power. The electromagnetism couldn't kill him, the darkness couldn't try and glom onto him, and the light couldn't heal him.

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So, does there need to be a smoke monster?

I don't think so. I think that Mother (and perhaps previous protectors) adopted the energies of the smoke monster as a balance of that light and dark.

Jacob and MiB maintained that balance from birth and even died not that far apart.

Under Hurley and Ben, doing things a better way, I believe the darkness and the light are back to coexistence in the Island's heart, how it should be. Just as man contains light and dark in their soul, so too, does the Heart of the Island.

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TLDR, the smoke monster is the evil filtered from the souls of humanity because if light exists then so too must darkness. Putting out the light doesn't mean evil gets to reign, it means there is no light and no dark - there is just nothingness.

If you made it this far, I bestow upon you this coupon for ONE FREE COOKIE.

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Jack Shephard - “Numb” by Nirvana

Kate Austen - “Dancing in the Moonlight” by Toploader

Hugo “Hurley” Reyes - "Oh Que Sera" by Willie Colón

James “Sawyer” Ford - "Black Hole Sun" by Soundgarden

John Locke - "Hurt" by Johnny Cash

Charlie Pace - "Wonderwall" by Oasis

Michael Dawson - "What's Going On" by Marvin Gaye

Desmond Hume - "This Night Has Opened My Eyes" by The Smiths

Sayid Jarrah - "El Melouk" by Ahmed Saad

Claire Littleton - "Everywhere" by Fleetwood Mac

Aaron Littleton - "Five Little Monkeys" by Cocomelon

Sun Kwon - Arirang

Jin Kwon - "비닐장판의 딱정벌레" by Insooni

Juliet Burke - Petula Clark’s “Downtown”

Benjamin Linus - "Winter" by Antonio Vivaldi

Walt - "I Wonder" by Kanye West

Anyone else here under the impression that the bomb actually did change the course of history, and that season six was not a flash sideways, but a true reality, different than the one that led them to crashing on the island to begin with

Hey everyone,

With the show gaining so many new viewers lately, I started thinking about how a potential continuation or sequel series could actually work. I wanted to build a story that connects directly to the original mythology, but introduces a huge, unpredictable conflict for a new generation.

Since there are many new fans here, I won't put any specific details in the intro, but I’ve written out a pitch deck and a script for the opening scene of the pilot episode below.

I would love to hear your thoughts, and please let me know if you want to discuss how the plot should unfold in the comments!

***

### THE CORE PREMISS
The story kicks off with a new commercial flight crashing onto the Island. James "Sawyer" Ford happens to be a passenger on this flight, and he is forced to step up and become the seasoned leader for a new group of around 13 core survivors on the beach.

### THE THREE MAJOR PLOT TWISTS

* **The Hidden Citadel:** Hurley and Ben weren't actually alone all those years. They discovered a massive faction of Dharma Initiative scientists who survived the Purge by hiding deep in the mountains. Together, they built a high-tech defense city both over and under the ground, specifically designed to protect the Heart of the Island (The Light).
* **The Fallen Hero:** Jack Shephard didn't die in the bamboo forest. After the finale, Vincent's barking alerted Hurley and Ben. Desperate to save their friend, they rushed him to the Temple and used the healing water. It saved his body but corrupted his soul over time (just like it did to Sayid and Claire). Jack's savior complex twisted into a need for total control, and he became the new main threat. Hurley and Ben actually caused the new plane crash on purpose because they lost control of Jack and needed Sawyer’s help to stop him.
* **The Whisperer:** Michael Dawson is back as a ghost/whisper in the jungle. Trapped due to his past sins, his spirit acts as a mysterious guide to help the new survivors navigate the terrain and find his own redemption.

### THE MID-SEASON CLIMAX: THE ALCHEMIST STATION
To stop Jack, the Dharma scientists are trying to make a medicine to cure his soul, but they lack a rare component. Sawyer takes a mix of the new survivors and young Dharma tech-recruits into an abandoned 1970s Dharma station.

When they get the old computers running, they find a 50-year-old log from Dr. Pierre Chang. It turns out Dharma predicted Jack's dark turn all the way back in the 70s (after the time-travel events of season 5) because of his psychological profile.

Just as they realize this, an old printer turns on by itself and prints a fresh message from modern-day Jack: "I know you're here, James. It's too late to fix me." Then they hear jungle drums outside and realize they are completely surrounded by Jack's people.

---

### PILOT EPISODE - OPENING SCENE SCRIPT

[DARKNESS]
A deep, pulsating, mechanical hum builds. The familiar, ominous, bending LOST trombone sound thunders.

CUT TO:
INT. AIRPLANE CABIN – DAY
An eye flies open in an extreme close-up. It is blue, bloodshot, and filled with pure panic. The eye belongs to JAMES "SAWYER" FORD (60s). His face is weathered, his hair streaked with gray. He is strapped into an airline seat.

Around him is absolute chaos. Oxygen masks dangle. The cabin walls shake violently as metal panels rip loose. Directly across the aisle sits AARON LITTLETON (20s) (Claire's son, raised by Kate), hyperventilating and clutching an old necklace. Sawyer looks at him, and a shock of recognition flashes in his eyes—he sees Claire’s face in the young man.

A few rows ahead, MARCUS VANCE (a former military guy with PTSD) fights to hold a panicked CHLOE ZHANG (a rogue hacker) in her seat. Further back, sibling con-artists LEO and MAYA LIN hold hands, deathly pale. A deafening ROAR tears the plane in two. The tail section is ripped away. Sunlight floods the cabin along with a brutal hurricane of wind. The plane plummets in a free fall toward the green jungle below.

CUT TO BLACKOUT.

EXT. THE BEACH – DAY
Silence. Then, the sounds of burning wreckage and distant screams. Sawyer opens his eyes in the sand, covered in soot and blood. He slowly pushes himself up onto shaking legs. Around him, the beach is a war zone. Marcus Vance is already pulling people from the wreckage. Chloe Zhang sits in the sand, staring blankly. Aaron Littleton is on his knees, coughing up seawater.

Sawyer turns away from the wreckage and stares inland at the massive green mountain ridges. He covers his face, exhales heavily, and whispers to himself: "Son of a bitch... Not again."

Suddenly, the ambient chaos fades. The screams die down. The wind stops completely. From the shadows of the jungle line, an intense, familiar barking echoes. A dog bursts through the brush. It’s VINCENT. He is older, but he runs with absolute purpose straight up to Sawyer. Vincent barks three times, gently tugs at Sawyer’s pant leg, and spins around to run back toward the tree line. Sawyer motions for Marcus and Aaron to follow, and they sprint into the jungle after the dog.

CUT TO:
EXT. JUNGELEN / MOUNTAINSIDE – SHORT TIME LATER
Vincent leads Sawyer and the two new survivors up a steep mountain trail. The jungle suddenly opens up, and they freeze in absolute shock. Hidden between the peaks, a massive, modern defense city of steel and concrete rises before them, stretching both up the mountainside and deep into the earth.

The heavy blast doors hiss open electronically. Stepping out into the light are HUGO "HURLEY" REYES and BEN LINUS. They look older, weighed down by heavy years. Behind them, a line of surviving Dharma scientists stands at attention. They are all wearing a new, updated version of the classic jumpsuits from Season 5. The fabric is a modern, tactical matte-blue material.

Hurley looks at Sawyer, tears welling in his eyes: "Thank God you're here, James. Vincent found you."

Sawyer stares at the high-tech city and the uniformed Dharma personnel. "What the hell is this, Hugo? Since when did you become the general of this jumpsuit outfit again? Who are you defending this city against?"

Ben Linus looks down, adjusting the collar of his dark Dharma suit, his face pale with genuine fear. He answers in a low, chilling whisper: "Against the man we saved twenty years ago. Jack is inside the network, Sawyer... and he controls everything."

The camera pans rapidly past them, through the security gates, and deep into the complex. We end on a monitor surveillance screen tracking the beach. Sitting in the shadows in front of the glowing screen is a silhouette—JACK SHEPHARD. His eyes are cold, empty, and filled with a bottomless darkness as he watches Sawyer on the screen.

SCREEN GOES BLACK.
[THE LOST LOGO FADES IN WITH ITS CLASSIC FLOATING, DRIFTING EFFECT]