Happily Ever After/Theories

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Theories about Happily Ever After

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Stated as questions or possibilities (avoid question marks, "Maybe", "I think", etc). More appropriate for another article. Illogical or previously disproven. Proven by canon source, and moved to main article. Speculative and lacking any evidence to support arguments. Responding to another theory (use discussion page instead). This does not include responses that can stand alone as its own theory. Usage of an indented bullet does not imply the statement is a response. See the Lostpedia theory policy for more details.

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The EMP Did Not split Desmond's Mind

• Contrary to what is below, the EMP did not split Desmond's mind, it was a near death experience that caused him to become aware of the reality that he could be living if he doesn't help Widmore. Much like the near death experience with Charlie in the FST showed him a glimpse of the OT. By seeing a life in which Penny doesn't know him and he has no child, he is now willing to help Widmore. But not because he was switched with the FST Desmond, but because he thinks that the FST was what Widmore was referring to when he said something to the effect of "if you dont help me, this will all have been for nothing."

The Scales

• In Widmore's office, there is a perfectly balanced scale, much like the Man in Black's. This may mean that this timeline is truly balanced instead of one side (white/Jacob) hindering another side (black/MIB).
• There are two paintings in Widmore's FST office (although this may be a blooper), the one on the left, when facing the window, seems to be tipped to the black side, the one on the right was balanced. They probably are like a fable, telling about evil (tipped to the black, uneven) and good (balance between evil and good, free will).

Love

• Both Charlie and Daniel talk about a profound love. Both also imply that an awareness of that love made them realize the FST wasn't the only reality. When Jacob meets Sun and Jin at their wedding in "The Incident" he talks of the importance of their love.
• It seems that this "love" is an important element in unifying the two time lines.
• The people that they're in love with are their constants, which is why they're beginning too see the FST. It might have to be true love, though, which is why it isn't working for the likes of Jin and Sun. Or maybe it's something else because Jack loves Kate and in "LA X" they didn't notice each other but they did in "What Kate Does".
• It seems that when love happens, bad things occur. This is why Eloise Widmore wants to stop Desmond. She is clearly aware of the nature of things in the FST.
• Its not that bad things occur with love, it seems that the connections they formed on the journey with the island transcends the timelines. When they either encounter them or have a close death experience the connections are strong enough to bleed through, as if the love is not just at first sight but an experience from another whole life. It seems that this is what will wake the people of the alternate timelines, and Eloise knows the path that will follow if they choose to chase after these connections.
• Real love is such a power (white force) that it allows no alternative. It is a part of or even the reason for Course-correction. Its opposite force (dark force), which overrules sideways too, is probably death.
• The FST is the universe where no love and no evil exist, everything is just...well ok/content. The OT is the universe where love exists, but also a great evil. This is why Desmond and everyone wants to end the FST timeline - while everyone is content, no-one will experience the strongest human emotions: love and hate.
  • Bernard and Rose still seem very much in love, as do Locke and Helen.
  • Jin and Sun seem very much in love in the FST. Jin is, evidently, risking his life to be with Sun; Sun is prepared to leave everything behind to be with Jin. As for evil, Sawyer's parents are still dead.
• Love is a central theme of the show, and it is the centerpiece of the battle between The Man in Black and Jacob. The MiB causes a lack of love or compassion (evidenced by Sayid's recent attitude, and Claire lacks the compassion she once had but still shows some feeling). Jacob fights to make sure that the MiB does not escape. If he does escape, then as Widmore said, all relationships with loved ones will cease to exist. The loved ones won't disappear, but the compassion they felt will disappear.
• Love will be closely related to the issue of child birth. It will turn out that there are two candidates, and they are in love with each other. The child born of this union will be central to the final answer. Why start an alternative timeline in 1977, when you could start it at the very beginning of the human race. E.g. Adam and Eve. This maybe one of the main aims of the Dharma Initiative. Create a human race free from original sin.
  • The alternative timeline is due to a Schrodinger's cat with Jughead, both timelines were contiguous beforehand, I doubt that DI planned to go back 200,000 years to start humanity from there.

Near-death experiences

• Quite possibly, Charlotte was the first to have “visions” of a sideways existence, under the duress of dying. She made references to historical characters. In “This Place Is Death”, she says: "I know more about ancient Carthage than Hannibal himself.” And she mentions eating chocolate. Sideways Charlotte works at a museum and Dan saw her eating chocolate. Hopefully, the other statement that Charlotte uttered will become a happy reality: "You know what my mother would say about me marrying an American." Dan and Charlotte married? Maybe?!!!
  • Too bad Faraday is not an American.
    • He seems pretty American to me. No accent. The mother could be referring to Daniel Widmore's naturalized status as one.
  • When Charlotte mentioned "eating chocolate" before dying, she was referring to her 1st encounter with Daniel Faraday in 1977.
• Both Charlie and Desmond began experiencing flashes to the OT after a near-death experience. Sun may begin experiencing the flashes as well due to her gunshot wound.
  • This may be why Juliette's last thoughts were "it worked" she was near death at the time and whitnessed a flash sideways.
  • Sayid may have had a similar experience at the temple when they tried to drown him. I thought of this because Desmond had the same jaded attitude that Sayid had.
  • Desmond also experienced flashes during the MRI (which subjected him to magnetic forces, sort of like Widmore's machine on Hydra Island but on a smaller scale). It's not clear whether a near-death experience is _necessary_, or whether it's merely one of many possible ways to trigger the flashes. Daniel apparently had flashes as well that inspired him to write down the quantum equations but there's no evidence that Daniel experienced either a near-death experience or a magnetic event. Instead it seems to have been triggered by seeing Charlotte (blue eyes, red hair), the woman he loved in the OT.
  • Daniel is very sensitive. The very sight of Charlotte evoked intense memories of love and the devastation of witnessing Charlotte's painful and tragic death.He is experiencing the memory of feelings rather than the memory of events associated with those feelings.In an earlier season, Daniel was weeping when he saw TV coverage of the "discovery of 815", without knowing why.
  • Daniel suffered extensive brain damage due to the tests conducted during his research, which could involved EM exposure. Also, Charlie was in the hatch when Desmond turned the failsafe key, which initially gave him this "gift", according to Widmore.
    • Charlie had left the hatch prior to Desmond turning the key.
• It is possible that the death of one of them in the alternate timeline will cause their consciousness to reach the originals from the island. It is also possible that the opposite may occur, the original's consciousness bleeding to the alternate timeline.
• This may be why Juliet, before dying, talks about going Dutch for a cup of coffee and then tells Sawyer she has something very important to tell him.
• I don't believe it's necessarily a near-death experience that can or will trigger flashes. It happens when they have a similar interaction or experience in the FST. In the OT, Charlie is hanged and suffocated by Ethan. In the FST he is suffocating on the bag on heroin. In the OT, Daniel meets a young Charlotte eating a candy bar. In the FST, he sees Charlotte eating a candy bar. In the FST, Desmond is watching a drowning Charlie put his hand to the glass from the other side of a closed door. In the OT, the same thing happens in the Looking Glass station. Of course, Desmond has another way entirely of experiencing flashes as well.

Eloise wants the FST to continue

• Eloise wants the FST to continue, rather than the OT. Everything she has done points to her manipulating events to help perpetuate the FST: She kills her own son in OT 1977. Because she acquires Faraday's journal in 1977, and because whatever happened, happened, years later she is aware of this fact when she tells Desmond he isn't supposed to buy the ring and marry Penny, she says he is supposed to go to the island. Similarly, in OT 2007 she tells Des that the island isn't done with him yet. This is because she knows Desmond is the key to reconciling one timeline over the other, and she wants the FST to survive. Similarly, she helps the Oceanic 6 to return to the island, at the same time helping to create Mib's loophole. In the FST, when Des asks her about Penny, she tells Desmond he's not ready, that he has everything he's ever wanted, and to stop looking for whatever he's looking for. She wants Desmond to avoid meeting Penny because it would trigger his awareness that the OT is the "true" reality; she wants to prevent that meeting until MiB is free and the OT "ceases to be". Eloise has everything to gain from this. In FST, her son is still alive, and she is living an affluent life married to Charles Widmore. Penny does not seem to be much of a factor in their lives in the FST, whereas in the OT it was Widmore's off island family that led to his exile and the apparent rift between Charles and Eloise.
• I believe that Eloise does not think that desmond deserves to find out about the OT because he never listened to her so she doesnt think that he deserves to be with penny Lockerocklocke 16:26, April 7, 2010 (UTC)
• Eloise is working for MiB and has been all along. As described above, she helped to perpetuate the series of events that have created the Sideways reality. She also makes mention of a "violation", something she is upset about, as she does not want Desmond to disrupt the Sideways reality.
  • Eloise is MIB having finally got off the Island.
    • Eloise is the MIB's Crazy mother. She is the one who has set up the rules. She is the governing body which determines the rules by which things are played out. She isn't omniscient, but she does know about various timelines.
• She wants FST to continue because in it her son, Daniel (which she herself killed) is still alive.

Desmond as a "great Man"

• Now Desmond has found purpose in both his flashsideways life and regular timeline life. This is a throwback to Charles Widmore telling him that he will never be a great man.
• Pushing the button in the OT is mirrored by his frequent texting in the FST. The vaccine in the OT is mirrored by alcohol in the FST. Perhaps the repetition is an analogy to the timelines (either FST or OT) repeating or being in a loop.
• In the OT he held the failsafe key, in the FST he IS the failsafe key. When he awakens after the "test" he finally has the courage to use it.
• Desmond has embraced choice and destiny. He knows, generally, what he is "supposed to do" and has decided to follow his destiny. That is why he follows Sayid, it is supposed to happen that way.Cabeckett 16:28, April 7, 2010 (UTC)
• Stadiums figure in both Desmond's OT and LST worlds. In these scenes, he is shown among concentric and straight lines, which signifies his role as man living within a larger design.

FST and OT are contrasting political theories

What is interesting to note about these ideas are the political theories of Jeremy Bentham and JJ Rousseau. Bentham (who is in Lost, in essence, MIB) boiled down to a line states "find out what everyone wants, and give it to them," where as Rousseau states that "determine laws for yourself and live by them/giving into pleasure is slavery." The juxtaposition between these two seem to fit MIB and Jacob quite fittingly. In that, the OT would align itself more with Roussean theory, and the FST would align itself more with Bethamian theory. If we are to believe the choice of these political theorists as something more than casual, it would seem to make sense that the FST is the timeline that represents, perhaps, the MIB winning.

This is a serious misstatement of both theories. Bentham's utilitarianism does postulate the greater happiness of the greater numbers as the criterion for the evaluation of governance; however, it considers such desirable governance to be an outcome of rational individual choices. Rousseau's 'communitarianism', in fact, places even stronger emphasis on communal good conceptualised as General Will.

See You in Another Life Brother

• This is the other life he was talking about (without meaning it)