Ji Yeon/Theories

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Theories about Ji Yeon

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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.

Frank's errand

• Attacking the survivors. Jin dies during the attack (along with a bunch of other people).
• Getting back to the island to get Daniel and Charlotte.
  • Daniel and Charlotte seem to have unfinished business to take care of. He's coming back to pick up others, or to assist in Dan and Charlotte's expedition.
• Keamy and Frank were planning to take the helicopter somewhere (likely the island) later that evening. The two other times we know of the helicopter reaching the island are at night. The helicopter always seem to fly to the island at night because they are using the stars to navigate there since the electromagnetism is throwing off their navigation systems. This is the reason for the reversed astrological compass in the Maxwell Group's logo.
• To retrieve Claire, as Desmond's vision predicted.

"Cabin fever"

What is it

• Time travelling, which causes deadly brain damage, not wanting to die. Walt is responsible for the suicides, not the island.
  • The "cabin fever" aka time distortion and someone tells them what happens/they see someone die the way Desmond saw Minkowski die and decide it's better to just off themselves instead.
• "Cabin fever" is an intentional pun by the captain- referring to Jacob's cabin.
• "Cabin fever" is the same sickness experienced by members of Rousseau's expedition
• Michael is sabotaging the crew members (mentally and/or physically), much like he has been sabotaging the Kahana's equipment.

Regina's suicide

• Michael is on the boat. So is Walt. In one of the earlier flashbacks Walt obviously kills a bird by leading him against a window. He does this again in one of the Mobisodes: Juliet shows Ben all the dead birds and is afraid of Walt. Walt is responsible for the suicide of Regina and the other crew-member who shot himself in the head.
• She was time travelling like Desmond.
  • Her behavior was distinctly different from the others we've seen afflicted with the sickness. Desmond: confused, agitated, vociferous, but coordinated. Minkowski: mumbling at times, otherwise perfectly clear, and also coordinated. Brandon: "acting crazy." Regina: uncoordinated, oblivious, seemingly fuzzy-headed.
    • Captain Gault posts a crazy person to guard the prisoners because he has a limited number of crew members that each have a specific job. Captain Gault is making do.
• She had "the sickness" that befell Danielle's expedition.
• Regina uses the chain to get her to where she needs to go faster. She is actually going to an underwater hatch-type facility.
  • The chain is so she can drown herself easier. It weighs her down so she doesn't float back up.

Blood on the wall

• It's Brandon's, for he is the only one we've known to die from the time distortion sickness but have not seen.
  • Brandon's last name is Radzinsky; he is an old friend of Minkowski. Brandon Radzinsky came too close to the island and travelled in time. He somehow went down the hatch and survived in the station and pushed the button, then he went insane because he "jumped" between the freighter and the swan-station time. The moment he tried to end this nightmare by pointing a gun to his head is also the moment he pointed a gun to his head on the freighter. He pulled the trigger and died twice: Desmond saw the blood on the ceiling in the swan station and the blood on the wall in the freighter-cabin. A time-circle is closed.
    • Except that any time Desmond or Minkowski's consciousnesses "time-jumped", their bodies went completely unconscious in whichever time period they were not currently inhabiting, so it would be impossible for him to kill himself in two different time periods simultaneously.
      • That ended when Desmond found his constant. It turns out that, as he was a military man, Brandon's constant just happened to be his own gun.
• It's the blood of somebody who committed suicide just like Regina.
• We will never know whose blood it is and is just an illustration of how bad things on the ship have become.
• It's the blood of a crew member who disobeyed, or just disagreed with, Captain Gault.

Michael aka Kevin

• Michael was "rescued" by the freighter after following the bearing Ben gave him.
  • In that case, they would immediately suspect him when it becomes clear there is a saboteur on board. Also, they would know there was no Kevin Johnson on the 815 manifest.
    • There is no claim that Michael/Kevin told them he was a survivor from 815. If he did, wouldn't the crew have mentioned something like they did to Sayid when he first got on the boat? Plus, they were upset when Frank brought back survivors; why would they be upset if they already had allowed another survivor onboard? It still stands that Michael was possibly "rescued" by the freighter.
• Michael is Ben's "man on the boat".
  • He was placed there by Ben's off-island organization.
  • This is part of the deal that Michael made with Ben.
  • This was Ben's plan. Ben is a great strategist and he knew the Kahana was coming and its position. He sent Michael in a direction that would intercept the Kahana. He left a message for Michael on board the boat he gave him in a location Ben knew Michael was sure to find before he met the Kahana. He told Michael that the people on board the Kahana had staged the fake crash and would kill Michael and Walt if they knew that they were survivors of the crash so Michael had to take up an assumed name.
  • Ben was the one who staged the flight. That's why they asked where the 324 bodies came from, and why they need to find Benjamin Linus.
• Michael was sent to another time when he followed the bearing of 325. Michael got in contact with Captain Gault before the boat went on its mission. This way, Michael gained the trust of the crew and earned a spot on the boat.
• Both Ben and Michael are "unstuck" in time like Desmond. Ben is Michael's Constant. They communicate about real-time events on a regular basis in the past.
  • This lacks credibility though since once somebody finds their constant, they stop time traveling.

Walt

• Is being held captive by some of of Ben's off-island men.
• Is on the boat letting people commit suicide as he used to lead birds against windows. Time travelling causes deadly brain damage, not wanting to die.
• Is on the island in the present (2008), as time on the island and off appear to go at different speeds. He is indeed 3 or so years older.
• Made it back to the rest of the world. The crew on the freighter intercepted Michael & Walt. Michael was able to bargain for Walt's safe passage back home by working on the freighter.
  • That would make sense as Walt is not coming back to the show.
• Walt is on the island. It has been suggested in previous episodes that Walt can "be in a place he shouldn't be." So he teleported off the boat back to the island to get Vincent.
• Wrote the note "Don't Trust The Captain", it's written very similar to a child's handwriting.
  • That sort of block-print is also used to prevent others from recognizing the author's handwriting.
• Is dead and was killed by Widmore's organization. That's why Michael has joined Ben.

Staged Oceanic 815

The dead bodies

• The bodies on the staged oceanic 815 were the victims of the Purge.
  • Unlikely, for they were killed long ago, and their bodies would show advance decomposition. Also because their rests have been shown to be on the island (in the mass grave). And Ben states that he took the lives of 40 people, not 324.
• They are the bodies of homeless people. Homeless people would have been chosen because nobody would notice that they were missing.
• They have been taken from a morgue or morgues. Ethan was shown visiting Juliet in a morgue in Not in Portland.
• Remember the Orchid training video...maybe Ben has figured out, like the scientists, how to manipulate the island and time shift/duplicate objects. Which might allow for a time shifted/duplicated flight 815 (with all of its passengers) that went into the ocean.

Whose doing is it

• Whoever did it, it has to be someone who knows that the survivors are alive and on the island, but cannot find a way out. For it has to be someone who has the certainty that the survivors will not appear at any time. This points to Ben, but it could also be Widmore. Both seem to have a motive, for both of them want the world not to ever find out about the island, and both appear to be powerful enough to engineer something like that.
• Charles Widmore's doing. He placed the wreckage because he doesn't want anybody to find the island, and thus, he wanted the world to stop looking for the plane. He is lying about the fact that Ben would be responsible for that, because he wants to have the survivors on his side: their collaboration can be useful to find Ben. Michael knows that Widmore is lying and that he does not intend to rescue them, and thus warns Sayid and Desmond with the letter saying that Captain Gault is not trust-worthy.
• Ben's doing. He staged the faked wreckage and ensuing "discovery." Miles' initial reaction to him, his secret room with copious amounts of cash, and his apparently extensive international travel (in "The Economist," in Miles' photo, his many passports) all indicate that Ben is man of extensive means. Ben staged the crash so the world would stop looking for the plane. He did this to protect the secrecy of the island. Assuming this is true then it would also be likely Ben was the one that hired the Christiane 1 to search the Sunda Trench, possibly using some artefact from the Black Rock (or a map: "from the coordinates we pulled off of our guy's map" from "Confirmed Dead").

• Ben would not have to necessarily have hired the Christiane 1. If you watch the web episodes from Find 815, he could have simply guided them to finding it via the emails sent to Sam Thomas.
• If Ben staged the crash, then that might explain why Miles demands $3.2 million. Faking a plane crash would obviously cost a lot of money, and since $3.2 million is roughly $10,000 for each of flight 815's passengers, then Miles is simply making an educated guess based on an estimate of Ben's expenditure for the fake crash site.

• The money-per-passenger bit is somehow connected with Miles' connection with dead people. Just as he took the money from the drug dealer in his flashback, so does he require some sum for each victim of the crash that was murdered to provide the faked wreckage.

• Ben staged the 815 wreck, Widmore found it (and discovered something about the flight recorder that indicated to him it was a faked wreck). This is in line with the fact that we know that Ben will do just about anything to keep the Island and its location secret. We know Ben has associates off the Island (they kidnapped Locke's father, they recruited Juliet, they gather information on people worldwide, etc.) and we know Ben has been off the Island many times (evidenced by the many passports, money, and traveling clothing in his hidden room). He is able to finance these exploits with gold he found on the Black Rock.
• Ben and Jacob's doing. When you bring the supernatural element of Jacob into the mix, anything is possible. Ben mentioned to Locke that he has a metaphorical 'Magic Box' that can get him anything he wants, (not big enough for submarine apparently), Jacob (controlled by Ben), could have replicated the plane and the bodies, but not the data on the black box, which is why Widmore finds it suspicious.
• Oceanic Airlines' doing. They staged the crash because they couldn't admit they lost an entire plane full of people.
• The Maxwell Group (i.e. Widmore Industries), who funded the expedition.

• As it's been said that the ARG is not canon, and given the fact that two slightly different versions of the wreckage-finding expedition are given (in "Confirmed Dead" and the ARG), it is possible that the Maxwell Group/Christiane 1 connection is not tenable.

• Captain Gault freely told Sayid and Desmond that Widmore was in charge, but implied it was someone else entirely who had the extensive means to stage the faked crash. This seems to indicate that Widmore didn't know how 815 came to be in the Sunda Trench. He obtained the flight data recorder to find out what happened.

• That is all contingent on the idea that the Captain is telling the truth. The note informs the characters (and the audience) that he is not trustworthy.
• The dialogue is very carefully ambiguous as to whether the cover-up deals with the placement of a plane and bodies or simply the discovery of said plane. The captain refers to 324 bodies, but also states that it was "faking the recovery of a plane crash," indicating that either the recovery was faked in part or the physical plane and corpses were also part of the deception.
• Keep in mind also that the Captain merely theorizes that the Oceanic crash site was a setup, not that he knows that it is a setup because of some unseen evidence or involvement. The Captain is not necessarily to be trusted.
• The Captain is not "merely theorizing." The crew had a certain level of expectation of finding survivors, as witnessed in their reaction to finding out Frank brought back survivor Sayid, as well as Miles' reaction on island (as discussed with Sayid).
• The Captain could be lying about the whole thing. Remember the second bunny that appeared in the Orchid video and the polar bear bones found in a random country? Maybe the second plane is in the trench through some kind of teleportation or time anomaly. Perhaps it is flight 815, but from an alternate universe? If it really was a cover up, it sounds really pointless to even bother spending the money to stage a plane wreck, when the plane was already lost on the island. The only reasonable explanation why someone may feel like a cover up is necessary is to end the search in fear that the island could be discovered in the process. Then again, the island already is a bitch to get to considering you have to fly on a specific bearing to get there. Also if Ben really is responsible for the plane cover up, he screwed up on his part because now Widmore is looking for him. Finally Damon and Carlton have stated that by the end of season 4, there will be two good possible explanations for the second 815 crash and both will be equally correct. So in other words, what the Captain told us is definitely not the only answer out there. Bioject 15:52, 14 March 2008 (PDT)

The Sunda Trench

• Why was the faked 815 placed in the Sunda Trench, of all places? This isn’t a remotely plausible place for a Sydney to L.A. flight to be found. It’s like faking a lost Chicago to Honolulu crash near Bermuda. The Sunda Trench is thousands of miles northwest of Sydney. The plane should have been, would have been, and in fact was flying thousands of miles northeast. This fake would raise far more suspicions than it would allay. No pilots, no matter how messed up their instrumentation was or what kind of magnetic anomalies they encountered, could fly westward for hours thinking that they were flying eastward. If nothing else, the pilots would have noticed they were flying over the continent of Australia for hours instead of over the Pacific.

• We have no idea of the size/severity of the storm that caused the plane to go off course, so this line of questioning is mere speculation. If the storm caused the plane to be redirected north, it's plausible that it was instructed to make an emergency landing somewhere in Indonesia/China/India, etc.
• The motivation of the fake crash site seems clear: to keep others from searching anywhere near the true site. But it’s just too obviously wrong a fake to do its creators any good. They would have been better served to fake finding 815 near Fiji, which we know is where 815 was supposed to be near on its way to L.A. but in reality was 1,000 miles off course from when it went down on the island. That’s a safe enough distance, and it’s infinitely more plausible.

• However, the staged wreck had to be in some inaccessible location - such as the Sunda Trench - that made recovery (and later examination of the wreckage and bodies) of the crash nearly impossible. Otherwise, the ruse would be revealed as a fake.
• Ben (or whoever else is responsible) would not have been able to fake the crash somewhere closer to its original course for several reasons. 1) There are search parties being conducted along its original course, therefore a higher risk of being discovered. Remember, a fake plane with bodies isn't simply dropped into the ocean overnight. 2) It's more difficult to layout such an intricate design thousands of miles beneath the ocean than it would be somewhere like the Sunda Trench. The fake had to be easily findable as well as identifiable in order for the fake to serve any purpose. Deep beneath the ocean would be much more degraded, scattered, and thereby less effective to its purpose of convincing everyone that all of 815 was dead.
• The Sunda Trench, like all trenches, is DEEPER than the surrounding ocean floor. The average depth of the Pacific is 4,280 meters, compared to the trench's 7,725 meters.

• When Miles demanded $3.2 million from Ben and the offer was rebuffed, he urged Ben not to "treat me like I'm one of them," going on to say it's not "like I don't know who you are, or what you can do!" This clearly supports the notion that Ben is somehow "special," or able to make things appear (i.e. Anthony Cooper). So, it is not too far fetched to hypothesize that he was able to conjure up a downed plane in the Sunda Trench.
• Due to the electromagnetic nature of the island, the last radio transmissions from the pilot actually appeared to be coming from the Sunda Trench, thousands of miles off course, which led to the search actually occurring there. This may be related to the pilot's lines in the first episode, where he talks about being a thousand miles off course, and (I believe) that they would be searching in the wrong place.

Charles Widmore's boat

• Charles Widmore's interest in the island may include financial profit, but there is more to it: He is investing a lot of resources in finding the island and Ben, and he seems to have some sort of vendetta against Ben.
• Captain Gault is not merely somebody working for Charles Widmore, the connection between them seems to be tighter: for when Gault tells Desmond and Sayid about the staging of the flight, he says "And that's why WE want to find Benjamin Linus." Who are "we" and why do "they" want Ben?
  • "We" simply refers to the crew and its mission.

Jin

Jin's tombstone

• The tombstone indicates that Jin died on the date of the crash, September 22, 2004 because...

• It is part of the cover up. Only 6 were said to have survived.

• The sixth was Aaron.
• If this is true, Jin would have died on-island (if he's dead at all).

• All survivors who died or were murdered on the island (i.e Boone, Shannon, Nikki, Paulo, Libby, Ana Lucia etc) were said to have died in the crash as a cover up by the Oceanic 6. All their dates of death would be 22 September 2004. This means Jin may have been killed on the island.

• In Eggtown, Jack says 8 members of Flight 815 survived but 6 made it off the island. Jin is part of the cover up story that says he is one of the 8 survivors but he died on the island. They would need an explanation as to how Sun would have given birth in July or August but crashed in September.

• If Jin died on the island his death would not be listed as the date of the crash, it would be a day or so after.
• Jin could still plausibly be the father even if (they're saying) he died in the crash. Ji Yeon was conceived only a few days after the crash, and doctors would not be able to determine the exact date of conception, especially if you consider that time travels slower on island than off. Sun's pregnancy would actually be farther on than the real world expected; therefore, to the real world it would seem as if she's been pregnant for a longer period, and thus got pregnant sooner than she actually did.
• Jin is not necessarily one of the 8 survivors in the Oceanic 6's story. He may have been one of the people who was said to have died in the crash. He may or may not ACTUALLY be dead, however.

• The tombstone is part of the same cover up that produced the fake crash site at the bottom of the sea. So it was installed by people who produced the cover up. Or the tombstone was installed by people not part of the cover up but who took the cover up seriously, thinking that Jin did indeed die in the crash. That's why the date of death is erroneous. Sun has not had time to fix it or she does not want to fix it because there are good reasons to leave the fake date unchanged. (This theory assumes that Jin is really dead.)

• That's unlikely as Sun's date of death would be on the tombstone along with Jin's. Only 7 months have gone by since the present time on the island and Sun's flash forward in this episode. It's doubtful that a new tombstone would be ordered removing Sun's date of death. It's possible Jin does really die on the island. Otherwise, why would there be the whole crying charade at the cemetary when Hurley knows the truth?

• The theory that the tombstone is part of the cover up was conceived with the notion that Jin is really dead when Sun visits his grave. I've added a note to that effect. We'd expect Sun's date of death there too if the stone had been created for the cover up and never replaced. But then again if anybody superstitious is involved in the stone being there in the first place, they would be quick to replace it once Sun is found to be alive. You don't want to list as dead someone who is alive for fear of inviting disaster.

• As part of Jack's story at Kate's hearing, all but 8 die in the crash and 2 of those people die after. All this date proves is that Jin is not one of the 6 (or 8) that survived the crash. But it's clear that there are people that are not dead and still on the island (i.e. Charlie's message to Hurley, and Jack's insistance to get back to the island). So Jin's actual fate is still unknown. Sun's words at the grave site are ambiguous at best; she reiterates that she "misses him", nothing specific about him being dead.

Jin is not dead

• Part of the Oceanic 6's escape from the island is the story that the rest of the passengers died in the crash. Therefore, Sun has to maintain the illusion that Jin is dead, and this is why she (and Hurley) visited Jin's grave marker.

• During Sun's delirium, she slipped Jin's name multiple times, even identifying a passerby as Jin. She visits the cemetery at the end to convey that she saw Jin out of her grief in order to convince whomever may be watching her (in exterior settings) that Jin is dead, and not on the island.

• When she cried at the grave, she said "I miss you." When mourning someone who dies, you miss them, obviously, but this could also fit if she "misses him" because she knows he is still on the island, and she knows she will probably never see him again. Charlie told Hurley he needed to fix things or go back to island (can't remember) and Jack told Kate they needed to go back. Maybe Sun's "missing" Jin so badly will convince Hurley to go back. Does he hold some power to do this? Do the numbers have something to do with this?

• There do appear to be people watching the Oceanic Six from afar (such as Matthew Abaddon coming to Hurley in the institute, and Sayid's statement that the people on Ben's list will know that he is after them now).

• Jin is actually on the island, and this is their way of communicating to him, because they can't call him so his gravestone is the closest thing, and Sun wants to tell him things that have happened.
• They didn't say that Jin was dead. They were certainly saying that Jin was absent, but that simply could mean he's still on the Island. This is obviously very upsetting to Sun, who not only misses her husband and wishes he could be there for their child's birth, but whatever circumstances the Six escaped under seem generally unpleasant at best. They visit his "grave" to just do something symbolic for Jin, even though he's not truly dead.
• Mr. Paik is involved with the cover-up of keeping Jin on the island. He didn't want Jin to be with Sun, so he required him to stay on the island rather than kill him.

• Paik Heavy Industries is known to have dealings with the Widmore Corporation.

• Although there are other companies involved in the cover up orchestrated by Charles Widmore, it was Paik Heavy Industries that physically planted the false plane in the trench.

• Jin is Sun's constant, and therefore must remain on the island
• Mr. Paik wants Jin dead because he hasnt heard from him for a long time since the crash. So, Jin faked his death and went into exile "For the best for his daughter and Sun".

Jin is dead

• Hurley, combed and dapper, says "Let's go see him," then they go to a cemetery. This is the usual chain of events when someone has died, is buried in the ground, and their friends are going to pay their respects (or mark an occasion).
• He is dead, although not on the date specified on his grave. The date is only there to cohere with the Oceanic 6's story.
  • It seems maybe only a fraction of the 815 survivors actually survive by the time the Oceanic 6 get off the island. Something happened to many of the survivors (including Jin and Claire), ending in their deaths.
• He said to Sun that he would do whatever it takes to keep her and the baby safe; he sacrifices himself so they can return home.

The date of Sun's delivery

• July 17, 2005. She and Jin conceived on October 25 (based on the D.O.C. determined in the episode D.O.C.).
• June 15. If the Oceanic 6 said that Jin died in the crash, then Sun would have to have been pregnant on the day of the crash already. If she conceived on September 22, then her due date would be June 15. If she delivers in mid-June 2005, then the baby is truly six weeks early but the world thinks it is on time. If she delivers in late-July 2005, then the baby is truly at term but the world would think it is six weeks late. Either of these would be discovered by other people.
  • There is no difinitive "tell" that says a baby is early/late. Nothing is abolutely routine in a birth, normal or otherwise. A mother's first baby could be born at 7 lbs and her next one at 10 lbs. That's why doctors estimate an "expectancy" date and not a definitive "birth" date. There would be nothing suspicious either way.
  • Also, if she was really six weeks early, that would explain why she said there was something wrong when on the phone with emergency services.
    • However, that baby did not look like she was 6 weeks early. A baby that early would usually be taken to NICU ASAP, not given to the mother to hold.
  • However, time is not constant when travelling to/from the island. This phenomenon likely altered to some extent the duration of Sun's pregnancy.
  • Normal human gestation is anywhere from 38 to 42 weeks. Sun was an estimated 7.5 weeks gestation on day 87 (as per D.O.C.), putting her at approximately 9 weeks gestation as of this episode (Monday, Dec 27th-Island Time). That would mean her delivery could safely happen any time between July 18 and Aug 15. Even allowing for the time shifty-ness of Island time, it shouldn't have impacted the delivery date significantly.
    • This, of course, would have caused her doctor to realize early on in her care that either Jin didn't die on Sept. 22nd, or that Jin wasn't the father of the baby. However, assuming ethical professionals, they would have been entirely discrete about this and the public at large would not have been the wiser.
      • Or, assuming health care workers that were substantially paid off by people who were in on the cover-up.

Hurley

• In the flash-forward, Hurley asks Sun "Is anyone else coming?" When she replies "No", Hurley says that this is "Good" because this is an early sign of Hurley going crazy. He could be glad that nobody else came because he's not always sure about who's real and who isn't.
  • He didn't get along well with the others. Jack didn't forgive him for going off to Locke's camp. Hurley still hasn't forgive Kate for taking custody of Aaron, after he promised Claire that he would take care of the baby. Sayid, with his whole secret assassin thing, just scares him.
• He replied with "Good" so that, like Jack did around Kate, he didn't have to maintain the lie around the people he cares for. Kate with Aaron, Jack and Sayid.