LA X, Parts 1 & 2/Theories

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Theories about LA X, Parts 1 & 2

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Theories may be removed if ...

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.

Significance of the Space Between "LA" and "X"

• The X could also mean something along the lines of a crossroads, or crossing paths.
• The X stands for something being crossed out. This could mean that LA is what is meant to be crossed out, implying that they never made it to LA and Faraday's plan didn't work.
• The X after LA could signify an alternate dimension. For example, our version of Los Angeles would be LA prime, a new version could be LA X (or A, B, C, etc.). The thought being that while Jack's intention was to reset their own history with the Jughead detonation; the destruction of the Island in 1977 could set a course of events that radically changed all time and history. So Oceanic 815 would land in Los Angeles in 2004, but it would be a completely different version of Los Angeles than they expected. (Imagine Marty McFly's return from the future to a twisted version of Hill Valley, CA in Back to the Future II)
  • This makes sense with the connection to the real-life understanding of theories of time-travel and the equations used to study it as shown in Lost University.
• The X refers to one of the variables mentioned by Daniel: "Do you know what the variables in these equations are, Jack? ...Us. We're the variables. People."
• X may be like a mark on the map, meaning LA is the place where the things are settled or just marking LA as a destination.
  • X marks the spot, and in this case the spot is LA, where the plane does in fact land in the alternate timeline.
• In algebra X is usually referred to as an Unknown. The space between LA and X may refer to the two lives of each of the characters. On the island, "X", everything is in Black time and in real life everything White. In the opening scenes Jack is able to save Charlie who was out of air(related to his death underwater on the island)due to swallowing his stash of heroin. In Black time Jack states that he is not able to save Sayid. When Sayid awakes at the end of LA X Part 2 he says "what happened?," quite possibly referring to his normal life in LA. Dead Juliet tells Miles "It worked!" This may refer to her seeing both lives flash before her eyes.
• In comic books, "X" is often used to designate an alternate universe. Both Marvel and DC have used "Earth X" in reference to parallel worlds, so "LA X" could simply mean an alternate version of LA.
  • This is definitely an homage to the classic comic books, but it does not mean that it's an alternate version of LA. It was a hint to us by the writers about what to expect in the episode... and of course what we got is an alternative dimension in which the losties are never in a plane crash and land in LAX safely.
• As in mathematical equations, the X stands for the "variable". If we read the LA as the Spanish "la" or "the", the title becomes "The Variable" as in an earlier episode. This is similar in wordplay to the next episode,"What Kate Does" (in reference to the earlier episode "What Kate Did").
  • Not just X but any letter from any language can be use to denote a variable: you could just as easily presume LA was the product of the variables 'L' and 'A'. This seems quite tenuous.
• The X is separate from the LA, because it stands for alternate universe in Los Angeles.
• (L)ife (A)fter Death (X), or (L)ife (A)fter e(X)plosion

Characters' alternate lives theories

Locke

• See John Locke (flash-sideways timeline)/Theories

Kate

• See Kate Austen (flash-sideways timeline)/Theories

Cindy

• See Cindy Chandler (flash-sideways timeline)/Theories

Other timeline changes

The Numbers

See The Numbers/Theories

2007 theories

The Man in Black theories

We know for sure that the smoke monster can take the forms of people who had died on the island/and bodies that end up there as well (Locke, Yemi, Alex, and so forth). I think that the "Man in Black" is somebody who died on the island that the smoke monster takes the form of, and then approaches Jacob (begining of the episode "the incident"). It seems to not really matter what form the smoke monster takes because Jacob will see it for what it really it (being able to recognize it automatically when it took the form of Locke, and when it had approached him on the beach as the Man in Black)

Jacob theories

See Jacob/Theories

The Ankh

See Jacob's ankh/Theories

Theories on the Temple and the Others

See The Temple/Theories and Dogen/Theories

Sayid's resurrection / possession

See Sayid Jarrah/Theories

Irreparably vs. Irreversible

• In Tawaret's Foot, Nemesis tells Ben that John Locke was "irreparably broken"
• In the alternate timeline, in Oceanic Airline's service office at LAX, Locke tells Jack that "Surgery can't help me. My condition is irreversible" to which Jack replies, "Nothing is irreversible".

Theory - that there is a difference being highlighted between repairing a situation and reversing a situation, and that this is a point of difference between Nemesis and Jacob.

• • Locke's statement about his condition being irreversible is intended in a broader way, to mean his entire self, possibly his entire life.

Irreparable and Irreversible have been used frequently throughout the show.

Dogmatic Reading

• The Island is the Garden of Eden, existing partially outside normal space-time.
  • The island is more likely Armageddon (in the biblical sense that armageddon is the final battleground that is) on which god(jacob) and satan(nemesis) are battling
    • The two are not mutually exclusive
      • I like the way you think
        • I do as well
• Jacob is the angel who guards the garden with a flaming sword to prevent man from reentering the Garden. He has brought humans back to the Island to prove they are ready to reenter Paradise.
  • The conversation that Jacob and MiB had on the beach as they were watching Black Rock approach didn't give any impression that he was ever guarding the island. Instead, he actively brings people to the island according to his whims.
    • It seems that the Nemesis is is the one who is guarding the island. Perhaps the Nemesis is really the good guy and Jacob is bringing all these people to the island for a more sinister purpose?
• The Man In Black is Lucifer, who believes man is inherently evil. He takes Locke's form to tempt Ben into killing Jacob, something the rules their eons-old game has prevented him from doing directly. MIB intends to reenter Heaven via the Temple and the Fountain of Life.
• Jacob represents "god" who gives men free will to determine their own destiny. Jacob says to the MIB that there is only one end, the rest is progress. This could be restated to say that the choices we make in getting to that "end" determine our reality, but until we are finished (at the end) there always exists the possibility of more choices which could change the outcome/end. This is reinforced by Locke's comment to Jack at the baggage claim that Jack's father is not "Lost," only his body is lost. The survivors are all "Lost" until the end, when it will become clear which of their choices determined their fates. Hence the apparent alternate time experiences, which are actually the many possible realities which won't become set in time until they are finished making their choices.
  • Jacob told Ben before he killed him that he wanted him to know that he had a choice. Ben didn't believe he had a choice prior to this because Alex/the monster/MIB told him they would kill him unless he did everything Locke told him to, and Locke told him he had to kill Jacob.
• You're absolutely right about Lucifer trying to get back into Heaven and Jacob (God) giving men free-will. My theory: Christian Shephard is Jesus Christ. Jack went to Australia to pick up his father who had died THREE DAYS prior to the flight. When they arrived on the island, Jack found an empty coffin (Christ got up and walked out). When Mary and Mary Magdaline went to Christ's tomb, the body was gone, and they were so scared, that they did not initially tell anyone that Christ had risen (similar to the reason Jack didn't tell anyone that he was seeing his father alive and that the coffin was empty). Even the name, Christian Shephard, must be a reference to The Good Shepherd, specifically, Christ. Season 6 promo pic: http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/File:S6cast.jpg Tell me that isn't the Last Supper. Granted, Christian is missing from it, negating my theory that he is Christ, but they are definitely going Biblical in this one.
  • Jack, as a remarkable healer (has anyone he's given mouth-to-mouth resuscitation died, ever?), and as someone willing to sacrifice himself for what he believes (often mistakenly) is the greater good, and furthermore, as someone willing to take on ridiculously difficult and painful burdens in the service of at least trying to help others, presents himself as an alternative Christ figure. His seeming inability to stay calm when things get even remotely intense (which is reversed in reality 2) is admittedly an exception.
  • That image is exactly The Last Supper, though placement would indicate that Locke is the Christ character in the story. So far the nemesis has taken his form, which could represent an allusion to an Antichrist for The Others.
  • Just because the writers allude to the Bible doesn't mean that they are retelling Bible stories. There are tons of allusions on this show - Biblical and otherwise - and to take those Biblical allusions and assume that the show is ABC's contribution to Christian art seems misguided. The writers allude to The Odyssey on the show, but does that make Ben or Desmond Ulysses? Or do the Star Wars allusions make Sawyer Han Solo? No. Writers use allusions to other stories not necessarily to retell those stories, but to aid them in telling their own stories.
    • Sawyer does seem cast in the same archetypal mode as Solo. Jack stems from the same mythical origins as Luke and Frodo (carriers of painful burdens for the sake of the whole group). (The imagery of getting to the Swan site and dropping the nuke down the shaft bears obvious resemblances to dropping the ring into mount doom.) Jacob seems so far to bear resemblances to Obi-Wan (he disappears in the fire immediately instead of charring as a normal corpse would, and then reappears to Hurley, perhaps as an even more powerful being [this is admittedly not established yet]) and Gandalf (who falls in the battle with the Balrog but rises again as Gandalf the white--Jacob does seem to have a white aura to him when he appears to Hurley). But none of this means that Lost is "copying" the earlier works, any more than Star Wars and Lord of the Rings "copied" Wagner's Ring Cycle, any more than Wagner "copied" the Nibelungenlied. These are all retelling of the same timeless stories, which Carl Jung and his popularizer Joseph Campbell would say are etched in our "collective unconscious," which is why they are so compelling.
    • You seem to be confusing allusions with simple references. Sawyer is not Han Solo but he does follow the same anti-hero archetype described in Jungian myth theory. Simply alluding to biblical stories doesn't mean LOST is a perfect retelling of anything, but the numerous, strong parallels being drawn in this episode lead credence to the possibility this is a working theory. This is, after all, a theory page.
• Jacob seems to be a christ-like figure and his death the result of his own people feeling that they were ignoring him. Jacob brought followers like Jesus. His nemesis tried to tempt them against him,a la the devil. So now we have the death of "Jesus", the human form and it is up to the survivors to finish what he had started and fend off the "devil". Also, the old Locke was told he would have to die in order to bring the others together, so he and Jacob both share traits of Jesus and his death, both by the hand of Ben.

Jacob = God figure constantly summoning followers, with Jacob in human form as Jesus

MIB/New Locke = The devil, constantly trying to disrupt God's plan and turn his followers against him.

Ben and the Others = Judas/God's people now under the devil's control

temple water = holy water, now no longer pure

circle of ash = cross, used to fend off the devil

alternate reality = a rewritten version of God's plan, though different, the original plan is still meant to be.

• The island is the Garden of Eden and Jacob and his Nemesis are indeed the serpent and the angel from Genesis. However it is Jacob who is the serpent (the champion of free will) and his Nemesis is the angel with the flaming sword (the one who guards the garden from humans and takes on the heavenly role as judge). Jacob's role appears to be in-line with the goals of the serpent i.e. to encourage "progress" and empower humans to use their free will. Whereas the Nemesis's desire to return home may be the angel's desire to return to heaven having spent millennia guarding the garden. This does not necessarily mean that Jacob is evil and the Nemesis is good. Instead, the creators of Lost are re-framing the story of the Garden of Eden into a battle between progressive free-will and oppressive destiny in much the same way Philip Pullman did in his "Dark Materials" trilogy.

Free Will Prevails

The battle for good and evil centers on free will and paradoxes of nature. Notice that the fireworks appeared moments after Jacob was killed just as it was moments after the survivors arrived in that same timeline. This means that Jacob probably died at the exact moment that the survivors tried to reboot history and each event parallels the other. Up until this point they'd never tried to use time travel freely, with Jack knowing it might be possible yet not seeing it, while Sawyer & crew saw it but had no control over it. So the people that stay are witness to the powers of the island, but are insulated. Those that left only had glimpses of the island's powers, but retain their free will to either explore or not explore that power further in order to heal their pain. Remember Jack & the others were leaving at the exact point the islanders disappeared. At that point Jack & the others returned to reality with free will, while those left behind see the full effects of the supernatural power and accept the fate it has landed upon them.

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Free will is evident when Locke chooses to return to the real world and finally decides his only course of action is to die. But it is Ben who takes his life and his free will. So Locke's will has now been usurped by Ben mirroring how Locke manipulates Ben's lack of will on the island.

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By choosing to return to the island to try to undo their regrets Jack and those with free will only undo themselves. By combining their knowledge of the power with the temptation to use it and the ability to use it they set about their own undoing. Jack & his crew upset the balance in the 70's because the knowledge of time travel of Sawyer's group + the willingness to undo the past of Jack + the catalyst of Faraday equals destruction of the natural order. This parallels Ben's knowledge of the island's supernatural powers + Sun's openness to his promises + MIB's deception as a catalyst to destroy the balance in 2007. So they were failing on both fronts by accepting an extraordinary solution to heal their wounds in their decision to go back to the island. In each case the dark side wins. So in this new reality they have to accept their outcomes and not succumb to the temptation to cheat. On their first trip they were innocents, peeking at the possibility of the supernatural, but dismissing it somewhat. But the second trip they knew it was wrong and as a result are now caught up in it.

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Parallels

• Jack and the Oceanic Six leave --- the island disappears with those they left behind
• Islanders live happily 3 years in the past --- the survivors live 3 years in regret
• Faraday arrives w/o explanation in the past saying time travel may save them --- Ben arrives in the desert w/o explanation telling everybody to go back to the island and take a dead man with them
• Jack & team arrive in the past over guilt and disrupt the balance --- Sun, Ben & Locke show up in the present and disrupt the balance
• Faraday concocts a plan to undo everything --- Locke is alive under a false appearance in the present and concocts a plan to undo everything
• Faraday convinces Jack they can undo losing all the passengers --- MIB as Locke convinces Ben he can avenge his loss of Alex and undo his choice to follow Jacob
• They flash in time by their own choice --- Ben listens to a "Ghost" and kills Jacob

  They converge in the same time having let the dark side beat them.

  They get to try again to get it right.

• Jacob - right way - it only ends once, till then it's all progress --- MIB - wrong way - it happens again and again. They're always corruptible.

  New reality restores free will to all.

  The Others no longer have Jacob but may still defeat MIB on their own will --- New reality gets a second chance but they can't do another redo when things start going bad.