"Michael" redirects here. See also: Michael (disambiguation).
Michael Dawson was one of the middle section survivors of Oceanic Flight 815 and ultimately caused the capture of Jack, Sawyer and Kate. He was a main character in the first two seasons of Lost and his whereabouts is currently unknown after he left the Island with his son Walt on a motor boat.
Before the crash
Before crashing on the Island, Michael Dawson was a construction worker and aspiring sketch artist. He lived with his girlfriend Susan, herself an aspiring lawyer, and the happy couple were soon expecting a new arrival in their lives. Named after Michael's father, Walt was born to them on August 24th. However, not long after, Susan and Michael's relationship broke down, and when she was offered an impressive job prospect overseas, Susan took Walt with her, leaving Michael without any access to his child.
Michael plays with a young Walt
Fighting to see his son again, Michael was abashed by his lack of legal rights, as at the time he had little income and could by no means challenge the standard of life Susan was providing for their son. After one heated phone call from a pay phone, Michael walked into the street without looking, and was hit by a car.
In the hospital, Michael drew Walt a cartoon designed card, a tradition he had apparently kept to for many years. While recovering, Michael was visited by Susan who told him she had paid for all his medical bills. Michael challenged her motives, and she admitted that she wanted him to sign all custody for Walt over to her, as well as allowBrian Porter, her new husband, legal parental rights over their son. Michael challenged this idea wholeheartedly, and initiated arbitration over Walt's custody. During a legal meeting, Susan's lawyer told Michael that "for someone who wants his son so bad, you don't seem to know him very well." This idea would later echo Michael's relationship with his son, as he was never around as Walt grew up.
Losing custody, Michael remained in America, but was contacted by Brian Porter, who told him that Susan had died from a rare blood disorder. Brian insisted that Michael have custody of Walt back, and while Michael thought that this was due to him not caring about his son, Brian implied that Walt was different and strange. In Australia, Michael was reunited with Walt, telling him that he would now be taking care of him. Walt asked about Brian's dog Vincent, and Michael told him Brian had said he could keep him. Together, they boarded Oceanic Flight 815, with Michael unsure if he could handle having a son in life. Before he boarded the plane, he called his mom, expressed his insecurity, and asked her to take care of Walt. Her ultimate answer was irrelevant, for the plane crashed, making it impossible for her to watch over Walt.
On the Island
Season 1
After the crash of Flight 815, the new relationship between Michael and his son was tested. Walt had only really known Michael for a matter of weeks, and did not yet respect him, or for that matter consider him his father. Much of Michael's time would be dictated by trying to build a connection with his child.
Early on during his time on the Island, Michael was particularly in conflict with Jin, who became jealous of his friendship with Sun (indeed, Michael was the first to learn her secret that she could speak English). The two men also fought when Jin found Michael wearing the Rolex Jin had been entrusted with by his father-in-law.
Michael also became jealous, but in his case of the bond Walt formed with Locke, so much so that he accused John of having improper motives in befriending his son. However, it seemed that Michael simply wanted Walt to engage with him on the same level as he did with other survivors, and after he saved Walt from an attacking polar bear and showed him the drawings he had made for him every year, their relationship seemed to grow.
So much was Michael's will to take Walt away from the Island, that he began to build a raft. After his first construction was burnt down, Michael gained the help of an unlikely ally, Jin, to aid him in his new design. The two became strong friends, and managed to build a sturdy boat able to carry up to four people. With the boat complete Michael, Jin, Sawyer and Walt cast off in search of rescue. However, they were intercepted by a boat belonging to the Others, and in the chaos that followed Walt was taken, and the raft was blown up by a petrol bomb.
Season 2
Michael and Sawyer find that the current has brought them "home"
After scrambling onto the wreckage of his labor, Michael and Sawyer floated back to the Island shore. They soon found Jin, who was being chased by mysterious individuals (who in fact turned out to be fellow survivors from the tail section of the plane). However, with both sides suspicious of one another, the three were thrown in a pit until they were freed by Ana-Lucia. After visiting the Tailies camp in the Arrow station, the whole group made their way back across the Island towards the main camp. On the way, Michael ran to find Walt, but was convinced to come back by Jin and Eko, who assured him that when the time was right they would get Walt back.
Ms. Klugh talks to Michael
Michael's urge to find Walt again did not go away, and when he communicated with someone alleging to be his son on the hatch computer, he took a number of guns and ran off into the jungle towards the North of the Island. He did not travel far, though, before being captured by the Others, and was taken back to their camp. Here, he encountered Ms. Klugh, who asked him a number of questions about Walt's upbringing. After being kept for almost a week and having his blood taken, Michael was briefly allowed to see his son. In the emotional reunion, Walt was once again pulled away from his father, leaving Michael in tears. Ms. Klugh, using this emotion, offered Michael a deal. If he released the Other who had been captured by his friends, as well as bring Jack, Kate, Sawyer, and Hurley to them, they would release Walt. A devastated Michael agreed, but added that if he did what they asked, he wanted their boat.
Making his way back across the Island, Michael was found by Kate and Jack. Back at the Swan, he took his moment to accomplish his mission.
In order to do this, he shot Ana-Lucia, as well as Libby, who walked in on him at the wrong moment. With Ana-Lucia dead and Libby slowly dying, Michael freed the Other known as Ben, shooting himself in the arm to convince the rest of the survivors that he was another innocent victim who simply got lucky. Michael then rallied the survivors requested in order to "rescue Walt", insisting that he do it "his way", and refused help from Sayid who was by far the most qualified for a rescue attempt. While many of the survivors fell for the story, Sayid did not, and confided in Jack that he believed Michael had been "compromised". Although Jack had his doubts, he agreed that only Kate, Sawyer, and Hurley should go on the mission. Before leaving however, Jack secretly issued Michael an empty gun.
Out in the jungle, Michael and his team encountered a large bird that swooped down on them. Michael attempted to shoot it by reflex and realized that his magazine was empty, and when Jack offered to reload the weapon, Michael realized that Jack was suspicious of his motives. The team was scouted by two of the Others, one of whom Sawyer killed. The surviving other ran from the group, which made all but Jack and Michael fearful that the Others would find out their plan. Jack then revealed that the Others have already been warned, explaining to the team that Michael had betrayed them. He apologized and pleaded for their understanding, but none of them could forgive him for his actions, particularly Hurley who forced Michael to admitted his part in Ana-Lucia and Libby's deaths. As the team moved through the jungle, they were ambushed by the Others, all of them taken hostage. The group was moved to the Pala Ferry, where Ben showed his authority as the leader of the Others.
Michael and Walt on the Others' boat
He acknowledged that Michael kept his word, and returned Walt to him, along with the promised boat. Ben told Michael that by traveling at a compass bearing of 325, they would find rescue. Michael asked Ben how he knew they wouldn't tell people where they'd been, to which Ben replied that Michael wouldn't dare risk letting people know the lengths he went to in order to get his son back.
Michael then desperately asked the question on all the survivors' lips: who the Others really were. With the ominous reply and grin from Ben that they are "the good guys", Michael and Walt started up the boat and departed from the pier. While Walt looked back at his friends still held captive, Michael kept his eye on the heading - leaving the Island with his son. Even after all he had had to do, in Michael's mind the two are finally together once more.
Unanswered questions
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- For fan theories about these unanswered questions, see: Michael Dawson/Theories
- Who chat with michael through the computer in the Swan?
- What happened to Michael and Walt after they attempted to depart the Island on the Others' boat? (This question is obliquely addressed in the Official Lost Podcast of October 3, 2006).
- How will he and Walt just merge back into society? Won't anyone wonder how two plane crash victims randomly appeared back in the real world?
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