Portal:Mysteries

"Mystery" redirects here. For other uses of "mystery", see Mystery (disambiguation).

A question mark, seen in the blast door map. ("Lockdown")

This article lists Lost's major mysteries and their implied answers, if any exist. The Unanswered Questions heading notes aspects of mysteries in the show that were never explained.

"Solved" denotes those mysteries that the show mostly or completely solved. "Unsolved" denotes those that the show barely addressed. "Partially solved" covers the rest..

For a simpler format, which just lists Lost's mysteries, see "Mysteries At a Glance."

For an outline of every question per episode and its answer, see Questions and Answers.

Key

Solved

Partially solved

Unsolved

The Island

The Monster	Introduced	Solved
	"Pilot, Part 1"	"Across the Sea"
Who/What is the Smoke monster? The Man in Black. ("LA X, Part 1") How did he acquire the black smoke form? His brother, Jacob, threw him into the Heart of the Island creating a pillar of black smoke for him to inhabit and leaving his physical, human body lifeless. ("The Substitute") ("Across the Sea") What are all of the the powers of the smoke monster? In addition to being a cloud of black smoke capable of traveling the island, damaging property, hurting or killing people, the smoke monster can assume the form of people who have died, and of other creatures, including paralyzing spiders ("Expose") ("Official Lost Podcast/March 21, 2008") and possibly others (e.g. Kate's horse). The smoke monster can also see into the pasts of those it encounters, and has used this ability to conjure images of (dead) people from their lives and/or "judge" them. ("White Rabbit") ("The 23rd Psalm") ("The Cost of Living") ("Dead Is Dead) ("Some Like It Hoth") ("Ab Aeterno") ("The Last Recruit") What is its purpose on the Island? The smoke monster is considered by some to be a security system for the Island. The Others summoned it to fend off enemies like the mercenaries from the freighter. Ben and Eko also viewed the smoke monster as a judge, who evaluates the pasts of characters it encounters and decides whether they deserve to live or die. ("The Cost of Living") ("The Shape of Things to Come") ("Some Like It Hoth") Despite this, it may or may not be supposed to exist on the Island at all, having been created when Jacob threw his brother into the Heart after his Mother previously warned against entering it. What are the motivations of the smoke monster? The smoke monster was desperate to leave the Island, where he had felt trapped for over 2,000 years. He was willing to stop, or kill, anyone he perceived as a threat to that goal. ("The Substitute") ("Across the Sea") Why does the monster make mechanical sounds? They are actually the electrical sounds naturally emanating from the Monster's composition. ("The 23rd Psalm") This is because the Monster was made from the Heart of the Island's electromagnetism. ("Across the Sea") ("The End")

Polar bears	Introduced	Solved
	"Pilot, Part 2"	"The New Man in Charge"
How did polar bears end up on the Island? They were brought there by the DHARMA Initiative. ("Lockdown") ("A Tale of Two Cities") Why did the DHARMA Initiative choose polar bears? The polar bears posses a keen sense of memory and adaptability, traits that make them ideal candidates for the experiments DHARMA did. ("The New Man in Charge") How do they survive on the Island? The DHARMA zoologists experimented on them, making them fit for survival in warmer climates. ("Lockdown") ("Some Like It Hoth") Why did a polar bear skeleton appear in Tunisia? Because DHARMA used them in testing with or around the frozen wheel, whose turning/activation transported those who were responsible to the desert of Tunisia. ("Confirmed Dead") ("The Shape of Things to Come") ("There's No Place Like Home, Parts 2 & 3") ("The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham") ("The New Man in Charge")

Distress signal	Introduced	Solved
	"Pilot, Part 2"	"Solitary"
Who recorded the distress signal? Danielle Rousseau ("Solitary") Why was it recorded? After the infection of the science team by the sickness, Rousseau recorded the distress call over top of an earlier broadcast of the numbers which had been heard by Leonard Simms years earlier. ("Pilot, Part 2") ("Numbers") ("Through the Looking Glass, Part 1") ("This Place Is Death") Why is it still being played after 16 years? Because Rousseau was never rescued. ("Solitary") Where is it being broadcast from? From the radio tower. ("Through the Looking Glass, Part 1") Why did the Others allow the existence and continued broadcast of the message in the years since Rousseau recorded it? Because the Looking Glass Station prevented the outside world from hearing it, thereby negating the need for deactivating the broadcast. ("Through the Looking Glass, Part 1")

Black Rock	Introduced	Solved
	"Pilot, Part 2"	"Ab Aeterno"
What is the Black Rock mentioned in Rousseau's distress signal? A ship from the 1800's which was found in the middle of the jungle on the Island. When did the ship arrive on the Island? In 1867. ("Ab Aeterno") How did the ship get located in the middle of the jungle? It landed there after being carried by a tidal wave. ("Ab Aeterno") How did Magnus Hanso die, as the blast door map shows his resting place? He died upon impact. ("Ab Aeterno") What happened to the crew aboard the Black Rock? The slaves were executed by Jonas Whitfield. while the officers were killed by the Man in Black. ("Ab Aeterno") Why did it appear that some of the slaves had freed themselves? How did they free themselves? Actually, only one slave eventually survived, Richard Alpert, who was freed with the help from the Man in Black. ("Ab Aeterno")

Healing properties	Introduced	Solved
	"Walkabout"	"S.O.S."
How are people healed on the Island? The Island's electromagnetism heals people's injuries. ("S.O.S.") This is seen most dramatically in the Temple spring. ("LA X, Part 2") Why are some people healed and not others? It is implied that the Island on rare occasion withholds or reverses the effects of healing for some purpose, especially to stop the individual in their current path. ("Deus Ex Machina") ("The Man from Tallahassee") ("Something Nice Back Home")

Visions of the dead	Introduced	Solved
	"Walkabout"	"The Last Recruit"
Why do certain dead people appear on the Island? Because of his ability to take the form of the dead, most of these appearances were the Man in Black in disguise (such as Christian Shephard, Yemi, Alex Rousseau, John Locke), ("White Rabbit") ("The Cost of Living") ("Dead Is Dead") ("Sundown") ("The Last Recruit") while some of them are actual ghosts who appear chiefly to people with the ability of mediumship (such as Claudia and Michael Dawson). ("The Lie") ("Ab Aeterno") ("Everybody Loves Hugo") Some of the latter visions were of ghosts trapped on the island, whispering. ("Everybody Loves Hugo") How was the Man in Black able to appear as Christian Shephard to Jack off the Island? Since the Man in Black wasn't able to leave the Island, Jack's off-Island visions of his father were either psychological--due to substance abuse or simply stress--or psychic in nature. ("Something Nice Back Home") How did Christian appear to Michael on the freighter if the Man in Black can't leave the island? ("There's No Place Like Home") According to Daniel, the Island exerts a finite circle of influence that extends into the surrounding water. ("Because You Left") The freighter was within the circle's radius. ("This Place is Death") Similarly, dead whisperers trapped on the Island could manifest themselves on the freighter. ("There's No Place Like Home, Parts 2 & 3")

Adam and Eve	Introduced	Solved
	"House of the Rising Sun"	"Across the Sea"
Who were Adam and Eve? The Man in Black and Mother. ("Across the Sea") How did they die? Mother was killed by the Man in Black. The Man in Black's human body became lifeless when Jacob threw him into the Heart, thus transferring him into smoke form. ("Across the Sea") What was the meaning of the black and white rocks found on the bodies? They were gamepieces from the Man in Black's Senet set. ("Across the Sea")

Cable	Introduced	Solved
	"Solitary"	"Greatest Hits"
What was the purpose of the cable? It was one of several cables on the Island which lead from the Flame to the rest of the DHARMA stations. ("Enter 77") Where did the cable Sayid discover lead to? The Looking Glass. ("Greatest Hits")

Bésixdouze expedition	Introduced	Solved
	"Solitary"	"This Place Is Death"
Who were the members of the team? Danielle, Robert, Montand, Brennan, Nadine and Lacombe. ("The Little Prince") ("This Place Is Death") How did the team end up on the Island? The science team picked up a broadcast of the numbers coming from the radio tower. They were then caught in a storm which destroyed their vessel and made it to the Island inside a small life raft. ("Numbers") ("This Place Is Death") What was the "it" that killed all the other members from Rousseau's expedition? Taking into account Rousseau's mental instability, shifting accounts of the story, and position as the actual murderer of her team, it is difficult to determine what she meant when she recorded her messages. However, she likely meant the Black Smoke or the Sickness. ("Solitary") ("This Place Is Death") How did Montand lose his arm? He was taken by the Monster to the Temple entrance, where the rest of his team tried to pull him up, though the Monster managed to pull him down, ripping his arm off. ("This Place Is Death") What were the science team studying? In an interview with Lostpedia, David Fury claimed that the original intent for "Solitary" was to have Rousseau tell Sayid that her team was studying 'time'".

Pillar of smoke	Introduced	Solved
	"Exodus, Part 1"	"This Place Is Death"
Who lit the pillar of smoke seen in "Exodus, Part 1"? Danielle lit it, trying to use the survivors' panic to kidnap Aaron. ("Exodus, Part 2") Who lit the pillar that Rousseau mentions from the past? It was Rousseau's campfire, seen by Jin just before she shoots Robert, something that she probably misremembered as happening the night before Alex's kidnapping. ("This Place Is Death")

The Others	Introduced	Solved
	"Solitary"	"A Tale of Two Cities"
Who are the Others? The Others are a group of people living on the Island who, through the representation of Richard Alpert, indirectly followed Jacob before his death in 2007. ("A Tale of Two Cities") ("The Man From Tallahassee") ("Ab Aeterno") How did they get to the Island? Although other groups of people had come to the Island earlier, Richard Alpert was the first member of the group who came to be known as the Others. He arrived as a slave on the Black Rock. Jacob continued to bring other people to the Island over the years, some of whom presumably joined the Others. The Others also recruited at least two members of the DHARMA Initiative into their fold, Ben Linus and Ethan Rom. After the purge, Ben continued to bring more people to the Island for his own purposes, such as Juliet. ("The Man Behind the Curtain") ("The Other Woman") ("Jughead") ("Dead Is Dead") ("The Incident, Part 1") ("Ab Aeterno") What is their purpose on the Island? Jacob's intent for the Others was to prove that people could be good on their own accord. Their primary goal was to protect the island from threats. ("Solitary") ("Ab Aeterno") Why did they kidnap children? For the children's own protection, according to Ben. Ben had a particular fondness for children, perhaps due to his own troubled upbringing; his refusal to kill Danielle and his kidnapping Alex against orders divided him and Charles Widmore. More broadly, the Others were unable to give birth on the island, so they kidnapped to supplement their population. They were also intently interested in running tests on some children, such as Walt, who exhibited unusual powers. ("Dead Is Dead")("Raised By Another") ("Not in Portland")

The Sickness	Introduced	Solved
	"Solitary"	"What Kate Does"
How did the Sickness manifest? It changed people, making them act violent and amoral. It robbed them of emotions, at least initially. ("This Place Is Death") ("What Kate Does") ("The Package") What causes the Sickness? Being claimed by the Man in Black. ("What Kate Does") Sayid died before being claimed, suggesting that claiming involves resurrecting the dead. ("Sundown") How did the vaccine prevent the sickness? Nothing related the two. The vaccine allegedly prevented a different disease, one from which the Swan was quarantined. This disease did not exist; this hoax helped confine the Swan inhabitants. ("Man of Science, Man of Faith")  ("Live Together, Die Alone") The Others also injected Claire with this vaccine, allegedly to protect her from disease, but an implant they inserted, not the Sickness, caused her later symptoms. ("One of Us")

Whispers	Introduced	Solved
	"Solitary"	"Everybody Loves Hugo"
What are the Whispers? They are the words of the people who have died on or near the Island and cannot move on. ("Everybody Loves Hugo") ("Meet Kevin Johnson") Can the whisperers eventually leave the Island and move on? After becoming protector, Hurley recruited Walt to help Michael, who'd been trapped as a whisper. This suggests whisperers can move on. ("The New Man in Charge")

Special people	Introduced	Solved
	"Special"	"Across the Sea"
What does it mean that some people are "special"? In the Lost universe, some rare individuals are simply born with or develop naturally-occurring psychic/paranormal gifts or inclinations, and/or a natural inclination towards the Island. Examples of this include, notably, Walt ("Special"), Miles ("Some Like It Hoth"), Hurley ("The Beginning of the End"), and the Man in Black ("Across the Sea"), as well as Ben ("The Man Behind the Curtain") and John Locke ("Cabin Fever"). Less notably, Isaac of Uluru ("S.O.S.") Achara ("Stranger in a Strange Land") and purportedly Richard Malkin ("Raised by Another") . The degree of "specialness" appears to be relative to the individual. What is the significance of special people? They are sought and favored for positions of leadership on the Island if they exhibit a strong enough degree of "specialness". Oftentimes, they will exhibit traits early in childhood, including a tendency for personal independence or visions. ("Cabin Fever") ("The Man Behind the Curtain") ("The New Man In Charge") ("Across the Sea") ("The End") Why are special people inclined towards the Island? The Island is the source of the Light in all of mankind, circulating "life, death, and rebirth". ("Across the Sea") This suggests that special people have a stronger concentration of the Light and therefore a stronger natural connection to the Island. What causes certain characters to have these powers? It seems they are naturally derived from the Heart of the Island. ("Across the Sea") What were Walt's powers? Walt seemed to have a number of supernatural powers, including remote projection ("Abandoned") ("Three Minutes"), precognition ("Special") ("The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham") and some form of interacting with animals ("Special") ("Room 23"). Which characters have mediumship, and what does this entail? Miles, Hurley, and the Man in Black. The latter two can talk directly with the dead, while Miles can only read the last thoughts and visions of the dead. Why did Hurley never showcase these abilities before Season 4? A special person's abilities manifesting seems to be uncommon as is and perhaps relative to the individual. Hurley's specialness starts to exhibit most prominently as the intensity of the Island's fate increases ("The Beginning of the End") ("Cabin Fever") and Hurley draws closer to his destiny ("LA X") ("Lighthouse") ("Ab Aeterno") ("What They Died For") ("The End") and while trying to resist his destiny to the Island. ("The Beginning of the End") ("Something Nice Back Home") ("There's No Place Like Home, Part 2") ("The Lie") Equally worth mentioning is that Hurley's destiny towards the Island manifested in a different way before the crash, via the Numbers, which Hurley believed was a curse. ("Numbers") This continued after rescue from the Island. ("There's No Place Like Home, Part 1") However, Jacob told Hurley that he was not cursed, but blessed. ("The Incident") We later learn that the Numbers corresponded to Jacob's candidates to protect the Island. ("The Substitute") ("Lighthouse")

The Numbers	Introduced	Solved
	"Numbers"	"Lighthouse"
What do the Numbers mean? Each number corresponds to the degree Jacob must turn his wheel to view candidates in the lighthouse. Each number was the degree of the remaining 6 candidates for his replacement. They were a sort of filing system, as seen in his cave. ("The Substitute") ("Lighthouse") Why did the Numbers appear on the Swan hatch and why were they the code for the Hatch computer? They were the station's serial number for the hatch lid. ("Some Like It Hoth") Why did the Numbers reappear regularly both on and off the Island? The Numbers also represent the factors of the core values of the Valenzetti Equation, which predicts the date of the destruction of mankind. These Numbers correspond to various human and environmental factors, suggesting that they are embedded in the structure of the universe. This is also likely why the Numbers appeared to be cursed. The purpose of the DHARMA Initiative was to alter these values in order to stave off the destruction of mankind. The values were broadcast from the radio tower, with the intent of using the broadcast to determine when DHARMA had succeeded in changed them. ("The Lost Experience") The frequent appearance of the numbers through out the show also demonstrates apophenia, or human's ability and desperation to see a pattern in the randomness.This relates back to the show's overall them of fate versus free will. When Frank Lapidus lands the Ajira Flight 316 on the island, there is a Numbers broadcast in the same voice that Rousseau's team heard. If Danielle erased this, where is it coming from? The Ajira Flight likely received the transmission bouncing through time, as radio waves are known to do on the Island. ("The Long Con")

The Hatch	Introduced	Solved
	"All the Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues"	"Man of Science, Man of Faith"
What was inside the Hatch? The Swan, a DHARMA station, whose occupant, Desmond Hume, was a previous acquaintance of Jack's. ("Man of Science, Man of Faith") ("Orientation") Why did a bright light suddenly appear when Locke banged the Hatch door? Because the Hatch occupant, Desmond Hume turned on the light after hearing a noise from outside. ("Live Together, Die Alone") Why was the inside of the hatch door labeled "quarantine"? The occupants of the Swan were under the impression that they had to wear a hazmat suit in order to leave the station, thus the quarantine was likely a way to keep them inside the Swan to ensure that the button would be pushed. This quarantine is likely how Radzinsky and Kelvin were able to survive the purge. ("Live Together, Die Alone")

Nigerian plane	Introduced	Solved
	"Deus Ex Machina"	"The 23rd Psalm"
Who were the people aboard the Beechcraft? Yemi, Mr. Eko's brother, was the man who was found aboard the plane, while Goldie was the man who jumped-off the plane. ("The 23rd Psalm") Why were they wearing priest outfits, even though the plane was filled with Virgin Mary statues filled with heroin, and one of the corpses has a gun? Yemi, the corpse found by Boone on the plane, was an actual Catholic priest, whose help the drug smugglers (Eko, Olu and Goldie) needed. Only foreign and missionary planes were allowed to take off from Nigeria, which prevented the drug smugglers from getting their drugs out of the country to more profitable markets. He helped them only after they threatened to burn down his church, while the other corpse was disguised as a priest in order to claim the plane belonged to a mission. ("The 23rd Psalm") How was a plane which took off from Nigeria crash on an island which is supposedly in the Pacific? The Island continually moves. ("The New Man in Charge")

Hurley Bird	Introduced	Solved
	"Exodus, Part 2"	"The New Man in Charge"
Where did the bird come from? The DHARMA Initiative engineered it as part of its zoological research program. It nicknamed these hybrid birds "hybirds". ("The New Man in Charge") How was it able to pronounce Hugo's nickname, and how did it recognize him? It did not pronounce his name. Hurley mistook its regular cry, which it made years before he first came to the island, as his name. ("The New Man in Charge") When Sawyer heard this cry, he mocked Hurley for hearing his name. ("Live Together, Die Alone, Part 1")

DHARMA Initiative	Introduced	Solved
	"Orientation"	Various
How did DHARMA know about the Island, and how did they find it? They used photos and information previously gathered by the U.S. Army who visited the Island in the 50's. The Island was found when a "clever fellow" constructed the Lamp Post station in which a pendulum revealed where the Island was most likely to be at a certain point. ("316") Why were there no signs of DHARMA personnel on the Island in 2004? Because they were almost all killed by the Hostiles in the Purge, after they repeatedly violated the Truce between them and the Others. They'd overstayed the 15 years that Alpert had allowed them, they'd drilled extensively at the Orchid and the Swan and they'd invaded the Others' territory. ("Enter 77") ("The Man Behind the Curtain") ("LaFleur") How did DHARMA travel to and from the Island? Via submarine. ("The Man Behind the Curtain)" ("LaFleur") What was the purpose of the DHARMA Initiative? The DHARMA Initiative was founded by Alvar Hanso in an attempt to change the core values of the Valenzetti Equation. These values were to be broadcast from the radio tower so that any change could be detected by the DHARMA Initiative from off the Island. ("The Lost Experience")

Electromagnetism	Introduced	Solved
	"Orientation"	"Across the Sea"
Why do compasses not work at some places on the Island? Because the Island has a number of pockets of electromagnetism which can interfere with compass bearings. ("Hearts and Minds") ("Across the Sea") What causes the electromagnetic anomalies on the Island? The electromagnetism originates at the Heart but is also strong at certain other locations on the Island, where Claudia's people built the wells. ("Across the Sea") ("The End") What are the effects of electromagnetism on the Island? Large surges of electromagnetism can distort space and time, causing interference with communications equipment ("Every Man for Himself"), teleportation ("Further Instructions") ("Flashes Before Your Eyes") ("There's No Place Like Home, Parts 2 & 3"), time dilation ("The Economist") ("The Shape of Things to Come") ("Cabin Fever"), visions of the past and future ("Flashes Before Your Eyes") ("Happily Ever After") and time travel. ("The Shape of Things to Come") ("Because You Left")

The Hostiles	Introduced	Solved
	"Live Together, Die Alone, Part 1"	"LaFleur"
Who were the Hostiles? The Hostiles were the name that DHARMA gave to the group later known to the Flight 815 survivors as "the Others". ("Jughead")

Statue of Taweret	Introduced	Solved
	"Live Together, Die Alone, Part 1"	"Ab Aeterno"
What was the Statue of? The Egyptian goddess of fertility, Taweret. ("The Incident, Part 1") ("Ab Aeterno") What was the Statue's purpose? The reasons why it was initially built is unknown. At some point Jacob began living in it. ("The Incident, Part 2") How was the Statue destroyed? The Black Rock, carried by a tidal wave smashed the Statue before landing on the Island. ("Ab Aeterno") Who built the Statue? Egyptians. (Official Lost Podcast/May 7, 2010) When was the Statue built? The exact date is unknown, but ancient Egypt existed between 3150 BC and 31 BC. Additionally, visitors to the Island have traveled through time when coming or going. ("Meet Kevin Johnson") ("Namaste")

Discharge	Introduced	Solved
	"Live Together, Die Alone, Part 1"	"There's No Place Like Home, Parts 2 & 3"
What is the discharge? The discharges are seen any time a large quantity of electromagnetic energy is released on the Island. ("Live Together, Die Alone, Part 2") ("There's No Place Like Home, Part 3")

Pregnancy issues	Introduced	Solved
	"Not in Portland"	"The New Man in Charge"
What are the pregnancy issues experienced on the Island? Women who got pregnant on the Island after 1977 could not carry their children to term. Sometime before the third trimester, the women experience a serious miscarriage which kills both mother and fetus. Women who conceive off-Island, such as Claire, give birth without issue. In addition, women such as Sun who conceive on island but leave before their third trimester, escape miscarriage and death. ("Do No Harm") ("Not In Portland") ("D.O.C.") ("Ji Yeon") How does the Island affect the pregnant women? The pregnancy problem is a consequence of the Island's electromagnetic energy, harming only those pregnant women and animals who receive direct exposure. Unfortunately, following the Incident, a previously sealed pocket of electromagnetic energy was released and continually "leaking", affecting all pregnant women on the Island, no matter their proximity to the electromagnetic source. ("LaFleur") ("The Incident, Parts 1 & 2") ("The New Man in Charge") What does the Island do to the reproductive systems of its inhabitants? Men experience a five-fold increase in sperm counts while on the Island, possibly due to the healing properties of the Island. ("Not in Portland") ("D.O.C.") Women's changed immune systems attack the fetus. ("One of Us)" ("The Other Woman") What prevents women who conceived on the island from giving birth? Their immune systems attack the new fetus as a pathogen. ("One of Us") ("The Other Woman") Women who conceived off-Island lack the immune boost when the zygote first implants.

Moving the Island	Introduced	Solved
	"Cabin Fever"	"316"

Frozen wheel	Introduced	Solved
	"There's No Place Like Home, Parts 2 & 3"	"Across the Sea"
What was the wheel's purpose? Turning the wheel combined the light from the Heart and the water on the island to cause the person (or animal) who turned to travel through space and time. When off-set from its axis it made the Island skip through time. ("There's No Place Like Home, Parts 2 & 3") ("Because You Left") ("This Place Is Death") ("LaFleur") ("Across the Sea") Why did DHARMA build the Orchid on top of it? They discovered the Wheel while digging to the Heart. Since Dr. Chang stated that they did initially plan to use the electromagnetic energy to time travel, they most likely studied the wheel and/or the time fluctuations related to it to determine how to harness electromagnetism for such purposes as time manipulation. ("Because You Left") How was the wheel accessed and installed, as it predated the DHARMA station? Through the wells, which were built by the Man in Black, and the Romans who first discovered the Island's electromagnetic properties. ("This Place Is Death") ("Across the Sea") Who built and installed the wheel? The Man in Black built the original wheel and came up with the plans to use it, though it was buried with his well before he could install it. He had many remaining years on the island to build another one or restore the original. ("Across the Sea") Hieroglyphics around the wheel suggest an Egyptian involvement. ("This Place Is Death") Why was the wheel and the room it resided in frozen? This was likely an effect of the exotic matter and the moisture from the water channeling it. ("Across the Sea")

Time travel	Introduced	Solved
	"The Shape of Things to Come"	"316"

The Well	Introduced	Solved
	"This Place Is Death"	"Across the Sea"
Who dug the wells? The Man in Black and Claudia's people. ("Across the Sea") Why were the wells dug? Claudia's people dug them out of scientific curiosity, noting that metal behaved strangely at certain sites on The Island. The Man in Black joined their effort so he could reach the Heart and use it to escape the Island. ("The Last Recruit") ("Across the Sea")

The Heart of the Island	Introduced	Solved
	"Across the Sea"	"The End"
What is the Heart of the Island? The Heart is the electromagnetic core of the island. The electromagnetism found deep within the island originates here and exists in its most powerful form. It radiates out to other parts of the island. ("The End") Why must it be protected? The Heart must be protected because if the energy is released, it could cause a global catastrophe. Similar to the Swan Incident, the electromagnetic expulsion caused the island to shake, but much more severely. Cliffs began to collapse into the ocean, and the shaking ground caused landslides and rockfalls. If it had escalated, the implications could have been disastrous. ("The End") Who built its layout? Island inhabitants after the Man in Black's transformation. (Across the Sea audio commentary)

Oceanic 815

Jack's tattoos	Introduced	Solved
	"Pilot, Part 1"	"Stranger in a Strange Land"
Where did Jack get his tattoos from? From a girl he met in Phukett, Achara. ("Stranger in a Strange Land") What did the tattoo translate to? As Isabel noted, they translate to "He walks amongst us, but he is not one of us." ("Stranger in a Strange Land")

Sawyer's letter	Introduced	Solved
	"Pilot, Part 1"	"The Brig"
Who wrote Sawyer's letter? Even though he initially stated that the letter was written to him, Kate discovered that Sawyer wrote the letter to the original Sawyer. ("Confidence Man") What was the content of Sawyer's letter? It was written by Sawyer as a child, after the murder-suicide of his parents to the man he found responsible for their deaths. ("Confidence Man") Who was the original Sawyer? Anthony Cooper, Locke's father. ("The Brig")

Kate's crime	Introduced	Solved
	"Pilot, Part 1"	"What Kate Did"
Why was Kate on the run? She killed her father (who she had previously thought was her step-father) by setting of an explosion in the house where she lived with him and her mother. ("What Kate Did")

Locke's paralysis	Introduced	Solved
	"Walkabout"	"The Man from Tallahassee"
How did Locke lose the use of his legs? He was pushed out of a window by his own father, Anthony Cooper, falling 8 stories and breaking his back. ("The Man from Tallahassee")

Raising Aaron	Introduced	Solved
	"Raised By Another"	"?", "The End"
Why did a psychic tell Claire that she must be the one to raise Aaron? Richard Malkin later revealed to Eko that his psychic abilities were a scam, thus his predictions for Claire weren't accurate. ("?") Who was the couple in Los Angeles who could raise Aaron? Although possibly a coincidence, since Malkin revealed that he was a fraud, Jack and Kate briefly lived together and raised Aaron in their time off the Island. Later still, Kate said she and Claire would raise Aaron. ("Something Nice Back Home") ("The End") Why did Malkin change his prediction later, saying that Claire must give up Aaron to a couple in L.A.? After Malkin's original prediction, his daughter drowned but awoke on the coroner's table. Rather than believing in the resurrection, Malkin interpreted his wife's belief in it as criticism of his own dishonesty. He spoke to a priest about the matter and contacted Claire shortly afterward, reversing his advice, having supposedly found a couple for her child. ("?")("Raised by Another") How did Richard Malkin know Flight 815 would crash? Richard Malkin later revealed that his powers were of a fraudulent nature, although his insistence on Claire taking specifically Flight 815 led her to believe he knew it would crash and force her to raise the child. It is unknown if any real psychic phenomena was at play in this scenario. ("Raised by Another")

Tail Section	Introduced	Solved
	"Walkabout"	"The Other 48 Days"
What happened to the Tail section of the plane? It crashed on the other part of the Island. Were there any survivors, as Rose suggested? Yes, with a total of 23 people surviving the crash (including Rose's husband Bernard and Ana Lucia, the woman Jack met at the airport). ("Walkabout") ("Exodus, Part 1") ("Orientation") ("The Other 48 Days")

Eko's stick	Introduced	Solved
	"The Other 48 Days"	"Enter 77"
What is carved on Eko's stick? Passages of scripture, which he refers to as things he needs to remember. ("The 23rd Psalm") Where does the bearing given to Locke on Eko's stick lead? To the Flame. ("Enter 77")

Libby's past	Introduced	Solved
	"Dave"	"Live Together, Die Alone"
Why was Libby in Santa Rosa Mental Health Institute? She was self-admitted because of the nervous breakdown she suffered after her husband's death. ("Live Together, Die Alone") ("Everybody Loves Hugo")

Sun's baby	Introduced	Solved
	"The Whole Truth"	"D.O.C."
Who was the father of Sun's baby? It was Jin and the baby was conceived on the Island, as revealed by Juliet's ultrasound. ("D.O.C.") How was Sun able to get pregnant if Jin was infertile? As stated by Juliet, men see an increased sperm count on the Island. ("D.O.C.")

Desmond's flashes	Introduced	Solved
	"Further Instructions"	"The Constant"
What caused Desmond's flashes? Exposure to electromagnetism when the Swan imploded, which can cause time travel and visions of the past and future. ("Live Together, Die Alone") ("Flashes Before Your Eyes") ("Happily Ever After") Can the future seen in the visions be prevented? To a small degree, yes. The particular events in the visions can be avoided, however this will cause the universe to "course correct" and engineer another situation where the outcome that was avoided still comes about, such as with Charlie's death. ("Every Man For Himself") ("Flashes Before Your Eyes") ("Catch-22") ("Through the Looking Glass") Why was Claire never seen getting on the helicopter with Aaron as Desmond predicted? As already stated, the outcome of a vision will always happen, though it can be delayed or the specifics can be changed. Claire didn't leave with Aaron on the helicopter, but each eventually flew off the island. ("The End") Why did Desmond's flashes stop? This is likely because Desmond found his constant, thus fully anchoring his mind in time. ("The Constant")

Hurley's guitar case	Introduced	Solved
	"316"	"LA X, Part 2"
Who gave Hurley the guitar case? Jacob, while visiting Hurley, after he was dismissed from prison. ("The Incident, Part 2") What was in the guitar case? There was a wooden ankh inside, containing a list of the names of the survivors who came to the Temple (Reyes, Kwon, Jarrah, Shephard and Austen). ("LA X, Part 2") Why did Hurley have a guitar case? In addition to holding the ankh for delivery to the Temple, the guitar case may also have helped Ajira 316 to reach the Island by acting as a proxy for Charlie's guitar case on the original flight. ("Exodus, Part 2") ("316") ("LA X, Part 2")

The Others

Alex's kidnapping	Introduced	Solved
	"Solitary"	"Dead Is Dead"
Why did the Others kidnap Alex? Ben, under orders from Charles Widmore and assisted by a young Ethan Rom, went to Rousseau's tent in an attempt to kill her. However, he noticed her baby daughter, and in a quick change of heart he abducted Alex and spared Danielle, telling her to stay away from the Whispers in the jungle. Following this, Ben started taking care of Alex as his own child. ("Dead Is Dead")

Ethan Rom	Introduced	Solved
	"Raised By Another"	"Stranger in a Strange Land"
Why wasn't he on the plane? Because he had been living on the Island with the group who came to be known to the survivors as the Others. ("Raised by Another") Why had he infiltrated the survivors' camp? He was instructed by Benjamin Linus to infiltrate the survivors in order to create lists of passengers who would be deemed acceptable recruits for the Others. After discovering that Claire was pregnant, he kidnapped her in order to help the Others research their fertility problems. ("Maternity Leave") ("A Tale of Two Cities") ("The Other Woman") What was his function within the Others? He was their surgeon. ("Stranger in a Strange Land")

Claire's kidnapping	Introduced	Solved
	"Raised By Another"	"Maternity Leave"
Why did the Others kidnap Claire? They wanted to help her successfully deliver her baby. They then then planned to take her child for research and to help populate their ranks. ("Maternity Leave") Where did they keep her? In an abandoned DHARMA medical station, The Staff. ("Maternity Leave") How did Claire escape the Others? Alex helped her out of the station, at which point Danielle discovered her, knocked her out and dragged her to a place near the survivors' camp. ("Maternity Leave") ("Special")

Walt's kidnapping	Introduced	Solved
	"Exodus, Part 3"	"Room 23"
Why did the Others kidnap Walt? They were under orders from Jacob to do so, likely for research into his "special" abilities. ("Room 23")

Cindy's disappearance	Introduced	Solved
	"Abandoned"	"Stranger in a Strange Land"
What happened to Cindy while the tail section survivors were travelling across the Island? Cindy left the group and ended up with the Others. It is unknown whether she was kidnapped or left on her own. She was later seen to be happy to be with the Others, taking responsibility for Zach and Emma. ("The Other 48 Days") ("Stranger in a Strange Land") ("The Brig") ("LA X, Part 2") Why did Cindy stay with the Others? Ben reunited her with Zack and Emma as well as the other people taken. According to the Lost Encyclopedia, she realized they were civilized people who lived in the barracks and protected the island.

Ben's secret room	Introduced	Solved
	"The Shape of Things to Come"	"What They Died For"
What was the purpose of the room? To summon the monster for protection. ("The Shape of Things to Come") How was this accomplished? By draining a small pool of water. ("Dead Is Dead") Who built the room and when? As the room contained hieroglyphs, it was most likely built by the Egyptians, around the same time as the Temple and Statue. ("Dead Is Dead")  ("The Incident, Parts 1 & 2") Why did the DHARMA Initiative build a house overtop of the structure? This was likely to conceal the structure from public access in the Barracks.

"Henry Gale"	Introduced	Solved
	"One of Them"	"Live Together, Die Alone, Part 2"
Who is Henry Gale? Henry Gale is Benjamin Linus, a member of the Others. ("Lockdown") ("A Tale of Two Cities") What is his position among the Others? Ben is the leader of the Others. ("Live Together, Die Alone") What was he doing when he was ensnared by Rousseau? He informs John Locke that he was on his way to kidnap him, although, since aspects of his description of the Others have proven false on other occasions, this may not be true. ("Two for the Road") Who was the real Henry Gale? The real Henry Gale was a balloonist from Minnesota whose balloon crashed on The Island while he attempted a solo journey across the Pacific. He was killed by The Others and buried in an unmarked grave below his balloon. ("Lockdown") ("Dave")

Room 23	Introduced	Solved
	"Three Minutes"	"The Package"
Where did the Others take Karl? To a facility on Hydra Island, known as Room 23. ("Not in Portland") What was Room 23's purpose? It was designed by the DHARMA Initiative to conduct experiments on subliminal messaging, and to brainwash and interrogate abducted Hostiles. After the Purge, it was taken by the Others and it was used for experimentation and brainwashing as a mean of punishment. Widmore's team used it as a place to keep prisoners. ("The New Man in Charge") ("Not in Portland") ("Room 23") ("The Package")

Runway	Introduced	Solved
	"The Glass Ballerina"	"The End"
What were the Others building on Hydra Island? A runway. ("Through the Looking Glass, Part 1") Why was a runway being built? The runway was eventually used by Frank in order to land Ajira Flight 316 relatively safely, and later to take off and escape the Island. ("Namaste") ("The End") How did the Others know to build a runway? Jacob told them so, implying that he knew another plane would crash on The Island. ("Official Lost Podcast/March 19, 2009")

Richard Alpert	Introduced	Solved
	"Not In Portland"	"Ab Aeterno"
Who is he? Jacob's intermediary and an advisor to the leader of the Others, and their leader at least since the 1860s to the mid-twentieth century when Eloise took over. ("Follow the Leader") ("Jughead") ("The Variable") ("Ab Aeterno") When and how did he come to the Island? Aboard the Black Rock in 1867, as a slave of Magnus Hanso. ("Ab Aeterno") Why did he appear to be the same age in 1954, 1977 and 2004? Jacob granted him agelessness. ("The Incident, Part 1") ("Ab Aeterno")

Anthony Cooper	Introduced	Solved
	"The Man from Tallahassee"	"The Brig"
How did he get on the Island? He was brought by the Others, who staged a car accident, after which they abducted him and brought him to the Island. ("The Brig") (Access: Granted) Why was he brought to the Island? Richard stated that Locke needed to kill his father in order to let go of him before rising to leadership of the Others. ("The Brig")

The Temple	Introduced	Solved
	"Through the Looking Glass, Part 1"	"Sundown"
What is the Temple? A safe haven for the Others against both outsiders and the Smoke Monster. ("Through the Looking Glass, Part 1") ("Meet Kevin Johnson") ("LA X, Part 2") Who built the temple? A number of inscriptions inside are in Hieroglyphics, suggesting an origin dealing with ancient Egyptians. ("Lighthouse") What is inside of the Temple? Its primary function seems to be in surrounding the Temple Spring, just beyond the courtyard. However, it also houses the working quarters for Dogen, a high ranking Other and leader of the Temple, a machine to test for the presence of sickness in a person, and secret underground passages to different exit points around The Island. ("This Place is Death") ("LA X, Parts 1 & 2") ("What Kate Does") ("Lighthouse") ("Sundown") What is the purpose of the Temple wall, and who built it? The Temple wall was built by the Others to conceal and block access to the Temple by outsiders. ("Dead is Dead") What is the purpose of the tunnels beneath the Temple? The hieroglyphics in the chamber in which Ben had his run-in with the Monster seem to suggest that it is a chamber in which the Monster judges people. ("Dead is Dead")' Why did Ben assign the Temple its own DHARMA logo on his map for Alex? Likely to conceal the true identity of the Temple, which was already a secret to Alex and Karl in the first place. ("Meet Kevin Johnson") Alternatively, the Flame monitors had listed "Temple ruins", suggesting some sort of monitoring appliance there. ("Namaste")

Dogen	Introduced	Solved
	"LA X, Part 2"	"Sundown"
Who is he? Dogen is the temple master ("LAX, Part 2") (Sundown) How did he come to live on the island?? Jacob recruited him with a promise to save his dying son. ("Sundown") Why did he need to be dead for The Man in Black to enter the temple? According to the Lost Encyclopedia, Jacob told Dogen that only the master could keep the Man in Black out of the Temple. If he fails, the Temple's defenses fall with him.

The Kahana

The parachutist	Introduced	Solved
	"Catch-22"	"Meet Kevin Johnson"
Who is she? Naomi Dorrit claimed to be sent to the Island by Penny Widmore to find Desmond. ("The Brig") What was her mission on the Island? She had been hired by Charles Widmore to come to the Island and capture Benjamin Linus. ("Confirmed Dead") ("Meet Kevin Johnson")

Fake wreckage	Introduced	Solved
	"The Brig"	"The Variable"
Why did Cooper and Naomi claim that the Oceanic plane was found in the bottom of the ocean? Because a fake wreckage was inserted in the Sunda Trench. ("Ji Yeon") ("Meet Kevin Johnson") Who was responsible for the fake wreckage? Charles Widmore, because he didn't want anyone to find the Island, whose special properties he wanted to exploit. ("Ji Yeon") ("The Variable")

Freighter's missions	Introduced	Solved
	"The Beginning of the End"	Various
What was Naomi's mission? Her mission was to protect the science team. ("Confirmed Dead") What was the mercenary team's mission? To locate and apprehend Ben Linus. ("Confirmed Dead") ("The Shape of Things to Come") What was the science team's mission? To shut down the Tempest. ("The Other Woman") Why were Daniel and Miles specifically selected for the mission? Daniel was assigned to calculate bearings for the freighter's journey. Miles' ability to communicate with the dead was to be useful in locating Ben. Additionally, Daniel was Widmore's son who he apparently wanted the Island to heal. Besides these intended roles, Widmore and Eloise both recalled Daniel's 1977 actions and death. They knew that sending him to the Island in 2004 would cause the events that already occurred, including "the Incident". ("The Variable") ("Some Like It Hoth")

Daniel's memory	Introduced	Solved
	"Eggtown"	"The Variable"
Why did Daniel appear to have memory problems? It was a consequence from his experiments, that previously left his girlfriend Theresa Spencer unstuck in time. ("Jughead") ("Follow the Leader") Why did Juliet note that he was getting better on the Island? As Eloise and Widmore predicted, the Island healed him. ("The Variable")

Charlotte's history	Introduced	Solved
	"There's No Place Like Home, Parts 2 & 3"	"This Place Is Death"
What was the connection between Charlotte's past and the Island? Her parents were part of the DHARMA Initiative, and she was raised on the Island before being evacuated prior to the Incident. ("This Place Is Death") ("Follow the Leader")

Time discrepancies	Introduced	Solved
	"The Economist"	"There's No Place Like Home, Part 3"
What causes the time discrepancies? Electromagnetic energy, such as the energy on the Island has been shown to cause unpredictable behavior in space and time. ("Flashes Before Your Eyes") ("The Shape of Things to Come") Why do the time discrepancies affect certain arrivals and exits, while not others? Because of the specific bearings needed to to travel to and from the Island. ("Live Together, Die Alone") ("The Constant") Why do the time discrepancies vary in severity? Because the results of releasing the Island's electromagnetic energy are unpredictable. ("There's No Place Like Home, Part 1"). Why are the bearings that the Others' gave Michael different than the ones Daniel gave to Lapidus? Because the bearings change in time. ("Because You Left")

Ben's Mole	Introduced	Solved
	"Confirmed Dead"	"Meet Kevin Johnson"
Who was Ben's man on the Kahana? It was Michael Dawson, under the alias Kevin Johnson. ("Ji Yeon") ("Meet Kevin Johnson") How did Ben get Michael to be his mole? Tom found Michael as he was attempting suicide and persuaded him that he couldn't commit suicide as the Island wasn't done with him. He told him that the only way to redeem himself is to go as the Others' mole on Widmore's freighter and destroy it, to prevent the crew from arriving on the Island and killing everyone on it. ("Meet Kevin Johnson")

The DHARMA Initiative

Pushing the button	Introduced	Solved
	"Orientation"	"Live Together, Die Alone"
Why did the button need to be pushed every 108 minutes? To discharge the massive amount of electromagnetic energy that accumulated underneath the Swan. ("Live Together, Die Alone") How was it decided that 108 minutes was the interval at which the button needed to be pressed?

"Marvin Candle"	Introduced	Solved
	"Orientation"	"The Incident"
What was his real name? His real name was Pierre Chang. ("Some Like It Hoth") Why did he use a different alias in each orientation video? He did not want his real name divulged for purposes of security. ("The New Man in Charge") Who was he? He was a theoretical astrophysicist, and high ranking member of the DHARMA Initiative responsible for many different aspects of the initiative, such as acting in orientation videos and overseeing various stations' construction. ("Because You Left") ("Some Like It Hoth") How did he lose the use of his arm? It was severely damaged in the Incident. ("The Incident, Part 2") Why did he throw out his wife and infant son? He thought that it was the only way to make sure they left the Island, to protect them from the Incident. ("Follow the Leader")

The Incident	Introduced	Solved
	"Orientation"	"The Incident"
What caused the Incident? Drilling into the massive pocket of energy beneath the Swan work site, ("The Incident") though it is possible that the survivors also caused some of the damage by detonating the Jughead, as "whatever happened, happened" still applies. ("The Incident") ("The End") How was the Swan station preventing a similar Incident in the future? By releasing smaller amounts of energy through the Swan protocol.

Blast door map	Introduced	Solved
	"Lockdown"	"Live Together, Die Alone"
Who created the blast door map? Stuart Radzinsky and Kelvin Inman. ("Live Together, Die Alone") How did Radzinsky make the map? Kelvin said that Radzinsky learned how to force a lockdown so they can work on the map. ("Live Together, Die Alone") Why did they create the blast door map? In preparation for armed conflict against the hostiles. This was Radzinsky's original plan, although Kelvin may have continued it less with the interest of preparing for war and more just to provide a constant through his dull hatch life. ("Lost Encyclopedia")

Supply drop	Introduced	Solved
	"Lockdown"	"The New Man in Charge"
How are the supplies delivered to the Island? By helicopters. (Sri Lanka video) Who is sending the supply drops? The Hanso Foundation. (Sri Lanka video) Why are supplies still being sent to the Island? Because the DHARMA facility in Guam, where the supplies were packed and sent from was still in operation until 2010. They didn't know that DHARMA ceased to exist after the Purge, receiving regular updates and coordinates from the Lamp Post station, whose mechanism for calculating the Island's position was programmed to run perpetually. ("The New Man in Charge")

The Purge	Introduced	Solved
	"Enter 77"	"The Man Behind the Curtain"
What was the Purge? The Purge was a gas attack by the Hostiles that killed most of the DHARMA Initiative, effectively eradicating them from the Island. ("The Man Behind the Curtain") How was the Purge accomplished? The Hostiles entered the Tempest and released a toxic gas which killed almost all the DHARMA personnel on the Island. Benjamin Linus helped them. The Hostiles were able to survive via the use of gas masks. ("The Man Behind the Curtain") ("The Other Woman") Why was the Purge initiated? There had been a long-standing feud between the Hostiles and DHARMA, each claiming some right to the Island. Although the two had struck an uneasy truce, the Initiative broke it multiple times. Eventually, Charles Widmore, the Hostiles' leader at the time, gave the order to exterminate the DHARMA initiative. ("The Man Behind the Curtain") ("LaFleur") Were there any survivors from the DHARMA Initiative? Kelvin and Radzinsky survived, presumably having been inside the Swan at the time. ("Live Together, Die Alone, Part 2") Ben and Ethan also survived, having defected to the Hostiles. ("The Man Behind the Curtain") Were there any other survivors of the attack? Island inhabitants outside of the Barracks, including Jacob, Danielle Rousseau and any Hostiles at the Temple, all survived the attack. The gas had a limited range, and the main attack could not even reach the Mesa, where Ben separately killed Roger. ("The Man Behind the Curtain")

DHARMA Stations

The Swan	Introduced	Solved
	"Man of Science, Man of Faith"	"Live Together, Die Alone, Part 2"
What was the purpose of the Swan? The Swan was originally conceived to study the unique properties of electromagnetic energy emanating from that part of the island but it's purpose was changed following the incident. The Swan was repurposed to release the pocket of electromagnetic energy which could have disastrous consequences if allowed to build up. Inside the Swan was a computer into which the numbers needed to be entered every 108 minutes. Doing so would cause the energy to disperse before it could reach critical levels. ("Man of Science, Man of Faith") ("Live Together, Die Alone, Part 2") What caused the electromagnetic buildup? Electromagnetism existed on the island for thousands of years, concentrated in specific pockets. ("Across the Sea") In the late 1970s, the DHARMA Initiative drilled into one such pocket, releasing its energy. The survivors of Oceanic 815, who had traveled to the past, attempted to stop the incident by detonating a bomb. Their attempt failed and may even have contributed to the Incident. ("The Incident, Part 1") What was the failsafe? Turning the failsafe key could destroy the Swan. Doing so was considered dangerous and unpredictable, as the failsafe could only be activated from directly underneath the station. ("Live Together, Die Alone") What would happen when the failsafe was turned? The failsafe would release a large discharge of electromagnetic energy, evidently sealing the pocket but causing the Swan to implode and sending its occupants traveling through time and space. ("Live Together, Die Alone, Part 2") ("Further Instructions") ("Flashes Before Your Eyes") Who was Marvin Candle? Marvin Candle was one of the stage names of Pierre Chang, a scientist from the DHARMA Initiative. ("Because You Left") Who was Radzinsky? Stuart Radzinsky was the original designer of the Swan. After the Incident, he remained in the station with Kelvin in order to press the button, up until his suicide. ("Live Together, Die Alone, Part 2") ("Namaste")

The Arrow	Introduced	Solved
	"Everybody Hates Hugo"	"Because You Left"
What was the station's purpose? Intelligence gathering and defense. ("Because You Left") Who put part of the Swan film in the Bible at the Arrow? Radzinsky. ("Live Together, Die Alone") Unanswered questions Who did the glass eye belong to?

The Staff	Introduced	Solved
	"Maternity Leave"	"D.O.C."
What is the purpose of the Staff? The Staff was a medical facility built by the DHARMA Initiative. It was later used by the Others as the place they would bring pregnant women to give birth and die, due to the problems experienced by pregnant women on the Island. ("D.O.C.") Why was there a fake beard and clothes at the station? They were used by the Others to fool the survivors of Oceanic 815 and possibly other unwanted visitors on the Island into thinking the Others were much less advanced people than they really were. ("Maternity Leave") ("Live Together, Die Alone") Why did the station appear abandoned? Because the Others had hidden all the medical equipment in a secret vault. ("D.O.C.")

The Pearl	Introduced	Solved
	"?"	"Live Together, Die Alone"
What was the purpose of the Pearl? The Pearl was a station designed to monitor the other DHARMA stations via hidden surveillance cameras. In the orientation video for the Pearl, "Mark Wickmund" claimed that the inhabitants of the Swan were unknowingly participating in a psychological experiment and that it was of vital importance to record every activity undertaken by the people in the Swan. ("?") ("The Cost of Living") What was Paulo doing in the washroom? He was retreiving the stolen diamonds he had hidden there previously. ("The Cost of Living") ("Exposé") Who was the man with the eyepatch seen on the television? Mikhail Bakunin, who was stationed in the Flame. ("The Cost of Living") ("Enter 77") Why did the orientation video say that the events in the Swan were merely a psychological experiment? Desmond had speculated that it was the inhabitants of the Pearl who were in fact undergoing a psychological experiment. It is also possible that the Pearl was a safeguard after the incident to ensure that the button was being pressed. ("Live Together, Die Alone") ("The Incident") Why were the booklets from the Pearl simply left in the jungle, unretrieved? Because although the Pearl operators believed the Swan personnel were the ones undergoing a psychological experiment, it was in fact themselves who were the experiment. DHARMA had no actual use for the journals or what was inside them. ("Live Together, Die Alone") Why was the dirt over the Pearl salted to be visible from above? Most likely for Pallet Drops by the planes that supplied the Island. ("?")

The Door	Introduced	Solved
	"Three Minutes"	"Live Together, Die Alone, Part 1"
What was the purpose of the Door? The Door was a fake DHARMA station, presumably constructed by the Others as part of their decoy village in order to get Michael to lure Jack, Kate, Sawyer and Hurley into a trap. ("Live Together, Die Alone")

The Hydra	Introduced	Solved
	"A Tale of Two Cities"	"The New Man in Charge"
What was the Hydra's purpose? The Hydra was mostly used to conduct experiments in zoology,(on polar bears, sharks, dolphins, rabbits and birds), ("A Tale of Two Cities") ("Every Man for Himself") ("The New Man In Charge") though other types of experiments were also conducted here, such as memory purging and brainwashing in Room 23 ("The Package"). Widmore's team used it to research electromagnetism in the solenoid coil chamber. ("Happily Ever After").

The Flame	Introduced	Solved
	"Enter 77"	"Namaste"
What was the Flame's purpose? The Flame was used to communicate with the other DHARMA stations, as well as the outside world. ("Namaste") ("Enter 77") ("One of Us") Why did Mikhail say its communications had been knocked out? Because the discharge caused a massive electromagnetic anomaly which destroyed its communication capabilities, or so Mikhail claimed. However, it is likely Mikhail was lying about this in order to fool his Oceanic 815 visitors. ("Enter 77")

The Looking Glass	Introduced	Solved
	"Greatest Hits"	"Through the Looking Glass, Part 2"
What was the Looking Glass' purpose? The Looking Glass was a beacon and an underwater dock for the DHARMA submarine, as well as a station for jamming radio signals to and from the Island. ("Greatest Hits") ("Through the Looking Glass") Why did Charlie find two women inside, even though Juliet claimed the station was flooded and abandoned? Because Ben kept the Looking Glass' status as a working station a secret from his people (even high ranking Others such as Richard, Mikhail and Juliet thought that it was actually flooded), because he thought that no one knowing about it was the key to keeping the Island safe from Charles Widmore. ("Through the Looking Glass") ("The Beginning of the End") ("The Other Woman") The Others also used the beacon in The Looking Glass to move to and from the island using the submarine as needed.

The Tempest	Introduced	Solved
	"The Man Behind the Curtain"	"The Other Woman"
What was the Tempest's purpose? The Tempest was used to research and develop chemical weapons. It may have also been intended as a weapon against the hostiles, even though it was later ironically used by them against the Initiative. ("The Other Woman")

The Orchid	Introduced	Solved
	"There's No Place Like Home, Part 1"	"Across the Sea"
What was the Orchid's purpose? The Orchid appeared to be a herbology lab but was used to experiment on spatio-temporal travel as well as exotic matter research. ("There's No Place Like Home, Parts 2 & 3") How was it that the rabbits were able to travel through time? By drawing on the pocket of electromagnetic energy behind the station's lower walls. ("There's No Place Like Home, Parts 2 & 3") ("Because You Left") Why were the scientific labs hidden far underground beneath a greenhouse? Because they were built in secret from the hostiles, whose truce with the DHARMA Initiative mandated that the Initiative could not drill more than ten feet into the ground or disturb any ancient ruins. ("The Truce")

The Lamp Post	Introduced	Solved
	"The Lie"	"316"
What was the Lamp Post's purpose? The Lamp Post was used to locate the Island by predicting its most likely location at a given point in time. ("316") It also sent automated messages to the DHARMA logistics warehouse in Guam to send supply drops. ("The New Man in Charge") Unanswered Questions How did Eloise Hawking come to be in charge of the Station? Who was the "very smart man" who invented the algorithm to allow the DHARMA Initiative to find where the Island was going to be?

Ajira Flight 316

Ilana	Introduced	Solved
	"316"	"Ab Aeterno"
Why was Sayid in Ilana's custody on Ajira Flight 316? Primarily she claimed that she was a bounty hunter hired by Peter Avellino's family to apprehend Sayid ("He's Our You"), though it was later revealed that she did this to bring Sayid to the Island, as part of her role as the person responsible for protecting Jacob, and later the remaining candidates. ("The Incident, Part 1") ("Ab Aeterno") Why did Ilana get so emotional because of Jacob's death? He was the closest thing to a father she ever had. ("Dr. Linus") What was Ilana and Jacob's relationship? He was a person she heavily trusted, ("Ab Aeterno") even as far as spending her whole life beside him training to one day protect his candidates. ("Everybody Loves Hugo") How did Ilana leave the Russian hospital soon enough to capture Sayid, even though she was badly injured? Jacob healed her. ("Ab Aeterno") Why did Jacob need her help? To help him keep the remaining six candidates safe. ("Ab Aeterno") Unanswered questions Why was she in the Russian hospital? The ABC episode recap for Ab Aeterno stated that she was badly burned during training.

Shadow of the statue	Introduced	Solved
	"Dead Is Dead"	"The Incident"
What was the answer to the question? "He which shall protect/save us all" ("Ille qui nos omnes servabit"). ("The Incident, Part 2") What was the significance of the question? Ilana was told to show the content of the Ajira crate to the person who will correctly answer the question. ("The Incident, Part 2")

Crate	Introduced	Solved
	"Dead Is Dead"	"The Incident"
What was in the Ajira crate? The dead body of John Locke. ("The Incident, Part 2") Why did Ilana and her people carry the crate to the main Island? To prove to Richard that the man he lead to Jacob wasn't Locke, but the Man in Black. ("The Incident, Part 2")

Outrigger chase	Introduced	Solved
	"The Little Prince"
Unanswered questions: Who was in the other outrigger? Crewmen from the Black Rock, according to supplementary DVD material. Damon Lindelof, however, later referred to the mystery as a forever "unchecked box", suggesting that that material is non-canon.

Ajira massacre	Introduced	Solved
	"Recon"	n/a
Unanswered questions Who killed them? Charles Widmore's group killed them. ("Lost Encyclopedia")

Jacob vs. the Man in Black

Jacob	Introduced	Solved
	"Two for the Road"	"Across the Sea"
What was the name of "Him", the man Ben said was the Others' leader? It was Jacob. ("I Do") Who was Jacob? Jacob was the son of Claudia, a Roman woman who crashed on the Island around two millennia prior to the crash of Oceanic 815. The previous protector killed Claudia and raised Jacob and his brother, the Man in Black. ("Across the Sea") He would eventually become the next protector of the Island, a job he would hold for about 2000 years, until passing it on to Jack, one of his 360 candidates. ("Across the Sea") ("What They Died For") Where was Jacob living, as he was never seen with the Others? He lived beneath the Statue, communicating with the Others through an intermediary, Richard Alpert. This location wasn't known to anyone but Alpert. Several characters, including Ilana, associated him with a cabin, but he had left there for "a long time" by 2007. ("The Incident, Parts 1 & 2") ("Ab Aeterno") How did Jacob acquire his abilities? They were bestowed upon him by his Mother once he took over the job of protector of the Island. ("Across the Sea") Why didn't Jacob age? How did Jacob grant Richard immortality? Jacob possessed these powers as the protector of the source of all life, death and rebirth. ("Across the Sea")

Jacob's cabin	Introduced	Solved
	"The Man Behind the Curtain"	"The Incident, Part 1"
What is the origin of the cabin? The cabin was built by Horace Goodspeed, originally as a vacation spot for him and his wife. ("Cabin Fever") What is the significance of the ash circle around the cabin? The ash circle prevents the smoke monster from entering an area. ("LA X, Part 1") How was the Man in Black able to enter with the ash circle in place? The ash circle was broken through unknown means some time before Locke and Ben initially went there.(The Lost Encyclopedia) Why did Ben think Jacob lived in the cabin? Jacob did at one time reside in the cabin. He later moved back to the statue, the ash circle was broken, and the Man in Black began using the cabin. Richard either forgot to mention to Ben that Jacob had moved or purposely misled him into believing that Jacob still used the cabin. Why does Jacob appear invisible to Locke? Jacob wasn't there. Ben had never met Jacob and was pretending in order to make Locke feel inferior. ("The Incident, Part 1") Why did Ilana order the burning of the cabin? It was being used by someone other than Jacob, most likely the Man in Black. ("The Incident, Part 1") Who asked Locke for help and why did objects start flying around the room? Whose eye did Locke and Hurley see? The Man in Black asked Locke for help, appeared to him briefly, and caused objects to fly around the room to manipulate both Locke and Ben. Unanswered questions Who breached the circle of ash? How was the cabin able to change locations? Why did Jacob abandon the cabin?

The Man in Black	Introduced	Solved
	"The Incident, Part 1"	"Across the Sea"
Who was the Man in Black? He was once a man, Jacob's twin brother and Claudia's second son, raised by Mother. He was keen on leaving the Island, though Mother constantly prevented him from doing so, eventually culminating in her killing Claudia's people, leading the Man in Black to kill her. Jacob, angered with this, threw the Man in Black into the Heart, making him the Monster. ("Across the Sea") Why did the Man in Black need Ben to kill Jacob? Mother, fearing that one of the brothers (and one of the candidates for her replacement) may kill the other one, made it so that they may not hurt each other. The Man in Black therefore couldn't kill Jacob by himself. ("The Incident, Parts 1 & 2") ("Across the Sea") Ben specifically had personal reasons to kill Jacob, making him a suitable man for the job. Ben was also a leader of the Others, and according to Richard, only a leader could request an audience with Jacob. ("The Incident, Parts 1 & 2")

Candidates	Introduced	Solved
	"The Incident, Part 1"	"The End"
Who are the candidates? The candidates were possible replacements for Jacob, who knew that the Man in Black would eventually succeed in killing him. Many candidates existed, however by the time of his death, Jacob had narrowed it down to six names, each of which corresponding to one of the numbers: Locke (4), Reyes (8), Ford (15), Jarrah (16), Shephard (23) and Kwon (42, either Jin or Sun). Ilana also suggested that Frank may have been a candidate. ("The Incident, Part 2") ("The Substitute") ("What They Died For") Why were the candidates chosen? Jacob selected the candidates because they were "like him": alone and looking for something that was missing in their lives. ("What They Died For") How was Jacob able to get the candidates to the Island? At some point in each of their lives, Jacob came to the candidates off the Island and physically touched them. According to the Man in Black, somehow this touch caused fate to take control over the events in the candidates' lives, which eventually led them to the Island. ("The Incident") ("The Substitute") Why was Kate not a candidate? Jacob removed Kate's name when she became a mother to Aaron. According to Jacob, her removal as a candidate was only a line of chalk in a cave and she could take the position if she wished. ("Eggtown") ("What They Died For") Which of the two Kwon's were actually one of Jacob's candidates? Although Ilana seemed unsure whether Jin or Sun was the actual Kwon candidate, given that Jacob had removed Kate from his consideration when she became a mother, it is likely that Sun was not the candidate for the same reason. ("What They Died For") Who was the final candidate? Jack decided that he would accept Jacob's offer and became the new protector of the Island. His position was short-lived, however, as he was fatally wounded battling the Man in Black and died shortly after he prevented the Island from sinking. Hurley then took over the job, advised by Ben. ("What They Died For") ("The End")

Sayid's revival	Introduced	Solved
	"LA X, Part 2"	"The Last Recruit"
Who revived Sayid? The Man in Black. ("The Last Recruit") What happened to Sayid during the revival? He was claimed by the Man in Black, similarly to the way Robert and the other Besixdouze scientists were claimed. ("What Kate Does") ("Sundown") ("The Last Recruit") What happens when someone is claimed? He contracts the Sickness. See above. ("What Kate Does")

The Lighthouse	Introduced	Solved
	"Lighthouse"	"What They Died For"
Why were the names of all the candidates there? By turning the lighthouse wheel to the degree that corresponds to a candidate, Jacob (or anyone) was able to observe that candidate in the lighthouse mirror. ("Lighthouse") Why did the survivors or anyone else never spot the lighthouse before, even though it was large and they had passed near its location many times? You had to be specifically looking for the lighthouse to find it. ("Lighthouse") Who built the Lighthouse and when? It was built by ancient island inhabitants.

Widmore's return	Introduced	Solved
	"Dr. Linus"	"What They Died For"
How did Widmore come back after not being able to do so for many years? Widmore claimed that Jacob had visited him and told him to go back, most likely abolishing his exile as a result. ("What They Died For") What was in the locked room in Widmore's submarine? Desmond Hume. ("The Package") Why did Widmore bring Desmond? Because Desmond was Jacob's fail-safe, ("What They Died For") as he was able to survive exposure to high amounts of electromagnetism ("Live Together, Die Alone") ("Happily Ever After") If all the candidates died, Desmond was supposed to remove the cork stone, rendering the Man in Black mortal. ("What They Died For") ("The End")

Mother	Introduced	Solved
	"Recon"	"Across the Sea"
Who was she? She was the protector of the Island prior to Jacob. ("Across the Sea") Why did the Man in Black refer to her as a "crazy" person? She killed the Man in Black's birth mother and stole him and his brother from her. She also prevented him from leaving and massacred his people. ("Across the Sea") What were the growing pains he had because of her? She made a rule preventing him from killing Jacob, the man he held responsible for the loss of his humanity (by turning him into the smoke monster), and for his inability to leave the Island. She also prevented him from leaving the Island via the Wheel, and killed the people he was living with, preventing him from getting help from them. ("Across the Sea") Why did she thank the Man in Black for killing her? She was tired of being protector of the island, and death was the only way out. (Across the Sea audio commentary) How was she able to kill all the Romans on the Island, burn their village and bury the Well? The show itself does not reveal this answer. Audio commentary alludes to the possibility of her being a smoke monster. (Across the Sea audio commentary) Unanswered questions What was her name and what were her origins? Mother told Claudia, "I got here the same way you did, by accident." Claudia arrived by shipwreck. ("Across the Sea")

Off the Island

Nadia's whereabouts	Introduced	Solved
	"Solitary"	"There's No Place Like Home, Part 1"
Where did Nadia go after escaping the Intelligence Division's imprisonment? She initially went to the UK, ("Greatest Hits"), later making her way to the US living in Los Angeles, California ("Lockdown") and finally Irvine, California. ("The Greater Good") Was she really dead as Sayid told Rousseau? No, she wasn't. ("The Shape of Things to Come") ("There's No Place Like Home, Part 1") As Sayid knew this prior to coming on the Island ("The Greater Good"), it is most likely that he told Rousseau this so she would sympathize with him.

Penny's search	Introduced	Solved
	"Live Together, Die Alone, Part 2"	"There's No Place Like Home, Part 3"

Eloise Hawking	Introduced	Solved
	"Flashes Before Your Eyes"	"Follow the Leader"
How does she know of Desmond's future? She had previous experience with time travelers from the future, including the opportunity to read her son's notebook. ("The Variable") ("Follow the Leader") Unanswered questions What was her relationship with Brother Campbell? Although not definitively answered, it's worth noting that both Eloise and Campbell were in charge of churches, and both guided Desmond in directing him onto the right path of his destiny.

Jeremy Bentham	Introduced	Solved
	"Through the Looking Glass"	"The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham"
Who was the man in the coffin? John Locke. ("There's No Place Like Home, Part 3") How did he leave the Island? By turning the frozen wheel. ("This Place Is Death") ("The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham") How did he die? He was strangled by Ben, though people thought he committed suicide by hanging himself. ("The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham") ("316") Why did he leave the Island? To persuade the ones who left to come back. ("Through the Looking Glass, Part 2") ("There's No Place Like Home, Part 3") ("The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham") Why did he use the alias "Jeremy Bentham"? It was the name Widmore used on Locke's fake passport, because of the philosophical meaning of both "John Locke" and "Jeremy Bentham". ("The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham")

Oceanic Six	Introduced	Solved
	"The Beginning of the End"	"There's No Place Like Home, Parts 2 & 3"
Who were the Oceanic Six? They were a group of six people who eventually left the Island, and consisted of Jack, Kate, Hurley, Sayid, Aaron and Sun. ("The Beginning of the End|The Economist")("Eggtown") ("Ji Yeon") How did they leave the Island? They were rescued by Frank Lapidus and Penny Widmore. ("There's No Place Like Home, Parts 2 & 3") What story did they tell the public about the crash? They said that they crashed in the Sunda Trench, later swimming to an island called Membata, where after the death of three other passengers and the birth of Aaron to Kate, they left Membata on a fishing boat that they discovered on the island. ("There's No Place Like Home, Part 1") ("There's No Place Like Home, Parts 2 & 3") ("The Lie") Why did they fabricate a false story? They wanted to protect the people they left behind from Widmore. The original idea for the lie came from Locke, who wanted to protect the Island. ("There's No Place Like Home, Parts 2 & 3") ("The Lie") How did Kate get to be Aaron's guardian? She took him from Sawyer, after Claire abandoned him in the jungle. ("Something Nice Back Home") ("There's No Place Like Home, Parts 2 & 3") How did Ben leave the Island? By turning the frozen wheel. ("The Shape of Things to Come") ("There's No Place Like Home, Parts 2 & 3")

Matthew Abaddon	Introduced	Solved
	"The Beginning of the End"	"The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham"
Who was Matthew Abaddon? He was the man who worked for Charles Widmore,("The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham") and who was responsible for bringing the Kahana's science team together. ("Confirmed Dead") Why did he visit Locke and tell him to go on a walkabout? He knew that if Locke went on the walkabout, he would've boarded Oceanic Flight 815, which got him on the Island. ("The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham")

Ben vs. Widmore	Introduced	Solved
	"The Other Woman"	"Dead Is Dead"
How did their rivalry start? Their feud started when Ben disobeyed Widmore's orders to kill Rousseau, and later Alex, who he adopted and raised as an Other. ("Dead Is Dead") Under which circumstances did Widmore leave the Island? He was banished by Ben, who discovered he had a child with an outsider and frequently left the Island, which broke some of the Rules that the Others (or at least their leaders) followed. ("Dead Is Dead")

Sayid's victims	Introduced	Solved
	"The Economist"	"He's Our You"
Why did Sayid start working for Ben? Because after Ishmael Bakir, an associate of Widmore's killed Nadia, Ben manipulates Sayid into thinking he can revenge his late wife and protect his friends by joining Ben. ("The Shape of Things to Come") Who were the people that Sayid was killing for Ben? They were all Widmore's associates. ("He's Our You") Why did Sayid eventually leave Ben's service, and urged Hurley not to trust Ben? Because after killing the last of Widmore's associates on Ben's list, Sayid realized that Ben had only manipulated him. ("He's Our You") How did Sayid know that someone was watching Hurley? Ben told him, after visiting him in the Dominican Republic. ("He's Our You")

Return to the Island	Introduced	Solved
	"Through the Looking Glass, Part 2"	"316"
Why did the ones who left need to come back? Overall because they were candidates to replace Jacob as protector after his death. Locke presented this to them as "their destiny", though he did not know what that destiny entailed ("The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham") ("The Substitute") ("What They Died For") What were each survivor's reasons to come back? Jack returned so the Island would "fix" him and because he felt it was his destiny. He felt particularly motivated after his father's apparitions and Locke's visit and subsequent death. ("Through the Looking Glass") ("There's No Place Like Home, Parts 2 & 3") ("The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham") ("Lighthouse" Sun returned to search for Jin ("This Place Is Death") ("316") Kate returned to search for Claire ("Whatever Happened, Happened"). Sayid was brought on the plane by force in Ilana's custody, thinking he was being punished for one of his murders. ("316") ("He's Our You") Hurley was persuaded by Jacob, who visited him after Hurley left prison. ("The Incident, Part 2)" What were the horrible things that happened on the Island, after the Oceanic Six left? As the time flashes started, the 1954 Others attacked the survivors, killing most of them ("The Lie"). The time shifts infected the rest with temporal displacement, which caused severe pain, headaches, nosebleeds and, in Charlotte's case, death. ("The Lie") ("Jughead") ("The Little Prince") ("This Place Is Death")

Flash sideways

Changing the timeline	Introduced	Solved
	"The Variable"	"The End"
Can the past be changed? No. Events in the past already occurred. Their consequences, which future people witness, prove what occurred. Regardless of past peoples' motivations and their knowledge of the present, they eventually chose a specific course of action, one that produced the present's current state. ("Because You Left")  ("The Lie") Can major events change the timeline? No. Daniel Faraday briefly hypothesized that a sufficiently major event, such as detonating a hydrogen bomb, could undo past events. He was later proven incorrect. Although it initially seemed that such actions caused the timeline to diverge into parallel branches, the events in the flash sideways took place in the afterlife, long after the crash of Oceanic 815. ("The Variable") ("LA X, Part 1") ("The End")

Island's submergence	Introduced	Solved
	"LA X, Part 1"	"The End"
How could the Island have sunk? Removing the cork from the Heart causes the Island to begin to sink. ("The End") Why was the Island submerged in the flash sideways timeline? Due to the revelation that the flash sideways world was actually the afterlife, it is likely that the Island being submerged was a symbolic clue as to this reveal, given that the sinking of the Island would have resulted in the death of mankind in the real world. It may also be a narrative device to indicate that the Island held no power over the lives of the Oceanic passengers. ("LA X, Part 1") ("The End")

Misplaced luggage	Introduced	Solved
	"LA X, Part 2"	"The End"
What happened to Locke's knives and Christian's coffin? Within the context of the flash sideways, Oceanic Airlines simply misplaced the items. ("The Substitute") ("The End") The characters created the world of the flash sideways and sought to let go of obsessions and remember significant experiences. Losing and recovering their literal baggage helped them along this path. ("The End")

Jack	Introduced	Solved
	"LA X, Part 1"	"The End"
How was Jack's life different in the flash sideways timeline? In the flash sideways timeline, Jack had had a son with Juliet Carlson. Though he strove to be a better father than Christian, Jack's relation with his son David was strained. Despite this, Jack was able to patch up his relationship with David; something he had never been able to do with his own father. ("Lighthouse") ("The End") What caused Jack's recurring neck wound? The neck wound was an artifact from Jack's life on the Island, where the Man in Black attempted to stab him in the neck. ("The End") Why did the wound keep reappearing? Given that the flash sideways timeline had been created to help the Oceanic survivors remember their former lives, the neck wound was likely meant to help Jack remember. ("The End")

Desmond	Introduced	Solved
	"LA X, Part 1"	"The End"
Why was Desmond on the plane in the flash sideways timeline? He was in Australia to close a deal for his employer, Charles Widmore. ("Happily Ever After") What did he want to show to the rest of the Oceanic 815 passengers? He wanted to show them that this wasn't their real life, that it was actually their afterlife, and wanted to help them all remember their past lives, and fulfill their purpose in the flash sideways timeline (Hurley finally going out with Libby, Locke "letting go", Sayid meeting Shannon, Claire meeting Charlie, and Jack and Kate coming together). ("Everybody Loves Hugo") ("The Last Recruit") ("What They Died For") ("The End") Why did he run Locke over? He wanted him to meet Jack again (this time as his patient), so he can have the surgery and finally "let go". ("What They Died For") ("The End")

Jin and Sun	Introduced	Solved
	"LA X, Part 2"	"The Package"
Why did the Oceanic agent refer to Sun as Miss Paik? Because in the flash sideways timeline, Sun and Jin never got married, though they did have a love affair. ("The Package") What was the money that Jin was suppose to deliver in L.A. for? It was to be delivered to Martin Keamy, an associate of Woo-Jung Paik's, who was being paid to kill Jin for his affair with Sun. ("The Package") Why was Jin tied up in Keamy's restaurant? Because Keamy was suppose to kill him after talking to Sayid. ("The Package")

John	Introduced	Solved
	"LA X, Part 1"	"The Candidate"
How did Locke lose the use of his legs in the flash sideways timeline? In a plane accident with his father. ("The Candidate")

Dr. Linus	Introduced	Solved
	"The Substitute"	"Dr. Linus"
How did Ben end up in the outside world and was he still affiliated with any of the previous Island factions? He left the Island with his father, Roger Linus while the DHARMA Initiative was still functioning on the Island, so Ben was never part of the Purge, and never defected to the Others. ("Dr. Linus")

David Shephard	Introduced	Solved
	"Lighthouse	"The End
Who is his mother? Juliet Carlson, who had married and been divorced from Jack Shephard in the flash sideways timeline. ("The End") Was he real? Christian Shephard explained to Jack that everyone in the church was real. Juliet and Jack did not have a son together in their Earthly lives, so David was apparently a surrogate, needed by Jack to help him overcome his father issues, and by Juliet, herself a fertility specialist, to reconcile never having a child of her own. ("The End")

Seeing other timelines	Introduced	Solved
	"LA X, Part 2"	"The End"
How did Juliet know "it worked"? When Juliet was near death, she was able to see a vision of the afterlife, wherein Oceanic 815 never crashed. She may have incorrectly assumed that they had been successful in preventing the Incident, resulting in Oceanic 815's safe landing in Los Angeles. However, she also said to Sawyer as she was dying, "We should get coffee sometime. We can go Dutch." Later, when she met him at the vending machine in the flash sideways, she said the exact same thing about going Dutch for coffee, followed by "It worked," referring to the trick she suggested for getting Sawyer's stuck candy bar out of the machine. So it is possible that those last thoughts, "It worked," that Miles detected from her grave, were actually her seeing her afterlife, and repeating what she said to Sawyer at the machine. ("LA X, Part 1") ("The End") How was Charlotte Malkin able to communicate with Yemi? Similar to Juliet, when she was close to death via drowning Charlotte Malkin was able to see into the afterlife where she presumably spoke with Yemi who gave her a message for Eko. ("?") ("The End") How is Desmond able to see visions of the flashsideways timeline? Since exposure to large amounts of electromagnetism can cause characters to see visions of their past and future, Widmore's experiment forced Desmond to see so far into his own future that he was looking at his own afterlife. ("Happily Ever After") ("The End") How are the flashsideways characters able to see the events from the original timeline? Since the timelines were not actually separate, and the flashsideways timeline was the characters' afterlife, these visions occurred when characters were able to make some sort of connection with their previous lives, granting them awareness of the events they had previously lived out. ("Happily Ever After") ("Everybody Loves Hugo") ("The End")

Moving On	Introduced	Solved
	"The End"	"The End"
Why aren't Michael and Walt at the church? Michael wasn't at the church because he was trapped on the Island as a ghost for having murdered Ana Lucia and Libby. Walt likely wasn't there because the Island (and thus the Oceanic castaways) were no longer a part of his life. The most important part of their lives were the time they spent together. This indicates that Walt and anyone else capable of moving on, likely has a different experience and set of people, unspecified, to move on with, and did not contribute to the creation of the Island survivors flash sideways world; he had "been through enough." ("Two for the Road") ("The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham") ("Everybody Loves Hugo")("The End") Why wasn't Ana Lucia at the church? Because she wasn't ready to move on. ("What They Died For") Where were the characters moving on to? The writers and cast alike have stated that the nature of "moving on" in the afterlife is subject to personal beliefs, which they respect, and is thus open to interpretation.

See also

• Unanswered questions
• Unanswered questions by episode