Stations

There exist several underground research stations built by the DHARMA Initiative. Their specific purposes are largely unknown, but they seem to be the only signs of advanced civilization on the Island, so far. They all have (or had) power and water supply as well as various kinds of equipment (e.g. machinery, living quarters, computers, medical equipment, ...). Each facility has its own, octagon-shaped logo.

It was first theorised the orientation films indicate there are six of these stations. However the Blast Door Map and subsequent discovery of The Pearl station seems to indicate there are at least seven or even more stations.

The Facilities/Stations found on the island are:

• The Swan (Possibly station #3): Commonly called "The Hatch" by the Losties.
• The Arrow: The previous refuge of the tail-section survivors.
• The Staff: Medical station where Claire was taken, later found abandoned.
• The Pearl (Possibly station #5): Monitoring station, designated by the question mark ("?") on the Blast Door Map.
• "The Door" (name not confirmed): Seen by Michael when brought there by The Others.

Other facilities documented on the Blast Door Map but not seen in the show yet:

• The Flame, Station #4 according to the Blast Door Map.
• Two stations are drawn with dotted lines and are labeled with "C3?" and "C4?".
• There is a seventh station that was crossed out. It may not have been built, or might have been destroyed.
• There may be four smaller facilities, labeled CV I, CV II, CV III, and CV IV.

Theories

• The Apollo Candy Bar may be a clue to look towards the stars. There are several constellations associated with Apollo. Perhaps this is a clue to the remaining names of the Stations and their associated logo:
  • Cygnus or The Swan
  • Sagitta or The Arrow
  • Apollo or The Flame
  • Crater or The Goblet (reference: the word "Crater" was also found on Rosseau's Maps and Notes) (In podcast from April 3 they reveal that there is no station named "The Goblet")
  • Ophiuchus or The Serpent Handler (possible reference to theCaduceus Caduceus Logo in The Staff)
  • Orion or The Hunter (reference: one of the logos that made only few appearances and is yet unexplained can be interpreted as Orions Belt)
  • Corvus or The Crow

→ This theory gains popularity since there are now 6 very likely references made. It also coincides with the "New Age"-ish taint, the Dharma Initiative has. Note however, that there are more constellations associated with Apollo (for example "The Lyra").

• The stations may be involved in maintaining and monitoring a larger (social?) experiment involving the inhabitants on the island. The word "Quarantine" may be used to prevent the observers from tainting the experiment by leaving the station and entering the island space.
• In one of the Lost podcasts, Damon and Carlton insinuated that the Arrow "station" might not be a station at all but rather just a supply bunker, and that many other "Arrows" might be on the Island.
• It's also been suggested that The Staff might not be one of the stations mentioned in the Swan Orientation Film but meant as a support station.
• If there are 6 stations, then each station could be associated with one of The Numbers, also each of the 6 stations could have a specific function of research as one of the 6 sciences mentioned in the Swan Orientation Film:
  • The Swan, Electromagnetism for obvious reasons.
  • The Pearl, Psychology as it's main function seemed to be observation of human behaviour
  • The Door, Parapsychology or Juxtapositional Eugenics as it's probably where Walt is being held.
  • One of other stations' purposes could be Zoology, which would be responsible for the [[The Polar Bear|polar bears and the Shark seen from the raft.
• CVI, CVII, CVIII are all written under the three areas of The Swan station. They are the Roman Numerals for 106, 107, 108. The CVIII (108) seems to be written near the computer room.
• It may be noted that Both The Arrow and The Swan refer to attributes of the Hindu pantheon (from which the word Dharma and the greeting/salutation "Namaste" come from). The Swan is an attendant of Saraswati, the Hindu goddess of creativity, and is said to have the faculty of discernment: offered a mixture of milk and water, the swan is traditionally supposed to be able to drink only the milk. The Arrow would thus be understood as potentially being Rama's arrow, in reference to the bow of Vishnu, which, when challenged by Parashurama, Rama strings. The arrow Rama fired into the air at that end ofin the other bunker's logo is noticeably pointing upwards. Based on this, it might be expected that the other stations also correspond to imagery/mythemes.