The Flame/Theories

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Theories about The Flame

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Theories may be removed if ...

Stated as questions or possibilities (avoid question marks, "Maybe", "I think", etc). More appropriate for another article. Illogical or previously disproven. Proven by canon source, and moved to main article. Speculative and lacking any evidence to support arguments. Responding to another theory (use discussion page instead). This does not include responses that can stand alone as its own theory. Usage of an indented bullet does not imply the statement is a response. See the Lostpedia theory policy for more details.

Monitors

• In "One of Us", the Flame had new, shiny color TV monitors and a modern-looking console. In "Enter 77", the Flame did not have such a console, but had numerous wires hanging from the ceiling that appear to have been cut off and ripped out. After the discharge, the others ripped out the monitor console and transported it elsewhere.

Purpose/Usage

• The reason the dish communications part of the Flame wasn't located in the Barracks is because the sonic barrier rendered the incoming and outgoing signals useless - the station had to be outside of the contained area in order to function.
• "Manual override" - of what? It is possible that the Flame was an autonomous communication relay with the outside world which received requests from the other stations and automatically sent them to the mainland. Thus, the manual override would allow an operator sitting at the console to initiate communications from within the Flame itself. There may not have been an occupant intended to be there at all.. the interior appears to have been hastily converted to living quarters, yet has a strong warehouse feel to it.
• The station is a location of the DharmaTel servers/exchange.
• The Flame could have been the originally observed station at the Pearl, as we know at least one monitor assesses this location. The Pearl Orientation Video does not specifically mention the Swan, only showing a picture of the computer room in the background. As we see from the brief feed of the other station, its interior is very similar to the Swan. Thus, the Pearl could be assessing the Flame station, but after the incident also observed the Swan, which was now of much more importance to the DHARMA Initiative (due to the button and the electromagnetism, etc).
• The explosives and self-destruct were installed after conflict erupted between the Others and DHARMA - not when the station was built.

Power Source

• Heavy water, as mentioned on the blast door map, is a loose term which usually refers to deuterium oxide.
  • Heavy water is not a power source in itself, but can be used as a fuel source in a fusion reactor. Scientists have been able to achieve a fusion reaction, but thus far the energy put in to start the reaction has always exceeded the energy produced by the reaction, making fusion an impractical source of energy as of yet.
• The Flame received power from the electromagnetic properties beneath the Swan, in order to initiate the supply drop. Because of the explosion of the Flame and the Swan, the supply drops are not happening anymore. (Which would explain why Ben saved the scraps after Locke ate the chicken.)
• If the Flame was the power source of the Barracks, why after the Flame's self-destruction, did the Barracks continue to have electricity?

Miscellaneous

• Was possibly once inhabited by Karen DeGroot, as hinted at by DJ Dan's 7/05 Podcast.
• Anecdotally, a film called The Flame and the Arrow is a lighthearted swashbuckling adventure where a peaceful community are being invaded and the community members try to rebel against their rulers. The hero of the story seems to have little interest in helping the rebels until his son is kidnapped by the invading forces.
• The Flame could have some significance to Greek mythology, like other stations seem to. The god Typhon was a volcanic god and father to the Hydra and Cerberus. The Hydra station has been shown, and the name of the creature has been implied to be Cerberus.
• The Others had to leave someone stationed at the Flame to initiate Food Drop Protocols either for supplies or to maintain the illusion that the DHARMA Initiative was still functioning normally on the Island.
• There is an interesting discussion about the C4 explosives in the Fuselage message boards here[[1]]. If you look at the first posting of the thread, there are many screencaps of the wiring inside the Flame that show rather convincingly that Klugh, Mikhail, or both were installing the C4 devices just prior to the time when Danielle, Sayid, Kate and Locke showed up.
  • Given this, this may send a distress call somewhere. The Others do not want the survivors to be found yet, so they must stop them from making the distress call.
• The facility was guarded poorly because it was no longer useful after the discharge.
  • The Dharma (and now the Other's bases) stations seem to rely on being hidden. If it wasn't for the carvings on Eko's stick Locke would never have gone there and the Flame wouldn't probably be found.
• Walt contacted Michael from the Flame.