| Main Article | Theories about The Flame |
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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. It is possible that after the discharge, the others ripped out the monitor console and transported it elsewhere. Maybe they tried to connect it to another station in hopes of getting communications to work through another medium (convert the radio tower to two-way mode?). Or, maybe they thought the discharge damaged the console, so they took it "home" to repair. All this would explain why the Flame was so poorly guarded- it didn't work anymore, and the important part had been taken somewhere else.
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).
- Computer, hardware & techonology research station.
- The explosives and self-destruct were installed after conflict erupted between the Others and DHARMA - not when the station was built.
- The Others had no other means to contact the outside world, and the Flame was only inoperable as a result of the discharge.
- Either Ms. Klugh or Mikhail Bakunin (or both) were at the Flame before the Losties found it because they were trying to repair it.
- Bakunin was stationed at the flame. Ms. Klugh was probably there either to talk to him about what he needed to fix the problem or to help him fix the problem.
- Bakunin's only lie was that he was a member of the DI; the statement that the satellite dish was inoperable for at least ten years could be taken to be true.
- The Flame's only use was for Locke to trigger its eventually explosion. This was its Fate.
- The Flame recieved 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 hapening anymore. (Which would explain why Ben saved the scraps after Locke ate the chicken.)
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.
Miscellaneous
- The unkown is the Flame because the drawing on the blastdoor map says:"unlikely due to Cerebrus Activity".
- 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. 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.
- This is where the messages to Michael in the Swan possibly pretending to be from Walt were from.
- Locke knows something we don't. When he exited the Flame after entering "77", he said he knew why Mikhail didn't want him to do it. However, he seemed surprised when the building exploded.
- 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 Others as DHARMA Rebels
It is possible that The Others could be DHARMA rebels, and purge was really a kind of "civil war" within DHARMA.
- This would explain why The Others are so wary of "visitors" such as the Losties
- This would also explain Jacob's List, which is a list of people that The Others beleive to be useful in their fight against DHARMA.
- This could also explain the crash, and The Others can somehow bring down planes with the passengers unharmed in order to use the people aboard as recruits. This also partially explains the Room 23 video, and it is used to hypnotize "useful" people, such as Jack and Karl. Jack is hard-headed and strong, so he would make a useful and loyal member, and it is possible Karl could be used as leverage for Alex.
- It seems that DHARMA is very preoccupied with protecting The Flame, because the C-4's could also possibly wipe out any DHARMA members in The Flame, and the video does not warn of this explosion. So, it seems very important to protect this station from "The Hostiles", even if it costs a member. Why? If The Others are DHARMA rebels, they could expose their entire operation.
- Occam's Razor - the video doesn't mention the C-4s because they were wired into the system by the Others and not DHARMA, shortly prior to the events of "Enter 77". Ben has been subversively manipulating Locke into carrying out his whims without his subordinates having to know about it, i.e. the submarine explosion.
- This would partially explain the recruitment of Juliet, which may have been brought to the island for DHARMA, so she could artifically impregnate females for more recruits on The Island, minimizing exposure to the outside world, after The Purge, Juliet was captured by The Others.
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