The Incident, Parts 1 & 2/Theories

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Theories about The Incident, Parts 1 & 2

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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.

Eternal Recurrence or "See Ya In Another Life, Brotha"

At the top of this episode, Jacob and the Man in Black (MIB) discuss their predicament:

MiB: "I don't have to ask. You brought them here. Still trying to prove me wrong, aren't you?"

Jacob: "You are wrong."

MiB: "Am I? They come. They fight. They destroy. They corrupt. It always ends the same."

Jacob: "It only ends once. Anything that happens before that is just progress" [1]

When MIB says, "its always the same", he's speaking of the Eternal Recurrence loop; there's no way out of it. Jacob disagrees by saying it "ends once", but "progress" against fighting, destruction, and corruption has to be made for that to occur.

- More on this theory -

Jacob Theories

• Jacob handing Jack the Apollo candy bar was a clue that Jacob is the Greek God Apollo archetype of the story. He's essentially passing Jack his calling/business card. Additionally, it foreshadows what is to come, a passing of the torch.

• This episode was on touching (Jacob touching Jack, Kate, etc.) because through touching, Jacob was able to synchronize Jack, [Hurley], Kate and Sawyer to his time, i.e., flashbacks/forwards are not actually flashes, but the next series of events in this synchronized time-frame. (Juliet was not touched, so she is the variable, eventually leading her to detonating the bomb and changing this time-frame.)
  • The theory is that they are timeless beings. While they may have been sitting there on a beach in the 1800's, they themselves may not be from that time.
  • Jacob has the gift of tongues. Everyone hears him fluently speaking his or her own language.
  • After thousands of years, Jacob could've learned new languages and adapted to whom he was talking, and his accent would've changed with the speech patterns of when/where he was.

• Jacob or his brother are behind the visions seen by several of the characters; the Man in Black may in fact be behind all of the visions seen, as Jacob's MO is to have people, not visions, do his work.

People brought to the Island

• Jacob brought the ancient Egyptians to the Island before bringing the people in the ship (possibly the Black Rock). What Jacob refers to as progress is human progress: the Egyptians brought some techniques, their architecture and art, their writing and so on. The people in the Black Rock will bring new things, such as gunpowder. That is what Jacob means when he says that, in the meantime, there is progress.
• It is likely that the Island benefits from exterior human progress through its history, trying to preserve every good it can take from it, battling white against black to take the best from it and evolve.

• Since people are not supposed to be able to find the Island, other people who have come to the Island may have been brought by Jacob, as well: for instance, the DHARMA Initiative.
  • Jacob doesn't bring anybody to the Island. The Island itself brings people to it. Jacob and his brother were both average humans until they became gifted. They did not age, but they were still mortal. Once Jacob passes on his gift, he becomes next to useless.
  • Does this include the US Army and the Jughead bomb? They were at odds with the Others - would Jacob bring outsiders to oppose the Others (his followers)?
• Even without having knowledge of this particular Island, numerous energy spots can be measured in the world. That's why they (DI) built The Lamp Post (Station #00/01).
  • Eloise Hawking states that a "very clever fellow" built the pendulum that allowed the Dharma Initiative to locate the Island. As that man is still unnamed, it could have been Jacob.
  • It also could have been the Man in Black.
    • The Island is not impossible to find, it is difficult because it moves constantly, in time and/or space, but the US Army has also found it and nearly destroyed it. Also, there was Rousseau's group, and they came upon it regardless of Jacob.
• The DHARMA Initiative is an example of human progress insofar as they want to change and save the world. They were brought by Jacob in an attempt to prove to his brother that he is wrong about people.(However, Ben speaks of Jacob's disapproval of technology, AKA human scientific progress, like the DHARMA Initiative.)
  • Actually, it is implied that the "Saving the World" agenda is nothing but a clever way to hide their true intentions, such as harvesting the Island's unique properties to manipulate time.

• One thing that has been made clear about Jacob is that he's looking for a very specific group of people to come to the Island. It seems as if he has good intentions, as he discusses the people on the ship (possibly the Black Rock) as "progress," even though his brother is insistent about how Jacob is "wrong". Jacob seems to have finally found his perfect group in the Losties (that is, Jack and the remaining group), which explains why he has spent years making sure they get to the Island, because he knows of their importance. When he says with his dying words that "they're coming," he is more than likely referring to Jack and company coming back to the present; he knows they can and will finally set things right in this "good vs. evil" feud that's been going for countless years between Jacob and his brother.
• When Jacob touched each of the Oceanic 6 (and Jin), he passed on a part of his "spirit" or "essence" and it is this that has protected and made each one of them "special." In Season 6 we will see that the return of each of them will lead to the reunification and resurrection of Jacob from his spirit that they carry.

The Man in Black Has Been Manipulating The Survivors

• Jacob's brother had Richard tell Real Locke to get the survivors back to the Island, and that he would die. Richard and Locke were both fooled into believing this came from a reliable source (each other), when the advice was actually coming from Jacob's brother.
• The "shape shifting" the Man in Black was the fake Yemi that Eko talked to before being killed. Eko was the original attempt at finding a loophole. When Eko did not perform as expected, he was killed.
  • When Eko died he said to Locke "You're next". Eko meant that Locke specifically is the next target for manipulation, rather than referring to plural "you all" being next.

• Jacob's brother is responsible for all of this; he has taken the form of every dead person on the Island to manipulate the people he needed to create his loophole. It is pretty clear that Locke or the others did not need to go back to the Island because everyone was fine living in 1977. It was their return that ruined everything. Locke accomplished his task of saving everyone when he left the Island. That was his job and he should have been finished. But in order for Jacob's brother to create his loophole, he needed Locke to die so he could take over his form. What is amazing is that this man was able to manipulate Ben, who is a master manipulator himself, to finish the job and that Richard was completely unaware of everything that was happening. This plan has been in the making for decades and if you look closely, every little step and everything that has happened thus far has been moving towards his plan to "kill" Jacob.

• The Man in Black was able to manipulate Ben because the only "instructions from Jacob" that Ben received--besides those delivered by Richard--were passed on to him by a vision of Christian Shephard. Christian is dead, and the MiB takes on the form of dead people, ergo Ben was receiving instructions from the Man in Black instead of Jacob.

• Additionally, during the events of "Whatever Happened, Happened", Ben was taken to the Temple to be healed. Later we discovered that the Temple was where the Monster resided. The conclusion is that the Man in Black was able to begin manipulating Ben at that young age.

• In episode 5 of Season 1, it was a vision of Christian Shephard--a dead man--who led Jack to the caves and their water supply, allowing the Losties to survive on the Island (they were running out of water at the time). Since visions of dead people are actually the MiB, and we're concluding that the Monster is the same being as the Man in Black, then this shows a manipulation of the Oceanic 815 survivors from their first days on the Island, but to their benefit rather than their detriment.

• Additionally, if it were Man in Black plan ALL ALONG to use one of these survivors to help him kill Jacob, then Man in Black would have to make sure that they survived. If Man in Black's only goal was to kill Jacob, then he certainly wouldn't mind doing some bit of good along the way to accomplish that goal.

• I don't think Christian can be considered Smokey/Man in Black because Christian was seen by Jack off Island. So if it is Smokey's/MIB's goal to get off the Island, there is no way that Christian can be him.

• Off Island Christian could have been a genuine apparition of the dead Christian, a hallucination of a distraught Jack, or a vision like the ones Hurley sees.

• • It is very likely that both Jacob and the MiB can project themselves off the Island, not fully, but to an extent where a specific person can see and sometimes touch them. After all, how could Jacob possibly leave the Island if his brother couldn't? Which makes it more probable that Jacob merely projected himself off the Island and not physically left it.

Whatever Happened, Happened

Jacob's comment "they're coming" was in reference to those he visited in the past, aka the ones in 1977. He means that they didn't change the past, and will somehow return to the present to stop him.

The Cabin

• Ilana and Bram go the the Island to find the MiB NOT Jacob. They arrive at the cabin and the very first thing they do is draw their guns, even before they realize the ash line was broken. And they only refer to a "he," meaning the Man in Black. The cloth with Tawaret makes them realize the MiB is going to see Jacob at the statue.
• Horace was the Man in Black in Locke's dream about him building the Cabin. Man in Black used Horace's body, much like Locke's, to build the Cabin, and then used Horace in Locke's dream to start Locke on the path that lead him to moving the Island and dying, which lead to the Man in Black being able to use Locke as well.
• Ilana and Bram saw living Locke (after the crash of Ajira 316), and also knew they had his body in the case. Going to the Cabin was the initial goal before the Locke issue, and they still went to confirm suspicions: that the enemy had escaped and Jacob had gone. That is why Ilana gave Bram quite a look.

Juliet and the bomb

• Juliet had to be the one to set off the bomb; already established that Jack could not kill himself (which is effectively what he would be doing) because he left the Island. This holds for all other time-traveling Losties... except Juliet, the only one who never left the Island (ever). Hugo, Miles, Jack, Kate had all left; Jin was on the freighter; Sawyer either left on the boat the first time or when jumping off the helicopter. The Island needed her to set the bomb off, hence the chains that pulled her down but didn't do her in.
  • Juliet (being the doctor who was brought to the Island to try to correct the pregnancy issue) prevents the Incident, which was what caused pregnancy on the Island to be deadly. Without the fertility issue, she never needs to be there, so she's not on the Island - she continues her research with her sister.
  • The Incident did not cause the deadly complications with pregnancies. This problem already existed, since it was said that pregnant women were taken by submarine to another island to give birth.
  • There is no indication that there was a problem with maternal death during the DHARMA period. A woman would be taken off the Island when they were about due, not before their second trimester. If the problem had existed, Amy would never have gotten as far along as she did.
• Juliet never detonated the bomb. It was a time skip caused by the Incident. The bomb never went off. Juliet was found in the bottom of the destroyed Swan Station (the one destroyed by Desmond) when she returned to present day. We are lead to believe the bomb went off because we saw a white light and then the plane scene in the "ultimate flash-forward," and then the Island at the bottom of the ocean. The bomb was left behind and used by the DI as the failsafe - which Desmond detonated after Locke convinced him not to push the button.
  • Ummm, yeah... it went off.

The black LOST on white background

• The black text on the white background signifies only one thing. Black is white and white is black. Black -- Man in Black , is white. White -- Jacob, is black. What we believed to be good and what we believed to be bad, is, in fact, the opposite.
• While we are just now learning this, the show up until this point has been about Jacob's brother's manipulation of events for the purpose of finding a loophole and killing Jacob (black background). The remainder of the series will focus on the struggle of the good side (Jacob's side) to prevail (white background).
• A bright white screen all season long has indicated a time jump. This is what it signifies now. Juliet triggers the explosion, and immediately they all jump in time.
• The color inverting tells us that something has been changed. The white screen is not a time travel or an explosion, but it's a transfer from the usual black end cut to the new white version.
  • The word Lost on the white cut screen was not just black, but black like on a photo negative. It is meant to imply some inversion of what has gone on before is coming next season.

• The white background signifies that this is the end of the actual timeline for the show. It is the end result of what happens in Season 6, which is probably to make sure Jacob is not killed by Ben because he is manipulated by his brother.
  • The goal of Season 6 may be for Jacob (or the Others, associated with him) to make sure that the bomb does indeed get detonated by manipulating the time line. They want it to go off because the Swan isn't built, the Losties never crash, Locke never ends up on the Island, and Jacob's brother can't manipulate him to kill him and trick Ben into killing Jacob.
  • Daniel must be involved in this process, because he is the one who initiated this with Jack.
  • A bunch of the weird stuff from Season 1-5 could be explained if a group were to have kept jumping back to various parts in the timeline to make sure that this happen... the Whispers, people appearing out of nowhere and disappearing, characters' knowledge of future events, etc., all could be a part of this.
  • The "war" therefore is between this team who wants to manipulate the timeline on Jacob's behalf and the Smoke Monster.
• It could mean that all along for five seasons, the "dark side" has been dominant and winning, but now the good side will gain dominance and finally win. Or that all of what has happened has been left in the dark, the white background could mean that all of the secrets and missing pieces will come out in the daylight.

Why Jacob never met with Ben

• Ben never met with Jacob because it is not a requirement that Jacob meets with every leader. Richard plays some type of consigliere role, but it also appears that he plays an intermediary between leaders and Jacob. The producers have noted a special relationship between Richard and the Others' Leader. When 70's Widmore asked Alpert about bringing young Ben to be healed, he mentions that he doesn't run on the authority of the leader. All of Jacob's lists were brought to Ben by Richard. It's possible for a leader to see Jacob, but it is not a typical occurrence.
• While Man in Black thinks he's now in control, this is all part of Jacob's master plan. Jacob knew Ben would be the one to kill him, so he never allowed him an audience and caused him to suffer as leader of the Others.
  • Then, when Ben gives his monologue and says to Jacob, "What about me?" Jacob gives a flippant response like "What about you?" in order to provoke Ben.
    • "What about you?" was not a flippant response at all. "What about you?" is Jacob's way of telling Ben that, despite what he thinks, the Island and the universe don't exist in order to make his life wonderful - it's not all about him.
    • Jacob wouldn't meet with Ben, because the way Ben "followed" Jacob was through murder and deception; Jacob is still challenging Ben to make a better choice at that moment - to choose not to follow violent orders. "What about you" was meant to be reflective - what choices have you made? What results have they created? But Ben is beyond hearing this...
    • "What about you?" was merely a response to Ben self-centeredness. Ben is complaining that he was supposed to be so important, as the Leader of the Others, yet he never got to meet with Jacob. He was offended by the fact that he wasn't treated as well as he thought he should have been. "What about me?" is the climax of these feelings in Ben, and Jacob responds "What about you?" - meaning that he needs to fix his feelings of self-centeredness by understanding that he is still only a man.
    • In an official Russian dub, which is being done in corroboration with Lost creators, the "What about me? - What about you?" part of the dialogue was translated a bit differently. After Ben is done complaining to Jacob about Locke being special, Ben goes: "Why not me?" [As in why aren't I special]. Jacob, giving him a clueless and uninterested look, responds with: "Emm, and who are you?" This could further implying that Ben was never a true leader of the Others, because Jacob had no idea about him.

• Jacob would not meet with Ben because he did not choose Ben to lead. Young Ben saw his dead mom in the jungle, and it was this incident that peaked the interest of Alpert later on when young Ben met him in the woods. So the entire reason that Alpert thought Ben was special to begin with was started by Jacob's enemy, not Jacob.
• Ben was chosen by Jacob, but Jacob was aware that Ben would eventually be used as Man in Black's loophole. He chose Ben because he was destined to make a choice of whether or not to kill Jacob, but didn't meet him face to face until it was time for him to make that choice. Remember, Jacob believes in free will, and didn't want to influence Ben's decision by allowing Ben an audience before their destined meeting depicted in "The Incident, Part 1".
• You can't be DESTINED to make a CHOICE, that's what destiny is, the lack of free will.
  • That is not entirely accurate. Destiny only refers to an unchangeable future, it does not remove choice or free will. Just because it was destined to happen doesn't mean Ben didn't choose. Just ask Oedipus Rex.
• Jacob never met with Ben but they have communicated in some other way (perhaps via The Cabin). In the episode The Man Behind the Curtain, Ben returns from the Cabin without Locke and says they are moving up their raid on the beach by one day. Richard questions this, and Ben says "Jacob wanted it done." If only Richard talked to Jacob, then this would make no sense.

Two Monsters

• The Man in Black is the Monster that we have seen many times. Jacob is another smoke monster that we have not seen but only Locke has seen in "Walkabout". Locke did see a Monster in this episode as evidenced by the fact that Kate and Sawyer saw the Monster moving in Locke's direction through the jungle, as it made similar sounds and noise as the smoke monster that we have all seen. This happened after the boar stormed them while they were hunting and broke them up. This monster clearly came out of the trees/bushes and revealed itself to Locke. Due to the camera angle, we do not see exactly what Locke see's, but it was inferred to be a smoke Monster.
  • We have seen the smoke monster taking on different colors and performing different roles. The smoke monster that judged Eko was black. The smoke that surrounded and judged Ben was light gray. Also compare Locke's different reactions to the smoke monster in "Walkabout" and when he was dragged by the smoke monster to the vent in the Dark Territory towards the end of Season 1. The first time he was calm and said he saw something "beautiful" and the monster did nothing to him. The second time, when the monster was shown as black, Locke was scared and the monster tried to forcefully drag him into the vent.
  • There is only one Monster. The reason that we do not see the Monster in "Walkabout" is because the director of the episode didn't want us to see the Monster because it was only 4 episodes into the season, and they wanted to keep it as a "reveal" for later. Also, there have been instances of the Monster being "friendly" to people at one point, and hostile towards them at other times (ex: Eko sees the Monster in the woods when it seems to "scan" him and then leave. Then, Eko is later killed by the monster). The color differences (which are not confirmed, only assumed), of black and light grey (as described above) are due to the audience's perception. Those colors are too similar to say it was a different color.(Also, when the monster is seen "judging" Ben, they are in a very dark room, so it is safe to assume that if it was a lighter gray, it was to make a BLACK smoke monster more visible in a dark room).
  • There is only one Monster. Locke saw the Monster differently in "Walkabout" as part of the Man in Black's plot to kill Jacob. Locke, who was selected as the "loophole" years earlier (using a strict linear timeline) was given a special vision of the Monster that in his mind established a deep connection between himself and the Island. This enabled the Man in Black to continue manipulating Locke because of Locke's belief that he was special.
  • There are two Monsters, both with the same smoke forms. But that the audience did not see the monster it it's first appearance to Locke in "Walkabout" was a direction choice for the episode to keep the audience in suspense for the monster's first appearance on screen. Locke describes the Monster differently, as a bright, beautiful light, because the show creators had not completed the appearance of the monster at the time "Walkabout" was written and its description was kept vague so anything could be retconned. If the Smoke Monster appeared in a different "bright" form we do not see later that is because the Monster (whether Jacob's or the Man in Black') outwardly reacted to its first meeting with Locke who is important to the Island, Jacob's brother and Jacob.
  • There are two monsters. If a monster can take the shape of any person, i think it can change it color. There is a monster that kills and a monster that does not, which explains its behavior.

Locke wasn't The Leader

• Locke assumed the leadership position because Ben told him so before moving the Island. Ben assumed Locke was the leader because Richard had said so. Richard assumed Locke was the leader because Locke told him so in the past (and Richard was further manipulated by Man in Black). That's why Richard never detected anything special in Locke... because he really wasn't special.
• On 1/26/10, ABC aired an enhanced rerun of The Incident. It was confirmed that Richard was "convinced" of Locke's uniqueness because of Jack's convincing words, leading to 'dire consequences'.
• One of the rules could be that Jacob can only be killed by the leader - however the leader is also the most loyal person to Jacob and the Island. Locke was never the leader, it was still Ben. By manipulating everyone into thinking that Ben is no longer leader, Jacob's brother manages to get past the loophole by getting Ben to become jealous of Locke and lose his faith in Jacob, so that Ben then chooses to kill Jacob.
• Ben was pushed off of the Island by Locke, who was either misinterpreting or misled by Christian. Richard assumed Locke would be the new leader, but this was because of manipulations of Locke throughout time by Jacob's brother. Ben was still in some official capacity 'the leader'. This is why Ben was special, and could kill Jacob.
• The true, acting leader leaving the Island by the Donkey Wheel is what causes the Island to skip in time. Ben was still the true leader and his leaving caused it. That is why Christian (assuming he is not the Man in Black or a tool of the Man in Black) said it needed to be Locke that left, because he was not the leader.
  • That does not justify why the Island stopped skipping in time after Locke's departure.

Losties destiny fulfilled

Each of the Losties that were transported back to 1977 each had a specific purposes that needed to be fulfill, and each one depended on a specific already-seen trait in that character. Jack's initiative, Kate's will to do good no matter what the cost, Sawyer's deceptiveness, Daniel's brain, Sayid's "killer" instincts, Hurley's dim wits, Juliet's persistence, Miles' ability, and Jin's decisiveness.. These purposes are each significant to the flow of time, and will make it so that the events in the "future" unfold as they should. Once these purposes are fulfilled, they will be transported back to present day. Juliet was likely the last one to fulfill hers, so they will all go back the moment the bomb detonates.

• Jack - The one to carry on Faraday's plan of blowing up the bomb.
• Kate - Saving Ben by donating blood and bringing him to the Others
• Sawyer - Helping everyone achieve trust with the DHARMA Initiative when the first arrived in 1974
• Daniel - Bringing up the plan to detonate the bomb
• Sayid - Shooting Ben
• Hurley - Revealing to Dr. Chang that they are from the future, making him evacuate the Island
• Juliet - Ultimately blowing up the bomb
• Miles - First discovering the massive electromagnetic forces via the dead body in the body bag
• Jin - Saving Ben by bringing him back to Dharmaville
  • Except why is there an Island in 2007?
    • Miles is NOT the first to discover the electromagnetic forces of the Island. He does not mention such force to Dr. Chang but he knows about the power contained on the Island and is already trying to harvest it.

Keeping Locke off Island

• Throughout Season 4, there are many instances that seem to imply that Locke should leave the Island and never come back. According to Christian, Locke is supposed to turn the wheel and leave the Island. Usually this means you can never come back, thus preventing Locke from returning and killing Jacob. Claire tells Kate "Don't bring him back" in her dream, Hurley is told by a vision of Charlie to tell Jack "you're not supposed to 'raise' him." These are not referring to Aaron, but Locke.
• There is additional evidence to suggest that forces, one faction at least, were attempting to keep Locke on the Island not expel him off of it. The purpose for keeping Locke on the Island was to prevent his death and the usurpation of his identity by the MiB. On the Island, Locke suffered multiple potentially fatal injuries but was miraculously healed, essentially making it near impossible for him to die on the Island. It was only after leaving the Island that Locke could die and the Man in Black's plot to steal his likeness could be realized.
  • Locke destroys the submarine and communication station, two important pieces of equipment necessary for arranging a departure from the Island.
  • Locke consistently pleads with Jack and others to not leave the Island.

Ben's Role

• A - It is Ben that kills Jacob.
• B - It is Ben that killed Locke.
• C - It is Ben that dislodged the wheel creating time shifts that made all the time travels possible.
• Look carefully. Just after Jacob asks Locke about the loophole and Locke confirms it, the scene immediately goes to Ben's startled face. The implication here is not that Jacob's brother in Locke's body was the loophole... rather *Ben is the loophole*--having returned to the Island when he was banished and now about to stab Jacob. Jacob's enemy found his loophole in getting Ben to do the killing.
• Ben was not healed at the Temple. He died. Jacob's brother took his place, the same way as he did with Locke. Also Jacob was able to do the same thing, this is why Ben tells Widmore that he cannot kill him when he meets him at his house. It's because Charles is a manifestation of Jacob. And it's not until Jacob's brother leaves Ben body that he can directly attack Jacob. This is also why Ben kills Locke, so than later he can uses him to approach Jacob.
  • Ben is not the Man in Black, because the Man in Black is Locke.
    • Rather, Ben is a manifestation of Jacob. Remember, Ben said: "We're the good guys."

Burning bodies and objects

• This episode continues the idea of burning bodies (and cabins): in the same episode, Ilana and her group burn down Jacob's cabin, and Man in Black kicks him into the fire once Ben stabs him. Both of these are people knowledgeable about the Island's mysteries, which may imply that this has broader implications on the Island. This also may be the reason the Hostiles require the return of dead bodies from the DHARMA Initiative, and it may prevent dead people from being resurrected or possessed by either The Island, Jacob, Jacob's brother or anyone else.
  • Note that the corpses of the 815 passengers were burned by the rest (without knowing the possible effects) with the fuselage, while most of the survivors who died after the crash were buried (Nikki and Paulo, Ana Lucia and Libby etc). It seems that only the people whose bodies were left intact appear to the survivors in dreams and visions: people who were buried (e.g. Ana Lucia to Hurley), left in pits (Horace), simply decomposed (Yemi), drowned (Charlie) or came in a coffin (Locke and Christian). It's unclear, however, why the Others would just leave the DHARMA Initiative bodies, or not warn the survivors against burial, if they knew they could be possessed.
  • This could also mean that Jacob's brother could be killed or weakened by burning Locke's body, although he didn't seem to show any interest in finding it after 316 crashed.

What did the bomb actually do

• We need to distinguish between Jughead, and Jughead's fissile core. (JFC) Jughead was a fairly large fusion hydrogen bomb. JFC was it's very small fission bomb detonator.

• In the real world JFC would have been too big to carry, but anyway...

• The drilling in 1977 caused a small (ish) build up of the electromagnetic forces in the anomaly that the Swan Station had been designed to research. The anomaly had previously been geologically contained. The drilling critically damaged the natural containment systems.

• This was a foreshadowing of the large build up that was caused when the button was not pressed in time by Desmond in 2004, causing 815 to crash, and the catastrophic build up when Locke refused to press the button at all.

• Juliet detonated the JFC which in normal circumstances would have created a fairly large nuclear blast, however - as it was detonated in the middle of an electromagnet anomaly, and it was underground, the effect was to plug the hole. But not stop the build - ups.

• It fell to Pierre Chang, Radzinsky and Richard Alpert to re-design the swan, as a containment unit with lots of concrete and with Jughead itself as the failsafe.

• Chang & Radzinsky had the knowledge and saw the effects of the blast, and Alpert knew where Jughead itself was.

• The logic being that the electromagnet anomaly forces where a great deal stronger than first thought. But that a very large nuclear blast from Jughead would probably contain them permanently, but would you really want to risk it?

• Being as Radzinsky was basically at fault, he spent a long time in the Swan hatch pressing the button before blowing his brains out.

• When Desmond turn the fail-safe key the much larger Jughead explosion did indeed permanently fix the anomaly, by imploding the station; and creating the crater, that the losties later time jumped into.

• So In both cases Jughead and the JFC saved the day, acted as fail-safe and plugged the holes.

• So the only unresolved bit is the time jump from 1977 - Being as such strong electromagnetic anomalies were also found at the Orchid Station, and that's where Dharma did the research into time travel, and where the Frozen Donkey Wheel was, it makes sense that the JFC + the anomaly at the Swan caused the time jump, that got the Losties back to 2007.

• Now being as Desmond survived the 2004 blast, and time jumped, and became resistant to the electromagnetic forces, when he turned the fail-safe key to explode Jughead. The combination of a nuclear blast + electromagnetism must create a time jump episode at a small radius around the epicentre of the blast - explaining why the Losties and the shaft time jumped but other observers did not - and why Desmond survived the 2004 blast, and ended up in jungle naked.