Whatever Happened, Happened/Theories

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Theories about Whatever Happened, Happened

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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.

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Kate's Purpose to Bring Claire Back

When Kate says that she came back to the island to bring Claire back, this is a direct allusion to what will happen in Season 6 when Kate brings Claire back off the island on a helicopter while holding Aaron. This is just as Desmond had prophesied to Charlie at the end of Season 3, as his other prophesies have proven to be true. ("Greatest Hits")

• Kate is currently pregnant. We will see Claire boarding a helicopter with Kate's Baby in the Series Finale.

Charles Widmore & Ellie

Are the leaders of the Others in 1977, as stated in Alpert and Erik's Conversation

• Ellie and Widmore are on the same level, due to the information gathered in this conversation. Also looking into what we have learned from Richard grooming Locke to become leader and now possibly doing the same for Ben that Richard picks the leader and advises them, but is outside of the command structure himself, answering to nobody.
  • We can't say for certain whether two leaders or one leader is the norm since we have only the two examples to draw on. There are actually be two positions open, with Locke being groomed for one and another castaway being groomed for the other. Sawyer or Jack would be the most likely candidates but it could really be anyone.
    • Sun - that would explain why she was left in 2008 along John (and Ben). That would make it another man-woman pair, and while Locke represents the spiritual role that Ellie could have played, Sun has been lately showing the relentlessness and determination, even the cold blood, of Charles Widmore.
      • She has the temperament and resolve to be a young Charles, but more to the point Christian hasn't spoken to anybody else but Locke. If Jacob/Christian is the leader of the others, we've seen him give tasks to Locke and now to Sun. They are the new Charles and Ellie.
• The conversation between Richard Alpert and Erik also hints toward a more complicated command structure; at this point, the two leaders represent different aspects of the island. Ellie is the spiritual leader, leading those who have been to the temple; Charles is the secular leader who takes care of more practical matters. Erik first mentions Ellie because Richard clearly falls on the temple side of things, then mentions Charles being especially annoyed due to him creating the truce or in charge of enforcing it. In 2004 Ben represents both leaders as result of a coup of sorts, as shown in "The Shape of Things to Come". Widmore and Ben have a past relationship due to such a coup d'état; he didn't just replace an existing leader but also changed the balance of power. This would explain why some others seem to be fully devoted to the island while others have individual conflicts and what-not. These roles on the island can be reflected in their future lives off the island. Ellie, whose name is a nickname for Eloise, is living in a church devoted to the island and its location, while Charles builds influence and power through the Widmore Corporation.'

Richard Appears

• As Sawyer and Kate are being led into the jungle by the Others, Richard Alpert walks in to meet them. Sawyer is surprised by Richard's sudden appearance, and when asked about it, Richard says something like, "You wanted to meet me, so here I am." The theory is that Richard can travel quickly from place to place, possibly even tele-port.
• Like a deity, when summoned appropriately, he will appear.
• Richard is the Smoke Monster. He can travel very quickly, he can enter the temple, and he certainly looks the part.

• The smoke monster cannot go through the sonic fence. Richard can. Therefore, the smoke monster isn't Richard.
• Richard cannot go through the sonic fence in smoke form, only in human form.
  • Richard is not the smoke monster. There has been nothing to even hint that. When the smoke monster appears in human form or something of the like (ie, Yemi, Kate's horse), it is always in the form of something that a character has ALREADY seen or known.

• Or, Jacob or the smoke monster are aware of everything going on anywhere on the island, and told Richard, "Here they come. Go meet them."
• Like all of the Others, Richard is adept at traveling through the jungle quickly, unseen and unheard.

Whatever Happened, Happened

• Jack was trying to alter the events of 2004 by letting the adolescent Benjamin Linus bleed to death; what he did not understand is that his decision did not matter. The question of the life and death of the adolescent Ben was answered when Jack was a child, assuming that he had even been born.
• This episode gave plenty of evidence to indicate that Daniel Faraday's "rules" are correct; there is one timeline and events always happened event if some of the participants. People are often confusing the reality of this timeline with the consciousness of those in it.
• The thing that changes in some cases is people's memories of events. Desmond's life was not altered by suddenly having a meeting with Daniel inserted into his past; his subconscious, without apparent reason, "coughed up" the memory of the meeting.
• Ben's memory loss has nothing to do with the nature of Time Travel, but it does have something to do with the nature of the Temple. Richard predicts -- correctly -- that Ben won't remember any of "this," not because of some time paradox, but because of where Richard is taking Ben.
• Desmond's ability to delay future events is based of prescience; he prevented Charlie from dying by lightening strike because such a death would not have helped anything. Desmond was playing a delaying game.
• Hurley touched it when they talked about shooting each other. Jack is also becoming resigned to his 'powerlessness' but they won't gain power over events until they realize and embrace this fact (for example, put a gun to their heads and pull the trigger, repeatedly).
• We think of Ben as being evil, that is not necessarily true. Ben is a pragmatist. Sacrifices are necessary to attain the greater good.
• There was no "first time;" there was an "only time."
• There is a challenge the way that most people understand "Whatever happened, happened." It was not it that "Sayid always shot Ben", but "Ben always was almost killed and needed to be taken to the temple."
• The fact that Ben becomes an Other regardless of what Jack, Sayid, et. al. know about him from the future points to the central dilemma in Lost: If somebody knows something about the future (a catastrophic event) they want to prevent, but the island won't let them, are they all not powerless? We shall see...

Hurley and Miles

• The conversation between Hurley and Miles in the cabin is the first detailed discussion about the impact of their time travel.
• The characters of Hurley and Miles are playing similar roles to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern from Hamlet, and especially as shown in the play by Tom Stoppard Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead [1], where the two characters observe the story around them, but don't interact with it to any high degree. They also spend a lot of time discussing life as fate or chance, but seem to be ineffectual in changing their fate, which is to be messengers who get killed.
• Hurley and Miles represent a slight parody of fans' theories of Lost, and how inspired the debates over issues like time travel can get.

The Temple

• Being healed by the Temple does not rob Ben of his innocence; we later see a young Ben refusing to kill baby Alex, which would indicate that he at least still has a conscience. Growing up an Other under Widmore's brutal rule is what shapes him, and this is what Richard meant when he said that his innocence would be lost if they "took him".