| [Note: A version without pictures was posted at 11:04am CST, on 2/6/10. This version was posted at 12:08pm CST, on 2/6/10.] LAX ADDENDA: EARTH "R" AND EARTH "S" DEJA VU ALL OVER AGAIN?  Now that the dust has begun to settle from the J2 (Juliet/Jughead) Incident, students of the history of innovation will not be surprised to learn that a convergence on accepted nomenclature is now emerging.... While using the phrase 'alternate realities' does not perforce dictate a subordination of one world over (under) another, especially in a multiverse context (see my 2/3/10 posting), I'll graciously accede to Darlton's desire to avoid using that phrase, in my future postings. Still, the "alt." prefix is a nice and succinct shorthand that rolls easily off the keyboard, for sure!  In my future postings I'll use a different set of designators. No, I won't use the "Earth Prime" and "Earth X" nomenclature, as the "X" to my mind is more egregious than "alternate" in suggesting a subordinate and derivative status. Instead, I'll use "EARTH-S" to concisely denote the equally real 'verse that was generated through the J2 Incident, which CASIMIRICALLY created a 'mirrorverse' that, according to Darlton, moved Sideways from the 'verse on which J2 occurred (hence, the Earth-S designation). I'll use "EARTH-R" to designate the 'verse on which J2 occurred, using "R" simply as a convenience to identify that world version which preceded the 'verse which was moved sideways (that is, according to the view we've been presented to date, by Darlton....) This approach is superior to other labels (e.g., "Earth-A" and "Earth-B"), as while it does retain the integrity of the sequence in which we've observed the 'verses, it does so without strongly implying that Earth-R was more primary or origin-al, as  use of an "Earth-A" term or "Earth Prime" label would. Moreover, the "R" vs. "S" designators carry the advantage of suggesting-- per my 2/3/10 posting (see especially the postscripts)-- the very real plot possibility, perhaps due for a later huge reveal, that this is not the first time the island has CASIMIRICALLY split off another 'verse, and that while the island may not function for mainlanders as a 'magic box' reality generator in the sense of granting/instantiating your every corporeal wish right in front of your eyes, the island may be one (of several?) sources of a 'splitting phenomenon' that underlies the existence of a broader MULTIVERSE of equally real worlds.... (Nod to Charlotte's father's namesake, David Lewis, here. See my 2/3/10 posting in this regard....)  Darlton were indeed wise (of course!) by deploying a Season 6 narrative strategy leveraging just the right number of 'versal contrasts, so as not to overwhelm their audience. Two 'verses are just right, in the service of laying a narrative foundation on which to build out a range of intriguing and entertaining insights into the human condition in the universe, existentially stochastic by nature, resulting from a not-quite-predictable confluence of higher (and lower!) order interactions among we the people as Variables, as well as the broader 'verse constrained by and through Constants. So, what happened in the premiere, and what lies beneath the shadow of future plotlines? Presented for your perusal, from a new nomenclature standpoint, we can see that in the premiere Darlton deftly painted a landscape for a new adventure, resetting the 'game' through the following approach: 1. EARTH-R is where we witnessed the Oceanic and Ajira crash landings, where Ben threw FDW off-axis, sending some castaways looping back to the '70s. This is the 'verse where trueLocke stopped the 'record skipping' FDW and where the unLocke convinced Ben to kill Jacob. So at the end of Season 5, we saw the J2 Incident occurring on Earth-R, and Ben holding the bloody knife in his hand after killing Jacob.  2. Yes, as per my 2/3/10 posting, Juliet channeled by Miles was correct: The J2 Incident succeeded in sending them back to where they wanted to go, only not exactly how they thought it would happen. J2 blasted the Earth-R island, apparently venting/destroying the energy pocket and its ability to fuel the MAG-LEV function keeping the island afloat and moving. So when we see the four-toed statue underwater, with nearly 30 years of sand and organic growth accumulation, this is NOT some sideways Earth-X, but rather this is the Earth-R on which the blast succeeded, sending the island to the bottom of the sea. 3. The successful J2 Incident 'killed' the Earth-R version of the island, resulting in a 'daisy chain' of variable/constant existential interactions, producing what we saw as the 'new' (actually just different and equally real) Flight 815 flying over the ocean, this time experiencing some turbulence, but unrelated to the Swan Hatch blast, which now never happened, at least in this revised/rewritten Earth-R.  4. So the 'new/different' LAX-landing 'verse is NOT an X version, but rather is Earth-R rewritten without the Flight 815 crash, as the island instead sank in the 70's. So the strong implication of Darlton's new Earth-R is that the Others we've come to know and love may now have never really existed, i.e., they may have been written out of existence by the J2 Incident....! Of course, we should expect to see them existing and living out far different lives, on the mainland of the revised/rewritten Earth-R. Not yet convinced? Consider that in Earth-R, we saw a sunken island lying at the bottom of the ocean, and in Earth-S, we saw an entirely different band of Others. (Or, perhaps the pre-J2 Earth-R Others and the Dharmans were sent to another Sideways 'verse.... Earth-T?)  5. In addition to J2 'killing' and sinking the Earth-R island, the combined effects of the blast and the island's unique energy properties split off a new version of the island/world/verse, in no small measure through a process involving the CASIMIR EFFECT....! This sent our cherished band of 70's castaways and the MIB beach party Jacob-killing witnesses sideways into a new Earth-S worldverse, a partially rewritten reality with a new band of Others.... Recall the S-Others sending up the signal rocket, subsequently seen by unLocke et al., at the four-toed statue....?  6. Hmmm.... One VERY intriguing possibility raised by the J2 sideways effect is that it just may be showcasing a fundamental form of a SURVIVAL RESPONSE by the island, an act of self-preservation, a sign that the island is not simply some aggregate of inanimate matter.... Does the island have some semblance of sentience operating on it, organic and/or inorganic? And, perhaps even MORE importantly.... Do we REALLY think this is the first time this kind of thing has happened....?  7. Yes, the Earth-R/Earth-S phenomenon may just well be a precedented one, a kind of event that has been playing out for eons, simply part of the 'game resetting' function that Jacob and MIB have 'lived' through, over and over.... Hence, the "R" and "S" designators may not be all that far off the mark. I wonder what the Earth-Q worldverse looks like, as well as the Earth-T verse....! Near the end of the series, will we see some 'flanking maneuver' by Jacob's Heroes, moving through some as-yet-undisclosed Earth-S portal to thwart the dire plans of MIB through leveraging a future Earth-T verse? (Yes, they are writing new 'verses' in this ongoing hymn in the key of life....) 8. So now, the Earth-S island version still has power, as it is still able to float, but  that power appears to have been affected by the J2 Incident on Earth-R: Witness the brackish, no longer clear, Taweretic healing pool of Holy Ghost infusion.... The healing powers of that pool did appear to be changed, at least with respect to the S-Others' expectations, but later we did see successful effects in revivifying Sayid.... And Jacob and MIB still are able to 'teleport' in and out of sight.... What the additional effects of the J2 Incident on the island's energy/power-imbuing properties are, remain to be seen, of course....  9. Hmmm... Does this mean that AARON and JI YEON may no longer exist in the Earth-R verse? Yes, this is a distinct possibility, as Flight 815 no longer crashed on the island in that verse, and even if we do end up seeing them existing on the mainland, the really big question is whether or not they'll have any extrahuman powers, since they would not have been exposed to the different mainland and island spacetime environments in their in utero and neonatal development (no Alex Luthor equivalents, then? More on this, below....)  10. One of the very interesting implications of the Earth-R/Earth-S plotline-- above and beyond the rich veins of insight Darlton will undoubtedly mine from holding the Earth-S and the now-being-rewritten Earth-R plotline 'mirrors' up to the old unwritten Earth-R 'realities' we've seen to date-- is that the hybrid mainland/island spacetime in utero and neonatal development of Aaron and Ji Yeon (see my 2/3/10 posting) may just well afford them a unique and valuable position in achieving a 'final solution' to the karmic/recursive, infinitely(?) and Casimirically-resetting game that is LOST.... Something about their hybrid developmental pattern may impart them a special spacetime 'anchoring' function, enabling them to not only survive one or more game-resetting Incidents, but also to open portals connecting these myriad, multiversal worldversions, raising the very real and significant possibility of finally (re)solving the game.... 11. And if what we've witnessed to date is NOT the first time this has happened, and the island (and other island-equivalents, on other planets?) has been moved through time and space since the very beginning of time, in no small part by the choices, actions, and consequences of those game-playing sentient life forms  with which it has come into contact, then in addition to fitting with the visions of fans of karmic looping recursion theories, what we've observed on the show so far 'loops' us back to some intriguing plot possibilities raised in my 2/3/10 posting, beyond even the postscript pocket continuum closure scenarios, and the karmic looping post-postscript scenario.... Yes indeed, I would not be surprised to learn that Jacob and MIB are both well aware of the nature of this ongoing, Casimirically-enabled game of 'verse splitting adventure, observing and 'betting' on the outcomes of our free-willed choices-in-action, we the people acting as Variables within the 'game-board-rules' of Constants....  .... and while Jacob might not be averse to a 'verse-healing reconciliation among all of the myriad worldverses populating the broader Multiverse, I strongly suspect it is in MIB's best interests to keep the chaotic game-resetting, 'reality-expanding-verse-splitting' game going, in perpetuity.... After all, as son of SET, ancient Egytian God of Chaos, and Satan, MIB/Antichrist must be delighting in all of the chaos.... And how wise are the words of Jacob... they must die to see the end of the war.... How will it all end....? Time will tell, Dr. Todd J. Hostager | |