Welcome to Lost HEMA Theory!

[Note:  This posting was completed at 12:24am CST, on 2/3/10.  A version with pictures will be posted shortly.]

LAX:

WELCOME BACK, HEMA MULTIVERSE THEORY,

WEAVING A TALE OF LOOMING WAR

WITH A CRISIS OF ALTERNATE REALITIES,

UNLOCKEING THE VARIABLES IN THE SPACETIMELIFE EQUATION 

Kudos all around the horn to the cast, crew and creative braintrust behind the landmark televisionary epic that we know and love.  Darlton and company have most certainly hit the ground running in delivering on their promise to return to the nature and spirit of Season 1, all while opening wider narrative vistas for the lifestories of our cherished castaways, moving us ever closer to the highly-anticipated series finale.

I'm sure we all played a 'let's spot the differences' game as Jack found himself aboard Alt.815 Airways-- quick... do you recall how many drink bottles Cindy gave to Jack?-- and of course that suave ol' Des seated next to Jack was the bir giveaway....  Yup, Daniel Dae Kim was right when quoted in a recent interview that Season 6 would be expanding the scope of the show.  From intriguing temporal dynamics… to the fascinating spatial dynamics of alternate realities….   Of course, it will take hours of scouring among the faithful and dedicated Lost aficionados to mine beneath the layers of surface contents, divining deeper meanings and patterns revealed in the premiere…. 

Lost HEMA Theory fans will no doubt share in the vindication of my 2/1/08 posting (Beginning/End) predicting-- a full two years ago!—that a multiverse/alternate universe theme would play a key role the plot of Lost.  Please see my 2/6/08 follow-up posting (Confirmed Dead), which explores a range of Casimir-related effects with connections to Zero Point Energy, a multiverse interpretation of Lost, and more.

Other bloggers quickly jumped onto the multiverse/David Deutsch/David Lewis bandwagon (see Charlotte’s father’s name), only to find our fervor quashed by what appeared to be a leaked ‘official ruling’ that the intent was to focus on the Grandfather Paradox, not on the multiverse connection suggested by Lewis’ “best known” idea:

“David Kellogg Lewis (September 28, 1941 – October 14, 2001) was a 20th-century American philosopher. Lewis taught briefly at UCLA and then at Princeton from 1970 until his death. He is also closely associated with Australia, whose philosophical community he visited almost annually for more than thirty years. He has made ground-breaking contributions in philosophy of language, philosophy of mind, metaphysics, epistemology, and philosophical logic. He is probably best known for his controversial modal realist stance: that there exist infinitely many concretely existing and causally isolated possible worlds, of which ours is just one, which are used in the analysis of necessity and possibility….Lewis went on to publish Counterfactuals (1973), which contained an analysis of counterfactual conditionals in terms of the theory of possible worlds. He had already proposed it in some of his earlier papers - "Counterpart Theory and Quantified Modal Logic" (1968), "Anselm and Actuality" (1970), and "Counterparts of Persons and their Bodies" (1971). In spite of significant technical advantages promised by this approach, the theory was widely considered to be too implausible to be taken literally, as Lewis urged it should be. Most often the idea that there exists an infinite number of causally isolated universes, each as real as our own but different from it in some way, and that furthermore that alluding to objects in this universe is necessary in order to explain what makes certain counterfactual statements true but not others, meets with what Lewis calls the "incredulous stare" (Lewis, OPW, 2005, pg. 135-137). Lewis defends and elaborates his theory of extreme modal realism, while insisting that there is nothing extreme about it, in On the Plurality of Worlds (1986). Lewis acknowledges that his theory is contrary to common sense, but believes that its advantages far outweigh this disadvantage, and that therefore we should not be hesitant to pay this price.  According to Lewis, what makes a counterfactual conditional of the form  "Had I made that shot our team would have won the game." true is that there is a world, as concrete as ours and significantly similar to it, in which my counterpart makes rather than misses the shot and the counterpart of our team wins the game. Had there been a world even more similar to ours in which my counterpart makes the shot but the counterpart of our team still loses the counterfactual would have been false. When we speak of counterfactual possibilities we speak of what is the case in some possible world or worlds. According to Lewis, "actual" is merely an indexical label we give to a world when we locate ourselves in it. Things are necessarily true when they are true in all possible worlds. (Note that Lewis is not the first one to speak of possible worlds in this context. Leibniz and C.I. Lewis, for example, both speak of possible worlds as a way of thinking about possibility and necessity, and some of David Kaplan's early work is on the counterpart theory. Lewis's original suggestion was that all possible worlds are equally concrete, and the world in which we find ourselves is no more real than any other possible world.) 

[Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Kellogg_Lewis]

Of course, this is not the first time a previously ‘taboo’ topic has later been embraced as central plot elements on the show; exhibit A= the show is not about time travel, then in a later season it is…. 

Below I’ll explore what lies ahead in terms of the broad interpretive and predictive plot expanse looming in our future, mapping likely plot waypoints using DC’s COIE and Valiant’s Unity Saga as charts/roadmaps.  However, before we embark on that journey, let's cover some key highpoints in tonight's roller-coaster season premiere....

1.  Of course, everyone was quick to spot Rose's statement "You can let go now...." as a signal that personal redemption will play a central role in the Season 6 plotline.

2.  Jack's exchange with Des on the plane-- "Do I know you?"-- sets us up for the 'deja vu' connections to come, among mirror twin consciousnesses populating alternate realities or universes (hereafter alt.verses).  One key theme in resolving the fundamental crisis-- hinted at by the alt.others' worry over Sayid's condition-- is that of leveraging cross alt.verse conciousness connections to identify and solve the deep structural problem involved in Season 6....

3.  Jacob's list, broken out of the wooden Ankh, lists the key people, i.e., the key variables, in leveraging personal choices, actions, and free will to restore the lost spacetime integrity of the universe.....Jack and the others are the key variables...  They will need to pierce through the veil to catch clearer (yet still fleeting) glimpses of what is really happening, and how to solve the looming crisis....  Here it is....

4.  Juliet's 'bang a gong' smash hit a 'home run', sending Jughead into action.... Miles was right in channeling Juliet (through the veil of alt.verse consciousnesses), telling Sawyer that "It worked!"....  While Ben's botched attempt to move the island through wimpily pushing the Frozen Donkey Wheel (FDW) off-axis created a temporal split of the 'unified time street' (nod to Faraday)-- a split subsequently healed and restored to Unity by John 'Archibald Wheeler' Locke (nod to Doc Jensen)-- the Juliet/Jughead (J2) effect was also a splitting, but this time yielding a SPATIAL splitting of the universe into a multiverse of alternate realities, alt.verses.

5.  In addition to mirroring the classic COIE 'maxiseries', this effect provides the perfect plot template for exploring the rich, wide-open narrative terrain of choices, actions, and their consequences.... the power of FREE WILL to override constants dictating IRREVERSIBILITY....

6.  But look for the development of an underlying crisis exposing problems inherent in unchained (oh, Alpert!), unfettered free will, both on a personal and a cosmic level.  Here is where the real war will be fought.... where alt.persons in alt.verses will make choices, take action, and see the consequences.... Fate will indeed impinge on things in later episodes... I would certainly not be surprised to learn that one of the core aspects of the underlying crisis is restoring lost spacetime unity through conscious acts of unselfishness, aimed at the superordinate goal of helping others and, more importantly, restoring lost spacetime integrity through merging/reuniting the alt.verses split apart by the J2 Incident into a whole universe operating in a stochastic manner, neither totally predetermined, nor entirely random, neither wholly determined by the hand of fate, nor dictated solely by the free will of sentient beings.  (More on this, below....)

7.  So now the game is to go back through the season premiere and Count The Alt.verses...!  Yes, in one alternate reality, the island is underwater, and in another version the bomb did go off, and in yet another.... Well, you get the point. 

8.  Boone to Locke:  "You're pulling my leg..."  One of the humorous highlights, to date; subtle but effective, especially in yet again underscoring the importance that 'deja vu' piercings of the veil of alt.verse consciousnesses among alt.persons (different versions of the characters) in gaining fleeting flashes of insight into the nature of the alt.verse splitting problem, and potential solutions (this will come later in the season....)

9.  ALT.VERSE PORTALS-  We've seen evidence that the island energy, when properly triggered (in this case, by J2), can open a spacetime rift/portal among alt.verses, and if a COIE interpretation is employed by Darlton, the consequences of the J2 event will indeed be dire on personal and cosmic levels.  While the island may be an alt.verse portal in one alt.verse, some other location may be able to serve the same function in another alt.verse.  So don't be surprised if we learn that Jack and others in the LAX-landing alt.verse later become aware of the alt.verse crisis and seek out a special place (some equivalent to the island in that alt.verse), to repair the rift and restore integrity to the universe....

10.  Loved the Earhart quip by Sawyer... Some of us are, of course, harboring lingering suspicions about whether or not the skeletons in the cave are Amelia and her copilot.  I even looked up the publication date for Golding's Lord of the Flies, to see if the island adventure might be some 'riffing' on themes of the books they brought along on the flight.... But no, it was published after their ill-fated flight....

11.  Doc Jensen 'hit it out of the park' with his prediction that MIB was Smokey.  In addition to the alt/multiverse theme and other things I saw echoed from my earlier postings (more on this below), I noted some satisfaction that my earlier prediction of a water-based medium for healing was true.... Is the 'invisible', permeating healing power of the island the anti-Smokey?  (More on this below, embedded in my own version of The Trinity....)

12.  Heh-heh-heh....!  So, MIB/unLocke/Smokey wants to go home....!  Anyone care to guess where THAT is....?  Yep, as per several of my Season 5 postings, since MIB is a Nephilim, one of the Fallen Angels, he wants to get back into HEAVEN....

13.  MIB/unLocke/Smokey to Alpert:  Good to see you out of those chains....!"  I'm sure many of you thought the same thing.... Alpert was brought here aboard the Black Rock....  But of course, he could have arrived centuries earlier, as a slave aboard some other vessel.  Time will, indeed, tell....

So now it is time to scale up the scope of our inquiry to build upon the above insights and more, tapping key insights gleaned from Season 5 and earlier, to fire up the predictive engines in preparation for navigating the tricky plot turns and twists that lie ahead.  With all the focus on deconstructing the Last Supper images recently offered up to us as a pre-journey appetizer, we would indeed be remiss if we overlooked the vibrant plot cues woven into the very fabric of Jacob’s tapestry, cues regarding the underlying nature of the looming 'war,’ the cast of characters and roles (including the Trinity), and the shocking (according to execs) and sad (according to Jack/Matthew Fox) series finale....

Threads Of Looming Plotline Insights, Woven Into The Fabric Of Jacob’s Monocolor Dreamfate Tapestry-

Props to Libertine and other discussants on the Lostpedia thread examining the deeper meanings and Season 6 plot implications lying beneath the symbolic surfaces of Egyptian images and Greek phrases woven by Jacob into his ‘monocolor dreamfate tapestry.’  My goal here is not to rehash their insights, but rather to build upon their interpretive findings as a basis for unpacking some hidden insights into key character-driven plotlines we can hope to see during the final season of Lost.  As I will cover in a later section below, this most certainly is not the first time Darlton and crew have employed that masterful device of hiding something in plain sight. 

The three Greek phrases on Jacob’s tapestry have been translated by others as:

“May the gods grant thee all that thy heart desires.”

“May the gods give you happiness.”

“Only the dead have seen the end of the war.”

While I agree with others that the island is not some ‘Magic Box’ reality generator ala Philip K. Dick’s Valis – you don’t get happiness or whatever else you may want simply by wishing it so (unless you're up that Sephirothic Ladder with Jacob or down in the depths with MIB!)– as per my prior HEMA Theory postings, over the past five seasons we have served witness to some very interesting occurrences on the island, phenomena challenging our received ‘wisdom’ regarding the absolute separation of mind and matter.  To me, exploring the rich field of heuristic possibilities lying in between the extreme positions of total separation and total connection between mind and matter is where we’ll make true progress as a species, and reap significant benefits of personal insight and redemption.

Not surprisingly, the more we explore the nature of the world and surrounding universe, the more we are finding ‘lost’ connections among mind, matter, and energy…. The fact that a top-rated, mass-marketed television show has succeeded in stimulating our own personal and social explorations of what we as a species know so far, in these and other areas (physics, philosophy, social psychology, etc.), is a testament to the demonstrated creative powers and prowess of Darlton and crew.  And, while Darlton have stated that the focus of Season 6 will be less on what the island is and more on how the characters use the island, examinations of the nature and functions of the island are most certainly relevant to delineating the range of possible ways in which the island may be used by the characters, as well as discerning where the plot may be headed throughout the rest of the season….

Back to the aforementioned quotes…. The third quote regarding the dead having privileged access to seeing the end of ‘the war’ is interesting and certainly relevant to Season 6, what with Widmore’s statements to Locke presaging ‘the coming war’ as a core plot element in the final season of Lost.  Here it is instructive to consider the third Greek tapestry phrase in the conjunction with the exchange between Jacob and the ‘Man In Black’ (MIB) on the beach, with the Black Rock sailing toward the island….

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.”

In my 5/14/09 posting (The Incident), I proposed a What Lies Behind Door #3 interpretation of Lost as depicting an evolutionary game of life, effectively and concisely represented in the characters, contents, and symbolism of Lost.  This game will be replayed throughout eternity, unless and until we as a species reach a point in time at which we have progressed to such a level that we no longer come, fight, destroy, and corrupt….  i.e., as a species we finally reach a Childhood’s End, transcending our savage, fallen nature, ripping that veritable McGoohanesque ape mask from our visages, smashing the shadowy control of that dark side ‘mirror self’, enabling us to pass that Jacobean/MIBean Lord of the Flies test, on this island Earth, and the islands of our everyday interactions thereupon….

While a What Lies Behind Door #3 approach would most certainly open up some interesting terrain for mapping a final Lost season, if Darlton and crew decide not to go that route—i.e., they decide not to explore a New Kids On The Block-cum-psychic-kids theme, with Aaron, Ji Yeon, Charlie Hume (and Walt?) signaling sufficient species progress to achieve a Childhood’s End solution to the Lord of the Flies litmus game—  what sort of shocking and sad finale might be in store, what with the looming war and a ‘one time ending that only the dead will see’?  Here we must go back to Jacob’s dreamfate tapestry and unpack further insights, this time focusing in on the remaining symbols and their relative positions on the tapestry….

As examined by Libertine and others on the Lostpedia discussion thread, and by countless others on that vast world wide web, below the WEDJAT, or Egyptian eye of Horus/Ra, bathed in rays of light signifying power and protection received from the deities, we see nine persons bookended by two figures popularly construed as Jacob and MIB, with those who are biblically inclined designating MIB as Esau.  Who are the nine individuals basking in Ra’s powerful, protective rays?

Again, the conventional wisdom here is that Lindelof cued us to their identity by emphasizing that the Season 5 finale would be TOUCHING, and that those individuals Jacob touched whilst on his New Kids On The Block magical mystery tour on the mainland of the castaways’ preflight lives were being selected as ‘The Nine’, i.e., designated as the chosen ones who will figure greatly in the disposition of the looming Season 6 war.  Here is the list of The Nine, which some have likened to the ENNEAD: ²

1.  Kate

2.  Sawyer

3.  Jack

4.  John

5.  Hurley

6.  Sun

7.  Jin

8.  Sayid

9.  Ben

Yes, Jacob touched Ben on the island, clutching him in dramatic fashion after Ben plunged the blade into his heart of island-lightness.  And yes, debating which castaway will ultimately be linked to which Egyptian deity is a fruitful side trip, indeed.

Perhaps more importantly, however, is the nontrivial comment by one of the alt.others in tonight's episode that if Sayid dies, We're in a lot of trouble..!  So Jacob's list just may have been presaged by 'The Nine' figures woven into his monocolor dreamfate tapestry.... 

Before we shift gears in later sections to explore how COIE and Unity provide two interesting modern mythology precedents for weaving tales of heroic personal redemption yielding larger impacts on a multiversed globe and universe, there are three additional sources of symbolic insight for Lost plotting to be found on Jacob’s monocolor dreamfate tapestry.

1.  The Three Ships-  Located on the bottom portion of the tapestry, the three ships have been variously linked to the Black Rock, the Kahana, Oceanic Flight 815, Ajira Flight 316, the Elizabeth, Amelia Earhart’s Lockheed Model 10 Electra, and more.  Libertine’s interpretation is that the island is not unlike an ark, with ships bringing people to the ark/island for judgment and subsequent inclusion (or exclusion, depending on how one’s heart balances on Maat’s featherweight judgment apparatus) in a group of ‘the chosen’, i.e., The Nine.  Others have previously noted that the torn piece of tapestry found in Jacob’s Cabin, depicting the statue of Taweret, fits quite nicely into the lower right part of Jacob’s tapestry, thusly showing Taweret peering across the ocean, at the three ships approaching the island.

2.  Separating The Wheat From The Chaff-  Symbols on the tapestry appear to illustrate the act of winnowing, separating the wheat from the chaff.  Obvious parallels have been previously noted to the ancient Egyptian myth of balancing a person’s heart on Maat’s scale, weighed against a feather to determine whether or not one will pass on to the afterlife or will instead be devoured by the chimeric crocodile/hippo/lion hybrid known as AMMIT (a.k.a. Ammut), ‘devourer of the dead’ and ‘eater of hearts’ (now, that would look interesting on a business card!)  Although it is no small step for Lostfans to infer that SMOKEY is an Ammit analogue in function if not form, more interesting to me is the undeniable form-al similarity in physical shape between AMMIT and TAWERET….! 

Presaging some of the additional connections I’ll be making below, here I propose that it is no small coincidence that Jacob’s Lair lies beneath the shadow of his Egyptian god image—Jacob in the role of Taweret, the renewer and restorer of life—  and I suspect we will subsequently learn that MIB’s lair lies ‘beneath’ the temple, in the catacombs of Smokey’s lair, since (following Doc Jensen’s lead, here) MIB is playing the role of Ammit, the devourer of the dead, the anti-Taweret incarnate we’ve come to know and love(?) as… the Smoke Monster….

Here it is…. What I’m proposing is that the four-toed statue has a mirror-twin, dark-side correlative interpretation as representing both:

(a) JACOB/Taweret/Restorer/Rebirth; and

(b) MIB/Ammit/Devourer/Deatheater….!

Whether or not we’ll actually see a second statue or a graphic depiction of this alter ego is beside the point, as Darlton ultimately begin to unpack more inherent ‘mirror twinning’ light and dark side themata during the remainder of Season 6.  Considering MIB as both a figurative and a literal mirror twin of Jacob yields some very interesting practical and plotworthy implications, as we will see below….  Even a biblical interpretation reveals MIB as Esau…. The HUNTER….

One final teaser in this regard is to consider where persons/souls go, after being winnowed by the forces that be, on the island….  Where did Eko and others go, after their fate-ful winnowing and subsequent Smokey ‘devouring’….? 

****  Here goes…. One mind-blowing plot possibility opened through the portal of the mirror-twinning theme is that The NINE depicted on Jacob’s tapestry may actually turn out to symbolize nine times two, with one set of Nine on the side of light (Jacob’s Heroes?), and the other set of Nine on the side of dark (MIB’s Marauders?) ****

Hmmm…. alternate light/dark matter/antimatter universes….  Mirror, mirror on the wall….  It is indeed interesting to ponder the conceptual confluence of catalytical insights, If we consider who The Nine on the light side may be, and who the ‘Nefarious Nine’ may be, i.e., MIB’s Marauders…. Did Jacob ‘call out’ his Nine in a touching manner on his mainland mystery tour?  Who might we expect to see on the dark side MIB’s Marauders team, the Mirror Twin Nefarious Nine?  Eko?  Ana Lucia?  Or?  It will indeed be interesting to see the sides line up during the course of Season 6, as their ultimate allegiances are finally revealed….

3.  The Father, Son, And Holy Ghost: Holy And unholy Mirror-Twin Trinities?

Locating Jacob and MIB/Esau as right-hand and left-hand ‘bookends’ of The Nine on the tapestry makes all the sense in the world, as they both represent the intersection of the divine and the fallen world.  Appropriately enough, they are not located above The Nine, but appear on the same plane as the chosen ones, both light and mirror/dark side versions.  This is the same plane as Jesus Christ would be depicted during his Earthly trials and tribulations.  Not surprisingly, Jacob displayed some distinctly Christ-like characteristics and actions in the Season 5 finale, functioning as a divine being having taken human form, walking among us on the mainland planes of existence in our everyday fallen, sinful lives.  He (Christ/Jacob) took on Earthly form to walk among us, to touch our lives, hearts, minds, and actions, calling us to become one of the chosen few, to choose the path of light over and against that of the dark, sinful, fallen nature.  How fitting, indeed, that like Christ, Jacob died to redeem our sins, at the hand of Ben, with Mr. Linus symbolizing the blanket of our own dual twin sinful/fallen nature in operation, killing our very dear redeemer in the process….. 

Will Jacob be reincarnated as the risen Locke in one or more alt.verses, as some have predicted based in no small part on the Last Supper photos, taking advantage of yet another spacetime loophole?  Time will tell, indeed….  For now, I find it intriguing to consider what the tapestry also has to say about potential plotlines that Darlton may weave into the remainder of Season 6….  In particular, if one’s true nature and existential level of being is accurately depicted on the tapestry, then Jacob and MIB really are existing as (and operating on the level of) divine beings incarnate in fallen forms, providing a distinctly non-trivial bridge between these realms, serving a crucial function in helping us influence the nature and direction of our own fateline, through choices and actions steering us toward a ‘heaven’ of light and good, or toward a ‘hell’ of dark and evil…. Will we… will they… choose the former, moving toward the Ra-like rays of goodness…?  And who will end up choosing the latter….?

If Jacob is, like Christ, a bridge between the divine and the fallen realms, just who is it that lies above it all, above the fray of the looming war for souls?  Here the Egyptian image suggests Osiris/Ra, and a divine being located in this position on the tapestry would correlate to GOD/The FATHER….  Of course, it remains to be seen if/when Darlton will choose to reveal the divine to us, at some point before the end of the series.  Clearly, however, based on what we’ve observed to date on the show— especially with regard to Jacob and the nature and location of the symbols contained on the tapestry— the undeniably strong implication is that there is someone/thing above The Nine, operating on a higher plan of existence than our own.

And, if the light/dark mirror twinning dualism is consistently played out through the remainder of the show, I would not be surprised to learn that MIB is Jacob’s dark, mirror matter ‘divine being come to Earth’ counterpart, perhaps even Lucifer…. And who or what lies in the deeper shadows of existence, as the dark, mirror twin counterpart to Ra/God/The Father?

And finally, is there a more complete structural isomorphism lurking in the shadows of the thematic levels contained within the Trinity, with dark counterparts mirroring the light?  If so, I hereby nominate SMOKEY as the dark side, mirror-twin, functionary correlate of The HOLY GHOST….  How will the latter be manifest on Lost, if Darlton choose to do so?  Has the latter already been revealed on Lost?  If, as per my prior postings, we finally serve witness to some glowing, life-infused liquid contained in some glyphed receptacle in the upper levels of the temple, will this be shown to be one of the physical manifestations of Taweret, symbolizing the power of rebirth?  (Of course, as I predicted, we did see the liquid, only it was distinctly NOT glowing, yet it was powerful....  Consider the distinct possibility of a mirror-twinned Trinity, comprised by and constituted in the following:

LIGHT SIDE HOLY TRINITY-                             DARK SIDE unHOLY TRINITY-

God/The Father/Osiris/Ra                                Satan/Lucifer/The Devil/Set     

Christ/Jacob/Horus                                          Antichrist/MIB/Anubis

Holy Ghost/Taweret                                         Smoke Monster/Ammit

Further Clues To The Land Beyond LAX: Ride, Captain, Ride Out That Turbulent Alt.verse Plotline Ahead-

Hmmm.... Beyond the rich plot clues woven into Jacob’s monocolor dreamfate tapestry, what are some additional hints dropped into the show to date regarding to the underlying nature of the impending 'war' that Widmore warned Locke about, as well as the 'shocking and sad' series finale we’ve been promised?  Gleaning the tube for key insights, they are offered here for your perusal:

1.  According to Daniel Faraday, we (the people) are the variables.  Our choices can matter in a universe partially determined by the constants.  So no, the island is not an unrestrained magic box granting our every existential wish; instead, the island has been opening our minds to seeing how the variables and constants can relate to each other in an emerging and interactive manner, to determine particular outcomes in the spacetime of our 'existence.'  Faraday's comment opens the door to some interesting Season 6 speculations when we ponder the possibility that those hallowed numbers in the Valenzetti Equation—  4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42—  represent variables (the people) in an equation that will be solved as the series heads to its inevitable resolution in May.  Just what might that equation entail?  More on this, below....

2.  While Darlton have acknowledged that how the island is used by the castaways and others will be more important in Season 6 than the nature of the island itself, pondering the nature of the island and what it enables them to do is of no small importance in discerning how the island will be used to effect personal redemptions among the characters and resolve the series. 

3.  Viewed from a personal standpoint, the island has been serving as a nontrivial and profound heuristic force in the lives, minds, and actions of the people who come in contact with it.  Pulling back to a broader vantage point, we the viewers can more readily see how the deeper function of the myriad trials and tribulations experienced on and through the island are learning opportunities for those persons we've come to know and love on the show.  Exhibit A= 1970s Sawyer vs. 2000s Sawyer....  Whether or not this learning sticks in terms of changes of heart and behavior is where the rubber will hit the tarmac, of course. 

4.  The exchange between Jacob and his unLocke/MIB Nemesis on that fine and sunny day the Black Rock ship appeared on the horizon further cements the fundamental heuristic function of the island as a place that may be used to experience profound learning opportunities, enabling one to grow and to redeem oneself.  As per my 5/14/09 posting, a New Kids On The Block (NKOTB) interpretation of their exchange is that we, as a species, have been subjected to testing throughout the ages by superior beings of light (Jacob) and dark (unLocke/MIB), testing in terms of our readiness to transcend our fallen, savage, fighting nature and thereby gain acceptance into the arms of the Older Kids On The Block.

Even without the NKOTB interpretation, we can readily see that the tone, tenor, and contents of the beachy dialogue was associated with two 'observers' getting ready to watch yet another set of humans come to the island and see how they respond to the learning opportunities afforded through interacting with each other, rewriting the stories of their lives within the time and space of a new uncharted territory, the existential 'tabula rasa' that is the island.  Of course, this deep heuristic function resonates resoundingly with chords stuck by authors, advocates, and aficionados of karma-based theories of Lost.  Hmmm.... The island as a spacetime 'mulligan' mechanism....?  Ben (and others) could certainly use a few (extreme!) existential 'do-overs'!  And the return to a multiverse interpretation raises some interesting implications for ‘rewriting’ one’s own destiny….

5.  Are Jacob and MIB analogous in function (and in form?) to the MONITOR and the ANTIMONITOR in COIE?   Hmmm….  How intriguing it is to consider the distinct possibility that one reason MIB must find a spacetime loophole to become incarnate as the unLocke doppelganger is that MIB may quite literally be composed of dark, mirror matter fundamentally antithetical and opposing to the very nature of his light mirror matter alter ego…. Jacob….! 

We may ultimately learn that while MIB really wants to kill his light mirror matter Jacob alter ego, he would rather use a loophole lest he unleash a universe-shattering nexus through direct matter/antimatter contact….  And how interesting it is to note that the existence of a MIB/Jacob literal light/dark matter dualism, incarnating their inherent functional dualism as a physical/formal dualism as well, would on multiple figurative levels mirror not only our own everyday struggles with forces of light and dark within ourselves, but also cue fond remembrances of the fascinating dualistic, alter ego struggle so effectively captured in the final moments of that televisionary classic from the 1960s, the original version of….The Prisoner…. Hearkening back to Season 1, as Darlton have promised…. We all remember that picture of Locke holding a white stone in his right hand, and a black stone in his left hand…. Presaging the Season 5-6 Locke/unLocke doppelganger themata…. Rational and savage McGoohan….

Doc Jensen was indeed correct in his intriguing surmise that MIB is associated with Smokey, and how fitting it was to see Ben plunging the blade into Jacob’s chest, driving into the heart of the matter…. How would Jacob’s heart have been judged, by Anubis on Maat’s scale, judged against the feather of truth?  And is MIB cum Smokey in reality a dark matter entity known throughout the ages as the devourer of souls, in ancient Egyptian times depicted as a chimeric hybrid of crocodile, lion, and hippo… no, not Taweret, or Sobek,  but…. AMMIT..?  Was MIB/Smokey known in earlier times as the female demon Ammit, like Taweret represented in a four-toed statue shedding crocodile tears? ⁴

****  Thus we can see how the existence and operation of CASIMIR Effects on the island, enabled of course by the island’s unique energy properties, yield both:

 (a) literal effects in terms of containing black holes and enabling time travel through leveraging weird mirroring properties; and (b) figurative effects expressed/instantiated in material form, as ‘moving through Casimir’ provides opportunities to leverage dark/light mirror properties on the island to generate doppelgangers expressing alter egos, producing split person/alities enabling Darlton and crew to mine rich veins of insight into our dualistic, struggling selves, as well as illustrating how our choices and actions can split spacetimelives along alternate paths/realities (think Minkowskian spacetime, with a dash of Bohm, to go….) ****

6.  The Casimir Effect has been implicated in island-enabled time travel.... and how interesting to ponder the interpretive play and potential plotlines that may twist their way into Season 6, as personal redemptions resolve the key variables, culminating in a series finale solution to the equation.... In a very real and literal sense, they may be moving through Casimir-- that fabled mirror matter dark/light portal to alternate realities-- and their spacetime personal journeys may have some very tangible and dire consequences on the nature of our universe, as well as the multiverse, depending on exactly how the variables are resolved.  Variable #4—Locke?-- appears to have resolved (for now!) on the dark side as MIB/unLocke....  What other Lost souls are looking to resolve into the remaining variables of the equation, and whose side are they on....?

Is Locke the first variable in the spacetimelife equation to be (re)solved? Is Locke the first number in the Valenzetti Equation, Number 4, the first part of some 'cosmic combination unlocking the fate of the universe?  'JACOB'S LIST' in the Ankh surely underscores the importance of the chosen few, in the coming months ahead, as Darlton unpack the rest of their intriguing tale for the ages.... And how will the remaining 'variables' be resolved throughout the rest of Season 6?

In the following sections I’ll examine two cases of modern mythologies interweaving: (1) engaging character-driven stories of heroic personal redemption, resulting in (2) cosmic redemption through profound restorations of universe-wide spacetime relations unraveled, split apart, and rent asunder through ill-advised acts taken by selfish god-wannabee individuals….  Krona, in the case of DC’s Crisis On Infinite Earths (COIE), and Erica Pierce, in the case of Valiant’s Unity Saga.  Through this approach, I’ll explore rich realms of ‘plus-sum’ plot possibilities that avoid the simplistic extremes of: (1) devolution to mere soap-operatic stories of character redemptions and resolutions; and (2) devolution to antiseptic expositions by characters, focused solely on explicating physical/material matters with little or no regard for how these matters necessarily intersect with minds and with flesh-and-blood persons and personalities we’ve come to know and love on the show.  Not either/or, but both/and, plus-sum….

Moving Through Casimir To An Impending Crisis On Alternate Realities?

So how do all the clues begin to come together to yield deeper insight into the coming 'war' and the shocking and sad final resolution of the series?  Interestingly enough, one of the key insights has been hiding in plain sight all along.... "Flashes Before Your Eyes" or, more appropriately, (THE) FLASH IS BEFORE YOUR EYES....  While some have interpreted the Flash versus Superman debate in the Season 3 ‘Catch-22’ episode as signaling that Charlie Pace is the Flash, on closer inspection it becomes clear that it is DESMOND who in no small way is THE FLASH:

"The Flash is the only being capable of traversing the dimensions unaided...." 

[Wolfman, M., & Perez., G., 2000. Crisis On Infinite Earths, p. 122.  New York: DC Comics.  Originally published in 1985.)

Like The Flash (and Dr. Manhattan), we have been told that Desmond is unique in his ability to 'flash' forward and backward in time, opening up distinct Season 6 plot possibilities that his power will play a crucial role in the coming 'war' between light- and dark-siders, a fight to resolve the variables, leading to a final solution of the spacetimelife equation.   And increasingly I’m suspecting that it will be the personally redemptive choices and actions of Jack and others (The Nine?) that ultimately resolve their ‘variability’ and, by so doing, redeem and restore a lost spacetime integrity of the universe.

Hmmm…  If the Juliet/Jughead (J2) flash in the Season 5 finale did produce a fate-ful splitting of the universe/reality into a multiverse of alternate realities, this flash would correlate in its results to Kronas act of peering back to the very beginning of time, in COIE.…  Due in no small part to its unique energy properties, from electromagnetism to Casimir and beyond, the island may have been functioning as a spacetime NEXUS, a bubble of a pocket continuum operating just outside the standard values for the constants as we know them, in our universe (more on this below.)  If so, this ‘lost land’-- or some other functional equivalent in an alt.verse-- may provide Jack and others with a way of merging or resolving a multiverse of fate-ful alternate realities back into a unified whole….  Sound a bit like the plot of COIE….?  In the land of Fargospeak…. Ja, sure, you betcha….!

****  Ben’s botched attempt to use the FDW to move the island creating the ‘record skipping’ TEMPORAL LOOPING effect, which Locke subsequently had to course-correct by putting the FDW back on its axis….  Similarly, the J2 Incident at the end of Season 5 appears to have created a rip or rift in the spacetime fabric located at/near to the island pocket continuum, throwing open a range of interesting SPATIAL effects, quite possibly involving looping, and more, sending our cherished castaways on a new set of adventures of discovery ala Season 1, this time exploring the new territory for karmic personal redemption (and cosmic redemption) afforded through experiencing new alternate universes of reality, revealing new possibilities and combinations of choices and actions, on all levels from personal, interpersonal, group… all the way up to the broadest of scopes…. affecting the fundamental nature and integrity of spacetime relations throughout the entire cosmos….  ****

Hmmm... how interesting it is in this context, to consider the following theory that SET, Egyptian God of Chaos, would be proud of:

“The Chaotic Inflation theory is a variety of the inflationary universe model, which is itself an outgrowth (or extension) of the Big Bang theory. Chaotic Inflation, proposed by physicist Andrei Linde, models our universe as one of many that grew as part of a multiverse owing to a vacuum that had not decayed to its ground state. In this theory, the peaks in the evolution of a scalar field (determining the energy of the vacuum) correspond to regions of rapid inflation which dominate, creating "bubble universes," making the structure of space fractal on the very largest scales, likely at scales larger than the observable universe. Chaotic Inflation (along with some other types of inflation) is usually a sub-class of eternal inflation^[1], since the expansion of the inflationary peaks exhibit positive feedback and come to dominate the large scale dynamics of the universe. Alan Guth's 2007 paper, Eternal inflation and its implications^[1] details what is now known on the subject, and demonstrates that this particular flavor of Inflationary universe theory is relatively current, or is still considered viable, more than 20 years after its inception…. Chaotic Inflation theory models quantum fluctuations in the rate of inflation^[8]. Those regions with a higher rate of inflation expand faster and dominate the universe, despite the natural tendency of inflation to end in other regions. This allows inflation to continue forever, to produce future-eternal inflation….Within the framework of established knowledge of physics and cosmology, our universe could be one of many in a super-universe or multiverse. Linde (1990, 1994) has proposed that a background space-time "foam" empty of matter and radiation will experience local quantum fluctuations in curvature, forming many bubbles of false vacuum that individually inflate into mini-universes with random characteristics. Each universe within the multiverse can have a different set of constants and physical laws. Some might have life of a form different from ours; others might have no life at all or something even more complex or so different that we cannot even imagine it. Obviously we are in one of those universes with life…. Due to quantum uncertainty energy fluctuations such as electron and its anti-particle a positron can arise spontaneously out of nothing but must disappear rapidly. The lower the energy of the bubble, the longer it can exist. A gravitational field has negative energy. Matter has positive energy. The 2 figures cancel out provided the universe is completely flat. In that case the universe has zero energy and can theoretically last forever.” 

[Source:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaotic_inflation]

Viewing the island as a ‘lost land’ existing as a bubble, a ‘false vacuum’ inflating into a mini-universe is not so far-fetched, after all…  How interesting to read that Chaotic Inflation Theory holds that different universes within the multiverse may have a different set of constants and physical laws….  Antiparticles arising out of nothing and disappearing….  Sounds not a bit unlike our sunny, leafy moving island spacetime getaway, on Lost….  Time differentials, weird phenomena, turbulent boundary conditions…. ALL of these things, and more, would not be surprising if we were to move from the ‘mainland’ of our everyday universe-al experience to a lost land ‘bubble-verse’, serving as it does as a nexus for traveling through space and time, including alternate realities in the broader multiverse….  Alt.verses….

Hmmm…. Does the powerfully enhanced Casimir Effect operating on the island enable doppelgangers/double bunnies to arise and linger longer, dampening and overpowering quantum uncertainties….?  What other forms of sentience does it impart these seemingly magical abilities to?  Jacob?  MIB?

Perhaps we should not be surprised to learn that one of the central plotlines of Season 6 involves the need to properly resolve the variables/people so that the integrity of the spacetimeline is restored, in the wake of a Krona-esque, Jughead-enabled multiverse-generating split….  Unlike others proposing that MIB’s goal may be the destruction of the island, I’m wondering now if a more COIE approach is warranted, with MIB looking not to destroy the island, but rather to find ways to leverage its powers to recreate the universe in his own dark image….

Yes, the coming war will be fought on the personal battlefields of the minds, hearts, and souls of individual actions and redemptions, but in no small way will the ultimate fate of the universe revolve around the choices and consequences of their actions.... Jack, Kate, Sawyer, etc.....  The fate of the world does indeed rest upon their shoulders....

I suspect that Darlton will reveal the identity of 'guardians' that have been involved with the island for quite some time, watching and testing us humans, and guarding the very integrity of the universe since the very beginning of spacetime....  And, mirroring COIE, the coming 'war' may rest on how the variables are resolved, ultimately solving the equation either for chaos (infinitely looping, splitting, unresolved alt.verses, as the 'dark' side wishes to unleash) or for unity (a restoration and affirmation of the fundamental integrity and spacetimeline through merging the alt.verses created via Jughead’s flash and its effects in catalyzing a multiverse generating event… The J2 Incident…..)

In a not-so-ironic twist, Darlton may use the personal battles of the remaining individuals/variables in the equation-- The Chosen Nine on Jacob's List-- to showcase and underscore the importance of our own choices and actions in creating the ‘universes’ of our own existences, neither in some totally 'magic box' unrestrained free will realm, nor in some totally determined fatalistic manner, but rather in the real world of choices and actions as they truly operate within partially constrained ‘realities’, arising out of the interaction of variables and constants.... 

Forces on the 'dark' side of the war want the remaining persons/variables to make choices and take actions based on sinful and savage reasons, acting in self-interested and chaotically disunifying ways.  Forces on the 'light' side of the war-- recall the nature and contents of Jacob's mainland visitations to the young castaways-- will push for them to make redemptive choices of self-sacrifice and transcendent, helping to enact a superordinate unity among matter, energy and mind (HEMA).... 

Following the plot lead of COIE, if the 'dark' side gains the upper hand at some point in the war, look for MIB’s Marauders to focus on securing control of the island and leveraging its energies toward the expressed goal of remaking the universe in their own dark image.  One COIEesque possibility is to accelerate an alt.verse reality splitting process to create the ultimate chaos of an infinite multiverse.  If so, look for MIB’s Marauders to seek a way to use the island ‘bubbleverse’ to travel all the way back to the beginning of time, disrupting the very birth of the universe, unleashing instead an infinitely regressive chaotic realm of alt.verses….!

An attractive (and more decidedly figurative) mechanism for unleashing a darkly chaotic multiverse of quantumly uncertain fates and unredeemed souls, is that resolving the spacetime equation for the dark side may actually enable MIB (and the other dark lords in the ‘shadow’ Nine) to learn the true name of..... GOD.... opening a portal back to the beginning of time/the universe, enabling them to achieve the ultimate rift of temporal chaos/disunity, through speaking the name of God in reverse!  Yes, this plotline channels aspects of COIE, the movie Warlock, and more.... ⁵

Oh (un)Holy Night?:  Crisis On Alternate Realities, Part Deux-

Will we witness a victory in the coming multiversal 'war' for those on the 'dark' side, resolving the variables to produce an unredemptively evil team comprised of unLocke, unJack, unKate, unSawyer, etc....?  Will we see the dark shadows of an unHoly night cast its pall over the fate of our cherished castaways?

Hmmm..... If Locke and others turn out to be the variables involved in a war for resolving the integrity of our alt.verse, what about DESMOND?  Will Desmond gain greater control in directing and leveraging his ability to FLASH between alt.verses?  Will he occupy an especially heroic position in the yet-to-be-unpacked plotline, uniquely suited as he is to thwarting the schemes and plans of the dark side?  Like the 'Barry Allen' version of The Flash in COIE, will Desmond enact the ultimate self-sacrifice to save the integrity of our world and alt.verse, ensuring the continued survival of Penelope (Allen's Fiona?) and Charlie Hume?

This is an admittedly attractive and exciting plot prospect.  Another possibility in tipping the scales against the dark side in the coming war rests with a second interpretation of the NKOTB clue:  Redemption of the species and restoration of universe-al integrity may lie with the really new, New Kids On The Block.... namely... AARON, JI YEON, and CHARLIE HUME....!

**** Consider that, like ALEX LUTHOR in COIE, both Aaron and Ji Yeon share a common trait:  DURING THEIR IN UTERO AND NEONATAL DEVELOPMENT, THEY ALL SPENT PART OF THEIR TIME IN ONE 'VERSION' OF THE UNIVERSE, AND PART OF THEIR TIME IN ANOTHER....!  ****

Ontogenetically speaking, if the island really is a pocket continuum or ‘bubbleverse’, then Aaron literally might be construed as a ‘bubbleboy’, though it would NOT be wise to call him that to his face, as his powers grow with age….  In the spatial rift multiverse plot of COIE, Alex Luthor played a key role as a veritable NKOTB who was comprised of BOTH matter and antimatter.  Yes, this means that Alex is quite literally his own mirror twin….!  Accordingly, this placed him in a powerful role in the COIE war for the fundamental spatial integrity of the universe, fighting the dark antimatter-based forces that would prevent a merger of split positive matter universes into a restored unity, instead replacing a positive matter universe with an antimatter empire. 

Similarly, both Aaron and Ji Yeon spent portions of their development in the womb on the MAINLAND and the ISLAND....  They are therefore both properly construed as partly ‘bubblekids’, spending part of their gestation within the island ‘bubbleverse’.  What I am proposing here is in synchrony with my vibrational/superstring interpretation of problems associated with mothers and fetuses on Lost (see especially the ‘Symbiotic Superstrung Relationships’ section of my 1/31/09 posting in this regard.)  In short, we can see that like Alex Luthor in COIE, Aaron and Ji Yeon have been exposed to two distinctly different spacetime environments during their gestation, only instead of matter/antimatter as in the case of Luthor, for Aaron and Ji Yeon this means they are beings whose development reflects the ability to exist and operate both: (1) on the Mainland of 'Earth-standard' spacetime relations (no alt.verse splitting/looping), and (2) on the Island proper, with its unique and weird electromagnetically- and Casimirically-enabled spacetime splitting/looping effects.. a ‘bubbleverse’ spacetime nexus..

Yes, Aaron and Ji Yeon, by virtue of their hybrid mainland/island ontogenetic development, may ultimately turn out to be very well-suited to the task of battling the dark side and helping to restore spacetime integrity before it spins out of control spawning an ever increasing array of alt.verses, spreading a rein of chaos throughout the multiverse.  Of course, it remains to be seen what power differentials will obtain if one is first gestated on the mainland, then subsequently birthed on the island (as in the case of Aaron), as opposed to first being gestated on the island, then birthed on the mainland (as in the case of Ji Yeon).  Perhaps these differences will make them uniquely well-positioned to join their complementary spacetime 'power profiles' into one supreme force to be reckoned with, on and for the light side.  This may be why the psychic was so adamant regarding who raised Aaron.... think of the power... the power....

In addition to Aaron and Ji Yeon, a third NKOTB Spacetime Warrior may turn out to be Charlie Hume, progeny as he is of Des/The Flash.  Will Charlie H. respond in Sophia-ic fashion (think Valis), if the death of his father were to occur later in the season, unleashing unspeakable power, decimating the ranks and dashing the chaos dreams of the dark side?

And per my 5/14/09 posting, will these NKOTB-- operating through an interwoven  Jacobian tapestry of personal choices, actions, and redemptions-- help achieve a light-side solution to the spacetimelife equation, restoring the integrity of the timeline, marking a fundamental shift in the evolutionary game of life, signaling the dawn of a new species?  Will they be welcomed into the arms of a luminescently transcendent timeless/guardian being? 

And what about Alpert's apparent agelessness?  If it is true that Jacob imbued Alpert with immortality, and Jacob is the equivalent of the MONITOR in COIE, then we just may eventually learn that like HARBINGER, Alpert was rescued from the sea and raised by Jacob/Monitor….

Hmmm…. Could Alpert really be…. HARBINGER….?  Like Harbinger, Alpert has been known to make contact with people in different eras and locations, transitioning time and space with apparent ease, from island to mainland, and perhaps beyond….  Hmmm…  In these regards, Alpert almost seems like a light-side unBen....! 

This gets even more interesting when we consider that in COIE, the unHarbinger— Harbinger’s dark side/doppelganger self, nurtured by the Anti-Monitor— is the one who kills the Monitor/Jacob… So…. Yes, Ben may actually turn out to be MIB's toady lieutenant-in-training, while Alpert was Jacob's lieutenant....  Here is how things are now shaping up, from the standpoint of the mirror-twin TRINITIES, with lieutenants:

LIGHT SIDE HOLY TRINITY-                      DARK SIDE unHOLY TRINITY-

God/The Father/Osiris/Ra                         Satan/Lucifer/The Devil/Set     

Christ/Jacob/Horus/Monitor                     Antichrist/MIB/Anubis/Anti-Monitor

Holy Ghost/Taweret                                 Smokey/Ammit

God is represented in COIE as a hand involved in forming the universe out of a swirling pool of shapelessness.  Perhaps Lost will follow suit by not explicitly disclosing/depicting who/what the ‘ultimate being’ is, above and beyond what we have been shown in the form of the divine being incarnate… Jacob….  If Doc Jensen is correct, look for a resurrected John Locke to replace Jacob in the above schema, on one or more alt.verses, or even the reunified universe…..  And where might Alex Luthor, Aaron, Ji Yeon, and Charlie Hume fit in, as ‘hybrid bubble kids’ in the alt.verse…?  Will they find a place in one of the Trinities, or will then serve key roles as soldiers in the good fight for the future, as part of The Holy (or unholy) Nine?  Will they play important roles on the light side, in ‘Jacob’s Heroes’, or will they succumb to the temptations of the dark side, falling in with MIB’s Marauders, instead?

Unity, Chaos, And The Lost Land:  A Valiant Effort, Indeed-

Comic book aficionados are mindful not only of the relevance of COIE to Lost, but also of the work that Damon Lindelof has done through lending his considerable creative talents to that field, scribing the recent Ultimate Wolverine vs. Hulk miniseries.⁶  Less well-known than the COIE connections, but equally relevant to be sure, are the underlying links between Lost and two fascinating Valiant Comics crossover events published in the early 1990's: UNITY (a.k.a. the UNITY SAGA), and the CHAOS EFFECT. 

For all the attention focused to date on Dr. Manhattan and The Flash, we would be wise to not overlook the relevance of Phil Seleski-- DR. SOLAR (= Ra?)-- and the Valiant crossover plotlines for further insights into the nature and plot possibilities in the coming war on Lost....  Indeed, in some key regards the Valiant crossovers are actually closer to Lost in plotting than the more famous COIE miniseries, especially when considering tonight’s recent plot turns and twists toward an alt.verse/multiverse modality: 

"When Phil Seleski accidentally creates a black hole that throws him back in time, he causes irrevocable change through-out existence. The temporal dimension he comes back to is not the one he had left. Unknown to Phil, his former colleague Erica Pierce survives the black hole and likewise falls back in time. Unbalanced by an abusive father as a child and a miserable life as an adult, Erica has been an adversary of Seleski’s even before the black hole. Now she is determined to destroy him and the altered temporal dimension that is his legacy. Like Phil, she possesses the ability to manipulate energy of any kind. Erica hides on Earth for centuries, all the while developing her plan for revenge against the man who has become Solar.....  She unfolds a plan to bring order and unity to all of existence by ending the universe and creating a new one.  Using hand–picked assistants who treat her as a God, Erica builds up a secluded haven in what eventually becomes North Am. After discovering the Lost Land, she moves her haven there, and proceeds with her plan to bring about Unity. The Lost Land is a place outside of existence where time is absolute. It is thus a perfect place from which to launch a plan to end all of time."  [Source: http://wiki.valiantentertainment.com/index.php/Unity]

Hmmm....  Both COIE and UNITY involve crises arising from the unintended consequences of actions taken by a scientist.  In the case of COIE, an attempt by Krona to peer back through the veritable mists of time to view the birth of the universe at the very beginning of time accidentally produces a split multiverse, producing in a series-long struggle to resolve the crisis through merging the universes and restoring the fundamental integrity of spacetime.  In UNITY, Seleski is the scientist whose actions inadvertently cause changes that ripple throughout the temporal dimension.  Will we learn that the good Dr. Jack’s push for an explosive return to LAX has achieved a similar end, confirming my What Lies Behind Door #2 prediction that while the incident may succeed in landing Jack in LAX, it may do so with some decidedly dire and unintended consequences, on a vastly larger scale, unleashing a chaotic cacophony of alt.verse connections that were not meant to be…

****  In short, look for us to learn that the J2 Incident-al blastflash may have: (1) caused a splitting of the universe into a multiverse (alt.verses) in a COIE-like manner; (2) generated spacetime rifts enabling people to flash across alternate universes, within a larger multiverse; and/or (3) produced Desmond-clones in the sense that Jack and other survivors of the blastflash have, like Desmond, now experienced a weird island cocktail of energy infusion throughout the very cells, molecules, and atoms of their bodies…. Will we learn that Jack and others in this new class of altered Homo Sapiens have Flash-like powers to not only move across time, but also across alternate timelines/realities comprising a larger multiverse….! ****

As per my COIE discussion above, look for Jack and others to heroically strive for and enact ways to garner personal redemption, while at the same time enacting a cosmic redemption, thusly restoring the lost spacetime integrity to the ‘verse….  This may involve going back to the very beginning of time, or thwarting the efforts of MIB and his Marauders to go back in time to remake existence in their dark image, or it may involve some other means of restoring lost spacetime integrity (e.g., closing the bridges or restoring the rifts that are enabling alt.persons to travel among alt.verses).  We may yet see Jack sacrificing a sure chance for redemption in one alt.verse, just to save the lives of others in another alt.verse….

Interestingly enough for us Lost fans, Valiant’s Unity Saga chronicles the dark deeds of a decidedly nefarious character (ala MIB!) called Erica Pierce, who attempts to exploit an opportunity to remake the universe, in part through leveraging the power of a place called....(interestingly enough!)…. The LOST LAND....

"Off the backstage of the Universe, what some call Unreality, there is a sluggish area of the timestream. In that region lies a pocket continuum called the Lost Land." Phil Seleski, aka Solar.... "Most people think of time as a stream, but it’s really more like a hurricane – countless endings and beginnings chasing each other’s tails. While you are in it, it seems orderly and absolute – but it isn’t. The Lost Land is at the center – like the eye of the storm. From the Lost Land you can see that it’s all chaos out there." Erica Pierce, aka Mothergod.  [Source: http://wiki.valiantentertainment.com/index.php/Unity]

Not unlike the island-as-bubbleverse view from Chaotic Inflation Theory (see above), the Lost Land in UNITY operates as a pocket continuum in the spacetime fabric, a place outside the 'mainland' realm of everyday spacetime relations.  How interesting it is to ponder the plotworthy implications of a special place existing apart from normal spacetime, a place from which to launch a plan to remake the universe....  As in UNITY, in Season 6 of Lost will we witness the pivotal role of a special pocket continuum-- the island-- in a looming war of light and dark, a special place enabling not only a wealth of heuristic insights and opportunities for personal redemption and locking in key variables in the spacetimelife equation, but also providing a matter/energy portal linking past, present, and future, stretching all the way back to the very beginning of time....  Again, will we learn that some guardian-observers of our evolution in the game of life have been using the island as their home and staging ground, serving as 'guardians' of the gate/portal, working to ensure the contined integrity of our spacetime universe all along....

And how interesting to note that, as in Lost, in UNITY a key character was killed and replaced by an alternate version; mirroring the Locke/unLocke plot twist, in Unity we witnessed Erica/Mothergod killed and replaced by an unErica doppelganger, enabled in no small part through a 'loophole' produced via a fluctuation in spacetime.  Valiant's second crossover event-- Chaos Effect-- incorporates this doppelganger/replacement dynamic, only this time the mirror is eerily closer in its nature and contents to the Locke/unLocke plot twist, in the case of a character called the Immortal Enemy, who not unlike the unLocke Nemesis of Jacob has the ability to (re)incarnate himself in the guise of another.

Chaos Effect also included a Dr. Solar/Destroyer(unSolar) light/dark dynamic, which we may see Darlton riffing on as the theme of personal redemption plays out through the final season of Lost, witnessing key persons locking in their 'values' (light or dark?) as their choices and actions finally resolve their variables within the broader Valenzetti spacetimelife equation.  Who will ultimately be revealed to be Ra/Dr. Solar, on Lost?  Will Desmond serve in this role?  Or will it be one of the NKOTB, perhaps Aaron, Ji Yeon, or.... Charlie H.?  More on this, below....

Further connections among Lost and the Valiant crossovers include the interesting take of the latter on the 'whispers' heard in the background by Sayid, Shannon, Sawyer, and others....  While we may ultimately learn that these whispers are the acoustic echoes of alternate time loops operating on the island (shades of archaeoacoustics, Scully!), or that they are fleeting aural vestiges of ongoing conversations among some form of superior extra-dimensional beings, a third possibility raised within the Valiant universe of comic book characters is that the whispers are related to geomancers and geomantic abilities for relating to the Earth itself.  Rokkie and Geoff are two such characters in UNITY:

"When Ana took Rokkie to her home, she revealed that she was a Geomancer, the eyes and ears of the Earth, and that she had chosen him to succeed her..... When Rokkie walked up to an assistant, the whispers from the walls helped him convince him to let him see the archival memory core,... As a Geomancer, Geoff could hear the whispers of the bones, and listening to their stories made him contemplate his own mortality." 

[Source:  http://wiki.valiantentertainment.com/index.php/Unity]

Yes, the first person who comes to mind on Lost is Miles Straume.... While a more conventional (how ironic!) interpretation is that Miles is simply a psychic like Frank Black from the Millennium TV series, when viewed from the perspective of the Valiant universe, a second perhaps even broader interpretation is raised.  Miles may really be able to see for miles and miles, as he may be more than a 'mere' psychic; like Geoff McHenry, Miles may possess an invaluable set of abilities to connect to the Earth itself.  Indeed, one next logical step in this line of reasoning is that the island's unique and powerful energy properties may turn out to be serving as such an 'amplifier' that even those who are not adept as geomancers on the mainland or normal spacetime relations are able to catch fleeting glimpses of different forms of geomantic experiences/abilities, as in the cases of:

1. Hearing whispers in the background (Sayid, Shannon, Sawyer....);

2. Foreknowledge of impending changes in weather/climate (Locke knowing that the rain is coming);

3. Accelerated healing processes (Rose, Locke, etc.)

In short, these and other phenomena may serve turn out to be illustrations of how the island-- and other locations in alt.verses?-- may be also be used to cultivate latent geomantic abilities that may be dormant in much of the species.  Will we learn that, among many other effects, the island is able to 'switch on' dormant genes, thereby activating latent geomantic capabilities, skills already activated in a select few on the mainland, including Miles?  Will activating latent geomantic abilities help the species become better attuned to nature, the Earth, to living together in harmony?  If so, activated geomantic abilities in the NKOTB-- Aaron, Ji Yeon, Charlie Hume, and Walt-- may help turn the tide in our attempts to pass the test in the evolutionary game of life....

Like the plot of COIE, at the very core of the plots of both UNITY and the CHAOS EFFECT we see the core theme of a LOST alignment of spacetime relationships--manifest in fundamental misalignments among matter, energy, and mind-- producing anomalistic opportunities for those pursuing dark agendas to remake the universe in their own image....  The related challenge for protagonists on the light side is to find a way to restore these lost alignments, resolving relationships on multiple levels-- matter, energy, minds/persons-- in effect, leveraging the choices and actions of persons seeking to redeem themselves, as a means of effecting a grander redemption of the core integrity of the spacetime universe, itself. 

Consistent with my earlier remarks, this underscores and illustrates the fundamental alignment of our universe (and our lives) as the product resulting from an existential equation comprised of both variables and constants (tip of the hat to you, Daniel Faraday!)  The universe and our lives within it is neither the simple, deterministic result of constants (fate/destiny), nor is it the opposite 'magic box' extreme in which we as the variables create our own reality in an autopoietic fashion.  The 'rapid transit' demise of Juliet's ex-husband (Dr. Edmund Burke) signed, sealed, and delivered the verdict on the latter....  Instead, we see that our choices and actions can influence others and our surroundings, and vice-versa, within certain limits.  This message is one we need to keep reminding ourselves of, lest we 'lose' ourselves in that veritable sea of despair, floating along, buffeted about by the waves and vagaries of fate.  Being 'found' is in no small part about coming to grips with who we are, in all of our strengths and weaknesses, and who we might become, located within broader social, economic, political, physical, and spiritual realms, neither entirely determined nor entirely random....

Redeeming and restoring the fundamental integrity of the universe, achieved through our own struggles for personal redemption and restoration.... what was Lost is now found....   But how might these broader themes play out in terms of remaining Season 6 plotline?  As per the COIE connections identified above, and consistent with the Valiant crossover plots, we may serve witness to a series finale showcasing the importance of fighting the good fight on the side of light, versus dark, on a personal level throughout the course of our everday lives, confronting and prevailing over temptations placed in front of us by our own MIBs/unLockes, choosing to put down the knife instead of plunging it into the heart of Jacob....

The Valiant crossovers underscore the importance not only of restoring Lost alignments among space, time, matter, energy, and mind, but also the key role of a 'Lost Land' or Island pocket continuum in enacting this cosmic redemption.  How will it all end?  Of course we will have to wait and see.... But if the Valiant crossovers have anything to say about it, look for a resolution involving personal redemptions producing a FOUND restoration of a previously Lost spacetime alignment, "turning the Lost Land (a.k.a. the Island) into an unreal fantasy that never existed"....  How interesting that if Darlton choose to incorporate some key aspects of the UNITY plotline into the Lost series finale, a successful resolution might mean that the island, the shared experiences of the castaways resulting from being stranded on the island, indeed the entire plot of the series, will simply cease to exist....  Lost will simply be rendered an unreal fantasy....

.... and will we then see the final camera pullback.... revealing that Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Des, everyone.... actually succeeded in saving the entire universe....  turning the richly complex and redemptive story into an unreal fantasy.... existing only in the mind of...... LEONARD SIMS....!

4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42....

Will we see Sims talking to himself, babbling on about the fate of the universe, and the epic struggle for its integrity, fought on the frontlines by fellow inmates in the psych ward.... Hugo.... Jack.... Kate.....

Are they all really inmates in a psych ward, and the numbers are simply patient designators on their charts, or is it simply their room numbers? 

Will this all be revealed to be a collective delusion?  Or simply Leonard Sims' illusion? 

Or will we never really know the truth of the matter, as from a quantum physical standpoint, when an intrepid band of heroes, offered a chance for personal redemption, resolve to save the universe from a dark and dire threat, their very success seals the struggle as an unreal fantasy, once the integrity of spacetime reality is restored....

.... and the only reason Sims knows this is that his brain is slightly out of sync with the 'real world'.... quantum foaming at the mouth?  who knows.... 

Time will tell....

Dr. Todd J. Hostager

P.S.   A delicious twist on the Sims take is suggested by the ‘Flashes Before Your Eyes’ theme….  Instead of revealing our cherished castaways as drooling inmates in the psych ward with Sims, Darlton may ‘riff’ on the flashes theme by mirroring the structure and impact of An Occurrence At Owl Creek, wherein the shocking and sad finale we’ve been promised is a UNITY-related ending as per above, only instead of castaways as psych patients, we see fleeting glimpses of their captivating adventure over the past six seasons, flashing right before their eyes, as they plunge together toward the sea, aboard Oceanic Flight 815….  So yes, they still may end up redeeming themselves and saving the universe in the process, but as a result, the island and their shared journey are erased from existence, leaving only faint, fleeting images in their mind’s eyes, flashing before them as they hurtle toward their fateful death at the bottom of the ocean….

Cut to the final scenes…. We see the plane slowly settling on the bottom of the ocean…. and our cherished castaways floating lifelessly tethered by seatbelts, to their numbered seats on the plane…. 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42…. They died knowing no small semblance of karmic redemption, played out on the spacetime pocket continuum of the island and, having succeeded in attaining redemption and thusly saving the universe, they died at peace for us all, died in our place, making the ultimate sacrifice for us all….   Leaving only the quantum-foam-addled brain of one Leonard Sims as witness….

Listen to his rambling, wild tale of an island plane crash, a global conspiracy and a war between good and evil, parent-child reconciliations, and more…. How many times has this happened before, on the mainlands of our own everday lives…. And what unsung and unknown heroes have fought the good fight for us and for our universe, across the ages and stretching into the future, their powerful stories forever wiped clean from the memory of spacetime existence, ironically due to the very success of their heroic endeavors on our behalf, laying down their lives at the crossroads of personal and cosmis crises…  

P.P.S.  Ben throwing the FDW off-kilter let loose temporal looping effects which Locke subsequently course-corrected, restoring lost spacetime integrity to the island and beyond….  The Juliet/Jughead Incident appears to have opened up some very interesting spatial effects, perhaps through opening a rift/portal in spacetime fabric enabling access to alt.verses….  Mirroring Locke’s prior act of restoring fundamental spacetime integrity through overcoming pain and physical injury to heave the FDW back onto its axis, will Jack’s greatest act of personal redemption arise from a realization that he must make the ultimate personal sacrifice to die in the process of closing the spacetime rift opened by the Juliet/Jughead Incident, thereby achieving personal redemption through restoring lost spacetime integrity at the cosmic level, redeeming the entire universe in the process….

I suspect that this new, ‘big country’ expanse for personal exploration and adventure afforded by the Season 6 broadening of the plotscope to include new alt.verses showing us new vistas of choices, actions, and consequences for the castaways, will strike heartfelt resonant chords among us all…. Mirroring our own surmises and wonderings about the many and myriad ‘what ifs’ comprising our own lives…. If I’d only done this.... or that… I wonder….  Yes, an important part of the Season 6 journey of discovery may involve insights into our natures and souls through holding the mirror of alternate paths— choices, actions, consequences— leveraging an alt.verse/multiverse plot device to support this journey and to pose the core challenge that Jack must overcome to achieve a personal redemption, saving the cosmos through restoring unity, merging the multiverse back to universe ala COIE….

Building on my observations above, one interesting plot resolution leveraging Chaotic Inflation Theory and Valiant’s Unity Saga is the ironic twist that Jack’s successful act of personal redemption, resulting in cosmic redemption on the grandest of all scales, may actually result in the erasure of the preceding six seasons of adventure on (and enabled through) the island… with that pocket continuum wiped from existence…. Will we serve witness to fleeting vestiges of memories flashing before the eyes of all involved, a vivid Lost collage flashing in their mind’s eyes ala An Occurrence At Owl Creek,  then fading from memory as they plunge to their deaths aboard a sinking Flight 815, or as they sit idly and drooling with Hurley, Libby, and Sims in a musty, sea-sick-green psych ward?

Or, fulfilling a dream for fans of karmic looping recursion theories…. Will the final scene show us a close-up shot of an eye opening up, then vivid Lost flashes from Seasons 1-6 appearing right before our eyes, followed by a (literal) blinking moment, then all memories of the past six seasons of adventure are gone…., cuing a final camera pull-back revealing… Jack…. coming back to his senses, laid out again on the island jungle floor following the plane crash, all set and ready to go for a replay of that good ‘ol existential game of personal and cosmic redemption that we’ve all come to know and love as…. Lost….  The beginning is the end is the beginning…..

“You go back, Jack, do it again….

Wheel turnin’ round and round…

You go back, Jack, do it again….” 

                            -Steely Dan

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ENDNOTES:

1.  For more information on DC’s landmark Crisis On Infinite Earths, see:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crisis_on_infinite_earths

Further information on multiverse theories and concepts may be found at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiverse

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Many-worlds_interpretation

2.  For more information on the ENNEAD, please see:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ennead

3.  For additional information on the Oans/Guardians of the Universe, please see:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guardians_of_the_Universe

4.  Ammit and Taweret do share some physical similarities, and they do perform antithetical, mirror twin functions.  Ammit’s head/visage in the tapestry contained on the ‘Book of the Dead’ site looks eerily like a mirror counterpart of that depicted on the four-toed statue in Lost:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_the_dead

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ammit

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taweret

5.  Please see my 4/16/09 posting in this regard.  For more information on the movie Warlock, please see:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warlock_(1989_film)

6.  This six-issue miniseries ran from December, 2005 through May, 2009.  For more information, please see:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultimate_Wolverine_vs._Hulk

7.  For more information on The Immortal Enemy, please see:

http://wiki.valiantentertainment.com/index.php/Immortal_Enemy