Future Problems - Time Travel?

[jfiscus@allianceprinting.]

After Desmon's flashback, it appears that someone (white haired lady) knew the future & who was going to die. It kind of reminded me of a couple other shows/movies I had seen.

She kind of reminded me of a "reaper" in Dead like me, who knew the future but couldn't change it. They just had to kind of wait around on people to die at particular locations, they knew a little about the person who was to die & what would happen.

The fact that he has a "destiny" that he shouldn't (not can't) change seems to indicate that the lady is from the future (or knows the future somehow). Possibly an "alternate-universe" theory could come into play here. If Desmond doesn't get his boat, to get to the island, then something REALLY bad eventually happens. Possibly this has to do with the aircraft passengers actually surviving a crash from the altitude the plane broke apart at (you saw how high it was from othersville). They may be "dead" to the outside world, but since their destiny is already decided (as dead) they are able to assist with stuff on the island that can't effect the outside world.

Possibly the island is some sort of time-travel "failsafe" that was built to help correct problems people made in the future by travelling to the past. (kind of like the movie "The Sound of Thunder" or "BTTF" where peoples' mistakes time-travelling in the past screwed up the future) This kind of explains why people can't leave the island, but they can observe & make soem sort of occaisional contact with the outside world. Possibly the purple sky was some sort of "time wave" correcting the "present" outside world.

Dang, there's so much more floating in my head but it's hard to get out here.... Can someone take this from here?

[losty09]

hmmm that's interesting, haven't heard it before.

what if the woman was sent by the island. What if the woman, was a sort of manifestation of smokie off the island? Maybe the island did bring them there itself. Hmmm.

[JDTheIcon]

I'm not too sure who the woman who seemed to know the future was, but it struck me personally that she was very similar to Desmond, with his current situation anyway. Maybe this place where Desmond ended up was an alternative dimension, a sort of "hell" possibly, where some people end up when they die?

A little far fetched I know, but for Desmond to survive the implosion was impossible, and then to go back to his past and just happen to meet someone who knew his future and everything about him? I feel that she was also stuck there, especially because of the guy with the red shoes, if this was a World made for Desmond, why then would someone completely random end up dying? The woman also showed alot of remorse for his death, which again is suprising if this was all an illusion, and simply hinted that she couldn't do anything because it was bad...she was stuck knowing what was going to happen, and when, while being completely unable to a stop it.

With this theory I think that if Desmond hadn't of realized that he could change things (by telling the bar owner to duck) then he would have also been stuck there, living his life all over again. Was his returning to the island, and "life" immediately after changing the course of history (a thing he was told he 'can't' do) just coincidence? I think not.

And why did Charlie appear in this "alternate world"? The man that it just happens Desmond sees dying, and ends up saving? This episode has left me more confused than ever!!!

[losty09]

well here are my thoughts.

Desmond did not physically go back in time. His subconscious traveled back, reliving the period of time in which he most regreted his actions. The woman was really the island entering into his sunbconscious thoughts, guiding him along so that he made no mistakes and made no changes.

Desmond cannot change fate. Fate is a predetermined purpose or large event, which is unchangable. He can, however change the future, which is ever changing. If my fate is to die, for example, i can prolong that death up to a certain point, but i cannot change the fact that i will die. Ultimately, if it is my fate, it will happen. However, if i am desmond and see myself eating cornflakes for breakfast tomorrow, i can change that and eat cheerios instead, because that is the future, not fate. Esentially the episode seemed to be suggesting that, no matter what desmond did in his past, something would lead to his split with penny and his arrival upon the island. Whether he prolonged it for a day, a week, or a month, it would still happen. Therefore, charlie's death can be prolonged, but cannot ultimately be stopped.

however, i don't think the producers would kill someone after stating they would die. It's anticlimactic, and it isn't like them. So obviously the show's major theme includes fate, and perhaps a way in which fate can be changed. On the other hand ,that is a contradicition of terms. If it is fate, then it is unchangable. That's where it gets murky.

[Michelle]

i think in that case just to throw us off Charlie will eventually die but they will probably kill someone else off long before Charlie

[Red Matrix]

Losty, getting tired of typing the same thing in thread after thread, lol?

[losty09]

copy and paste is a wonderful invention RM.

hey, a girl's gotta get her point across somehow

ever get tired of posting random things like the alphabet that don't contribute in any way to the discussion?

[SailingAway]

This episode may support a theory I heard earlier that they're all really dead. Desmond has always had troubles with accepting his decisions, maybe this is God's way of getting him to accept his life. People cannot crossover if they have unfinished business, maybe Desmond's unfinished business is realizing how important/good he really was.

[Red Matrix]

Alphabet? Those were all the letters of the secret phrase in the brainwashing scene, in alpabetical order.

[bladerunna]

bit of an easter egg there. charlie was singing wonderwall by oasis, and one of the lines was
'maybe... your gonna be the one that saves me....'

so it could just be a vision of desmonds past combined with memories of the island, hense the painting in widmores office, the song in the bar the sound from the microwave etc.