Lost: Theories

​

So, I'm pretty big on the TV show Lost. I've watched through every episode twice in the past 4 months. I'm pretty intrigued with the many connections Lost has to different types of mythology and philosophy. I've read a few of them (there's a lot) and some are more believable than others.

With the new and final season less than 3 weeks away, Id like to open discussion on your thoughts on Lost as a whole and what you think explains it all, so to speak.

Here are some of the theories I tend to agree with at this point (note, none of these are my own theories or words, these are copy/pastes from other people on other websites)

Jacob & Esau - The Eternal Backgammon Theory

Spoiler

LOCKE: "Two players, two sides. One is dark and one is light."

Jacob and his nemesis (for convenience sake I shall refer to him as Esau) are two seemingly immortal, semi-omniscient beings that govern the Island. Whilst in direct opposition to one another, for some reason they cannot directly kill one another. This is when they begin bringing people to the Island to "play" for their side, to help eliminate the opposing player. The first case was Jacob bringing the Black Rock to the Island in the 1800s (possibly the earliest forms of "The Others") to eliminate Esau and end the so-called loophole. Whilst evidently unsuccessful, the Others can still be seen as Jacob's guardians, protecting the Island from any incoming forces that may or may not have been sent by Esau (the US Army, DHARMA, the Kahana freighter and POSSIBLY some members of Oceanic Flight 815!!!).

However, there is some circumstancial proof that Esau IS the smoke monster - (he can take the form of Locke, and Smokey can take the form of people, why not assume they are the same? It would explain the Smokey vs Anubis carving under the temple as representative of Jacob and Esau). To protect themselves from the smoke monster, the Others killed the Dharma Initiative in the Purge, knowing they would be safe behind the sonar barriers and free to protect Jacob and the Island.

Thus is my theory. Jacob and Esau are playing some cosmic game of chess (or backgammon, if you will) to eliminate the other player. The "Others" are Jacob's proverbial pieces on the chessboard.

-Posted by TheEmpath at Lost-Forum.com


The Prophecies of Edgar Cayce

Spoiler

I believe that Lost is based on the 'prophecies' of the American psychic Edgar Cayce (1877 - 1945) (Edgar Cayce - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) who recorded in some detail a complex past, present and future for a certain Island -

• The Island was long ruled by two factions, the ‘good’ Sons of the Law of One, and the ‘evil’ Sons of Belial. Each side desired to harness the power of The Island to different ends, one peaceful and humanistic, and one militaristic and greedy. Both sides were closer to being pure 'thought forms' originally and retained certain powers. One desired to help evolve 'lower beings', the other wished to exploit them for their own ends.

• He predicted the Island would ‘rise again’ in 1968/69 – a time period that coincides with the establishment of Dharma on the Island.

• The Island underwent three major catastrophes and the final destruction was caused when the ‘crystal’ at the centre of the Island became overcharged and caused a massive explosion.

• A copy of the ‘records’ of The Island are under the Sphinx's right paw at Giza, (which Hurley painted) and the people of The Island are intimately related to the Egyptians as many moved there before the deluge (remember the hieroglyphs in the hatch, and the four-toed statue of Taweret, an Egyptian God - in addition it is interesting to note it is under the foot of a the statue that The Island's own record chamber is found - of a sort, Jacob's tapestry).

* Jacob's tapestry records the Egyptians leaving The Island, just as Cayce reported, and also features the artwork of the cult of Aten, one of the earliest forms of monotheism. The Sons of the Law of One, remember.

• The people of The Island had physical deformities we would now consider strange but were commonplace at the time, having bred with animalistic lines (If you do not believe the statue is Taweret this is a very plausible alternative theory, although it does link to the the Egyptian Gods also).

• Many people alive today are the reincarnated souls of those who inhabited The Island and are destined to ‘face similar temptations’ again. (Remember John Locke having to choose an item as a child, a similar method by which they tell the reincarnation of religious figures)

• The people of The Island, developed 'electrical forces' capable of overcoming gravity, moving things from place to place, going through walls and traveling over long distances. They utilized similar ‘automatons’ to carry out work on the Island.

• He spoke of a controlling entity which sought to interpret and direct the power of The Island called Deui, which is pronounced DAR, or D-R.

* In his view the original inhabitants of The Island were able to rejuvenate their bodies, allowing them to live for hundreds of years (Richard). The Island is a place of healing.

* The 'evil' of The Island through its misuse creates the 'Night-side of Nature' and the degradation of the surrounding environs - this relates to the 'Dark Territory' notion.

The Island he was referring to is what we know as Atlantis, or The Island. D.Demeter

ADDITIONAL CAYCE/LOST INTERSECTIONS -

* Of the numbers the creators of Lost have said that the number 23 will be important, or key, something Edgar Cayce also held true, twenty three was to him 'a body balanced mentally, physically, spiritually; for it is as the perfect odd number, divisible by nothing - hence perfect in its ratio to one.'

* We know in Lost dreams are used to communicate - Edgar Cayce once said, "Dreams, visions, impressions, to the entity in the normal sleeping state are the presentations of the experiences necessary for the development. These may be taken as warnings, as advice, as conditions to be met, conditions to be viewed in a way and manner as lessons, as truths, as they are presented in the various ways and manners."

-Posted by ddemeter at lost-forum.com

While Cayce makes the most direct connections, and is pretty convincing/hard to ignore, I think I find the backgammon theory the most intriguing. But, essentially, its hard to nail down Lost to one single theme/theory. It most likely draws inspiration from many different areas.

So, anyone else have any thoughts? Feel free to comment on the above theories, or contribute your own

 

Theirs also an interesting little scene where we first see Jacob in the series for the very first time. Same time we see the other guy, his nemesis, or Esau. I can't remember the exact dialogue, but Esau basically says to Jacob, "Why don't you just kill me?"

Jacob responds with "You know I can't do that"

Assuming that these two are the Kings of the Island, and are playing some cosmic game of strategy to out-due each other.. In Chess, a King cannot kill or take out another King. It always takes a combination of pieces to corner the King before it is overtaken. This could be why Jacob and Esau cannot kill each other directly, and why they bring people in (the pieces) and manipulate them to their own benefit.

Esau was most likely taking the form of Locke's body in the S5 finale when Ben kills Jacob, under Locke, or Esau's manipulation. Just kinda builds off the Backgammon theory, relating it to chess as well.



As for Kate dying... I kinda agree lol, but it likely wont happen. I used to love her in the beginning of the show.. she reminds me a TON of one of my ex's with her style and general appearance. But she's got pretty annoying thats for sure. But I do think the romance quadrangle they have going on with Jack, Kate, Sawyer and Juliet is pretty interesting.