| Light / Yang | Dark / Yin |
| Earth | Dark "Island" |
| Living | Dead |
| Man-in-White | Man-in-Black |
| Free will | Determinism |
| Faith | Science |
| Others | DHARMA |
| Eloise/Charles | Alvar Hanso |
| Ji Yeon | Aaron |
| Gods of Life | Gods of Death |
| Temple above | Chamber below |
| Reality w/ crash | Reality w/o crash |
Light/Dark Matter. Mirror matter (also Alice and shadow matter) is a hypothetical form of dark matter. It's similar to the "light" matter we're familiar with on Earth, but its particles exhibit right-handed interactions instead of left-handed interactions, making it the dark mirror twin of our matter. Due to this fundamental difference, the two types of matter are invisible to each other, and they have trouble sticking to each other. An entire hidden, parallel sector of dark mirror stars, planets, and smaller bodies is on the table.
The idea is that a huge chunk of mirror matter landed in the ocean, began drifting, and developed like an island. This drifting "island" seeded the world's earliest cultures with notions like duality, an afterworld, judgment, magical serpents, floating islands, and magical healing. To move between the island and Earth you must pass through a wormhole, which flips your particles' handedness and often shifts you in time. The exotic matter allows these light/dark connections.
Good/Evil. Extremes of "light" and "dark," like self-sacrifice and murder, are explored within the characters. In keeping with the theme of equal opposites, these are often portrayed as morally ambiguous.
Living/Dead. Hurley's gift, Miles' gift, a judgment chamber, a jumping cabin designed by a dying man, a being that mimics the dead... They suggest a parallel land of the dead that is especially accessible on the island.
Light/Dark Gods. To use Lindelof's term, Jacob and his nemesis "personify" the white and black sides that Locke alluded to with those backgammon pieces. Jacob grants life, and favors hope and choice; whereas his dark counterpart behaves like a god of death and the afterlife, and favors pessimism and manipulation. The dark one can manifest as people—and produces things like the cabin—from the land of the dead; otherwise, he appears as pure darkness. The dark smoke being originates from the core of the dark island.
Us/Them. Groups with opposing ideologies are perpetually in conflict on the island. The hyper-faithful Others keep clashing with science groups from the outside: the Jughead testers, DHARMA, Rousseau with her team. This conflict symbolizes actual, destructive ideological polarization on Earth.
Won/Lost. Lewis Carroll's looking-glass world was a giant chess board with characters as pieces; and the light side won. Here, Jacob lost the game in order to win eventual harmony between the sides... Still, the two realities could give opposite outcomes...
For more details, evidence, and comments, see the longer previous version. Many thanks to all who have contributed over the years. If you like mirror matter, note that I wasn't the first to discover it in terms of Lost. Check out Bigmouth's excellent theory. — Mike(NY)
Reflections on Season 6
Feb. 3. So where's home? Earth, beneath the temple, the land of the living, the land of the dead, Heaven, the future, just outside the Crab Nebula? (I doubt it's the other universe, as the split appears to have happened after the "incident.") Was Jacob's death a prerequisite for the MiB's return?
Here's one possible on-island outcome: Jack replaces Jacob, as the universe naturally corrects a light/dark imbalance. The monster is prevented from returning home (assuming he's evil, returning would probably be a bad thing). Thus, it continues, with Jack as the Man-in-White, with all of Jacob's gifts, and the monster assuming John's form in Jack's presence—as the appropriate compliment, just as Esau (who surely died long ago) was the appropriate form to compliment Jacob.
Feb. 4. Juliet's apparent flash-sideways (clearly reminiscent of the consciousness flashing) and Jack's apparently vague sense of recollection suggest that awareness of the parallel universe could develop in more of the characters. Importantly, if they should meet a tragic end in one universe, their consciousnesses might be able to jump ship to the other. This could be nearly literal should the island actually be the monster's ship, LOL.
Feb. 9. Perhaps Lost is about the MiB dealing with his own daddy issues (i.e., shunning by God). That dynamic has certainly been covered enough...
Hmm. Infected by darkness. That's heavily symbolic and keeps the light/dark theme going. Still, it was a bit simplistic after an episode with so much stalling.
Feb. 16. It's hard to know how much of what "Esau" said was factual... Just an island... Right...
Still, it looks like at least part of the endgame is set. "Esau" wants the candidates dead (can he kill them himself?) or else claimed. If he eliminates these "reserves," his side, the dark side, wins and he can return to the land of the living and/or leave the island. But, I assume Jack will replace Jacob and the light/dark stalemate will be preserved, keeping the dark side as corked as it should be.
I do question whether it still makes some sense that Jacob is aiming for the game to end in a draw some time in the future. Indeed, the progress toward the one ending might have just been toward an end in his favor, i.e., victory over the darkness (personified by the MiB).
But I do still think this war is meant to animate the tension between yin and yang; neither of which is superior to the other. If that's true, it can only end in a draw or continue in a stalemate. Or, option c, each wins in a different reality.
To pimp dark mirror matter, perhaps the argument should be: What better playing field than the meeting place between light and dark?
Feb. 17. As lukemh suggests, Jacob could have touched both Jin and Sun in order to effectively touch Ji Yeon. I think that's too clever to be false. So Ji Yeon might indeed spearhead the future of the light side. If that's the case, I think it's safe to assume Jack's demise. Here's hoping a draw via Ji Yeon + Aaron is still plausible.
Feb. 18. Maybe Jacob, or whoever fills his role, being governor of birth and the preservation of life on the island, can flat-out prevent the MiB from fully retaking a living form. With Jacob dead, he now more fully embodies Locke's duplicate. And with the elimination of the candidates, the preventive force will be completely gone, allowing the MiB to be fully restored to life. Is the island, arguably being especially linked to the land of the dead, the only place where that restoration could occur?
Feb. 20. Jacob's death, MiB's victory, or the candidate's ascension on the December, 2007 solstice (the 22nd)? We've discussed how 815, Juliet, the US Army, and possibly Desmond may have all arrived on the September equinox. The Lostpedia timeline puts the arrival of 316 (absent any very large time-shift) in late December, 2007. Depending on the hemisphere, the December solstice is the darkest or lightest day of the year.
Feb. 23. Jacob had a looking glass, David was reading Lewis Carroll (alluding to Jack reading it to Aaron), and there was more apparent cross-over mirror action with the scar. All good, though of course only suggestive. Ten bucks says the baseball belongs (or belonged) to Dogen's son. They might've just planted the seeds of Dogen's on-island backstory.
Feb. 27. For what it's worth, very pivotal moments occurred on the December, 2004 solstice: Jack made radio contact with Minkowski, Charlie died in the Looking Glass, Jack pulled the trigger on John, and Hurley first saw the cabin. I suppose those events were largely dark in nature.
The infection by darkness might be an analog to what could occur if the monster is allowed to move to Earth (assuming that's his intent). The light side presence (Jacob and his predecessors and replacements) keep the chief carrier of darkness isolated on the island and the passageway for the spread of darkness to light plugged. [Cool: Jacob's Creek hits on similar notions here.] I assume the light side must be extinguished from the island before the monster can leave. Curiously, all things here assumed, that would make the dark side of the universe evil in nature.
Feb. 28. Tweaked the Won/Lost bit up top to draw greater attention to a parallel: Carroll's looking-glass world was a giant chess board where black and white sibling kittens transformed into the leading figures of the opposing sides... vs. the island, where dark and light (presumed) siblings became the leading figures of the opposing sides, with the island as a giant chess board. Researching the "Alice" in Alice matter generates an obvious motivation for a massive "game" on the island: "Let's make our looking-glass world a giant playing field too."Mar. 2. Todd Hostager posts excellent and expansive commentary on his Lost HEMA Theory site. More recent entries are chock-full of mirror matter and mirror-universe material. Check it out. ("DHARk MAtter Initiative" all the way!)
Some pre-show thoughts: Per some discussion with Jason and B.U., the submerged island might have been "flipped" to "light" matter as a consequence of the detonation (or something else). If that's true, it seems reasonable that the island's exotic matter became inert in the process, and, more importantly, the doorway to the dark side shut. If nailing the door shut is a good thing, then we might assume the consciousnesses of the Losties will escape to the "alt" reality upon their death on the island.
Like the button-pushing, the continued presence of the light side might be only a temporary way to plug the breach.
Post-show: For those hoping "Esau" might be the good guy... Well, that ship just sailed.
Curious how Sayid didn't seem to have a "mirror moment." I'm guessing that if refuge is found in the "alt" reality, it's only for the good guys (or those who survive).
I liked the semi-confirmation of the internal good/evil duality, and of "Esau" being associated with all things death. I've changed 'Good/Bad' above back to 'Good/Evil'.
Finally, although Dogen suggested "Esau" is no longer trapped, I think he might still need to sweep the board; i.e., claim or kill the remaining candidates.
Mar. 8. With our discussion about Faustian bargains and whatnot, and a suggestion over email by Kevin C. that the "alt" timeline offers the rewards for such bargains, I began to think Jacob might be well-aware of that lure.
Scenario 42:
Jacob (via Hurley): A man will appear to you as John Locke. He can't kill you but he wants you dead.
Jack: Uhuh...
Jacob: He will offer you a bargain: Kill yourself and your friends, and you'll get to live the life you wanted to create with the bomb. When you die your soul will go to that place.
Jack: OK...
Jacob: I want you to do it.
Jack: Huh? Why would I do what he wants?
Jacob: It needs to be you. James is willing, but the reason is important. He'll do it out of self-interest. You need to do it to for the sake of humanity.
Jack: So I'll save humanity and all of this will be over?
Jacob: Sort of. My brother will think it is, and he'll become mortal so that he can leave. But he'll still be trapped here because he overlooked someone. And she's safe off the island.
Jack: Whatever... Save the details for the last possible second, OK?
So mortal "Esau" will be killed. But the light side will not be the victor.
The dark side claimed Aaron in the womb.
Will Ji Yeon and Aaron reach harmony or will the struggle persist between them? And what of the "no-crash" universe?
Mar. 10. So "Esau" might need his own
And no-crash-Ben's time on the island seems to suggest a split did occur when the bomb did/didn't detonate. But that remains a bit fuzzy.
Mar. 12. More speculation:
Abel —> Jacob —> Ji Yeon
Cain —> Esau —> Aaron
In service to his plan to engineer harmony between the next replacements, Jacob vetted both Ji Yeon and Aaron, and intentionally permitted Aaron to be claimed in the womb.
"Esau" insisted that everyone who left be brought back. What he meant: Bring back all of the remaining candidates so I can ensure that they kill one another.
I think it's a replacement that will set him free, but it's the complete elimination of Jacob and his candidates that will allow him to fully resume living form. (The alternative is to fully die, shedding his quasi-dead smoke status; and who would prefer that?) Contrary to Scenario 42 above, Ji Yeon's survival would mean "Esau" would be unable to regain life. The ploy would be to get him to install his replacement before realizing Ji Yeon is the true #42.
BTW, didn't Jeff Jensen suggest a Cain and Abel connection? I think he has yet to expound on it.
Mar. 17. I (and everyone else) look forward to more on MiB's mother and how her claimed insanity influenced the current state of affairs. He's not dead, he says, but is he alive? Or is he in limbo? Did she dupe him after she was claimed? ADD: Might the Aaron/claimed-Claire dynamic follow the same trajectory? [thanks to Jeff Jensen for the meat of that last bit]
The mirror motif is alive and well. Of course, the question of the relationship between the universes remains paramount. But even if we determine their light/dark status, I imagine we'll be left with some ambiguity as to which is superior.
Also, what would the MiB do to the island without the MiW's protection? Destroy it? Sink it? Overtake the light side and upset the balance?
Mar. 21. Some especially ridiculous speculation: "Esau" transformed from human to smoke when he tried to leave via the Frozen Donkey Wheel. The island said, "not so fast, dark one," and all that was left was a sort of dematerialized essence.
Mar. 23. Perhaps Charles wants to capture the MiB on the little island so he can do bad things to the big island without the MiB's interference.
On Ab Aeterno:
1. Looks like the "island is a portal to the dark side which must remain plugged lest the darkness escape and spread (across the light side)" notion is a keeper.
2. Jacob took his body and his humanity. Sounds good; though the actual "taking" part is probably key.
3. Jacob can apparently prevent the MiB from leaving through his will or mere presence alone. Hence, the MiB is almost assuredly planning to have the candidates killed before they can reinstate the no-fly order.
4. Curious that Jacob is actually trying to win over the opinion of the dark one. I think he was saying, "Given that you — the darkness — might eventually escape, I want you to appreciate that humanity does not deserve obliteration. I can find a spark of goodness, you'll see. I'll bring them here to show you. And then maybe you'll reconsider unleashing your wrath."
Outstanding episode, with 2 and 4 being the new meat.
Mar. 24.
Good Bad After Bad
Merged Sealed (submerged?)
Mar. 25. Jacob/Esau backstory — Draft 1
A ship from the Roman Empire marooned on the dark island — though it wasn't the first. Surviving were a mother, her twin sons, and possibly some of the crew.
The dark island, indeed the dark side of the universe, is home to a dark — malevolent, from our perspective — immaterial "energy." The mother was "claimed" by it, went crazy, and either abused one of her sons (Esau) or killed herself.
In a ritual that should occur again, Esau and Jacob replaced prior personifications of the dark and light energy (the latter of which is associated with our side). In a sense, they were fused with distilled concentrations of the energy. With his new destructive power, Esau went on a vengeful killing spree and divulged his desire to continue off the island (on our side).
To stop Esau, Jacob killed him (or had him killed). In an immaterial form, the darkness cannot escape to the light side through the wormhole connections that the island provides. Jacob's own life-supportive "light" power enables him to refuse granting life to Esau, preventing him from resuming material form and escaping.
Foreseeing his eventual death, Jacob launched two strategies to avert disaster after his demise. One was to persaude Esau that he is wrong to think the rest of humanity is as corrupted as their mother. And for the other, he sought a replacement — someone who would be able, willing, and present at the time of his demise — to continue denying Esau access to a living form.
But eventually Jacob appreciated that there are only two more permanent solutions: Sever the link (destroy the wormhole connections) or engineer a bond between the next replacements that would counteract the opposition inherent in their roles.
Mar. 28. Semi-spoiler-ish bit from Lindelof follows in white text: [source]
In a Q&A he suggested that if they had to pick a code name for the finale (not necessarily one particular scene — more the episode as a whole), "the black and white cookie" might be a good one. It was tacked to the end of a response, but it's nevertheless intriguing. The yin-yang symbol obviously comes to mind.
Just thinking that the "Merged" panel above is akin to "live together," whereas "Sealed" is, if it were to end tragically, akin to "die alone."
Endgame — Possibility 1
Behind that locked door in the sub is in fact Ji Yeon Kwon, the real Candidate 42.
Charles has two plans, both of which follow the more permanent solutions of Jacob mentioned above.
Plan A is to trap the MiB on the small island while Charles' team destroys the remaining exotic matter (beside the wheel chamber, at least) on the main island. That would seal whoever remains, including the MiB, permanently on the island, on the dark side. Charles' team will fail, but discussion of the plan will serve to inform the audience as to what happened in the no-crash reality. In that reality, the detonation of Jughead both destroyed the exotic matter, sealing-off the portals, and flipped the island to the light side (without the MiB, who was still in his non-flippable, immaterial form).
Plan B, the fallback plan, is to install Ji Yeon as Jacob's replacement. She will continue preventing the MiB from fully reclaiming material form and leaving. Jack and friends will perish, but they'll live on in the no-crash universe — bitter plus sweet.
Later, Aaron will arrive as the new MiB (having been claimed in the womb, with Jacob's permission), and he and Ji Yeon will reach an accord, or even marry, as the old rumor suggests. (Bigmouth has repeatedly hit on variations of both possibilities.)
[Yeah, for close readers, this bit of crazy-talk uses merged vs. sealed, instead of a reversal in fortunes for Jacob and the MiB across the two realities.]
Mar. 30. So much for Ji Yeon as the package. LOL. There's still hope for her as #42, of course, but there's also the simpler solution where Jack replaces Jacob. The Nerd Squad destroying the pockets, however, still sounds good.
I get the impression that the pockets might sustain the smoke... hence no smoke on the small island? Anyway, it would provide another possible motivation for messing with the pockets: cut the lifeline.
Mar. 31. This place isn't death.
Taking Widmore's comments about the consequences of the MiB's escape as truth, it seems pretty clear that the no-crash reality is not one where the MiB did in fact escape. Had he, we should have expected the eradication of all things good shortly thereafter. Instead, the no-crash reality might be one in which Jacob "wins," or Jacob and the MiB have assumed reversed roles (note BU's comments), or the island/portals were sealed (as above).
April 1. Did you catch Fringe? They just showed what I've been yapping about for too long: A window-like wormhole supported by the Casimir effect connects two sides that exist in parallel. Only here, on one side is Earth, and on the other is a much smaller mass with the island. Looking-glass optional.
April 3. The MiB needs to escort the candidates off the island about as much as he needed to escort Jacob off...
He can't kill them directly (like he couldn't kill Locke or Jacob), and he needs them all gone. Rounding them up will make the job easier.
April 6. I really enjoyed that episode. I guess the security of the universes is up in the air, but it's not very surprising that hovering around death lets memories be exchanged — we already saw that with Juliet. My guess is this special connection will conveniently only affect the main characters... Or will everyone in the world with even a slightly different "alt" life experience this? The episode also seems to firmly plant the idea that the no-crash universe is indeed a result of a split [at some point], with the detonation occurring in the no-crash universe.
April 9. They've been laying on the references to looking-glass worlds, mirror twins, and light/dark duality this season (not that I'm complaining); and so I've stopped cataloging them. In the days of yore, what could've been such references were more oblique, and a common theme was to juxtapose light and dark, with dark on the right or right-hand side (which is where it ought to be for an ideal mirror matter reference). The arrangement of the twin paintings of scales in Widmore's office fits in that category, as the one with the dark frame is on the right-hand side (from our perspective). (Thanks to Anonymous, The ODI's post, and Karen.) Another minor but consistent curiosity is that Jacob was living in the left foot on the Western coast of the island (with West being associated with left and left-hand, of course).
April 13. Turns out the whispers were pretty much what everyone's been thinking they are for quite some time... souls, perhaps in an electromagnetic form, perhaps trapped by the electromagnetic field of the island. Maybe malevolence attracts malevolence? Bad people stick to a bad place?
The island developing upon a core of extraterrestrial dark matter still sounds feasible, I think. It's the peculiar properties of invisibility and detachment from Earth (and some quotes from the producers) that suggest it's a world unto itself. But we'll see...
Abstractly, the MiB is surely as Damon suggested: the personification of "darkness" — presumably death and malevolence. It's a means to express the qualities of the dark side in human terms. But concretely, I think the monster is probably a sentient being from the core of the island (kind of the mirroring monster I described in the previous version, but with more intention and intelligence). The desire to go home is simply borrowed from the memory of "Esau." That he knows the well was dug by hand suggests he could've been around for the entirety of the island's history. (The instrument and scale in the cave suggest Jacob's people would have had or made tools — the well-diggers probably preceded Jacob.) That is, the monster has been watching forever.
April 17. Just added a bit back up top about the smoke being originating on the dark side.
It might be worth revisiting the idea that Jack is the obvious counterbalance to Locke. Hence, Jack ought to be the candidate — if he and fake-Locke survive.
April 20. "The Last Recruit" was an especially unrevealing — though pleasant — episode. Having the candidates leave might be sufficient to allow the MiB's escape, but I'm sill pretty certain their death would suffice.
April 23. So how does one (i.e., Jack) become Jacob-ified? I'd imagine he or she needs to be infused with the light energy, so to speak, as Jacob presumably was.
May 3. In a nutshell:
Two boys are brought to the island in a storm. One eventually replaces the previous MiW and the other dies and is fused with the darkness that is kept at bay by the island, replacing the previous form of the dark one. Like his predecessor, Jacob is empowered to grant life to himself and others, while the dark one is empowered to kill and to mirror the dead. Thus, the MiW is the ideal counterbalance to the dark one.
They understand that this is a cosmic chess game. Jacob aims to preserve the game or else have it end in a peaceful draw. In contrast, if the dark one wins (by eradicating the light side from the board), he can escape and convert everyone from the living to the dead. While looking for a replacement, Jacob has also been attempting to demonstrate to the dark one that humanity is not deserving of annihilation — though this is probably a futile exercise.
That's it, basically. Jack has apparently elected to replace Jacob — and so the story will continue with Jack as the MiW and Locke as the preferred form of the dark one. The dead will live on to some extent when they're transferred to their sideways selves.
What is the island? It's a mysterious place powered by exotic matter, a chessboard for a game between light and dark, and a potential gateway; and perhaps that's all the producers feel need be shared.
If they want to go further, I think a little world of dark matter would suit their needs well, as would the island serving as a bridge between light and dark.
May 4. Well, there you go. He rounded them up for the mass, indirect kill. But who's the straggler (in his eyes)? Desmond, Widmore, Zoe [or Richard, duh]?
May 10. Because the monster tried to kill everyone by surprise, it seems the Faustian bargains we were discussing are probably off the table.
Less than two weeks...
May 11. That was a fun episode, but it was very weak in the details.
Whatever that shiny, light-in-each-of-us stuff is, it's magical. It seems the key to Lost will be Disney-ish magic, not pseudoscience. Not that we couldn't foresee that possibility...
The glowing heart of the world is destroyed —> The light in everyone is extinguished —> Darkness wins
A cork isn't the first metaphor I'd go for — assuming that's all there is to it. (I really hope it's not.)
May 12. A worth-reading post-episode Damon and Carlton interview is here.
May 13. I've managed to translate the incantation Mother spoke during the wine ritual. The syntax is a little rough, but here it is:
"Strong in this one, the source is. Protect the macguffin, he will."
I don't quite get it, but I'm sure it will make more sense after the finale.
/sarcasm
May 14. What I think are fairly obvious predictions about the remaining story:
* Jack will replace Jacob, as he's already shown his commitment. A big part of Across the Sea was to set up the notion of succession.
* The magic light will be in jeopardy. Again, the stakes were just set up. Desmond is obviously pivotal here. (Forget the other pockets around the world. You never heard of them...)
* Jack might fully kill fake-Locke, as Mother's rule might not apply to him.
* The key memories of the characters (especially the dead ones) will continue to be transferred to the Sideways reality.
* And one crazy possibility: If the island is submerged because its light was destroyed, the "enlightenment" of the transferees might re-ignite the island (as the light in each of us is linked to the light of the island), and let it rise again in the Sideways reality.
May 15. If Mother wasn't misinterpreting the light... oh man... I'll probably remember the light-in-the-cave scene as the downfall of Lost — try as I will to repair my impression of the story. It's just too cheesy given the prior intelligent and serious tone of the series. And the because-I-said-so rules from Mother were about as weak a narrative device as one could dream up. I hope Lost snaps back to awesome.
May 18. Questions I need addressed to be satisfied with the show (1-4 are closely related):
1. Is the island sentient or machine-like? Does it hide? Does it recruit protectors? (I'm reminded of Pandora here — perhaps it's a microcosm and analog of Earth. I've been fixated on this of late.)
2. What is the island (if not a living entity)? If it's really a cork of some sort, then "cork" needs to be further defined.
3. What is the glowing stuff? Is it negatively-charged exotic matter from a meteor or eruption? Is it God-stuff, as Mother described? Is it a little of both?
4. What's the deal with the bearings? In other words, how and why is the island so inaccessible?
5. What are the consequences of the escape of the darkness? If the darkness = Smokey, then elaboration is needed on why his escape would presumably be so existentially or metaphysically devastating.
6. (ADDED:) What was/is the fate of Jacob and the monster in the Sideways reality?
For Bonus Points: Why did Damon remark in May 2007 that, "Somewhere just outside the Crab Nebula is where it will all end, geographically." Fully appreciating that it could be a random and meaningless joke, the fact that it is amazingly compatible with the cover of Foot's book has always struck me as remarkable.
On What They Died For. So Jacob needs a candidate to protect the light from Smokey, but Smokey only formed a definite plan to destroy the island when he realized Desmond's potential... There's a problem with the logic there. Nevertheless, the episode kicked butt. [On further reflection and a comment by darkprose, killing the candidates may have been a means to get to the light source. And destroying the light might be the ultimate means to his freedom. How inconvenient for humanity.]
May 21. I want thank you for indulging me with a public forum for this crazy theory and wacky commentary. It's been a very unique and enjoyable experience, and your feedback and clever contributions have been a fundamental part of that.
I'll end with my craziest prediction ever (taken from above):
The island will rise in the Sideways universe. The detonation of Jughead shut off the light, so to speak, and the island sank. As the "light" is reignited in the characters (through the continued transfer of key memories and emotions), the light in the island will in turn be reignited, and the island will rise. Hope floats, or whatever, lol.
May 24. Well...
The Sideways resolution was epically satisfying (emotionally).
The island resolution, on the other hand...
Some final theorizing:
I interpret the light as what allowed the composition of the Sideways dreamworld. It is the atomic building block of the afterworld.
Where this light exists in great concentrations in our world, both worlds intermingle. Think of the island as an intrusion of the afterworld into our world.
Note that freedom from time and space, the presence of the dead, and the ability to control reality by one's will were properties that were shared between the Sideways construct and the island. The island is like a light version of the construct, as it must partially obey our laws as well. Other sacred places, which contain smaller pockets, like Uluru and beneath the church, would likewise be places where the worlds intermingle.
August 18, 2010. And some final whining...
I get the impression that our expectations for the end of the show were at odds with those of the writers. We still wondered, "what the fuck is up with the insane shit that goes on on this island?" while the writers were focused on whipping out their arguably tangential "Sixth Sense" moment in the church. It seems they mistook the early commercial success of the show as validation for the promise of that scene; and they ran with it without appreciating that it could not pay off six seasons of convolutions of what we actually thought held the promise of the show: the story of the island.
Indeed, I and every fan with whom I've spoken, felt the resolution of the main plot was half-baked and obtuse. We found duct tape where we were expecting genuine and polished parts. Give us your prized moment in the church, but don't write-off such wonderfully laid island mysteries with deities, magic light, and a literal plug.
The filler — necessary to sustain such a long show — the cabin, the bearings, the moving island — was so alluring and absurd that we mistook it as being integral to the master plan. When such pregnant material is left to rot, it sadly suggests reckless writing, or worse, intentional baiting. Appreciating that a tight 6-season show is a tall order, the writers did play up the eventually-dangling threads in innumerable media appearances.
So the writers should be heartily thanked for the journey. Not so much for the plot lines to nowhere.
The twist for the encapsulated Sideways narrative softened its rough edges. If only a mature, revelatory plot device could've replaced the subterranean spring of light that burps smoke monsters.
Alas... It was fun. I loved 90% of Lost.
Mike
