Lost season 2 finale... More Questions, not answers!?

[dreamwalker]

I've been sneaky and downloaded the US episodes of lost as they were torrents where seeded - (allowing me to watch episodes on my iPod! - on the tube and stuff)


As the episodes built on and one, it began to be clear that there is a whole world of craziness going on and that this plane crash survivor thing was just a flash intro...
But the questions...

The giant foot with 4 toes???
The radiation, and what does Penny have to do with it?
The others... the Good guys??
The plural, erm?
Lock, Echo, Desmond... are they still alive???

Loads of big hints on the whole area around the island being caught in some inter-dimentional phase shift, but did the explosion end that? or has something else happened??

And yet,

Still no black cloud, "security device" explaination
or polar bears, or how Lock got paralised or about a dozen other lose ends dropped into this series to feature again at the programs writes conveniance.


Is Epidose 24 the last one in the series? (weren't there 26 in the last one?)

The questions... Will they ever be answered?????????

 

[weaveworld]

I'll be honest and help you at the same time.

Don't think about it, it will kill your brain. I have loads of un-answered questions as well (even though I have only seen the first three episodes).

I cheated and asked a friend in the states, 'what the heck happened to Desmond?'.

No-one knows. (as you pointed out)

The Black Swarm thingy, I think was a defence mechanism too.

I have one burning question? Why did Desmond go so willingly into the Hatch?

Don't worry there will be loads more questions real soon.

Ps There were 26 episodes in the first series x

 

[Milk]

When I saw the statue first thing that came to mind.
My theory of the plot that answers some of those questions all at once.


possible spoiler from the last episode of the season:











The 4 toes statue suggests that the island they are on might be Atlantis or something similiar. Which might explain the mysterious magnetic source as well as the black cloud guardian, its some advanced technology from the past/ or an offshoot of humanity , or ugh aliens or whatever atlantis means in regards to this story. Maybe the Dharma initiative people (who are the others) discovered some technology from atlantis that could destroy the Earth on the island. Their plan is to reseed the Earth after causing general humankind to be destroyed and then rebuild it, to do so they want to test everyone on island to see if they are good or evil, hence all the testing, and mind games, and deception and spying.
One of the products of the Dharma initiative could also have been isolating the 'good' and 'evil' gene or something similiar as a virus. I think there will be some technology that the dharma group has relating good and evil, I mean like for instance isolating the 'evil' gene this is why they are the 'good' guys their intentions seem altruistic, to save humanity--by destroying it. Its obvious morality and technology will combine somehow literally.

 

[Trey Greyjoy]

Thinking about all the possibilities makes my head hurt too!

Signs are beginning to point to some sort of "Land of the Lost" scenario or variant such as "Atlantis" "Bermuda Triangle" "secret entrance through the north pole" etc. They seem to be somewhere tricky to get in and out of.
If I have to guess right now what the plot is, I would say some wealthy multinational corporation or collection of wealthy individuals knows of this phenomenon and is exploiting it in someway.
The "others", if they are truly the good guys, may be working to try and stop them.
I believe Desmond, Locke and Eko are still alive and that Penny will play an important role next season.

 

[Thadlerian]

I just think it was hilarious when it turned out Desmond's last name was Hume...

Now they've got Locke, Rousseau and Hume. Where's Montesquieu? That guy with the false beard, is he Marx?

I think this whole naming affair is a little silly. It's obviously done to make the show seem more deep and philosophical, but the characters hardly bear any resemblance to the philosophers after whom they're named...

 

[NorseDude]

Funny, I have seen almost every episode in both seasons and don't really wonder about it at all.

* The planecrash? Getting to that in a minute.
* The button they need to press? Easy. Electromagnetic energy keeps building up, and if they don't press the button, the entire island will be hit by an electromagnetic pulse. (also known as EMP). This disables all electricity over the entire island and around it, which also shuts down airplanes over the island - causing the crash in the first place.
* Statue with four toes: The real "others". Aliens? Atlantis people? Don't have a clue, don't really care.
* Why did Locke regain his ability to walk? Easy. When you get hurt and paralyzed, it is fully possible your feet turns back to normal without telling the brain. This means you are still paralyzed, although in perfect shape. The planecrash caused a shock, "jumpstarting" the feet again. It's not that uncommon in real life. The same way you can get paralyzed in an accident since the signal from the feet to the brain is interrupted, or the cable is broken to put it that way. Again, it's quite common.
* Is Desmod, Eko and Charlie alive? Betcha. A common rule is that if a character is alive at the end of one episode, he's going to be alive the next. That's the biggest fault Lost have done so far. At the end of the first episode, we had a big blast when they opened the hatch. What they should have done is showing us the dead or uncouncious bodies and not revealing if they are alive or not until season 2. It's the same thing this time.
* If Desmond sailed in one direction all the time, how come he ended up back on the island? Easy. If he was following a compass, a magnetic energy on the island could have made the compass point at the island instead of towards north, making Desmond think he sailed away, when in reality sailed in a circle.
* The polar bear? The french lady already said they were on a research facility or something. Research facility? Polar bear? Ring a bell? They brought it here.
* Alternatively, the island is in the arctic somewhere - as hinted by the boat at the end of the season. The polar bear just accidentally ended up there after a short swim when searching for food. Nothing special at all.
* The black guardian thingy? The writers watched "The Grudge" the day before and got inspired. Ruined everything for me.
* Hurley's meeting with that other guy from the past? Partly in his head, partly not. Not that uncommon for the brain to create fake memories/illusions to deal with a dramatic change in life. Not only did he survive a planecrash, but he also got himself a girlfriend for the first time in... ever? And he tried to quit sneak eating, and there's the bunker, and there's the others, and there's the baby, and... you get the picture.

At least, that's my theory. Don't think too hard about it and it makes sense.

 

[Dianora]

you know, I really, REALLY tried not to get into this show, but my husband is addicted, and by default, since I am usually in the same room while he's watching it... I got hooked. No clue what they are going to do with next season...

 

[Green]

It'll be more of the same. Some questions answered, some not. They'll keep making them as long as people keep watching them. So if they're going to get to seven or eight series, it wouldn't make much sense to give out all the answers straight away.

As for frantically wondering what's going to happen... just chill out and wait for the new series. There's no real point speculating or demanding answers, you'll only get disappointed.

 

[NorseDude]

Don't worry. You'll be disappointed anyway. It's only a matter of time before they mess it all up anyway if you still believe they haven't alreay.

 

[Werthead]

The ongoing 'Lost Experience' game is filling in the backstory on the Hanso/DHARMA side of things, which I'll spoiler-summarise in a second. But generally:

The Monster/Black Cloud: a security mechanism to defend the island. From what is unclear. It can read minds. According to the producers, we saw it again in Season 2 after it's obvious appearance mind-scanning Eko in The 23rd Psalm (Episode 10). The common theory is that it can also take on other forms, and appeared as Eko's brother to guide him and Locke to the Pearl Station. Why? Who knows? It may also have appeared as Hurley's imaginary friend, Kate's horse etc. The monster is code-named Cerberus and apparently escaped from the Flame Station during 'The Incident' (this info is revealed on the map on the rear of the blast door, seen in Episode 17, Lockedown).

The Island: almost definitely in the Pacific just off the direct-line route from Sydney to LA, just north-east of Indonesia at 4.815 S Lat, 162.342 Long. The EMP field completely blocks the island off from the outside world, rendering it invisible to rader, radio etc. There seems to be a 'corridor' permitting contact with the outside world, through which signals occasionally escape (this wouldn't stop the island being observable from satellites etc). The island is probably about 10-15 miles across.

Right, now to the info from the Lost Experience. Highlight to read:

In the 1870s a Norwegian man named Magnus Hanso established a slaving business using three ships, including his flagship, the Black Rock. In 1881 the Black Rock disappeared without explanation whilst on a slaving run to Mozambique. The prevailing theory is that Hanso discovered the island and its unusual magnetic properties. He may have managed to escape the island and left the location with his family, but later returned. The Black Rock was carried ashore by a massive tidal wave (possibly caused by the eruption of Krakatoa in 1883?). Magnus Hanso died on the island and was buried by his crew near the wreck.

The Hanso family abandoned the slave business and became industrialists. During WWII they became arms magnates under the young Alvar Hanso, who supplied arms to resistance movements across Europe. After WWII Hanso became more interested in scientific development. He may have discovered his ancestor's 'hidden island' at this time.

In 1962, after the resolution of the Cuban Missile Crisis, an Italian mathmatician named Enzo Valenzetti was called upon by the UN to develop a method for predicting the end of human civilisation. He succeeded after many years work, but by this time the UN seems to have abandoned the idea as a bit daft. The Hanso Foundation picked up on it and started developing the equation themselves. Valenzetti disappeared (or was killed) in the late 1990s/early 2000s and the Hanso Foundation continued developing the equation using a group of 'autistic savants' (geniuses) at the Vik Institute in Iceland. The Vik Institute burned down very recently in the Lost Experience timeline and the savants were all killed, much to the Foundation's disquiet.

The Foundation also adopted a group of US scientists keen to find a place where they could develop scientific studies in peace in the early 1970s. They brought this group under the Hanso banner as the Department of Heuristics And Research on Material Applications (DHARMA) and Hanso placed them on the island his ancestor found, where they built a number of research facilities. An 'incident' took place in the early 1980s which resulted in the destruction of one of the hatches (The Flame) and possibly the 'escape' of their advanced security system, code-named 'Cerberus'. This incident also allowed the very-high electromagnetic field of the island to begin building to dangerous levels. Through an unknown method, the DHARMA Initiative was able to put a 'pressure valve' on this field which could be gradually released by entering a code into a computer every 108 minutes.

In 1987 the Hanso Foundation abruptly abandoned the island, shut down the DHARMA Initiative and left the scientists abandoned on the island whilst sending in personnel to continue pressing the button. The abandoned scientists became 'The Others' (this part is speculation, but it seems pretty logical).

In 2001 Desmond Hume crashed on the island (probably due to the machinations of his fiancee's father) and was recruited into pressing the button. Shortly afterwards, his finacee Penelope Widmore started looking for him. Widmore Industries may be the company that built the Hatches and thus have known of the location of the island, so Penny may have found out about its unusual EMP properties. She established a two-man 'EMP listening post', probably near the Arctic, to watch for signs of EMP activity.

In 2003 Alvar Hanso disappeared without a trace, although the Foundation continues to claim he is alive and well 'behind the scenes'. On 22 September 2004, during a partial system failure of the EMP containment system, Oceanic Flight 815 was pulled out of the sky and crashed on the island. On 26 November 2004 the 'valve' was destroyed by the actions of John Locke. Desmond triggered a failsafe which released all of the leaking EMP at once, but probably destroyed the Swan Station on the island. This is the 'present' date in the TV show (the date of the Season 2 finale and presumably the Season 3 opener).

The Lost Experience reveals that an advanced ocean-going vessel has been built by Paik Industries (owned by Sun's father) for the Hanso Foundation and that Hanso's right-hand man, Dr. Mittelwerk is planning to use it to travel to an "island located near the equator" (such as 4 degrees south of the equator?). A PI named Rachel Blake has exposed much of this information, but was unable to follow the ship after it left Italy. The general theory is that the ship has been modified to penetrate the island's EMP field. If the Experience is taking place between Seasons 2 and 3, it may be setting up the arrival of new Hanso personnel onthe island in the forthcoming season.

It is unclear if the Lost Experience is taking place 'now' (i.e. in 2006, two years after the events of Lost Seasons 1 and 2) or at the same time as the show. The former is supported by many of the hidden documents and websites part of the game bearing 2006 dates, the latter by events in the Experience (Dr. Mittelwerk is agitated by an 'unforseen event' that is possibly the EMP flare seen in the Season 2 finale, which galvanises his search of the Hanso archives for the location of the island).

Got all that? Good. Some of this stuff is pretty interesting, as we find out what DHARMA stands for, possibly what the numbers are for (they are part of the Valenzetti Equation), how the Black Rock which appeared in the Season 1 finale ties in with things...but it still leaves a hell of a lot of stuff unexplained.

 

[dreamwalker]

Got all that? Good. Some of this stuff is pretty interesting, as we find out what DHARMA stands for, possibly what the numbers are for (they are part of the Valenzetti Equation), how the Black Rock which appeared in the Season 1 finale ties in with things...but it still leaves a hell of a lot of stuff unexplained.

I can now rest happily, and sleep restfully

I don't think i'll be trying the game any time soon but it does go on to answer just how many lose ends the final answers will leave us.