Unsolved Mysteries of "Lost" (Spoilers)

[Aquadementia]

This is the thread for the unsolved mysteries of Lost.
Not to be confused with the finale talkback.

This is where you can ask about all the questions that have been piling up over the seasons, and which finale didn’t touch.
If you’re lucky, maybe there’s an actual answer someone can supply.


For instance:
Did the smoke monster set up Ana Lucia to kill Shannon?

[Brandon Pierce]

Why didn't the real Locke ever appear to Hurley as a ghost?

[Neo Ultra Mike]

here's an important one: How come they never did anything with Walt after the first couple of seasons, despite hyping up him being special and having powers. I mean really they never did explain some of the powers but speaking to the dead or seeing the future weren't nearly as powerful as Walt's apparent ability to alter reality. And yet NOTHING was seen about it in this season, in the regular Lost universe (which was 2007 so they had no reason not to do something with it) or in the flash sideways/heaven life. Really this needed some kind of explanation and shame on the creators not really giving one. I'm not just choking this up to magic or whatever the deal was with Jacob espeically when the show never made that connection.

[Peter Paltridge]

That's what I wondered after it ended. "What about Walt? Where's mah BOOOOOOOYYYYYYYY??"

[EinBebop]

Can we have a voluntary ban on "the writers didn't plan it out" comments for this thread? The point's been made in the talkbacks, and noone's doubting it. This thread is for people who want to make sense of things even if the writers didn't have the answers, so don't be in here trying to spoil the fun by telling us not to bother.

Why didn't the real Locke ever appear to Hurley as a ghost?

There really doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason as to who did and did not appear to Hurley... Mr. Eko, Alpert's girl, etc, but not Libby...

here's an important one: How come they never did anything with Walt after the first couple of seasons, despite hyping up him being special and having powers.

Most of the theories on Lostpedia seem to center on how Walt was a potential future leader of the others, and that the Walt/Ben situation seemed to mirror the Ben/Widdmore situation. Ben, not appreciating a threat to his power, took his piece off the board by getting him off the island.

[Rook]

Why does Claire have her baby in the church?

What happened to that woman and the two kids who were also on 815?

How come Ana Lucia was not with them?

[Brandon Pierce]

What kind of life would Richard have after going back to civilization.

[Lord Dalek]

Its my theory that Ana Lucia can't enter the church because Michael whom I assume would be her constant in the flashterlifes is doomed to roam the island in perpetual limbo.

Thats why Hurley can't see Locke's ghost. Locke went to heaven; Michael, Alpert's wife, Jacob and MiB's real mother, etc. didn't.

[mumbo]

The flash-sideways were for people who died and were ready to "move on."

Any dead people stuck on the island, whispering, were not ready/couldn't "move on." So Michael, Eko, Yemmy(sp.), Alpert's wife, and so on couldn't move on. I think none of the dead people Hurley talked to on-Island were in the church, though I don't remember who he all talked to so I may be wrong. He did talk to Charlie off-Island.

That may also be the case for people in the flash-sideways who didn't remember their time on the island. Remember how Desmond said that Ana-Lucia wasn't ready yet? I'm guessing that's how it works.

Aaron is in the flash-sideways because the flash-sideways are timeless and that's where everyone comes together after they die...except those who couldn't move on. The Island timeline is what really happened, and everyone died at separate times, not all in the plane crash.

Anyway, back to the point of the thread, the exact nature of mysterious characters like Walt, Abaddon, and Hawking stand out ot me, and the exact nature of the "light" that was the heart of the Island is a biggie too.

[Peter Paltridge]

We'll never know what the deal was with Libby being in Hurley's psych-ward either.

But I thought they'd shown enough of the Dharma Initiative to piece together what it was about. Several decades ago some important people found the island and sponsored a bunch of experiments there. Simple as that. Except for the food still being delivered somehow.

[ikey2]

The only true mystery is Where the Hell did they get all those tarps? There is no plane that carries that many on board. Did the drops include more tarps?

[Chris Sanders MSX]

- Mysteries left hanging...

"Fertility"
Why women kept dying on the island after giving birth and what exactly started the infertility problem. And don't say the fertility statue being destroyed because baby Ethan was born sometime after that event along with other children.

"Specials"
-Why was mother freaking Walt special ? On that note why was Aaron special and what was so bad about him being raised by another/Kate ? On that note what exactly made Desmond special ? ..also same question for Miss Hawking. It seems all the characters simply just were special with no explanation as to why. We see Miss Hawking when she was younger and seemed to have no outside knowledge at that time, so something had to happen to her to make her so aware. Hurley and Miles both randomly communicate with ghosts for absolutely no reason...with no hint at an explaination. - What ?

"Others knowledge"
How did the Others know so much about our survivors ? They had entire files on them and their lives. I guess I can assume that Jacob just forwarded the information he learned from the mirrors.... but when and why ? It seems that at several points Ben or the Others were following orders from M.I.B. and not Jacob, why didn't Jacob just show himself to Ben or ANYONE including Alpert and just clear things up. I understand wanting them to have choices but he didn't do that with the Oceanic people... Jacob could have achieved a lot if he just revealed himself to the people following him.

And why ignore Ben.. It didn't make any sense. Ben would have done anything for you and you just treat him like crap. What point was he trying to make ? Just tell the guy he's unwanted.

What exactly was the deal with being claimed ? Sayid seemed to still be human, and so did Claire for that matter. Sayid said he couldn't feel anything but I'm not sure if that true. He obviously felt something to know he could try to save his friends. And Claire seemed to not display those same symptoms. Which takes me back to Ben, the running theory is when he was healed by Alpert, he was claimed which explains his seemingly dark nature but Ben still was able to feel things like, anger love, pain and all that stuff Sayid said he couldn't... so what happened to him in the temple ?


What happened to the great war ? There wasn't a war. Jack and Flocke had a 1 on 1 and then Kate shot him. And why was it so important to Widmore to get Locke on the island ? He clearly wasn't working for M.I.B. so why did he want Locke on the island, what was his intended purpose.... and why did Hawking want them all back on the island ? Ben's purpose in season 4 was to get them all back together and on the island, but why, it seems he was following Hawkings orders or something, what was she trying to achieve ?

-The flash sideways would have happened no matter how things ended on the island with the bomb, so it couldn't of been to get thta to happen. She had pleanty of insight, so she knew what she was doing, right down to having Locke wear, Jack's fathers shoes, so what was she trying to make happen ? Was she working for M.I.B. all along using every as pawns to bring him back ?

-The visions... were they a side effect of the island or Jacob or were they relevant ? It seems like they disssapered after everyone started seeing ghosts.

"The Magic Box"
Um.. where is it. Was it just a lie ? Did Ben just have Alpert go off island and get Locke's dad. If so how did The Others cure Juliets sister of cancer ? Did they take her to the temple and heal her like they did Lil Ben or did they have Jacob do it , err, I guess not since no one until this year has actually talked to Jacob. Which is also strange itself because Widmore claimed Jacob came and spoke to him, why the eff would he do that when he's been ignoring all the people that actually followed his rules and never got exiled. Couldn't he of just went directly to Desmond himself or even had someone else kidnap Desmond like say one of our Losties.

I have more but I'll spare you.

[Brandon Pierce]

I just thought of something. Locke's dad was mentally challenge and paralyzed in the "flash side ways" which apparently take place after death. I wonder if that was intended to be his "punishment" for his ways in life, and for paralyzing Locke.

If Ben was ever able to "redeem" himself, it probably happened while serving as "Number 2" to Hurley.

[Jacob T. Paschal]

So, the Man in Black's real name was...

Spoiler:

Samuel, eh?

[ShadowGUN]

Spoiler:

Samuel eh? I like it. Now I can sleep easy knowing that mystery has finally been solve.

[R-Taco]

In the church, Aaron is a baby and the characters that (supposedly) died long after Jack look roughly the same as when he met them. Does that mean, when they died and went there, that they took on the appearance of a specific point in their lives?

If so, why?

[EinBebop]

In the church, Aaron is a baby and the characters that (supposedly) died long after Jack look roughly the same as when he met them. Does that mean, when they died and went there, that they took on the appearance of a specific point in their life?

If so, why?

aaron probably lived a long life and crossed over in his own way, but still participated in his mothers crossing over, appearing as he was during the most important time in her life.

[Aquadementia]

Its my theory that Ana Lucia can't enter the church because Michael whom I assume would be her constant in the flashterlifes is doomed to roam the island in perpetual limbo.

Thats why Hurley can't see Locke's ghost. Locke went to heaven; Michael, Alpert's wife, Jacob and MiB's real mother, etc. didn't.

Ah-ha! Flashterlife is the best term for it yet.

As for the rest of it I have no idea. Though I think if Ana Lucia could keep one person grounded by never forgiving them, it would be the guy who shot her unborn baby.

[The Penguin]

As for the rest of it I have no idea. Though I think if Ana Lucia could keep one person grounded by never forgiving them, it would be the guy who shot her unborn baby.

Except that was Jason McCormack, not Michael. She wasn't pregnant on the island. Michael has tried to make amends once when he was still alive and then once after he was dead. That ought to count for something.

Regarding what the spirits mean in general, the spirits in Ghost Whisper are still around because they either have unfinished business or can't let go of something. I find that general idea much more palatable that "doomed to walk the earth for what they did in life." I realize that may not line of perfectly with what Michael told Hurley, but there's a lot of interpretation space available.

[The Clown Prince]

This fantastic video from College Humor I think asks pretty much everything that wasn't answered and then some, though I thought I heard some questions that were answered. It's a pretty sweet video comprising questions with clips that spans the 6 seasons of Lost....

http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1936291