The Widmore Family Circle....

In the comments to a recent post, Cameron raised a possibility that's so deliciously whackadoo it merits a separate discussion.  What if cute little Charlie Hume grows up to become none other than Charles Widmore himself? 



I've long maintained that Penny and Desmond are Adam and Eve.  In 2004, Jack estimates the bodies in the cave have been dead for about 50 years, which would place their deaths around 1954.  Charlie Hume is three in 2008, and Charles Widmore seventeen in 1954.  My guess, therefore, is that Penny, Desmond, and Charlie will return to the Island on a bearing that sends them back in time to 1940.  Charlie will grow up on the Island, join the Others, and become their co-leader with Eloise. 



This means, of course, that Charles Widmore is actually his own grandfather.  I'm reminded of my favorite episode of Futurama, Roswell That Ends Well, where Fry mistakenly kills his grandfather in the past. He then sleeps with his grandmother, becoming his own grandpa.  Ben putting metal in the Orchid Chamber may actually be a sly reference to this episode.  The Planet Express crew is hurtled back in time when Fry places a metal "Iffy Pop" container into the ship's microwave during a supernova.

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Another great example of such ontological paradox is Robert Heinlein's short story "-- All You Zombies --" wherein the protagonist is his own mother and father thanks to time travel and a sex change.  Eventually, we learn he/she's a time cop, manipulating events to complete the causal loop of his/her self-creation.  Darlton may be fans of this well known time travel story, too.  The protagonist wears a ring with a snake eating its tail, like Ms. Hawking's Ouroboros brooch.


I suspect that Charlie and Ellie have been working similarly to preserve the ontological paradox that is Widmore. To paraphrase one of my older posts, In Gott We Trust, when seventeen-year old Charlie Hume lays his parents' bodies to rest in the cave five decades in the past, the Widmore family circle will be complete at last.

As always, you're welcome to post anonymously, but please identify yourself somehow, so I can distinguish between anonymous posters. Thanks!

More Season 6 Speculations (SPOILERS)...

Due to popular demand, I've created another post for spoiler discussions.  Feel free to post your spoiler speculations about Season 6, but please limit your discussion of them to this post, and this post only.  As always, you're welcome to post anonymously, but please identify yourself somehow, so I can distinguish between anonymous posters. Thanks!

The Red Tapestry and Terms of Truce...

As we've discussed on other posts, the Season 5 Blu-Ray DVD has some intriguing bonus materials, including a new Red Tapestry, and a draft Letter of Truce between the Others and DHARMA.  Given the interest in both subjects, I figured it made sense to create a separate post devoted to them.  Let's start with the Red Tapestry.


(Screen cap courtesy of the Televixen)

According to our own Netprophet, ῥέε δ᾽ αἵματι is part of a phrase from the Iliad, Book 4, which translates as "the earth/ground ran red with blood."  A contributor to Dark UFO's blog named Keeping Pace concurs and provides further translation and insight:

νῦν τοι ἐελδέσθω πόλεμος κακός (Iliad bk. 16, line 494)
ῥέε δ᾽ αἵματι γαῖα (Iliad bk. 4, line 451)
θανάτου δὲ μέλαν νέφος ἀμφεκάλυψεν (Iliad bk. 16, line 350)

This translates to:

"Now you must embrace this evil war"
"the ground ran with blood"
"then death's black cloud enveloped"

I should add that the first line is given by Sarpedon (a great Trojan hero) to his friend Glaucus (a Lycian) as Sarpedon lay dying on the field of battle. Upon seeing Sarpedon mortally wounded, Glaucus prayed to Apollo, asking the god to help him rescue the body of his dying friend. Apollo cured Glaucus' wound, allowing him to rally the Trojans around the body of Sarpedon until the gods carried the body away.

Additionally, we have what's apparently Richard Alpert's handwritten notes on a typewritten draft of the Letter of Truce between the Others and DHARMA.  Here are the terms, along with Richard's comments and addendums in italics, courtesy of Lostpedia:

LETTER OF TRUCE (Alpert notes 8/15/73)

RESOLUTION OF 15 AUGUST 1973

The DHARMA Iniative and the indigenous island inhabitants,

Desiring to bring about cessation of hostilities on the island without prejudice to the rights, claims and position of the the indigenous island inhabitants or DHARMA Iniative recruits and employees, < Goodspeed, is the "legal" language necessary?

1. Call upon all authorities and leaders concerned to order a cessation of all actions of armed force in perpetuity going forward from this date; Fix periode - Finite

2. Call upon all authorities and leaders concerned to refrain from introducing fighting personnel into the DHARMA Iniative or the indigenous inhabitant's camps during the cease-fire;

3. Call upon all authorities and leaders concerned to refrain from mobilizing or submitting a military (We're not the ones with uniforms) army for trainig during the cease-fire;

4. Call upon all authorities and leaders concerned to refrain from importing or exporting war materials (Please define war materials) into the DHARMA Iniative or the indigenous inhabitant's camps during the cease-fire;

5. Urge all authorities and leaders concerned to take every possible precaution for the protection of the island, including all [shrines and sanctuaries] (I've included more specific on this in our counters) used for whatever purposes by those who have an established right to visit them;

6. Call upon all authorities and leaders concerned to respect the established boundaries of the DHARMA Iniative and the indigenous inhabitant's camps and a zone of five kilometers surrounding each camp, and to not infiltrate or attack these areas during the cease-fire;

[7. Urge all authorities and leaders concerned to respect the established right of the citizens of each camp to live freely within their community and to not fear attack during the cease-fire;] Redundant - we get it.

8. Instruct the DHARMA Iniative and the indigenous inhabitants to create security teams, in concert with a mediator, to supervise the observance of above provisions, and provide them with a sufficient number of security observers;

9. Instruct the mediators to make contact with all parties as soon as the cease-fire is in force with a view to carrying out his functions; I will be our mediator, you will be DHARMA's

10. Instruct the mediators to make [periodic] (Is this necessary?) reports to each party as mutually decided upon during the cease-fire; Our willingness to allow your presence should not be mistaken as continued opportunities for diplomacy.

11. Invite the mediators of the DHARMA Iniative and the indigenous inhabitants to communicate their acceptance of the resolution not later than sundown on 16 August 1973;

12. Decide that if the present resolution is rejected by either party or by both, or if, having been accepted, it is subsequently repudiated or violated, the situation on the island will be reconsidered wirh a view to military action and swift reprisal;

13. Call upon all authorities and leaders concerned to take all possible steps to assist in the implementation of this resolution.

Adopted this day. 16 August 1973. Agreed and accepted to.

Horace Goodspeed, for the DHARMA Iniative

Richard Alpert, for the indigenous island inhabitants

(See my counters / addendums on back RA)

(Screen cap courtesy of Dark UFO)

Counters / addendums (transcript)

- If the DHARMA Iniative enters or violates any [preexisting] ruins on the island, the truce is violated.

- If the DHARMA Iniative digs or drills any more than ten meters into the ground, even in their designated territory, the truce is violated.

- The DHARMA Iniative pledges its term of residency will last no longer than fifteen years. At the end of this term all facilities and personnel are to leave the island.

- The [D.I. can only] maximum population of D.I. members cannot exceed 216 at any one time on the island.

(Screen cap courtesy of lost-island.net)

So what do you all everybody think?  As always, you're welcome to post anonymously, but please identify yourself somehow, so I can distinguish between anonymous posters. Thanks!

Entertainment Weekly Interview...

Just a heads up to you all everybody that Doc Jensen interviewed me for his column this week over on EW.com.  My answers are excerpted below, but be sure to check out the full article for what may be Doc's best theory yet.  I know that many of you found Eye M Sick through Doc's columns, and I'm grateful for all his support over the past five(!) years.  As the Others would say, ago gratias tibi, Doc! 

How long have you been posting Lost theories?

Since the premier in 2004.  I remember logging onto imdb after the Pilot and speculating that the distress call was solar powered and the monster in the jungle was some kind of giant ape like King Kong.  I posted my first stab at a comprehensive theory of the show two months later.

Which of your Lost theories is your favorite?

Three Black Swans.  Jacob and the Man in Black were debating the fate of humanity on the beach with the Black Rock in the background.  Since ancient times, Jacob has brought people to the Island to create miraculous events that postpone our extinction, an exercise the Man in Black finds futile. Jacob hopes to avert our extinction for good by creating the Omega Point, a kind of global consciousness representing the next step in human evolution.  Aaron and Ji-Yeon are avatars of this Omega Point -- everything that rises must converge on a LOST wedding between them before 2031.

What episode of Lost made you go, ''Yep. I'm obsessed.''

I knew I was truly obsessed after Walkabout.  That episode was such a perfect balance of character development and mythological advancement.  Locke wiggling his gold-tipped toes in wonder after the crash will always be the defining image of the show for me.  It raised so many possibilities -- everything from cloning to resurrection -- capturing my imagination for good. 

What character do you relate to the most and why?

Locke.  I shave my head and don't appreciate people telling me what I can't do.  Plus, Locke's narrative arc is so profoundly tragic.  I still hold out hope for his redemption in Season 6, but suspect any such redemption will be bittersweet. And that's exactly as it should be...

How have you been spending your hiatus?

I've taken the opportunity to write about television besides LOST on my other blog, I Hate My DVR.  Despite -- or perhaps because of -- my parents' efforts to limit my consumption, I've been addicted to TV since childhood.  So writing about the medium generally was the next logical step now that I've built up some readership via my LOST blog.

Are you PRO time line reboot or ANTI time line reboot?

Both.  Miles is basically correct that the '77ers were always the cause of the Incident.  But there are currently two possibilities superimposed like Schrödinger's cat.  There's the timeline depicted in Seasons 1-5, which actually depends on the bomb exploding.  And there's the alternative where the bomb fails to explode, erasing the timeline we know.  Someone -- my guess is Juliet -- will get to choose whether the bomb actually detonates.  Ultimately, she will opt to effectuate the future she remembers, rather than reboot it.

In 25 words or less: Explain the true significance of Jacob and Man In Black.

They're four-dimensional beings capable of transcending spacetime.  As Dr. Michio Kaku notes, such 4D beings would be god-like in three dimensions, just as 3D beings are in 2D Flatland.

In 25 words or less, answer this question: What is Lost?

LOST is a thoroughly postmodern work, ambiguous and referential like Ulysses and Watchmen.  That's what makes all three so much fun to analyze!

What will you miss most about Lost when it wraps up next May?

I'll miss the thrill of discovery most.  I've learned so much about so many esoteric subjects I might never have studied but for LOST.  Everything from theoretical physics to new age Gnosticism.  I still get some of this thrill when other shows reference these subjects.  But the sweep of LOST theorizing has been so broad that it's increasingly rare to encounter completely new material.  There's nothing quite like reading about something mind blowing -- e.g., the double-slit experiment in quantum mechanics -- for the very first time.

Source: Doc Jensen at EW.com

As always, you're welcome to post anonymously, but please identify yourself somehow, so I can distinguish between anonymous posters. Thanks!