So the others whispers are normal...while walt, who we seem to believe is with the others, is now speaking backward consistently. why? does it show that he's actually not one of them/hasn't been tainted...maybe that the lostaways should listen to him.

i just don't get it. he now moves just like they do - no one can hear him come or go. and he's speaking in whispers.

but only his are backwards. What's up with this boy?

Here's the speak reversed: http://www.tvsquad.com/2005/11/09/what-walt-said-on-lost-tonight/

If I had to wager a guess, I would say there is nothing logical behind it other than the fact that it makes us fans take the audio from our dvr and run it through an audio editing program to figure out what he said. (run on alert)

without going to the link and hearing what Walt said, I'm thinking there has got to be a different space in time/a time warp to distort that distorts his speech, only he just doesn't know it. He is clearly warning his lostaway friends....shushhhhh

I'd guess the backwards speak is a Twin Peaks reference... the writers have admitted the huge influence TP had on Lost, and the backwards speak was a trademark.

In that show, the backwards speak was used to signify being in the waiting room for heaven or hell... more specifically, the people who fed off the fear of those waiting for admittance into heaven/hell spoke backwards.

Just my two cents.

"That was quick." and "They're coming and they're almost here."
FYI for those who either can'r connect or don't have the time... The first comment is sort of weird but the second is straight forward. It seems that Walt is still on the Lostaway's "side" and is warning them.

I think "that was quick" was shannon, no?

It seems that Walt is still on the Lostaway's "side" and is warning them.

But then why would he run off, knowing Shannon would follow him to her ultimate death?

Seems to me that Walt was doing the same thing Christian did to Jack last season when Jack almost fell off that cliff.

I think "that was quick" was shannon, no?


yes, that's what she said right after the candle was blown out

I don't think Walt knows that his messages are reversed. If he thinks people understand what he is saying, he would think he is helping. His intention was not to "lead" Shannon to her death. He was trying the get her away from the Others.

Why is backwards talk so darn scary? Gives me goosebumps everytime i hear it!

but why run away when shannon is chasing him?

Here's the speak reversed: http://www.tvsquad.com/2005/11/09/what-walt-said-on-lost-tonight/

what did he say (text) I dont want to listen to the linked mp3.

what did he say (text) I dont want to listen to the linked mp3.

walt said:
they're coming and they're close

I agree with the Twin Peaks thing. Please dont let this show end the way that one did!!!

PS, love the avi solidstealth!!!

It's interesting that most people seem to be assuming that the Walt seen in Shannon/Sayid's vision is in fact the literal Walt we got to know during the entire first season...I'm not entirely convinced this is the case. That said, I don't have any great ideas about what the "vision Walt" might be, but I'm just not convinced that this version of Walt is the flesh-and-blood human being we saw get abducted by the people on the boat.

I would tend to agree. "Vision Walt" reminds me too much of "Jack's Dad" on the island - creepy!

some ideas from cartoons & comics. Don't know if this could be a spoiler or not since I'm new, so I'll try out the spoiler tag...

Yeah, traditionally backwards speak is associated w/ being dead/ghost. & that's what the cast of Buzz Lightyear thought too. but (& I wish I could remember this better) the backwards speakers were actually in some sort of parallel/alternate universe thing. they weren't dead!
after all, if it was only b/c they were dead, wouldn't we see Boone talking backward???

also, (& again I wish I could remember better) there was some, I think a Darkwing Duck comic from Disney Adventures Magazine I read as a kid... there was a type of gas that would reflect everything you did. voice, image, everything! was walt really running to her demise or was he running from it & it came out that way?

wish I could remember better... any way, some ideas.

It seems that Walt is still on the Lostaway's "side" and is warning them.

I don't think Walt was referring to the Others and he wasn't leading Shannon and Sayid away from them. He was talking about his dad and the Tailies. He was leading Shannon to them for help. I think this is pretty interesting. Maybe he had some connection to Shannon that lets him astrally project or something to her. I love that Sayid saw him, too. Also interesting that Walt knows what's going on on the Island.

i'm thinking the backwards speech has something to do with what the others are doing to walt. they may be trying to do their "tests" or whatever it is they do with children. maybe he managed to escape and in his mind he is confused, thus, his speech comes out the way it does. he may be running because his confusion doesn't allow him to fully destinguish the others from his friends.

or maybe it's an image of him that is someone being reflected to certain lostaways. grrrrrr, i'm dying for answers.

I don't think Walt was referring to the Others and he wasn't leading Shannon and Sayid away from them. He was talking about his dad and the Tailies. He was leading Shannon to them for help. I think this is pretty interesting. Maybe he had some connection to Shannon that lets him astrally project or something to her. I love that Sayid saw him, too. Also interesting that Walt knows what's going on on the Island.

If he was leading them to "help", why did he "shush" them by holding his finger to his mouth...I would think that would mean to keep quiet to avoid the others...

Why is backwards talk so darn scary? Gives me goosebumps everytime i hear it!

I think it creeps us out because our mind hears it, and recognizes that it's someone speaking to us...but not in a foreign language. It's like it almost makes sense, but doesn't, and that disturbs us.

Actually, it reminds me of The Uncanney Valley (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncanny_valley)

The Uncanny Valley is a principle of robotics concerning the emotional response of humans to robots and other non-human entities. It was theorized by Japanese roboticist Masahiro Mori in 1970. The principle states that as a robot is made more humanlike in its appearance and motion the emotional response from a human being to robot will become increasingly positive and empathic, until a point is reached at which the response suddenly becomes strongly repulsive; as the appearance and motion are made to be indistinguishable to that of human being, the emotional response becomes positive once more and approaches human-human empathy levels.

This gap of repulsive response aroused by a robot with appearance and motion between a "barely-human" and "fully human" entity is called the Uncanny Valley. The name harkens to the notion that a robot which is "almost human" will seem overly "strange" to a human being and thus will fail to evoke the requisite empathetic response required for productive human-robot interaction.

I'd guess the backwards speak is a Twin Peaks reference... the writers have admitted the huge influence TP had on Lost, and the backwards speak was a trademark.

In that show, the backwards speak was used to signify being in the waiting room for heaven or hell... more specifically, the people who fed off the fear of those waiting for admittance into heaven/hell spoke backwards.

Just my two cents.

Man, I love Twin Peaks, I'm a huge Lynch fan - I did not know that Twin Peaks was inspiration for this show though, but I definitely see the parallel with the mystery themes.

in the last part of mp3 file i heard Walt say "- they are coming, and they're close"

In the first part of the file I thought he said something about drinking, but I'm not sure either...almost sounded like that little prayer before you drink wine during communion lol.

Has anyone said what Walt said in the tent? The first thing I noticed was that he didn't appear to be wet like he was last time. At the end, we see him turn and run away. I wasn't sure if he was leading Shannon or running away from her. It is cool how he's tuned into stuff he couldn't possibly know about (ie: button).

"Vision Walt"s appearance at the love shack was notable in that it was the only time Vincent was not in proximity, was not preceded by the Whispers, and did not involve the seer(s) falling and hitting their head (either immediately before or after). The love shack visit was also the only time we may have seen an indication that Vision Walt can affect physical objects (the candle being blown out).

Shannon could not understand his first two messages about the button and someone coming soon; since his third message was non-verbal (shhhh!) does this mean Vision Walt is learning to better communicate with the Losties?

Will his visits now continue with Sayid, who has already seen him and believes or with Michael, with whom he has a blood connection?

i think i said this somewhere else on the board, in reference to the big mirror theory thread, but -- reiteration: it would make sense for walt to speak backwards if his appearancewas a mirror image...

i think i said this somewhere else on the board, in reference to the big mirror theory thread, but -- reiteration: it would make sense for walt to speak backwards if his appearancewas a mirror image...

I completely agree, Maybe if Walt has the ability to project himself in a vision to Shannon, then maybe it translates into a mirror image and therefore reverses what he is saying. maybe he wanted shannon to run the other way to safety but when she followed him in caused her to be dead.

"That was quick." and "They're coming and they're almost here."
FYI for those who either can'r connect or don't have the time... The first comment is sort of weird but the second is straight forward. It seems that Walt is still on the Lostaway's "side" and is warning them.

You're hearing things like Shannon is. It was clearly:
"They're coming, and they're close."
"That was quick." was Shannon. When the lamp blew out, she thought Sayid was back already. Listen to it again. :D

Twin Peaks didnt have just backwards talk, they would record a guy who had the ability to speak backwards and then they would play the audio backwards so it sounded forwards but really creepy.

I take the backwards-speaking as a reference to The Shining as well. i.e. Danny screaming REDRUM. It's obvious that Walt has some sort of shine. Isn't it?

Donyo - I never made that connection to The Shining. TPTB have said that Stephen King is an influence, so that's interesting. Danny (the boy in The Shinning) said Redrum because he saw the reflection of the word Murder, which also fits into some of the mirror theories on the 'Lage.

Does walt not say "I'm coming and they're close" ?????????????/

Does walt not say "I'm coming and they're close" ?????????????/

That's what I heard. I listened to it about six times. Others are saying he said "They're coming" but I heard "I'm coming."

Twin Peaks didnt have just backwards talk, they would record a guy who had the ability to speak backwards and then they would play the audio backwards so it sounded forwards but really creepy.

Yes, that is how it was done, but they were supposed to be speaking backwards, didn't everyone from the Black Lodge speak backwards? It's been awhile since I've seen it so the details are a little hazy for me.

So...still no word on what Walt said in the tent?

Yeah, I havent found anything about what he says in the tent. I really want to know.

He may have said I'm or they're coming...but if it is "they're coming & they're close" could the two they're be different references? Giving 2 different bits of info to Shannon....so that it was something like "They're coming(refereing to the tailies group) & they're(the Others) close"

Walt definitely said "They're coming and they're close" when he was in the tent with Shannon.

Maybe walt said it all...

First, maybe he was outside the "Love Shack" during the deed...

And as soon as Sayid left, he did indeed say: "That was fast", because he wants to get with Shannon, and is therefore deriding Sayid.

Then he does indeed say "I'm coming" not "They're coming"...for well...other reasons...he was afterall a teenage boy outside of the "love shack" during the deed...

Not sure what he meant by "they're close" though...maybe he was admiring cleavage?

Sorry...just funny how much disagreement can come over just a few words, so I figured we needed a more novel interpretation ;)

"Vision Walt"s appearance at the love shack was notable in that it was the only time Vincent was not in proximity,

Vincent was pretty close by. Shannon was giving him water on the beach before Sayid came up and took her town to the tent. There's got to be some reason why only the person in charge of taking care of Vincent would get the visions of Walt.

If it is Walt whose causing the visions (and I'm assuming that's not his physical self, otherwise wouldn't he run to Shannon for help), I wonder if he even knows he's communicating with Shannon. He wasn't aware of his projections causing the polar bear to appear or the bird to drop dead. He may still not be in tune with his power and inadvertantly leading Shannon to the gunshot.