Ok, so it's not been a mystery that the island has healing powers, it's just never really been confirmed. Now, we have a character..that essentially died in front of us... and then came back to life. Of course we can speculate that he wasn't killed and was just rather severly injured..etc etc. Whatever, there is something about the island that heals people. Now, assume for a second that you are a multinational conglomerate that is hell bent to rule the world so-to-speak. If you found an island..that had an inhernt property to heal or to allow for long life or whatever about it (with limitations), wouldn't you do anything you could to protect it for personal gain? (can't find the island/smokey) Wouldn't you also do anything in your power to learn how it works so you could recreate it off island? (DHARMA) If it came with a side effect, wouldn't you sacrifice anyone/anything to solve it? (Juliet).
I really think we had confirmed for us tonight the underlying plot line for the show. Seriously!! We have been making it very complicated, but if you look back and take all the information they have given us, doesn't this seem more reasonable? This is an all encompassing theory that can certainly tie EVERYTHING together. It's been there the whole time and we've just been overlooking it.

Yup.

http://thefuselage.com/Threaded/showpost.php?p=1515083&postcount=33

I like this theory. I like it for the reason why Dharma was on the island in the first place. But I'm not sure if I see how it ties to the current situation with the Losties. Do you have any ideas?

why didn't Shannon, Libby, AL, Colleen, the 9 pregnant women, Boone, etc heal also?

They didn't heal because when you die, you die. Game over. If you are injured, then you still have the ability to have the island heal you, rather quickly also.

I like this theory. Putting myself into those shoes, I would do anything to protect such an island and learn more from it. Who wouldn't.

I like this theory, in general, but I think we are missing some other big pieces. Like the previous poster mentioned, why did Libby, Ana Lucia, Shannon and Boone die? Maybe b/c they were buried they had no opportunity to come back to life?

I can rationalize the other 9 pg women dying b/c of the pregnancy related deaths being a "side effect", so to speak, of the other healing properties of the island. I also think Ben got cancer b/c he asked Jacob to take away Juliet's sister's cancer- a sort of "you can't have it all" type deal- tit for tat- Jacob agreed to take away Rachel's cancer, but ialso, made Ben get sick to balance the scales or make Ben pay for his own selfish desire to keep Juliet on the island to help produce future generations, despite, what I think is Jacob's desire that no future generations should be produced as the price for the healing qualities of the island. Maybe that is making it too complicated again, but just my mind running away w/ itself.

I don't think it is just i the burying that prevents recovery. After all the woman Sun shot didn't heal. That is a a big question for me, what allows for healing and what does not? Did Ben heal that quickly from the arrow Rousseau put in him? I guess in Island time -- a few days -- he did.

They didn't heal because when you die, you die. Game over. If you are injured, then you still have the ability to have the island heal you, rather quickly also.

I like this theory. Putting myself into those shoes, I would do anything to protect such an island and learn more from it. Who wouldn't.

So if they had left Boone alone, he would have lived?

That is a a big question for me, what allows for healing and what does not?

Perhaps this is the reason for all of the "good person/bad person" talk? Good people, such as Locke and Rose, become cured. Bad people, like Ben and Colleen, are not.

But there are glaring exceptions to this rule, such as Sawyer's (from what we've seen, a pretty bad dude) gun shot healing quickly, and Boone (a good kid) bleeding to death after the drug plane crash.
100%
So if they had left Boone alone, he would have lived?

And if he had lived, what would have happened if Jack had lopped off his leg with the cargo door?

Perhaps this is the reason for all of the "good person/bad person" talk? Good people, such as Locke and Rose, become cured. Bad people, like Ben and Colleen, are not.

But there are glaring exceptions to this rule, such as Sawyer's (from what we've seen, a pretty bad dude) gun shot healing quickly, and Boone (a good kid) bleeding to death after the drug plane crash.
100%


And if he had lived, what would have happened if Jack had lopped off his leg with the cargo door?

I think there are limitations to the healing. Something that is naturally occurring internally in the body can essentially be reversed, but "foreign object" deaths are fair game. So if you get shot and you don't seek medical attention or remove the bullets soon enough, you'll die. You can't electromagnetically make a bullet disappear inside someones body. Most likely the island's healing power has a "cut-off point," as well. If a smoke monster plays racquetball with your body against the forest, you're dead. If you get crushed by a plane, you're probably dead.

On the other hand if the "healer" is an entity that is quasi-spiritual, then it could very well be picking which cases are redeemable and leaving those who are not to die.

Linderman is on the island.

But what about the guy in the tail section that died from a broken leg? In fact, a majority of the crash fatalities probably died of non-foreign object reasons. Blunt force trauma, cuts, etc. The island does have healing properties, but I can't find a rhyme or reason behind it.

Does it mean anything that they didn't bury Colleen, but actually put her on a floating funeral pyre and sent her burning body out to see? At the time it just seemed sort of Others-cultish-appropriate, but maybe there was more significance to it?

why didn't Shannon, Libby, AL, Colleen, the 9 pregnant women, Boone, etc heal also?


Were they all buried immediately? I wonder if they could have been healed, but then suffocated because they were buried?:confused:

Like Isaac of Urulu said to Rose, certain places on the earth have special energy about them. Obviously, the island has accelorated healing properties. And obviously, it also has a psychosymatic aspect (the nature of the mind of the person mediates the effect of the island), which is why John is walking and Ben is not. But it won't keep you from dying and it won't bring the dead back to life, I don't think. I think the sonic fence made Mikhail bleed profusely from his ears, but he just faked the rest -- or maybe it knocked him unconscious as well. Did anyone ever check his pulse?

Does it mean anything that they didn't bury Colleen, but actually put her on a floating funeral pyre and sent her burning body out to see? At the time it just seemed sort of Others-cultish-appropriate, but maybe there was more significance to it?


That could be. Goodwin wasn't buried and he hasn't shown back up, though. If he does, then that would give evidence to this theory. Also, Yemi was burned and Smokey still used his body.

I find it interesting that the Island appears to play "favorites." Some get healed (such as Locke) while others develop cancer and recover much more slowly (Ben). Who's pulling those strings?

Does it mean anything that they didn't bury Colleen, but actually put her on a floating funeral pyre and sent her burning body out to see? At the time it just seemed sort of Others-cultish-appropriate, but maybe there was more significance to it?


This is a Hindu "burial". I think it has something to do with the Dharma Initiative being Hindu/Buddhist related.

Hmmm....:)

What can we make of the fact that those who are injured heal quite rapidly, but it still takes a few days... however the paralyzed Locke fell out of the sky and regained the use of his legs immediately.

Like Isaac of Urulu said to Rose, certain places on the earth have special energy about them. Obviously, the island has accelorated healing properties. And obviously, it also has a psychosymatic aspect (the nature of the mind of the person mediates the effect of the island), which is why John is walking and Ben is not. But it won't keep you from dying and it won't bring the dead back to life, I don't think. I think the sonic fence made Mikhail bleed profusely from his ears, but he just faked the rest -- or maybe it knocked him unconscious as well. Did anyone ever check his pulse?

I think Kate did check his pulse, but that doesn't really mean much, considering that electric fence thingy could have weakened Mikhail's pulse to an undetectable level. :undecide:

I think your right about the psychosomatic aspect too. Think about the people on the island that have gotten sick: Ben's mind games and his leadership role of the Others has to put him under a ton of pressure. Sawyer didn't recover very fast because he was in a "bad place" mentally and physically after having the Others blow up the raft and then being held prisoner by Ana Lucia. You could even apply it to Hurley to an extent. His feelings about the "curse" and his feelings toward the food supply probably brought back some of his mental instabilities.

On the other side of the coin, Locke and Rose both had the burdens of their old lives lifted when they crashed on the island. Rose didn't just feel better physically, but she immediately had a calm attitude that Bernard was alive. And as we've seen I think Locke's "state of mind" has a direct effect on his physical being. Getting back to the most recent episode, even Jin can now be put into this category. His man count got a huge help once he showed up on the island but I also think it had a lot to do with his relationship with Sun. When they became closer, Jin's life became less complicated and pressurized.

What can we make of the fact that those who are injured heal quite rapidly, but it still takes a few days... however the paralyzed Locke fell out of the sky and regained the use of his legs immediately.


And why did Sawyer's eyes get so much worse. They definitely weren't healed!

Because he isn''t on Jacobs list?

I think this theory works best when you keep it simple. The island has healing powers. We don't know why yet, perhaps it has something to do with magnetisism, perhaps something else. The point to this theory is that it does, period. I don't think there is reason to set aside disbelief too much, afterall, even the best doctors and the best medicine can't heal some things, i.e.: ARZT getting blown up or AnnaLucia getting "Shot through the heart"...(sorry, just had to do that). Regardless of the powers of the island, somethings just can't be healed. What I find most intriguing is that there are side effects to this healing power. Potentially.....death of pregnant mothers and perhaps long exposure causes cancer (remember, Ben has been there his whole life)? For this theory to hold true, does the island have to be able to heal everything? Isn't it enough that it just does on any level?

It could be that the island gives its inhabitants a super-charged immune system that means they can fight illness & injury, but cant resurrect people. It would help explain why the women cant give birth, if their immune system attacks the "foreign body" that is their foetus? Doesnt explain why the mothers die tho.

What about the Marshall from S1?

Maybe some of the Losties have been "engineered" to react to certain elements on the island....some have the right genetics for the island "magic" to work, and some don't.

So maybe then Jack isn't such a great doctor. Hmmm....

Hello, new poster here. After reading a lot of the theories on this site I noticed two separate theories that could be combined to answer many of the questions about healing. The current thread and this one:

http://www.thefuselage.com/Threaded/showthread.php?t=67808

This thread discusses the possibility that the Good/Bad list refers to people with "good" or "bad" blood types. It focuses mostly on the Others and Dharma wanting specific blood types to experiment with and possible bloodline connections. It also theorizes that Dharma used bloodtype as a way to determine who would be affected by the virus engineered to kill 70% of the population (too much to summarize here - just read the whole thread if interested :) ).

But what if the healing process is connected to the blood types? Maybe only people with the more rare blood types are affected by the healing properties of the island. This would also explian why some people heal miraculously and others just heal quicker than average. The difference there could be that the most rare bloodtypes benefit the most from the healing process. It may even help explain the deadly pregnancies. Pregnancy causes changes to the mother's blood chemistry which may interfere with the healing process (hyperaccelerating it or causing it to attack the mother).

I am probably retreading old ground, but since I haven't seen it mentioned yet, I thought I would throw it out there for people to chew on.

It could be that the island gives its inhabitants a super-charged immune system that means they can fight illness & injury, but cant resurrect people. It would help explain why the women cant give birth, if their immune system attacks the "foreign body" that is their foetus? Doesnt explain why the mothers die tho.


YES YES YESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This sounds like a very good thought............Lockes leg isn't because of this though...I think there is more...but the immune system thing is for sure right..

I agree with the boosted immune system line of thinking, and to help out I thought it would make sense to list the types of injuries/illnesses people have had, and what's happened:

Conditions/Illnesses/Injuries

Healed:

Locke - Paralyzed
Rose - Cancer
Michael - Poisoning
Sawyer - Bullet in shoulder (once he got back to the camp)
Locke - Shrapnel in leg
Mikhaiel - Sonic blast?
Parachute Girl - Branch in lung - (Suggested she will heal)
Sawyer - Bamboo under fingernails
Kate – Wrists from Handcuffs in Otherville
Ben - Arrow in shoulder
Charlie - Hanged by Ethan
Charlie - Lost hearing after Hatch implosion
Locke - Lost voice after Hatch implosion
Eko - Torn up by the polar bear, kind of got on the mend,...
Various people - Got the snot kicked out of them (e.g. Jack by Ethan) - all healed

Not Healed:

Edward Mars- Big Shrapnel in torso, fever and infection
Shannon - Asthma
Boone - Fall broke bones, crushed organs, bled out into his legs
Shannon - Shot in stomach
Arzt - Dynamite blew him up
Ana Lucia - Shot in chest
Libby - Shot in stomach
Eko - Smacked around like a ragdoll by Smokey
Pikki - buried alive

Feel free to add, I'm sure there's more.

But from that list, it looks in general, long term conditions and localized trauma will heal itself, and faster than usual. If you're on the mend, you really get there quickly. But if you have massive trauma, fatal bullet wounds, big-time bleeding, asphyxiation, you're a goner. Are there other instances of long-term conditions besides Locke's paralysis and Rose's cancer? Jin's infertility I suppose, and that was corrected...so long-term slow death things reverse themselves - gonads can produce sperm, dead nerves regenerate, runaway cancer cells are corrected. Sounds like a super-charge immune system to me!

The interesting grey-area ones are:

INFECTION - Sawyer's bullet wound, Mars' shrapnel. There are obviously germs on the island, and if you let something fester it can get infected. So immune system is good, and the body gets itself up and working once you get it over the hump.

ASTHMA - Interestingly, asthma is an overreaction of the immune system to allergens in the bronchial airways. If your immune system is too sensitive to begin with, the island could potentially exacerbate the condition...!

MIKHAIL- My guess is that if he was pummeled with soundwaves or microwaves or something, he'd actually have standed an excellent chance at recovery. He obviously ruptured his eardrums, had some acute trauma to the throat and salivary glands causing foaming at the mouth, then unconsciousness... But all that is kind of small potatoes compared to a gun wound, etc. Severe damage to sensitive equipment, for sure, but on an island where little stuff bounces right back, the guy was fine.

Hope this helps!

What about Danielle's group who she said got the sickness and she had to kill them?
Do you think maybe the Other's made them sick? They still haven't answered very old questions from season 1.
Val

What about Danielle's group who she said got the sickness and she had to kill them?
Do you think maybe the Other's made them sick? They still haven't answered very old questions from season 1.
Val

Ditto

why didn't Shannon, Libby, AL, Colleen, the 9 pregnant women, Boone, etc heal also?
That's a question I have, too. If this theory is correct, why did the survivors(?) of Oceanic 815 who died not come back to life? Or Ethan? Are there wounds the island cannot heal?

in the scene where Bakunin gets zapped, you can obviously see him breathing... and since TPTB are so meticulous with their details i cant believe this was a production error. they showed us all along that he was alive and that goes to prove the GENIUS of these writers.



im 100% sarcastic

Ok, so it's not been a mystery that the island has healing powers, it's just never really been confirmed. Now, we have a character..that essentially died in front of us... and then came back to life. Of course we can speculate that he wasn't killed and was just rather severly injured..etc etc. Whatever, there is something about the island that heals people. .

Do we know for a fact that he did die? I mean, there are plenty of pills that can make you foam at the mouth, and the tremblings could have been intentional. I'm just saying, the others seem to have all their tracks coverd. Why do we automatically asume that he died?

I know the weird black smoke-thingy turned when Juliet turned on the fence, but this could very well be sounds or something. Like when one scares of wolves and such. It doesn't have to be an electric fence, Michail is our only clue to this, and - lets face it - he didn't die.

The island heals, that we have seen; and the discussion as to why the island is so selective, is interesting. But to go from healing to waking the dead, that's a big step. I just don't find that as likely as him just faking it.

The fact that Ben has cancer, and the island hasn't cured him, what's up with that? It makes me think that he is in some way out of tune with the island, if you think about Locke and his phyilosophy.

Well, now that we know Ben can walk and certainly isn't as bad as he was making out to be following spinal surgery....what does that say about the healing properties now?