OK...This time slip thing that Desmond's going through...it's happening to ALL of them, to some extent. Flashing back and forth from one time period to another. It explains why Jack's losing his damn mind, from TTLG. "Get my father down here, and if he's drunker than I am, you can fire me". It explains Hurley losing his mind, Kate's horse on the island, Eko seeing his dead brother, Walt back on the island, talking to Locke in the mass grave...it explains ALL the connections between the characters, in that the first discharge that brought the plane down, it affected them and intermingled their pasts, in the same way that it affected Desmond, maybe to a lesser extent. Desmond just got a full on dose of it, being in the middle of it when he turned the key.

It even explains why Libby was in the nuthouse with Hurley, she was jumping back and forth and went nuts. Their pasts are now intermingled, because of the EM discharge that brought the plane down. That's why we keep seeing other island folks in the regular flashbacks.

My guess is that the EM discharge altered space/time as the characters know it. It took portions of each one from different time periods and intermingled their pasts, such as Desmond running into Jack, running the stadium and the flashbacks. Think about Juliet's flashback episode, we didn't see anyone from 815 in them, off-island, she wasn't exposed to nearly the amount of EM that the 815'ers and Desmond were, if at all.

i thought the same thing!

Had a similar idea here (http://www.thefuselage.com/Threaded/showthread.php?t=90416).

I think it's been happening from the beggining.

If that is what's happening, it is quite possibly the most intricate and well thought-out gimmick in television history. I will be speechless if this is ever proven.

I do hope it has something to do with this, in any case. It's an excellent theory.

OK...This time slip thing that Desmond's going through...it's happening to ALL of them, to some extent. Flashing back and forth from one time period to another. It explains why Jack's losing his damn mind, from TTLG. "Get my father down here, and if he's drunker than I am, you can fire me". It explains Hurley losing his mind, Kate's horse on the island, Eko seeing his dead brother, Walt back on the island, talking to Locke in the mass grave...it explains ALL the connections between the characters, in that the first discharge that brought the plane down, it affected them and intermingled their pasts, in the same way that it affected Desmond, maybe to a lesser extent. Desmond just got a full on dose of it, being in the middle of it when he turned the key.

It even explains why Libby was in the nuthouse with Hurley, she was jumping back and forth and went nuts. Their pasts are now intermingled, because of the EM discharge that brought the plane down. That's why we keep seeing other island folks in the regular flashbacks.

My guess is that the EM discharge altered space/time as the characters know it. It took portions of each one from different time periods and intermingled their pasts, such as Desmond running into Jack, running the stadium and the flashbacks. Think about Juliet's flashback episode, we didn't see anyone from 815 in them, off-island, she wasn't exposed to nearly the amount of EM that the 815'ers and Desmond were, if at all.

So, my best friend NOHC and I get together and watch Lost tonight(like we always do), and after The Constant is over, he says "WAIT A MINUTE" out of nowhere and loads up Through The Looking Glass, specifically the scene where Jack says "You get my father down here and if he's drunker than I am, you can fire me." He then looks at me and says "It's happening to ALL of them." I had never considered this before, but the more I thought about it, the more it made perfect sense. It would explain why all of the survivors are somehow connected to each other, why Jack sees his dead father, why Kate sees the horse, why Locke, Sayid, and Shannon have seen Walt on the island after he was taken by the Others, why Hurley is talking to a very dead Charlie. And seeing as how they are all connected, they all have a CONSTANT, which keeps them alive. But it raises a couple of questions for me...

1) Has Jacob possibly been as heavily exposed to this discharge as Desmond was?

2) If this discharge is what in fact connected all of the survivors, does that mean that Jack and Claire might not have been related before the crash?

and who is everyone's "Constant"... and what does this mean in light of Kate appearing to have Aaron off the island?

1) Has Jacob possibly been as heavily exposed to this discharge as Desmond was?

My guess is that Jacob was either a test subject, in the Orchid station, a "life sized bunny", or a scientist, that experimented on himself against the will of his superiors/co-workers.

2) If this discharge is what in fact connected all of the survivors, does that mean that Jack and Claire might not have been related before the crash?

Looking at it as an alternate past, which we've not been shown is simply a theory, in that all we've been shown is the past, through flashbacks that seem to have them all connected in one way or another to others on the plane. We've got no idea if there even IS an alternate past, but I think the evidence points to the past having been altered in someway by the mingling of the time lines of the folks who all got zapped with the EM discharge.

-Hugo and Libby are constants;
-Charlie and Desmond are constants;
-Rose and her hubby are constants;

It's been helluva time since I saw season 1 and 2 but I'm sure you guys can find more constants

You guys seem to be misinterpreting Desmond's "jumps."

He doesn't just time travel and wind up in random spots, he jumps back to points in his own life that have already happened -- that he has already lived through and are part of his life.
If this is happening to other people, then it would NOT explain all those things, as they would also only be traveling to other points in their life, not randomly appearing at different places around the world out of thin air.

Maybe Kate needed a constant and some how Aaron was given or taken by her to be her Constant off island?

I don't get it. Having a constant is what keeps you from jumping around and losing your mind. Also, Des and Minkowski actually go catatonic when they jump from one time to another. We have never seen the other Losties do this. I guess I just don't see how this works. Des is aware of the island and the things that are going on there as his consciousness goes from 96 to 04 and back again. None of the other Losties are aware of the island in their flashbacks or so it seems to me.

You guys seem to be misinterpreting Desmond's "jumps."

He doesn't just time travel and wind up in random spots, he jumps back to points in his own life that have already happened -- that he has already lived through and are part of his life.
If this is happening to other people, then it would NOT explain all those things, as they would also only be traveling to other points in their life, not randomly appearing at different places around the world out of thin air.
I agree, while this would be a great 'trick' to have been taking place from the start, Desmond is the only one to be aware of his jumps and the only one to be blacking out doing it. The others have simply been flashbacks/forwards. The only other Lostie who could possibly be experiencing this phenomena is Jack, it's a possible way to explain his behaviour in the flash forwards.

If Jack was jumping in the future, wouldn't he be unconscious at some time? Jack is drunk and delusional and distraught, not jumping. They can't all be jumping because you have to leave the island to do it. Why didn't it happen to Sayid , he was right there?

I'm not sure how I feel about this theory. I'll have to think about it. Whether it's right or not, it is very interesting. I don't think the flashbacks we've seen would be the same. I think it would have to do with how the other 815'ers got to be in the background of flashbacks. If you are suggesting it jumbled people's pasts.

I agree, while this would be a great 'trick' to have been taking place from the start, Desmond is the only one to be aware of his jumps and the only one to be blacking out doing it. The others have simply been flashbacks/forwards. The only other Lostie who could possibly be experiencing this phenomena is Jack, it's a possible way to explain his behaviour in the flash forwards.

Here's what I had to say about this (I had a similar idea as the topic poster and EA). Mine is a bit different than where some of you have gone with it...

I think it's simple enough to see that the other Losties aren't experiencing the kind of dramatic effects that Desmond did/is. BUT it is a great idea that the flashbacks are something similar to what Desmond experienced. For example- Because of the electromagnetism or whatever is causing this, everyone experiences it to some degree. And so the Losties experience a nudge in memory, seemingly randomly, which results in the flashback.

I have always wondered this- When we see the flashbacks occur, are the characters actually thinking about that right then? Did they "experience" that flashback too? Not as vividly as Desmond, but experience that memory at that time? Certain times I've almost been sure of this.. and other times it doesn't really seem like it. If this is the case, though, wow. Thrilling.

It's not that everyone's consciousness' are actually traveling, as Desmond's is. I'm suggesting a lesser effect.

I mentioned this in another thread where someone was theorizing that it was the proximity to the blast in the hatch (putting Desmond, Locke, and Eko closest) and said that it would make complete sense for Locke... especially in regards to his being able to communicate with Jacob and the apparent disappearance of his cabin, etc.

If Jack was jumping in the future, wouldn't he be unconscious at some time? Jack is drunk and delusional and distraught, not jumping. They can't all be jumping because you have to leave the island to do it. Why didn't it happen to Sayid , he was right there?

I gotta agree with you. While this whole idea seems cool and all, Desmond and Minkowski clearly were passed out or unconscious when they were jumping back and forth.

YES... sometimes they flashbacks start with an eye opening, but not all of them. And no one comments about their unresponsive state when they return from their jump. Unless they're just still in the earliest stages, and Desmond's exposure advanced his state...

Maybe Ben is everyone's constant.

I know this is kind of silly way to debunk the theory, but I think Desmond's experiences in this episode and Flashes Before Your Eyes never had the "woosh" sound of the flashbacks/flashforwards.

Plus if you have everyone on the show "jumping" through time/space or their own memories all the characters would need a constant or end up dead. I think it's definitely specific to radiation exposure or electromagnetism. Think about all the people that were in that hatch when it exploded: Desmond, Locke, Charlie and Eko. Charlie ended up very closely linked to Desmond's abilities, Eko had multiple encounters with Yemi, Locke's "connection" with the island has only increased since then.

Kate's horse, Christian Sheppard, Sawyer's vengeful boar and even Hurley's "Dave," could be the work of Jacob. Now I agree that Jacob may be the first person to ever access this kind of power. It could explain his cabin moving about the island. Could it be that when Desmond released the electromagnetic pulse from the Swan station, Jacob lost his "constant"?

I know this is kind of silly way to debunk the theory, but I think Desmond's experiences in this episode and Flashes Before Your Eyes never had the "woosh" sound of the flashbacks/flashforwards.

Plus if you have everyone on the show "jumping" through time/space or their own memories all the characters would need a constant or end up dead. I think it's definitely specific to radiation exposure or electromagnetism. Think about all the people that were in that hatch when it exploded: Desmond, Locke, Charlie and Eko. Charlie ended up very closely linked to Desmond's abilities, Eko had multiple encounters with Yemi, Locke's "connection" with the island has only increased since then.

Kate's horse, Christian Sheppard, Sawyer's vengeful boar and even Hurley's "Dave," could be the work of Jacob. Now I agree that Jacob may be the first person to ever access this kind of power. It could explain his cabin moving about the island. Could it be that when Desmond released the electromagnetic pulse from the Swan station, Jacob lost his "constant"?

Now that's some good stuff! Very interesting ideas!!!

We should also consider the fact that this jumping in this episode is Desmond's consciousness from 1996 popping into his body in 2004. He is fully aware that things aren't right. He has no clue what's going on until he speaks to Penny in 2004. We have never seen this kind of behavior from any other Lostie. Jack did mention his father like he was alive in his first flashforward so that could be a clue or mean something entirely different.

I could buy this if the response was that the Losties flashes are in the most primitive form, so that they had very little consciousness of the situation. I remember in season one, a lot of actors joked about how they were directed to do the 'impending flashback' stare and look all dazed and out of it. Maybe this is the early form of their flashes, and the longer they stay on the island exposed the electromagnetism, the closer their flashes will grow into that of Desmond's. But, as was said, Sayid wasn't effected AT ALL. He felt the full blast of the released magnetic impulse, did this effect anything?

I do like the idea of the Oceanic 815er's being united under this shared concept of being constant to one another, but I don't get how you guys are explaining this. Why would that suddenly explain Walt appearing and Kate's horse? It don't get it.

The 815's are a bunch of misfits, essentially each one of them were abandoned in their lives by any form of constant; the end game being that the 'universe' gave these Lost souls each other to stick them to their current time takes a lot to get your head around. By the O6 abandoning the other survivors and not 'seeking them out', they threaten to lose their constants and create "plot holes" in their lives. Kate may come to realise that Aaron needs Claire to be his constant, and that is what will cause her to want to 'go back', if (as theorised) Claire was left behind.

I could buy this if the response was that the Losties flashes are in the most primitive form, so that they had very little consciousness of the situation. I remember in season one, a lot of actors joked about how they were directed to do the 'impending flashback' stare and look all dazed and out of it. Maybe this is the early form of their flashes, and the longer they stay on the island exposed the electromagnetism, the closer their flashes will grow into that of Desmond's. But, as was said, Sayid wasn't effected AT ALL. He felt the full blast of the released magnetic impulse, did this effect anything?


I think Des and Sayid were put together on this trip to illustrate how different people are effected by the island. Sayid is more "normal" while Des is more "special." Is it possible that this makes Sayid the perfect weapon for Bn when they are off of the island because Sayid will not be having issues with the flashback stuff???

I also believe that the Flashbacks that has ruled this show since its inception has a second function, like this. Something on the island is causing people to relive sections of their past life, and once we get the the "bottom" of a character that character tends to die.

Its no coincidence, thou Desmond was at point blank of the hatch explosion, he gets it in a different way then any other, because he actually transfers his conscioussness back in time.

-Exodus

I know this is kind of silly way to debunk the theory, but I think Desmond's experiences in this episode and Flashes Before Your Eyes never had the "woosh" sound of the flashbacks/flashforwards.

Plus if you have everyone on the show "jumping" through time/space or their own memories all the characters would need a constant or end up dead. I think it's definitely specific to radiation exposure or electromagnetism. Think about all the people that were in that hatch when it exploded: Desmond, Locke, Charlie and Eko. Charlie ended up very closely linked to Desmond's abilities, Eko had multiple encounters with Yemi, Locke's "connection" with the island has only increased since then.

Kate's horse, Christian Sheppard, Sawyer's vengeful boar and even Hurley's "Dave," could be the work of Jacob. Now I agree that Jacob may be the first person to ever access this kind of power. It could explain his cabin moving about the island. Could it be that when Desmond released the electromagnetic pulse from the Swan station, Jacob lost his "constant"?

I'm not saying the regular flashbacks are the same as Desmond's "Quantum Leaps", They're a narrative element, meant to show us, the viewer part of the character's life. They've got some elements IN them(as well as events that happen to them during their experiences on the island) that are just too strange to be coincidences to me. We've got all these crossover backstories between a bunch of different characters, seemingly random passengers on a plane that are all connected, seemingly in one way or another.

Now, the only character who's had backstory/Quantum Leap contact with one of the Others or the Freighter people is Desmond, maybe it's proximity to the 2nd discharge, when the Swan im/exploded, but you're right about those 4 getting the biggest side-effects from it. We didn't see anyone from 815 in Juliet's flashbacks. Desmond got intertwined with Charlie, a LOT and ended up more or less unstuck along with him, thinking he was some kind of savior for him.

I can't say for sure that the manifestations of past things for the characters on the island are the work of Jacob, I still think it's got something to do with the initial discharge that took down 815, that intermingled all their pasts. Think about the polar bear skeleton Charlotte found in the desert, They(someone in the Orchid?) must have been experimenting with transporting more than just the consciousness of the animal, perhaps trying to move it's associated body along with it, or even inanimate matter itself and sent it to the wrong time period.

NOHC, you are right on target.

The effect is much smaller for the FBs we saw in the first three seasons. It isn't full-blown consciousness that's being transferred. It's emotional continuity. Their emotions are vibrations, and they resonate across spacetime, powered by the Island's unique electromagnetic properties. Magnetic resonance imagining.

Go back... to Raised By Another, and follow the story of Claire and Charlie. What's happening to Claire is very much like what happens to Minkowksi. Claire's in danger of wiping herself out, because her emotional resonance is threatening to keep her from coming to the Island in the first place. Just before her final flashback, she is looking very sick, so pale and wan... and just imagine how Charlie would react if Claire suddenly died right there on the spot.

In fact... you might want to consider the possibility that Claire did die, right there on the spot. In which case, what happens to Charlie in the next episode takes on a completely new meaning...

much love,
jane

OK...This time slip thing that Desmond's going through...it's happening to ALL of them, to some extent. Flashing back and forth from one time period to another. ........., Kate's horse on the island, Eko seeing his dead brother, ...it explains ALL the connections between the characters, in that the first discharge that brought the plane down, it affected them and intermingled their pasts, in the same way that it affected Desmond, maybe to a lesser extent. Desmond just got a full on dose of it, being in the middle of it when he turned the key.

Your theory is interesting and provides a good explanation for the intermingling of everyone FBs as well as why the visions from everyone's pasts appear to them on the island.

It was Desmond's large exposure to electromagnetism coupled with passing through "the storm" on the helicopter that lead to his "side effects." The other losties did not have as much electromagnetic exposure and have not passed through "the storm." That could very well be why their FBs only have the impact of a memory on them.

I think it has been said that the electromagnatism effects each person differently. Desmond went crazy while Sayid didn't after going through the storm. What if every eye shot we've had was a clue to the people who are most affected by the anomoly? I have always wondered why some characters were always getting eye close ups and anothers never did. These people have had them: Jack, Locke, Sun, Claire, Boone, Michael, Jin, Aaron, Desmond and Juliet.

It's not that everyone's consciousness' are actually traveling, as Desmond's is. I'm suggesting a lesser effect.


Except that nobody has ever been confused that they were just reliving the past out of nowhere, even if it was just a quick memory flash. At least 1 person out of the 40+ that have had flashbacks would have mentioned something extraordinary like this. What happened to Desmond was due to a combination of being exposed to the electromagnetism and then crossing the barrier at the wrong bearing. Even Sayid was in The Swan for a period of time and he was fine and he was right there with Des crossing the barrier. If it was happening to all of them to ANY extent, Sayid would have felt some sort of effect too.

And another thing, what about ALL of the flashbacks in Season 1? Noone really had contact with The Swan in Season 1, yet every single episode has flashbacks.

think Des and Sayid were put together on this trip to illustrate how different people are effected by the island. Sayid is more "normal" while Des is more "special."

Also, Desmond injected himself with that Dharma Dope every day for three years and Sayid did not.

think Des and Sayid were put together on this trip to illustrate how different people are effected by the island. Sayid is more "normal" while Des is more "special."

Also, Desmond injected himself with that Dharma Dope every day for three years and Sayid did not.

Well, Desmond lived slap bang on top of the anomaly for a couple of years - plus was at 'ground zero' when he triggered the failsafe and the Swan station imploded. That ought to have been good for an extra large dose of EM radiation.

Charlie, Locke and Eko were there when the hatch imploded too.... hmmm.

And another thing, what about ALL of the flashbacks in Season 1? Noone really had contact with The Swan in Season 1, yet every single episode has flashbacks.

"I think I crashed your plane!" They all got zapped with a good dose of it, when Desmond killed Kelvin. I don't think the characters' flashbacks are anything but showing the audience what they were doing, off-island...granted, there's some extraordinary coincidences, like 815's various people showing up in everybody else's flashbacks.

The discharge that brought the plane down has to have done something to intermingle the passengers of 815's past, like a gigantic space/time blender. We're getting shown what happened to them, after the discharge happened and their timelines all got mingled.
100%
Well, Desmond lived slap bang on top of the anomaly for a couple of years - plus was at 'ground zero' when he triggered the failsafe and the Swan station imploded. That ought to have been good for an extra large dose of EM radiation.

Charlie, Locke and Eko were there when the hatch imploded too.... hmmm.

Possibly altering their timelines as well. Remember, as has been said before, Locke got "more in touch with the island" after that, and had his sweat lodge incident with Boone...We see dead Charlie, off the island, chatting it up with Hurley, Eko saw A LOT more of his "brother" after the incident too.

"I think I crashed your plane!" They all got zapped with a good dose of it, when Desmond killed Kelvin.

I see what you're saying, but I don't think that it was enough magnetism. I also don't think it has anything to do with simply being in The Swan. There was enough concrete down there so that unless you were right by the wall, you didn't notice anything extraordinary in regards to metal. If the System Failure on Sept. 22 was enough to cause any side effects in anyone, Sayid would have exhibited them along with Desmond since they were right next to each other when they crossed the barrier, or whatever happened.

think Des and Sayid were put together on this trip to illustrate how different people are effected by the island. Sayid is more "normal" while Des is more "special."

Also, Desmond injected himself with that Dharma Dope every day for three years and Sayid did not.

or was it "fate". I mean, Sayid ould be the ONLY person that would have been able to save Des' life. He's a communications expert. He's the only person with probbaly a thousand miles of that boat who would have been able to fix the communications. Without that, Des can't make the call.

It seems that to be able to time shift you need to have been exposed to VERY HIGH EM radiation first. We know that The Swan was a machine designed to keep this radiation under controlled levels by discharging it regularly. None of the passengers of 815 seem to have been exposed to such thing, with the exception of Desmond, Charlie (perhaps), Locke and Ecko. I believe that a small burst of EM radiation hit the plane when Desmond caused the system failure. But that wasn't long enough for them to get
infected' ( I know...)

The Ultimate use of the failsafe key might have been to finally set the island free of this EM 'poisoning' radiation by releasing all of its energy at once, 'infecting' Desmond because of his proximity to the Swan's core.


So it seems that NONE of them are affected by this. Otherwise Sayid and Frank should have experienced the same thing as Desmond to some degree.

That is why Daniel warned Frank about staying on the 305 bearing. He thought that the mere fact of using the wrong bearing could make you time jump. But, we know that ONLY Desmond DID. So did he time shift because of the wrong bearing ONLY or because he also had been exposed to EM radiation?
Frank and Sayid didn't timeshift, so it wasn't just the bearing. You need to have been exposed to EM.
So why did Daniel warn Frank? Is it because he thinks that they were exposed to the Island's EM radiation now that they are inside the snowglobe?

I see what you're saying, but I don't think that it was enough magnetism. I also don't think it has anything to do with simply being in The Swan. There was enough concrete down there so that unless you were right by the wall, you didn't notice anything extraordinary in regards to metal. If the System Failure on Sept. 22 was enough to cause any side effects in anyone, Sayid would have exhibited them along with Desmond since they were right next to each other when they crossed the barrier, or whatever happened.

What I'm saying is that the characters' flashbacks, in regard to other people from the plane showing up in them was that the discharge that brought the plane down intermingled them, right at that point. Locke went to inspect some person's home, and it turned out to be someone from Sayid's past, Nadia. It's all in the background, and it seems that the exposure to it, however small it was was enough to blend everything up. I don't know if it affected them enough to see the regular character flashbacks as "quantum leaps", but as I said before, I don't think that's what's going on, other than seeing odd similarities/connections to others exposed to the discharge.

Who's to say that before time & space were altered on the 22nd, that nobody on the plane ever had any contact with anyone else on it? I mean, out of the small number of survivors from the crash(that we've seen flashbacks on), what's the possibility of them interacting with one another, or someone from another 815'ers past, out of eleventy billion people on the planet, and then us being shown as an audience, each connection?

That is why Daniel warned Frank about staying on the 305 bearing. He thought that the mere fact of using the wrong bearing could make you time jump. But, we know that ONLY Desmond DID. So did he time shift because of the wrong bearing ONLY or because he also had been exposed to EM radiation?
Frank and Sayid didn't timeshift, so it wasn't just the bearing. You need to have been exposed to EM.
So why did Daniel warn Frank? Is it because he thinks that they were exposed to the Island's EM radiation now that they are inside the snowglobe?

You seem to be getting the 'time travelling consciousness' thing that Minkowski and Desmond are experiencing mixed up with the discontinuity experienced by objects passing through the EM barrier around the Island.

Exposing a living being to a certain kind of EM radiation in large amounts seems to allow their consciousness to shift in time and it seems to be present in at least parts of the barrier, effectively 'contaminating' people who pass through it and triggering consciousness jumps.

However, actual physical objects moving through the barrier are experiencing jumps too (the helicopter on the way out and the rocket on the way in) as a result of transiting the barrier. My guess is that the jumps are variable depending on what part of the barrier you go though. It's probably down to the density of the field at that point.

I mean, out of the small number of survivors from the crash(that we've seen flashbacks on), what's the possibility of them interacting with one another, or someone from another 815'ers past, out of eleventy billion people on the planet, and then us being shown as an audience, each connection?

Darlton have discussed the character connections mentioning that with all the people in the world, there has to be people in common that we don't even know about. I'm not wording it correctly because it's been a long time since I read it. Anyway, I don't think I really follow your logic. Are you saying that the System Failure actually altered their past? So before Sept. 22, Sawyer never ran into Christian, even they were both in Sidney? Sayid never helped Kelvin, and Desmond never met Jack? I don't really think that is the case. Daniel told Desmond in this episode that he couldn't change the future, right? So how would a magnetic disturbance change history? Desmond was actively participating in the past, yet he apparently couldn't do anything significant to change the course of history.

Think back to the season 2 finale, when the Others are holding Jack, Kate, Sawyer, and Hurley on the dock. It was then that Desmond turned the key and the sky went purple. Would that mean that the Others are experiencing the effects of the discharge as well?
100%
-Hugo and Libby are constants;
-Charlie and Desmond are constants;
-Rose and her hubby are constants;

It's been helluva time since I saw season 1 and 2 but I'm sure you guys can find more constants

Jack and Desmond.
100%
What I'm saying is that the characters' flashbacks, in regard to other people from the plane showing up in them was that the discharge that brought the plane down intermingled them, right at that point. Locke went to inspect some person's home, and it turned out to be someone from Sayid's past, Nadia. It's all in the background, and it seems that the exposure to it, however small it was was enough to blend everything up. I don't know if it affected them enough to see the regular character flashbacks as "quantum leaps", but as I said before, I don't think that's what's going on, other than seeing odd similarities/connections to others exposed to the discharge.


Other noticeable interactions were Sawyer having drinks with Christian Shepard in a Sydney bar(with Ana Lucia driving Christian there), Charlie saving a woman being mugged in an alley and it turning out to be Nadia, when Jack is treating Sarah and the deceased man from the car crash in the background is Shannon's father, Hurley owning the box company Locke works for, Cassidy(the mother of Sawyer's daughter) helping Kate arrange a meeting with her mother, and it just goes on. Before the crash, it's too coincidental that all these peoples lives are that connected to each other.

You seem to be getting the 'time travelling consciousness' thing that Minkowski and Desmond are experiencing mixed up with the discontinuity experienced by objects passing through the EM barrier around the Island.

Exposing a living being to a certain kind of EM radiation in large amounts seems to allow their consciousness to shift in time and it seems to be present in at least parts of the barrier, effectively 'contaminating' people who pass through it and triggering consciousness jumps.

However, actual physical objects moving through the barrier are experiencing jumps too (the helicopter on the way out and the rocket on the way in) as a result of transiting the barrier. My guess is that the jumps are variable depending on what part of the barrier you go though. It's probably down to the density of the field at that point.

I was only talking about the mind time travel part. I think that is the reason why Daniel warned Frank, not because he feared it could take them longer than usual to get to the freighter. That doesn't seem to be a big deal since it's all relative. I think he was afraid of the mind shifting side effects.

As far as objects crossing the snowglobe boundary.... I still haven't made up my mind... It seems to me that for some reason the path or worldline they follow is 'stretched'. What I am virtually 100% sure is that the reason why certain bearings don't allow you to leave the island is because it would take an INFINITE amount of time to do it. Or, in other words, you wouldn;t be able to leave. NOT in anyone's lifetime!!!

I don't believe this to be the case. Nobody has had an aneurism or nosebleeds, nobody has exhibited sign one that this is going on with them. It didn't even happen to Desmond until he turned the failsafe.
Plus if they have a constant, it presumably stops them from jumping back and forth, doesn't it? That's what seemed to happen with Des.
Sorry I just think people are on the wrong track. This episode didn't explain anything from earlier seasons as far as I'm concerned.

I don't believe this to be the case. Nobody has had an aneurism or nosebleeds, nobody has exhibited sign one that this is going on with them. It didn't even happen to Desmond until he turned the failsafe.
Plus if they have a constant, it presumably stops them from jumping back and forth, doesn't it? That's what seemed to happen with Des.
Sorry I just think people are on the wrong track. This episode didn't explain anything from earlier seasons as far as I'm concerned.

I agree 100%. As usual people are blowing this way out of proportion. It happened to desmond because he was exposed to large amounts of magnetism/and or radiation. The only other people who may have that are Locke, Eko or Charlie...2 are dead and Locke is not leaving so.....

I agree 100%. As usual people are blowing this way out of proportion. It happened to desmond because he was exposed to large amounts of magnetism/and or radiation. The only other people who may have that are Locke, Eko or Charlie...2 are dead and Locke is not leaving so.....

Yeah. If the purple sky event by itself 'infected' everyone on the island with this 'sickness', Sayid should have suffered the same side effects. So, so far, Desmond seems to be the only one who has been exposed to the right amount of EM.
But I still wonder: Did Frank stay on the 305 bearing or not? Does this happen regardless if you use the right bearing, as long as you have been exposed to EM radiation?

If this is the case, think about it: couldn't it be some kind of Island 'security' system to prevent people from ever trying to leave?

I mean, perhaps a very long time ago, when the island was in its 'natural' virgin state, this EM radiation was present all around, in every corner of the island. So whoever wanted to leave, no matter if he used the right bearing that leads out of the snowglobe, would be destined to suffer from this mind time shifting. And we know that its consequences are lethal for the brain, unless, of course, you find your constant.

So people trying to leave the island, would certainly and most probably die from brain aneurism or whatever. The island became some kind of a 'prison' for people who couldn't create that bridge between past and present/future.

So I believe that Hanso and Dharma discovered this the hard way (Jacob?) and then try to create a device to cancel this unique electromagnetism out, setting the island free from this nasty side effects when trying to come and leave.
This device was controlled by the Swan's station button pushing duty.
But, what happened after the failsafe key was used then? Did the island return to its natural state? If so, how come neither Sayid or Frank mind time travel?

Or did the use of the failsafe key destroy the unique island electromagnetism forever?

If so, why did Minkowski become capable of mind time travel, if he just entered the snowglobe for a moment?

Or does this all mean that the Electromagnetic Radiation is present in higher doses on certain bearings? So, Desmond and company did use, in fact, a 'safe' bearing, but he time travel because he had ALREADY been exposed to this unique radiation?
Daniel didn't think of that at first. That's why he asked about it as soon as he heard about Desmond's complications...

Or does this all mean that the Electromagnetic Radiation is present in higher doses on certain bearings? So, Desmond and company did use, in fact, a 'safe' bearing, but he time travel because he had ALREADY been exposed to this unique radiation?
Daniel didn't think of that at first. That's why he asked about it as soon as he heard about Desmond's complications...


I agree: I get the impression that once you build up a certain dosage of this radiation then your consciousness is at risk of becoming 'unstuck in time'.

Chances are you get a blast when you travel through the EM barrier - though it's maybe stronger in some places than others (ie. Barrier not uniform - seems to be supported by the importance of bearings). If you've already picked up a dose then it might not take much extra EM juice to tip you over the edge.

Likewise, you might be unlucky and stray into a really strong part of the barrier field and start tripping soon after irrespective.

And of course as suggested by Faraday, maybe some are more susceptible to the phenomenon than others.


Now: Desmond lived in the Swan hatch right on top of the EM anomaly for a couple of years and was there when it imploded in a huge burst of energy. Faraday had exposed himself to repeated shots from his experimentation. So they would both have high residual levels.

Minkowski and freighter buddy (Brandon?) ... well maybe they just got unlucky when they took the boat on a daytrip into the EM field or maybe they were exposed to something else first.....

I agree: I get the impression that once you build up a certain dosage of this radiation then your consciousness is at risk of becoming 'unstuck in time'.

Chances are you get a blast when you travel through the EM barrier - though it's maybe stronger in some places than others (ie. Barrier not uniform - seems to be supported by the importance of bearings). If you've already picked up a dose then it might not take much extra EM juice to tip you over the edge.

Likewise, you might be unlucky and stray into a really strong part of the barrier field and start tripping soon after irrespective.

And of course as suggested by Faraday, maybe some are more susceptible to the phenomenon than others.


Now: Desmond lived in the Swan hatch right on top of the EM anomaly for a couple of years and was there when it imploded in a huge burst of energy. Faraday had exposed himself to repeated shots from his experimentation. So they would both have high residual levels.

Minkowski and freighter buddy (Brandon?) ... well maybe they just got unlucky when they took the boat on a daytrip into the EM field or maybe they were exposed to something else first.....
Yeah. Now I am leaning more towards that: the unique electromagnetism of the island has some holes or neutral zones associated with certain bearings. If you use the proper bearing, you are gonna make it out of the island just fine. Unless you have been exposed to high doses of EM radiation like Desmond.


And the whole Minkowski thing is what threw me off. It had to mean that the radiation is still present on the island and he entered the island through the WRONG bearing, unlike Naomi and the rest of the team.

So why didn't any of the losties get 'suceptible' to mind time travel when they entered the island's snowglobe? Are you telling me that, besides being incredibly lucky to have survived that crash, they crossed throught a safe bearing by accident?????:confused:
They can't be that lucky!!!

The only explanation I found IS the Swan's station and the button pushing.

The problem is that I still can't get a complete convincing explanation of it!!!!!!!!!!!!!:mad::mad::mad:

But I'll give it another try...

The Swan might have been keeping all in and out bearings safe, by neutralizing the EM shield or whatever. So while the button was being pushed, it didn't matter which one of those bearing you used? I mean, there might still be only a couple of bearings that actually lead you in and out of the snowglobe, but the mind shifting side effects were being neutrilized by the button pushing.
I think it is obvious that the Swan didn't control any gate or portal to allow entrance or exit to the island. The Others were able to leave as they pleased EVEN when Desmond was pushing the button. So its purpose has to have been something else.
And its abilility to neutrilize the mind shifting side effects on some of the in and out bearings might have been just it.
So as long as the others used the correct in and out bearings (325, 305) they wouldn't experience any time travel because the button was still being pushed.
So, now that the Swan is gone, only certain in and out bearings are free of the EM radiation that causes time travel.
Now, Frank and Sayid didn't time travel because they used a SAFE bearing, unlike Minkowski.
Of course, Daniel didn't expect any time travel to happen if they use that precise bearing because he knows it is a EM radiation FREE one. So the only way for him to explain Desmond's experience is to ask if he had been exposed to rdaition or elelctromagnetism.