Did it seem to anyone else that we got a way bigger dose of numbers in this episode?

Penny's address, the auction, Daniel's time sequence, etc.

Any thoughts on why they showed up so much tonight?

I think we got more numbers tonight than in all the episodes this season combined! I can't wait to start seeing some screen caps of the various numbers and the formulas. Daniel had alot of complicated formulas throughout the episode, on the blackboard, in his notebook, etc.

We got more out of this episode towards the mysteries than anything recently. I mean, when was the last time we had a solid Smoke monster appearance? Looking forward to grabbing this ep off iTunes tomorrow for some analysis.

The number Desmind told Daniel- 2.342- made up of 23 and 42
The starting bid for the Black Rock journal- 150,000
The lot number for the auction was 2342
Penny's house number- 423

any more?

Good catch. It's been so long since the numbers mattered, I haven't thought to look for them. I'll keep an eye out. (Like Patchy :)

8 years between the time he was in the Army and 2004.

Desmond moves back and forth between 1996 and 2004 — 8 (http://www.lostpedia.com/wiki/8) years apart.
Penny lives at 4 (http://www.lostpedia.com/wiki/4)23 (http://www.lostpedia.com/wiki/23) Cheyne Walk (4-23 or 3-42 (http://www.lostpedia.com/wiki/42))
The frequency that Faraday gives Desmond is 2.3 (http://www.lostpedia.com/wiki/23)42 (http://www.lostpedia.com/wiki/42) (23, 42)
The auction lot number of the Black Rock (http://www.lostpedia.com/wiki/Black_Rock) diary is 23 (http://www.lostpedia.com/wiki/23)42 (http://www.lostpedia.com/wiki/42).
Faraday (http://www.lostpedia.com/wiki/Faraday) says that while Desmond was in a catatonic state in his room at Oxford, 75 minutes had passed. Desmond perceived the same amount of time as 5 minutes. The ratio of 75:5 is equivalent to 15 (http://www.lostpedia.com/wiki/15):1.
At the auction, Widmore (http://www.lostpedia.com/wiki/Widmore) is bidder number 755, the same numbers as the time ratio.
Also, Charlotte earned her doctorate at Oxford. Daniel taught there.Got the above from Lostpedia.

Are everyone's constant. That is all.

I will pose a theory that the numbers are actually the shifts in time. It was revealed that Desmond travelled back to 8 years ago. Why eight? Danielle had been on the island 16 years. Why 16? Could the numbers be the time shifts? Will Jack "going back" be a 4 year shift?

I will pose a theory that the numbers are actually the shifts in time. It was revealed that Desmond travelled back to 8 years ago. Why eight? Danielle had been on the island 16 years. Why 16? Could the numbers be the time shifts? Will Jack "going back" be a 4 year shift?
Desmond travelled forward, 1996 des was pulled forward, 2004 des was just paused. There is nothing to suggest anything like this happened to Daniele, I am curious to see who will get the 42 year shift, only Rose, Bernard and Locke are old enough to have one, because the others aren't leaving the Island.

Desmond travelled forward, 1996 des was pulled forward, 2004 des was just paused. There is nothing to suggest anything like this happened to Daniele, I am curious to see who will get the 42 year shift, only Rose, Bernard and Locke are old enough to have one, because the others aren't leaving the Island.

Except Ben. Ben has left the island many times and he is easily in his 40s, if not 50, I'm guessing. Could his time shift be to when he was born? Is that why he saw his mother in the jungle?

I think the numbers (which I have been OBSESSED with since Season One, big time...so between that obsession and my obsession with the psychic's reading of Claire re Aaron in Season One, I have been on a THRILL RIDE for the last two episodes *lol*) have something to do with the course you need to navigate to get to the island in the proper way to avoid the sickness, somehow they are the exact perfect course, the perfect "address", if you will, of the island.

edited to add: As for Ben and the upper-echelon Others, they know how to navigate the exact perfect course (which, again, I think is the numbers, in some way) on and off the island to avoid the "wrinkle in time", or at least to avoid the full-blown "sickness" setting in, because I think the time anomaly affects everyone who comes and goes from the island in some slight way(s), at least (precognitive dreams, etc.).

edited again to add, and--as the psychic said to Claire re his warnings: "this is important"! As in, the following tidbit I'm about to share with you from Lostpedia is muy importante, peeps:

"Latitude 4.815, Longitude 162.342 are the GPS coordinates that lead to a point in the Pacific Ocean on the trail from Australia to L.A..."

Source: http://www.lostpedia.com/wiki/The_Numbers

edited to add one final thought: I posted my theory about this last season and basically got dismissed, as I recall. However, it is looking more and more to me like indeed the numbers are the key to the island, literally! And I'm obviously not the only one who thinks this, since it is in Lostpedia. Duuudes, I think this theory is really going to gain some traction now.

edited to add a post-final (lol) thought: I also think that, to the Dharma Initiative and apparently also to the Others (we've had certain clues, like certain phrases used in the brainwashing film Karl was forced to watch, and many other clues), Buddhism is important in some way and 108 (the total of the numbers) is a sacred number in Buddhism (see that same Lostpedia link again for more on that). But personally, I think the main reason the numbers are so important on LOST is that they are apparently the navigational "address" of the island...and then secondarily that that physical/mathematical reality ties in the with spiritual beliefs of Buddhism ...or maybe vice-versa, repeating on a loop (for 16 years)!
;)

Except Ben. Ben has left the island many times and he is easily in his 40s, if not 50, I'm guessing. Could his time shift be to when he was born? Is that why he saw his mother in the jungle?
But Ben and his people obviously know how to leave properly, I think there was an error in Fanks flight path.

daniel also told desmond to convince him of the consciousness shift to run his gizmo at 2.342 at 11 hz or something like that.

The auction item number was #2342

I will pose a theory that the numbers are actually the shifts in time. It was revealed that Desmond travelled back to 8 years ago. Why eight? Danielle had been on the island 16 years. Why 16? Could the numbers be the time shifts? Will Jack "going back" be a 4 year shift?

I saw this mentioned on this thread (http://www.thefuselage.com/Threaded/showthread.php?t=90507) as well.

My input was this:

Wow, didn't think of that...
It was mentioned that these trips were happening exponentially
to Desmond and may becoming more frequent.

I was thinking of the The Valenzetti Equation... (http://www.lostpedia.com/wiki/The_Valenzetti_Equation)

Each number in The Numbers being a different variable.

Example:
4 (months) 8 (years) 15 (days) 16 (hours) 23 (minutes) 42 (seconds)

Desmond writting down "2.342" was one of those instant classic LOST scenes.
Loved it.







"Driveshaft, more.. ahhh you know the rest" ; )

I think that the numbers are definitely some set of coordinates that are required to 'open up' the portal (setting the machine).

The Numbers were absolutely everywhere in last night's episode. I thought it was great. In the enhanced version of "Eggtown" they revealed that Kate's case number or docket number or something was #42231615 or something like that.

Also, I thought it was interesting that Penny gave Desmond her phone number, and although one of the numbers, 4, was one of the digits in the phone number, but only one digit out of eight was one of the numbers. The numbers were featured prominently in the episode, and every number or series of numbers we heard referenced or saw written down heavily included the digits of "The Numbers". Yet Penny's phone number only included one of them, and it wasn't prominent. Was this a clue?

I think that the numbers are definitely some set of coordinates that are required to 'open up' the portal (setting the machine).

Yes Yes Yes, I agree with you completely!! This is what happened to Hurley when he used the numbers to win the lottery! He opened the "portal" or whatever thing that has to coarse correct by hurting anything that had to do with winning the lottery.

Whoa.just a thought, what if Hurley wins the lottery because he went back. He says he got the numbers from the guy in Santa Rosa. Maybe Hurley knew those numbers from his two different time frames. That would explain why he keeps going back to Santa Rosa.....it could be his constant.

I will pose a theory that the numbers are actually the shifts in time. It was revealed that Desmond travelled back to 8 years ago. Why eight? Danielle had been on the island 16 years. Why 16? Could the numbers be the time shifts? Will Jack "going back" be a 4 year shift?

Wasnt Desmond's first time back in time right after the hatch implosion 4 years? Just before he signed up for the race, a bit before the stadium run where he encountered Penny and Jack?

This time, it was obviously 8 years...Will his next jump be 16 years, or did it end with him finding his constant? I'm opting for it did end it. Or if it didnt, it will be easier to understand and accept the situation now that he nows what's happening. But, this raises a question about Danielle and Richard Alpert.

So, does that mean Danielle has jumped once for a 4 year gap, another time at an 8 year gap and is now jumping in a gap that is 16 years from the present day? Is she stuck in a loop because she doesnt have a constant?

Now, food for thought...
How long has Richard Alpert been jumping apart? Or Jacob for that matter...
Eric

No the first jump he did where he met Mrs Hawking was before this ep's jumps, he hadn't even broken up with Penny then. Perhaps only a few weeks before.
Could he have perhaps jumped back the exact same amount of time both times (8 years, and say 4 months, 15 days?)
Except of course this time his consciousness jumped forward 8 years rather than back *nose bleeds*

Wasnt Desmond's first time back in time right after the hatch implosion 4 years? Just before he signed up for the race, a bit before the stadium run where he encountered Penny and Jack?

This time, it was obviously 8 years...Will his next jump be 16 years, or did it end with him finding his constant? I'm opting for it did end it. Or if it didnt, it will be easier to understand and accept the situation now that he nows what's happening. But, this raises a question about Danielle and Richard Alpert.

So, does that mean Danielle has jumped once for a 4 year gap, another time at an 8 year gap and is now jumping in a gap that is 16 years from the present day? Is she stuck in a loop because she doesnt have a constant?

Now, food for thought...
How long has Richard Alpert been jumping apart? Or Jacob for that matter...
Eric

Some good food! I'm not sure the distance in time between when Desmond met Mrs. Hawking and the hatch implosion. He had been on the island for three years, so that easily could have been a year before he left on the boat. So it seems possible.

Mrs. Hawking said that he had done this before and he always changes his mind buying the ring. One would think it wasn't just one loop. But since Penny was there and she is his constant, there wasn't an issue.

Not sure I agree with the numbers being the coordinates for "opening" a portal. That seems too -- well, finite. And Hurley playing the numbers that opens a portal seems off.

I just find it interesting and more fun if there is a more "timely" answer, as it were.

You know, The Constant has opened up a huge can of worms, while closing a couple...nosebleed indeed! :biggrin:

Talking about Mrs Hawkins...Think she's stuck off Island looping? That could explain her knowledge of the red shoed scaffold guy...Like I said, opened up another can of worms...

Talking about worms...:rolleyes: Now that Charlie,s in the picture off Island, but obviously dead on the Island...He was near the hatch when it imploded, so he was also near a heavy dose of radiation. So, he dies on Island drowing...but he flashes off Island like Desmond coming to from having almost drowned off Island and having his life saved from someone giving him outh to mouth...:eek2:

I digress...
Eric

Except Ben. Ben has left the island many times and he is easily in his 40s, if not 50, I'm guessing. Could his time shift be to when he was born? Is that why he saw his mother in the jungle?


Nah, Ben is in his early 40's (the fake passport says 1962, which means barely 42 on the show, but he could be a little older/younger) :biggrin:

You know, The Constant has opened up a huge can of worms, while closing a couple...nosebleed indeed! :biggrin:

Talking about Mrs Hawkins...Think she's stuck off Island looping? That could explain her knowledge of the red shoed scaffold guy...Like I said, opened up another can of worms...

Talking about worms...:rolleyes: Now that Charlie,s in the picture off Island, but obviously dead on the Island...He was near the hatch when it imploded, so he was also near a heavy dose of radiation. So, he dies on Island drowing...but he flashes off Island like Desmond coming to from having almost drowned off Island and having his life saved from someone giving him outh to mouth...:eek2:

I digress...
Eric


There's never digression on LOST. Only time looping!

Mrs. Hawking brings up an important point. Because there doesn't necessarily have to be one constant in one's life. Only one constant between two points (or so it would seem.) And since Mrs. Hawking was also in a picture on Desmond's "brothers" desk, could she be a constant and therefore interact with him knowingly, just like Daniel did in this episode?
100%
Nah, Ben is in his early 40's (the fake passport says 1962, which means barely 42 on the show, but he could be a little older/younger) :biggrin:

You know you're old when everyone looks like your father, yet you're the same age...:eek2:

On Eko's Jesus stick was "John 30:5" which when they were heading "north" the heading Sayid quoted was bearing 305, which also was the bearing Daniel told them to keep on when leaving the Island