Seriously, if you enjoyed the show, and whether you are satisfied with the ending or not, you will still enjoy reading the whole theory.
Here's what blastr has to say, taken wholesale from their recent posting:
Fan creates amazingly satisfying retconned theory of Lost
Many people were disappointed with the way Lost ended, and even those who liked the ending still had lots of unanswered questions after the finale. Well, prepare to get some answers, because a diligent fan who goes by the name of That John Locke just found a way to take all the theories about Lost floating around the Internet and turn them into one unifying explanation that actually seems to make more sense than the show itself did.His work is Einsteinian in its profundity and also pretty freakin' long, although it's well worth reading if you have time. For those who don't have time, below we've tried to cut, splice and condense the theory into something that's manageable for casual readers. Be warned this summation is only a glimpse of its genius, and we still recommend you check out the full version.
Here you go:
1. The Island was in fact the MAIN CHARACTER of the show. Stop for a minute and consider this: What if the entire show was not told through the characters' perspective, but from the Island's? I believe that the light in the center of the Island... is TIME.
- You see the light each instance that there is a TIME jump in Season Five.
- Every man has a little bit of time (our lives) but we always want more, just like Jacob's mother said.
- Jacob's mother goes on to say that the light is a physical manifestation of "Life, death, and rebirth." If this is true, then time fits the description almost perfectly.
- If the light is time, then it means that it contains the past, present, and future. This means that the light in the center of the Island holds the memories of all of those ever to come to the Island.
- Desmond is exposed the the blast in the hatch, but as we know, he is special, and this will not kill him. He is resistant. In fact, he wakes up naked in the jungle after the incident, his clothes even destroyed by the intense exposure. However, Desmond himself is able to resist the energy, and see what lies within. So what does lie within the energy in the hatch? Well, we know that the "energy" is time in a physical form, which means it has the history of the Island running through it. Those very important memories! This causes Desmond to be sent to the flash sideways dream world.
- In Lost, when the frames are slowed down, you can actually see images and flashes of the characters' PASTS within the smoke.
- The Smoke Monster makes the ticking and winding sounds of a grandfather clock resetting, signifying its existence as a moving living version of time.
- The Smoke Monster is able to take the form of dead people. Since it is a physical manifestation of the PAST.
- An extensive network of ancient tunnels and chambers on at least two levels exists beneath the Temple which were first seen in "Dead is Dead".
Through a system of mirrors, light is sent through the tunnels to the temple, where it emerges in the spring water. Once this happens, the light is (of course) refracted.
- When a person is placed inside the water, the refracted light will make contact with them. I hope you remember what happens when this occurs! Just like the Island experiences time jumps, so do the people. When Dogan sticks his hand in the water to heal a cut, it emerges cut free. It is an earlier version of his hand that you see.
- In the last episode, we see Desmond descend into the cave. He goes into the pool, and is once more bombarded by harsh exposure to the light. However, he does not jump to the flash sideways at this point. And there is a reason for this. During the destruction of the hatch, and the exposure to the light in Widmore's reactor, Desmond is being blasted with the energy in its purest form. However, here, the light is refracting underneath the pool of water. Desmond is not fully exposed.
- Desmond removes the stone plug from the hole. In a large burst, time rushes to catch up for all that was lost. In the scenes that follow, we see the Island begin to fall apart.
- Throughout the previous seasons, we saw the other pockets be rendered inert. The hatch is destroyed, so that pocket is lost. All the energy pent up underneath the Orchid is lost in Season Five, as it is released in large bursts that cause the time flashes. This leaves the heart of the Island as the sole remaining energy pocket, and when it goes out, then the entire Island does.
- The Smoke Monster predicts this. However, he makes a fatal flaw. Jack has become the new Protector of the Island before the pillar is removed. Jacob has given him all of the memories, and Jack knows that if they remove that pillar the Smoke Monster will be mortal again. Jack is able to kill the Smoke Monster in human form, then return the pillar to its spot, where it stops the release of time causing the Island to fall apart. Upon Jack's death, the only thing that remains of him and all the others that were on the Island is their memories stored there.
