LT186: When Are They?

STARTING REFERENCE POINT

The island was moved on December 30, 2004, by Ben by turning the Dharma Wheel.

Ben jumped to October 2005 and physically to the Tunisia. In terms of time, Ben jumped forward about ten months. In terms of space he jumped about 1,400 miles.

The Oceanic 6 remained unchanged in time and space.

The island physically moved. In physical terms, the island is still in a body of water. In terms of time, I’m going to call these Jump Points.


JUMP POINT #1

When John Locke becomes aware of his surroundings he is at the makeshift campsite of the Hostiles, but all alone. It is raining. Soon, John will be bathed in sunshine and observing the crash of Yemi’s drug plane. We have no definitive date for the Nigerian plane crash. Best estimates have it between the years 1998 to 2002.

The beach Survivors are in daylight and their camp is missing.

It appears Ethan is the Other’s official recon man as he is sent out with gun to investigate the crash of Yemi’s drug plane. He has a rifle and has shot Locke in the leg.

We must note that while the camp material has disappeared people are keeping the clothing they are currently wearing although these items were on the plane. I suppose LOST couldn’t have naked people running around although…oh, never mind.

Yet, Ethan has a weapon so unless he was holding it, it shouldn’t be there. Of course, Ethan himself was present between 1998 and 2002. We know this because we first can timestamp him as a nurse for Rachel (Juliet’s sick sister) on December 19, 2001. He and Richard were soon to recruit Juliet. This makes it a fair assumption that Ethan was very familiar with the island prior to December 2001. This fits the time frame of the drug plane crashing.

However, we don’t have Nikki and Paulo walking onto the beach. Ethan and the spider couple were both dead on December 30, 2004, and yet Ethan is alive in the Jump Point #1, but not the dead, but once living survivors. We can excuse this since they were not on the island physically in 2001-ish. This gives us a hint that only living Survivors jumped through time.


JUMP POINT #2

The flash of light takes us to Jump Point #2 where is nighttime for John and the Survivors. Richard patches up John and gives him a compass.

The Survivors discover the Swan Hatch is blown up. The Swan station was imploded on November 27, 2004, so we know this Jump Point is after that.


JUMP POINT #3

The flash of light happens again and John is still at the drug plane, in the daylight, and notices the engine is still smoking. Therefore, the timestamp is again between 1998 and 2002, but definitely the same day as Jump Point #1.

The Survivors discover the Swan Hatch is intact. Desmond is inside getting his hazmat gear on since somebody is pounding on the door. Since Desmond is convinced he still needs the safety gear we know this is prior to the Flight 815 crash. He told the Survivors that he had been in the station for three years pushing this button. That would make it approximately November 5, 2001. He was not there prior to this time, so we can adjust our first Jump Point (the drug plane crash to late 2001 to 2002).

Later that night, the Survivors are on the beach trying to start a fire when Frogurt gets lit up big time. The Survivors are under attack and run for cover. Sawyer and Juliet get caught, but then rescued by Locke.

JUMP POINT SUMMARY

Starting Reference: December 30, 2004
Jump Point #1: 2001-2002
Jump Point #2: After December 30, 2004, probably present time
Jump Point #3: 2001-2002

The evidence suggests that the only two time periods are involved. The record is truly skipping in the same place.

It should be noted that while only two dates are involved, the record does seem to progress forward for each Jump Point. The pattern might be like this: A...1...B...2...C...3... In other words, we don't jump back to 2004 and find Sawyer and Juliet back sharing a bottle of run wondering where the Freighter went.


THE FIRE ARROWS

We began the show with Dr. Halliwax (aka Candle aka Wickman aka Cheng) filming the Orientation film for the Arrow Station. He stated it was for defense and weapons. This makes Richard and his merry band of Hostiles as the prime candidates for being the shooters. The Purge was in 1992 and was executed by Richard and his Hostiles. Ben was the only survivor of the Dharma Initiative as far as we are aware. Ben must have then revealed the contents of this hatch although it is entirely possible that the Hostiles fashioned their own weapons.

If we think about the Hostiles/Others weapons of use, we observe reluctance on their part to utilize technology. While guns may seem to be taking advantage of technology, the history of firearms dates back to 1100 AD.

I propose that the Hostiles were firing upon who they believed to be the military group. This would explain the military member’s agitated stated, to say the least. We now have another group of people to contend with and I’ll use the term “Military”.

The Military caught Sawyer and Juliet and had one initial question, “What are you doing on OUR island?” This tells us that they were entrenched to some degree for they seemed to call the place home. So, let’s review some key dates:

1988 - Danielle’s research ship arrives
1992 – The Purge
2001 – Desmond crashes
2002 - The Military are present and the Nigerian drug plane crashes
2004 - Oceanic Flight 815 crashes

We have to then assume the Military got wiped out between 2002 and 2004 by Richard, Ben and the Hostiles. On a side note: Ben should be present during the Jump Point of 2002 just like Desmond was. Hmmm…


WRINKLES IN TIME

We may need to adjust our explanation above if we allow for some other rules of time jumping. This comes from Daniel’s explanation. After watching the show, I was convinced that the island was jumping time, but not the people on it. Juliet agrees with me. However, Daniel restates her proposition and says, “It is just as likely we are moving”.

Now Daniel has not seen any evidence of where they are in time yet for they are still on their way to the hatch. He knows they are in history for the “camp hasn’t been built it”. So, I’ll forgive him for wondering out loud if it is the island that is moving or the people. This is supported by his desired to see a landmark like the Swan Station. So, I could be putting too much emphasis on his suggestion that the people are moving in time instead of just the island. The Swan Station provides the proof that the island is the one moving.

But…(there is always a but with LOST)…what if both are moving. My suggestion is this: the island and people CAN move in time. While it seems clear the island is moving and the Survivors are not, it does not rule out the possibility that other people are not indeed jumping through time.

Let me just say it and get it out of the way: the Military could have moved through time. They clothing seems old-fashion. In fact, they may not even be military since the uniforms were lacking in any official design. But for now, give me the possibility that a wrinkle in time might have brought onto this island a group of military men from the 1940’s, for their hats and dress seemed to reflect that time period.

Or the Military could be a few Dharma survivors who slipped past the purge. The might have been a Dharma replacement group sent by Hanso. If Hanso lost contact with his initial group of researchers, he might have sent a military group to explore what happened during the Purge…although even that even was a decade earlier (1992).

The best explanation is that the military is Widmore’s doing. This matches his behavior with Keamy a couple of years later. And it mirrors that sentiment about it being “our island”.


ON A FINAL NOTE

I’ll close this post with a photo of a billboard that is circulating and it made me chuckle.

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Enjoy,
KC