LT252: Filling Time

CONNECTING TWO DOTS

This is not earth-shattering, but we have made a connection on LOST. When Naomi asks Miles to audition for her team she shows him a dead body whose name is Felix. Miles passes the test by mentioning the fake papers that Widmore used to stage the fake Oceanic crash.

The connection is that Felix is the guy who Widmore beats the snot out of…and evidently kills. We learn of this beating by some fake videotape of the events that Ben has on a videotape. It was shown to Locke and the cassette reveals that the footage was recorded over a Boston Red Sox game.

Small world, huh?


CHUCK and HEROES

With LOST on break this week, I found myself watching Heroes and noticed that Sylar was looking through a box of family possessions. Inside the box was a Virgin Mary statue – a connection to Charlie’s statues.

Also, we see a snow globe with a reference to Desmond’s comment about the island being a snow globe that no one can escape.

In fact, I had to remind myself a few times that the show wasn’t LOST as it includes Hiro stopping time, bloody noses, and the above references.

And if you’ve been watching Chuck then you know that recently he had to travel to a place called the Black Rock. Also, his agent/girlfriend found a note that was similar to what we’ve observed with Hurley on LOST.

Smaller world, huh?


DUTCH REFERENCE

Recall that Sawyer came home to Juliet and said he felt like the little Dutch boy who had to keep plugging holes in the dam. This is a reference to the popular story where as soon as one hole is plugged another springs a leak.

Just for the sake of references, this is similar to the story that Kelvin told Desmond when showing him the failsafe key. Kelvin was asking Des if you could take his finger out of the dam and just let everything be destroyed.

Forget Egyptians, we are now on the lookout for the Vikings. And before you jest, remember where Alvar Hanso is from. Oh, did I mention that Ilena’s name is of Dutch origin?


COUPLE OF HINTS

I’ve caught a couple of interviews with Michael Emerson, who plays Ben, and he made a veiled reference that there is another level in the Temple below where he fell. Yeah, we figured Smokey came from somewhere “below”, but Emerson says we will visit that level on the show!

Then on Jimmy Kimmel he gives a LOST clue which was this: “Ben Linus is an anagram for Bun Lines”. Funny guy.

In another interview Emerson talks about the big Season finale. His descriptions were something along the lines of this:

Major storylines coming to a head about people we haven’t even seen
The head he referred to as “really big”
It will be “explosive”

In order, my guesses as to what this means are a) Jacob, b) the statue head, and c) Jughead.

Hurley offers this clue on Kimmel: “My character is named Hurley. On “Three’s Company” is a character named Mr. Furley who was always arguing with a character named Jack.” Cute.


STAR WARS FAN?

Think you are a big Star Wars fan? Ok, then, prove it by answering this question: Who was the screen writer for the “Empire Strikes Back”?

MAJOR CHARACTER DEATH COMING

We all know the formula in today’s TV shows, so no surprise that someone is going to die on LOST. But who?

May I offer this photo as one possibility?

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Enjoy,
KC

LT251: The Riddle Revealed

TEAM VAN

Not sure which team Ilena and Bram are playing for, so in the meantime I’m going to use the label Team Van to identify the group. The name comes from the black van that picked up Miles for a joyride.

Team Van has now asked the riddle, “What lies in the shadow of the statue?” twice. It is time we take a stab at answering this.


MILLENNIUM

There is an old show that was on FOX called Millennium. It had a main character named Peter Watts. If we state the phrase “shadow of the statue” into an anagram engine it comes up with “Watts House of Death”.

Ok, this seems like it requires a big leap of faith. However, before dismissing consider that Terry O’Quinn aka John Locke starred in the show.

And in one episode a serial killer was played by our Horace Goodspeed.

And the series final line was “We are all shepherds.” Hmmm…


FAMOUS EGYPTIAN RIDDLE

With the statue being of Egyptian origin, I did a search on Egyptian riddles and found the most famous one: What is that which is four-footed, three-footed and two footed? The answer is “Man” since we crawl when a baby on all four, use a cane for assistance when old, and walk upright on two feet in between those times.

It seems that the LOST writers are expecting us to research this topic when leads us to the Sphinx, the guardian of the tombs.

The Sphinx consists of a lion’s body with the head of the pharaoh. The lion is considered the guardian of kings. Lions would accompany the rulers during warfare as they believed their presence would keep them safe.

Once the Great Sphinx was completed a temple was erected in front of the 66-foot statue. The temple was a place where believers could offer gifts to the living god known as Horus-in-the-Horizon. Horus?


HORUS

Horus-in-the-Horizon is one of the many identities of the god Horus. In this form he is depicted as a man with a falcon head. And notice what he is holding!

In this identity and as the name implies he is considered the rising sun. We have seen a Dharma logo that seems to represent the rising sun:

This logo has only appeared one time and is found on the map that Ben gave to Danielle, Alex and Karl for them to find their way to safety – which failed.

Consider the logo, the attached meaning the Egyptian god, the ankh in his hand, and Horace’s name as the leader of the Dharma Initiative. All these clues seem to point to the most popular form of Horus: the Sphinx. Add in the connection of a riddle to the Sphinx and we seem to be on the right track.


THE SPHINX

In more recent times attempts were made to determine if tunnels and rooms existed under the Sphinx. They used ELECTROMAGETIC sounding. Indeed chambers were found. The group of researchers from Boston College and Florida State University labeled these readings as “anomalies”. Where have we heard the term “electromagnetic anomaly” before? If you can’t remember the answer is the arctic listening post that Penny arranged to find the island.

It most definitely seems like we are the right track, but I couldn’t get any closer to shadows other than the sleeping prince story. So the search term was switched to “Egyptian shadow”.


THE SHADOW KNOWS

It seems the Egyptian’s believed that a person is made of six parts including the shadow. A person couldn’t exist without its shadow and visa versa. In hieroglyphics the symbol is that of a small man painted completely black.

The shadow also became used as a sign of protection. In the hot desert this was logical extension of the meaning and use of the shadow. And being the Egyptians were so fascinated with the sun and that light is required to cast a shadow it was expected that soon the shadow would represent the comfort for all those who dwell in the king’s shadow of protection.

I came across the Book of Shadows which contains rites and rituals that serve as a guide for witchcraft.


RIDDLE POSSIBILITIES

With the above research in mind, I stepped back and tried to examine the riddle using simplicity.

What lies in the shadow of the statue?

Using simplicity as my guide the possibilities that came to mind were the Temple, the well or darkness. I keep getting drawn back to Smokey who could represent darkness. Could the reference be figurative and be pointing us to the coming war?

Could the answer be Smokey? Recall when Smokey was crashing down trees it would make him the size of the statue! Could the Statue be walking around like a giant Paul Bunyan?

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Another excellent proposal suggests the answer is “A Lie”. Riddles are just that, brain teasers. “What LIES…” doesn’t mean physical position to the shadow, but lies as in telling a falsehood. We can rephrase the riddle then to “What tells falsehoods in the shadow of the statue?” Answer: nothing because if you do Smokey will judge you. Perhaps only the truth can be spoken in the shadow of the statue.

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Another strong candidate for an answer is “The Door”. Remember the false door that Sayid found when he took the sailboat with Jin and Sun around the island? We saw in an earlier scene that it was guarded by two armed Others. It seems odd to guard a door that Sayid wouldn’t know was guarded. Michael mentioned they had weapons, but didn’t really speak much of the door. And when Sayid opened the door it was solid rock. What purpose would that serve the Others?

Unless something is behind the rock and this leads us back to Jughead. Is this the burial spot for the bomb? Will the bomb be used in the final war or will it open some doorway to the underworld?

And keep in mind that rock formation which looked like a window. I’m getting a little Alan Parsons Project song in my head now! Could looking from a certain place through the window reveal some secret?

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Another related point takes us back to Mr. Eko who incorrectly quoted the Psalms 23. He said, “the shadow of the valley of death”. The proper wording is “the valley of the shadow of death”. Is there some ancient cemetery here? Is this the Valley of the Kings?

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Some see a strong connection to Stephen King’s book, “The Stand”. The book includes many similarities to LOST including a 108-year old woman. But the connection to this post is that the group used a question to identify each other. That question was “Who lies in Hemingford, Nebraska”. The answer was Abigail Freemantle. Try that one Frank!

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Or when Ben was first prisoner he told Locke that Hemmingway could never get out of Dostoyevsky’s shadow.

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Keeping a literary theme going…

"It cannot be seen, cannot be felt
Cannot be heard, cannot be smelt.
It LIES behind stars and under hills,
And empty holes it fills.
It comes first and follows after,
Ends life, kills laughter. "

--J.R.R. Tolkien "The Hobbit" Answer: Darkness


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I had to keep digging. And then I found this:


THE PRINCE

Around 1400 BC an Egyptian prince was said to have taken refuge in the shadow of the Sphinx. He dreamed and in that dream was told he would become the king if he kept the sand from covering up the Sphinx. He became King but only after murdering those in the rightful line to the throne.

Many suspect the dream was a lie. Since the claim was to have come directly from the god of Horus, who could question it? This seems to match a pattern seen on LOST. Ben has used lies to accomplish his goals and when questioned he falls back on the claim, “Jacob wanted it.”

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Recall an earlier episode entitled “The Little Prince”. Many assumed it referred to the literary work and this was reinforced with the scientific name (B612) of a star that uses the same planet name found in the book.

However the show also used the double-meaning of pointing us to Aaron as the Little Prince.

So, the Little Prince lies in the shadow of the statue.

Personally, I want to carry a step further and suggest a burial plot. The grave could hold the body of an ancient Egyptian king who is today known as Jacob. Could this imply then that Aaron is Jacob?


CONCLUSION

I’m putting my money on Aaron. Post your guess in the comments section.

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Enjoy,
KC

LT250: Special Edition of Lost Reveiw

As you probably know, LOST is doing a clip show this week, so it seemed like a good time to offer a special edition LOST REVIEW post of my own.


LOST REVIEW: Backgammon

We are aware that games are a running theme on LOST. The first game mentioned on the show was in the Pilot episode, Part 2, when Locke finds a backgammon set. John is sitting on the beach playing alone when Walt wonders by to see what he is up to. For reference sake, this is followed by Jin trying to share some fish he caught with Claire which makes her baby kick for the first time since the crash.

Keep in mind that the LOST REVIEW section of the posts is an attempt to re-analyze the show in search for a common theory. Our current leading hypothesis is that the island is a supercomputer. The second strongest hypothesis is that LOST is about religion (or the struggle of science versus religion).

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Here is how this analysis works: Backgammon is a board game. Games can be played on a computer. Therefore, LOST is about a computer.

Or…backgammon is a game of two players where as Locke describes “one side is light, and one side is dark”. Light and dark describes a scientific concept. Therefore, LOST is about science.

Or…backgammon’s light versus dark is a common religious theme expressed as good versus evil. Therefore, LOST is about religion or philosophy.

See how it works? We are looking for the total weight of evidence to lead us to our final conclusion. Continuing our thought process then, light and dark could be a reference to “off or on” which describes the binary language of a computer. Score another point for the Supercomputer Hypothesis.

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John Locke describes the game to Walt as a “two player game”. So what was John doing playing it solitary? Is this a point for the Religion/Philosophy Hypothesis then? Consider that a future episode will be entitled “Solitary” in which Sayid struggles with his human nature to torturer or not to torture.

Kate is also playing the game by herself in “Left Behind”.

Computers are great for gamers in that the computer often plays the role of an opponent. This is accomplished by the programmer writing a sort of artificial intelligence routine to act as the competitor. Score another point for the Computer Gang.

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Locke tells Walt that the game of backgammon is over 5,000 years old and compares this to being “older than Jesus Christ”…another reference for the Religion Supporters.

Side note: Am I supposed to be keeping score?

Locke’s timestamp reference of backgammon seems to allude to the Egyptians because they hold the record for the oldest games known to historians. To be fair, we need to add to our list an Egyptian Hypothesis and mark one hash mark next to this candidate!

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Many believe the oldest game known to man and invented about 5,000 years ago would be the Royal Game of Ur.


The game Locke was referencing could also be Senet. They both originated around the same time and both are predecessors of backgammon. Both games are race games which means players are trying to get their pieces from one end of the board to the next. This seems to signify Life and the journey of birth to death.

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Personally, my research leads to be belief that John’s reference was to Senet. Here is one piece of evidence:

You can quickly see why I think this is the game. The hieroglyphics in the image is part of a painting found in a tomb in Egypt. The player at the table is moving pieces that appear more like Chess than the actual board game at first glance. Lord knows we’ve seen Chess on LOST.

Notice too that Nefertari is playing solo.

The game’s official translation means “the passing game”. It was played with dice in the shape of pyramids. The game supported the Egyptians belief in Fate and Determinism. It was believed that a successful player was under the protection of the god Ra. See why I think was the game John was referring to?!

Because of the close ties to religion the game board was often buried in the grave as assistance to the deceased to make their way through the afterlife. The game is referred to in the Book of the Dead.

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Similar games include Mehen. This happens to be the serpent god who protects Ra during the nighttime underworld. Little is known about this game but what does exist suggests another type of race game. A group of programmers attempted to decipher a set of rules and a shareware version exists.

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Another closely related game is called Hounds and Jackals. The jackal image is often used to depict the god Seth (ah, another LOST connection). Seth joined the highest depiction of gods on the Serkh alongside Horus (the falcon shaped image).

Notice the falcon image on the above carving. The blocks that the falcon stands on depicts the entryway this king must use to pass through the afterlife. Gee, is that a snake?

As you are most likely aware of Hounds is a correlation to Cerberus – the guardian dog of Hades. This brings us to Vincent, the dog. However this might best be saved for another LOST REVIEW. For now, let me continue on one final thought process…

A writer of a book called the “Daughters of the Hounds” states that the hounds are extraterrestrial (score one for you Alien Theorists). The term the author uses is Ghouls.

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A ghoul is a mythological creature found in Sayid’s culture. It dwells in burial grounds and other uninhabited places. Can you say “the island”? It is often found in the desert (Tunisia anyone?). It is a shape shifting creature that can take on any forms (like Walt or Alex?), but often takes the shape of a dog (Here boy!).

The belief is that a ghoul can be brought back to life (Where in the world is Christian?) by a witch or demon to do some task. Ghouls are described as preferring to eat the flesh of young children (who did the Others kidnap for the Tail Enders?). Ghouls are said to be bound to obey the person who brought them back to life (keep this in mind down the road). It is said that the only way to kill a Ghoul is by fire which will turn them into white ash (what was that spread around Jacob’s cabin?).

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CONCLUSION

Ok, this research thread ran a little long…but I found it very interesting. The search for a theory sort of ended up this way:

Egyptian – dozens of points
Supercomputer – five points
Religion – about as many as computer references

The conclusion we can draw is that no theory is disqualified, but many have gained additional weight of evidence. This LOST REVIEW seemed to support religion and Egyptian culture the strongest.

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And remember when this section began I reminded you that the backgammon scene with Locke and Walt was immediately followed by Jin giving fish to Claire? Well it turns out that another name for a ghoul is “jinn”. Jinn is a supernatural creature (good or evil) which possesses free will. The term is found in the Bible and the Qur’an. The Qur’an story involves an evil jinn which refused to bow down to Adam when ordered to do so.

Man, I love this show!

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NEXT ON TIDBITS

I have been working on my best guess to the riddle, “What lies in the shadow of the statue?” Check back on Thursday this week for the answer!


If you enjoyed this special edition of TIDBITS, please take a second to click on one of the ads to share your appreciation with me. And leave a comment if you have some follow-up ideas to share!

Enjoy,
KC

LT249: Chalk It Up

WRITING ON THE WALL

We saw Roger walk into the classroom and complain that Jack was cleaning performing his duties. What Jack was doing was erasing the chalkboard.

It appears the Dharma children were studying the history of the Egyptian language. Notice the 2000 BC to 1300 BC was described as the “classic stage of language”. This was the time when formal written language was started. One of the more popular writers of that time is a fellow named Moses. This time marks the first time Homo sapiens were able to record history in written form. Thus, Moses began writing the story of the Garden of Eden although it happened some 4,000 years earlier.

While we are on the topic of writing on the wall, check out this larger snapshot:

Look above the chalkboard to that drawing of the red person. Does that face remind you of Darth Vader’s mask?

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As a side note, if you asked me during my Sunday School days who is associated with writing on the wall, I would answer, “Daniel”. He interpreted the writings that foretold of the future. I’m just saying…the same episode we see this writing on the wall is the same episode Daniel returns!


DEAD IS REALLY DEAD

If we take the episode title literally and to extreme, could it be this island is full of only dead people? I keep bringing this up because it won’t get out of my head. Miles’ mother says that his father is in a place where he can’t go. Well, not while Miles is alive.

And was it Naomi who said the place she wanted to take him was a place full of dead people that Miles could talk to?

What if maybe, just maybe, we guessed the afterlife correctly several season ago? And what if maybe this means EVERYONE is dead here? What if there is a perfectly good explanation why the pilot, Seth, doesn’t have his ring on and that is really him at the bottom of the Sundra Trench? When everyone on board died they went to this form of purgatory? Of course, how do we explain the off-island adventures other than what the mind wants to make up it can. Hey, we’ve all dreamed some realistic dreams that are strange.


FEEDBACK

Tammy writes to confirm that Miles did ask for $3.2 million. I wonder if LOST isn’t about the actual numbers as much as it uses the numbers to show how Fate operates. Yes, Jack has changed and it seems for the better once he learned to accept his role in life.

Another TIDBITS reader suggests that Daniel left the 1970’s via the Wishing Well. More exact, the well lead to Daniel finding a way to leave since we saw him working during the construction of the Orchid Hatch. I wonder how close the well and Orchid are to each other? Is Locke’s Wheel the same wheel found in the Orchid? I’m not convinced that Daniel leaves via the Wheel as each time it has been turned it was noticeable by several people. Maybe he used the alcove built in the actual Station eventually (the one where Ben loaded up a bunch of metal objects). This could be the “alternate approach” that Anonymous refers to.

Anonymous suggests that Daniel might have stowed away on the sub to Ann Arbor. The interesting part about this is that it seems when Daniel left the island in 1974-77 it was also 1974-77 off island. If the next time he leaves and he remembers to take Hurley’s screenplay for “Empire Strikes Back”…

Thanks for the comments…keep them coming!


TIME TRAVEL RULE BREAKING?

A lot of viewers are commenting about how unlikely Baby Miles and grown-up Miles can share the same time-space continuum. They cite the Orchid Hatch video where two #15 rabbits show up and Dr. Candle freaks out.

If we listen carefully, Dr. Candle is saying they can’t touch each other.

So if Dr. Chang hands Miles his baby to hold for a minute, I’m guessing Miles is going to refuse. However…consider the possibilities if he DOES take the baby in his arms? Poof! Would they both disappear in a puff of black smoke? Hmmm…


HERE IS A WEIRD THOUGHT

What if Hurley did write the script to The Empire Strikes Back? Did we really see Hurley’s version?

Seriously, the important clue seems to be that Hurley wants to make a “few improvements”. I believe that is a reference to “course corrections” and that “whatever happened, happened” is more a general rule of thumb and not a concrete law of physics.


SOME CLARIFICATION

For the record, Miles was offered $1.6 million to take the boat ride. He wanted double that, $3.2 to not get on the boat but Bram isn’t paying. He also demanded double from Ben and he would help him get out of Locke’s jail. If anyone finally pays Miles, they next bid should go to $6.2 million.


COULD IT BE OR AM I JUST CRAZY?

Here is a snapshot of the guy I call Tooth Man. He’s the one whose filling was pulled through his brain by some powerful magnetic force.

The question to be answered is whether Tooth Man is Crazy Man seen here:

The Crazy Man is the guy who yelled at Kate when she was entering the courthouse as an Oceanic 6. He spoke backwards and when mirrored it turns out he said, “We hate you!”

This brings up a couple of interesting points. First, if this is the same guy then he should be dead. Second, he speaks in reverse like other ghosts such as Walt. Third, if the first and second point are accurate then what does this imply? Go back to read the section where everyone is dead on this island and off-island events are a piece of cake to accomplish if it is only in your head!

Before you pooh-pooh this idea remember that Dr. Candle wanted the Tooth Man’s body at the Orchid Hatch. His uniform shows the Swan Hatch. So the magnetic wall that Jack’s key reacted to is likely the strong force that killed the Tooth Man. Being now that the Orchid Hatch where time can travel…well, I have to wonder what the good doctor wanted with the body. Maybe to send him to 2007 to yell something backwards at Kate?

NEXT ON TIDBITS

It is going to take an extra day or so to write this next post because TIDBITS will reveal the answer to the riddle, “What lies in the shadow of the statue?”

In addition TIDBITS will get back to LOST REVIEWS.

If you enjoyed this post, please take a second to click on one of the ads along the side of this page. It puts a few pennies in my pocket and also lets me know that you enjoy reading this particular post. Thanks for helping me out.

Enjoy,
KC