Death and alternate timelines

[myu]

There's something that has been bothering me... one of those little details that gets so easily overlaid with other distractions.

When Jin confronted Richard on the beach, she showed him the 1977 photo and asked if he was still alive. Richard replied that "they're all dead" and that he'd seen them die.

Now, did he didn't say that he just saw the whole Dharma Initiative team get exterminated; he remembered all of the Oceanic 815 survivors who were present. But... Juliette set off the bomb and they were all transported back to the "present" time. Jin was still alive. Yet Richard saw him die. How can we account for this?

I wonder if it's all due to some kind of paradox to time travel. That perhaps there was a kind of "split off" that took place. In one permutation, the bomb didn't detonate. And later on, the survivors are rounded up with the other Dharma Initiative team and killed (and I wonder if Jack and Kate escaped, to later die in the caves--remember the two bodies there). In the other permutation, the bomb went off but somehow interacted with the anomaly to send the survivors back to the present time--was everybody else who remained behind decimated?

And then of course there's the flash-sideways. Some people have speculated that it is the "next cycle"... the true future.

Anyway, I'm having a hard time getting a handle on it all... I'm hoping future episodes will begin to piece it together. I certainly hope that we get some solid answers with just a little reasonable ambiguity left behind for interesting discussion. Part of me does wonder if this series is meant to educate the masses in some way. I mean, look at the long book reading list that came from all of it. And the degree of complicated meanings delving into various incarnations of folklore and mythology. I hope they eventually open up the "Lost University" archives that have been kept exclusive to the Season 5 Blu-ray owners.

[locke_is_the_key]

I think you should take a look at my "timeline talk" thread. :-)
http://www.lost.com/forum/showthread.php?t=13374

[myu]

Thanks, good stuff there litk. I added to the discussion over there.

[MonicaLynn60]

There's only like, a couple of problems with this whole entire Time Travel thing!

Ahhh!!! See, if Richard said to Sun that he had seen all the Losties die...then it HAS to be after Jack, Hurley and Richard join Sun, Lapidis, Ben and company on the beach.

Basically, the writers screwed up. Period. See time travel is time travel. What happened Happened IS True when it comes to the very basic essence of Time Travel. See, you can't go back in time and kill your Grandfather before your Father was born. Because if you did- then YOU couldn't be born so that you would go back in time to kill your Grandfather. It's an improbility. A Paradox.

So...in order for all the them to be together now, either Richard is the WORST time traveler ever (meaning he knows Jacob is about to be killed, that this isn't John Locke, and everything and still lets it happen while still looking surprised) OR....simply- the writers screwed up.

[myu]

I'm thinking that the writers screwed up... and the only other way to compensate for it is to say that Richard just assumed everybody was killed, including the 815 survivors he had seen earlier.

[CitizenX]

Originally Posted by myu

I'm thinking that the writers screwed up... and the only other way to compensate for it is to say that Richard just assumed everybody was killed, including the 815 survivors he had seen earlier.

I can live that reasoning.
But if it was intention by the writers and its not a screw up than the only answer is Multiples.. IMHO

[losttime]

I really think Alpert was not being very straightforward in this scene and almost had a smirk on his face. I also noticed Locke look at him somewhat awkwardly and knows that they are alive.

I am pretty sure Smokey is well aware of the Island time traveling and set it up so the events we saw happen during time traveling happened that way to get his loophole come to fruition and would know if there are other threats in other time lines that are going to join this one.

Personally I am still not convinced that this is really another world created by the bomb detonating.

When are they planning to spring the answer definitively on the millions of viewers who are looking for answers and are going to have to figure out that the bomb created a split in time and all the understandings of parallel universes.

Not buying it for one second. Will say it again. Answers going to be much more simple then many are theorizing

[myu]

Originally Posted by losttime

Not buying it for one second. Will say it again. Answers going to be much more simple then many are theorizing

Agreed. I went on about that to some depth over on THIS thread, which is just a more lengthy way of saying the same thing.

[losttime]

Originally Posted by myu

Agreed. I went on about that to some depth over on THIS thread, which is just a more lengthy way of saying the same thing.

I watched the episode The Constant on DVD with commentary that was quite interesting which seems to coincide with what you, me, and others think that this is not a parallel world.

Just think about how simple the explanations have been. For them to throw a parallel universe in there as something tht they were doing all along but not letting us know till the last few episodes will be a disaster of epic proportions.

To show you how clueless the audience is to parallel worlds, I talked to people who watch the show all the time and are a huge Lost fan but dont go into forums have no concept of parallel worlds and are not sure what is going on but pretty much said they wouldnt have a clue to what the parallel worlds purpose would be to the story.

Much more simple explanation than parallel worlds and Desmond/Smokey on the FS flight 815.

Anyone have a clue when this is supposed to be explained? i thought it would have been explained earlier on and now we are past the halfway point? What gives, when is it going to be explained? Any ideas?

[myu]

Losttime, that was an insightful move on your part, quizzing LOST fans who don't get into the forums. I'm fully in agreement with you, that if LOST does end with some kind of complex parallel universe idea, it'll be a disaster. The simplest answer won't likely be it, but we've got to believe they'll be at least fairly simple to grasp. The key will just be "missing information", that's filled in with an unexpected twist that is still believable.