Unraveling the Mysteries of "Lost": What Happens After the Bomb Goes Off?

By: Adam Quigley Posted: August 3, 2009

UPDATE: 6 months later, and the final season of LOST has had its premiere. Looks like my theory was pretty much spot-on, though I was off on what would happen to the "original reality" (at least in terms of how it would affect those within the radius of the blast). This leaves the question, why did the writers include the scene in Season 5 where Richard Alpert points out the dead bodies of (presumably) the losties? Hopefully they provide some closure on the matter—or perhaps they already have and my memory has failed me. A final note: It appears the Desmond-connecting-both-realities development is already underway, as we saw him appear/disappear in the seat next to Jack on the plane. Nice.

The following article consists of my theory about the events of Lost's final season. If you're not interested in having it potentially spoiled for you, stop reading now.

When it comes to Lost, half the fun of watching the mystery unfold is trying to put all of the pieces together yourself and see how they fit. More often than not though, the end result of these predictions is a jumbled mess of half-baked ideas and gimmicky screenwriting tropes. The writers have generally done a pretty good job of always making the answer to the riddle as satisfyingly complex as the riddle is simple. They always leave just enough to keep you guessing, but rarely enough to let you figure it out all the way.

This time though, I think I may have done it. I think I've figured out what happens in the show's final season. And it's all thanks to this year's Lost panel at Comic-Con. Despite not outright spoiling how the story is going to play out, Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse offered just enough hints and teases to get the ball rolling.

Here's me taking the ball. Here's me running with it.

What happens after the bomb goes off?

The bomb going off creates two conflicting realities.

One is the continuing timeline involving everything that's come to pass through Seasons 1 - 5, and the other is an alternate timeline that depicts exactly what Faraday, Jack and the others had hoped would happen.

In the newly created second reality, the hatch is destroyed, Jacob's interactions with the "losties" (the flashbacks for which were shown during the season 5 finale) do not occur, and the plane from Oceanic Flight 815 does not crash on the island.

Back in the original reality, those within the radius of the blast are all dead. This concludes the 1977 storyline from Season 5, leaving only the characters from the present: Desmond, Ben, Sun, Richard, the lesser known Ilana and Bram (who will assuredly have much larger roles this season), and of course, Jacob's nemesis (having recently taken the form of Locke).

Desmond, who is the only central character that's currently off the island, is the key to connecting both of these realities. His consciousness will switch between both versions of himself, not unlike what occured in the episode "The Constant" (when his consciousness switched between two different periods of time).

Once the gap has been closed on these two realities (at least in regards to the losties), the show will pull the curtain back on what it's slowly been building up to all along: a classic tale of good vs. evil.

In this case, the visual representation of that battle is Locke vs. Locke.

One is of course Jacob's nemesis, but the other is very much the real deal. Locke needs to fulfill his destiny, even if it means crossing the boundaries of reality to do it.

What does this theory mean for some of our favorite Lost characters?

If the cryptic videos that were shown during the Lost panel at this year's Comic-Con are to be believed, they certainly seem to align with several aspects of this theory.

Kate: One of the videos portrayed a slightly altered reality with Kate. She was still on the run from the police, but this time, instead of killing her father, she accidentally killed her father's apprentice (who was sent to the house in his stead). This could be the result of her having never spoken with Jacob when she was a little girl, a small change which could easily have caused a "butterly effect" that would later cause various aspects of her life to play out much differently. This could also be the motive she needs if contacted by Desmond (or even Faraday) to help close the gaps on these realities and stop Jacob's nemesis. She may have had no regrets when she successfully killed her biological father, but in this new reality, she would most certainly feel remorse at having killed an innocent man. She would want a chance to change things.

Hurley: Another video portrayed what I can only assume is the same new reality as the one depicted with Kate, with Hurley having safely returned to LA following his flight from Australia. This makes sense, given that the only time Jacob interacted with him was to tell him to return to the island. As such, his life prior to Flight 815 would not be affected.

It's also possible that Hurley's hallucinations of dead people will be revealed to somehow relate to this alternate reality.

Sawyer: Out of all the characters in the Lost universe, Sawyer is the one that has grown the most. Back in Season 1, he was the violent, racist asshole that you loved to hate. Four seasons later, he's been reformed; he's become one of the good guys. Remove the plane crash from his life though, and Sawyer would still be the same man he was during the show's first season. This can only mean one thing: Season 6 will see the return of "early Sawyer".

Juliet: A lingering question following the Season 5 finale has been whether or not Juliet is dead. If my theory is correct, the answer is yes. The question is irrelevant, however, seeing as how all of the characters within range of the blast will have died. Not to worry: the resulting alternate reality that's been introduced due to the destruction of the hatch has ensured that all of these characters will return... Juliet included.

Faraday: Like Juliet, Faraday will return (quite literally) good as new during this upcoming season. Knowing this, we may be one step closer to learning the truth behind why Faraday's mother, Eloise Hawking, sent him to the island to die. It appears likely that, as has been demonstrated many times before, Eloise has a firm grasp on both the past and future. Perhaps the reason she sent him to die is because she knew he would live again once his plan to detonate the bomb succeeded, and making such a sacrifice was necessary to change history for the better.

Charlie, Boone, and others: Having an alternate reality also means that any characters that have died in prior seasons now have a chance to return. Charlie is pretty much a guarantee in this regard, given that he made a surprise appearance at the end of this year's Comic Con panel.

Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse also commented on characters that we haven't seen since Season 1 making a return appearance. If memory serves, Boone was the only major character to die in Season 1, so hopefully this means he'll be back in action for the final season. If this is the case, Shannon's return is pretty much a given as well.

The inclusion of other characters isn't as certain. I would hope that Libby might return, and there's even an opportunity for a surprise twist: that oh-so-enigmatic scene of her in the mental hospital with Hurley is actually from this alternate reality. Or rather, it exists in both realities, but finally has the opportunity to be explained in this new one. This could just be wishful thinking on my part though, considering that Damon and Carlton have stated again and again that they do not plan on answering that mystery (which, if true, is admittedly pretty frustrating).

On the other end of the spectrum, I could not care less about seeing the return of Ana Lucia, and there's sadly only a marginal chance of Eko being brought back (given that his death occurred at the request of the actor playing him).

Prove it.

Obviously, this theory is still just conjecture at this point. I have no direct evidence that confirms that the show will unfold this way. However, between what's been discussed at Comic-Con and how perfectly the theory lines up with numerous details from Season 5, it seems probable that this is at least close to what the writers have in mind.

For me, the clincher is Jacob's final line before his death during the Season 5 finale. He whispers to his nemesis: "They're coming." This is likely referring to the losties from the alternate reality.

What also helps seal the deal for me is that, at Comic-Con, Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse explained they had planned on bringing things back to the first season. With the show's final season, they were going to "close the loop" on the series. While these words don't necessarily mean a whole lot without the context of this season's storyline, it does fit pretty perfectly with this theory.

They added: "The time travel season is over, the flashforward season is over. Season 6 is something different."

Get ready, folks. I believe it's time for the "alternate reality" season.

If you like this theory and would like to contribute to it or even revise certain aspects of it, please leave a comment with your own ideas below. After all, how else are we going to pass the time while waiting for the return of just about the best show currently on television?