Faraday and the "Rules" of Time Travel

Posted to J.J Abrams via the Fuselage:

I sincerely hope that the character of Faraday is written to be 'wrong' in his understanding of the 'rules' of time travel.

Otherwise, that would mean that the LOST writers have finally written something badly. Much can be overlooked in the minor subplot category, but this time travel aspect seems to be a significant investment in terms of the primary storyline.

The only hope you have, if Faraday is supposed to be correct, is to very convincingly sell the notion that the past can't be altered, which is something that Faraday himself has proved wrong by his own actions on two separate occasions.Either that, or Faraday must eventually learn that he's been mistaken.

To claim that Desmond is special and unique is a fairly feeble attempt to circumvent the supposed rules, which would be more or less physical laws, which can't have special circumstances if in fact they are valid. Compare gravity: How could one person by some loophole find themselves naturally unbound by the law of gravity? It has to be universal or it must be false.

What would make Desmond different than any other person? What made him unique in the first place seems to be the fact that Faraday's own past was altered by Faraday's future self giving instructions to a temporally unstuck Desmond, who yet proceeded to do things he'd never before done in 1996 (his past altered, too) in order to sort out his 2004 dilemma.

The rules are in direct contrast to the actions of the characters and the impact of those actions upon history. Most of the recent storyline has been greatly aided by the fact that the past CAN be altered. So, where did this rule come from?

To pose a 'what if" - What if Locke had thrown a knife into Ethan and killed him on the spot as opposed to his attempt to convince Ethan he was his leader? What could have stopped that from happening? Time has no will - it isn't even sentient. It would not intervene. There is no means by which that death would have been prevented simply because Locke was in the past. There is no logic to mandate automatic failure simply because previously Ethan was present to kidnap Claire and die by gunfire, etc. He would have simply died, and then the events after the crash of 815 would have flowed in a different order, or at least with someone other than the now dead Ethan doing the Claire-abducting.

So, if Locke had decided to throw a knife and kill his attacker? Seems like the 'rule' might be false in that case. But it need not be a knife thrown - the simple fact that Ethan shot a random bald guy in the jungle that day instead of finding no survivors and reporting back is evidence that his/the past was altered by the presence of John Locke.

Even if the time-travelers do nothing but stand there breathing in and out, that is still oxygen that would not have been consumed at that moment in time had not the travelers arrived. It is impossible NOT to alter the past if you travel to it, for your very presence there is a change.

So, the choice must be: Faraday is wrong, or the writing is bad.

Hopefully, the former is the case.

Things Missed on the First Viewing of 5.1, 5.2

Miles mentions that it took Charles Widmore 'like 20 years' to find the island.

Did Locke's encounter with Ethan influence Ben's decision to send him to the Losties' crash site (knowing what we know about his motive for sending Goodwin)?

Desmond receives the memory message from Faraday in 'real time' which is to say 2008, the present day for the Oceanic 6.

Ms. Hawking has DHARMA materials in her work station, which seems to be in the basement of a Catholic church.

Ben does seem to want to return to the island himself, in spite of the fact that he has said that whoever turns the wheel can never return.

Where was Ms. Hawking? If she's still in the UK, that would mean that Ben traveled from Los Angeles to England in a very short time. Otherwise: What's Hawking doing in Los Angeles?

Ponderings on Episodes 5.1 and 5.2

Things we learned, and questions these facts might tend to raise:

We learned that "Dr. Marvin Candle" (and other aliases) is referred to by DHARMA personnel as 'Dr Chang'. Why the use of multiple aliases, even within the DHARMA organization?

We learned that Candle had a newborn child on the island. Did this baby 'originate' on the island? If so, does that mean that it was at one time possible for women to conceive and successfully deliver on the island? If that is the case, what changed? What impact did "the incident" have on the ability to reproduce on the island? Or, was what we observed taking place after the incident?

We learned that Candle was apparently of some importance in the DHARMA Initiative. He was personally summoned to the Orchid station to investigate a problem with its construction. What role does he play in DHARMA?

We learned that the Arrow station was used for intelligence gathering purposes. We also know that Horace, in spite of his profession as a mathematician, was affiliated with the Arrow.

We learned that the Donkey Wheel had not been used for a long while prior to the DHARMA presence. But, at some point someone managed to drill through to the wheel, install a ladder down to it, and so forth. Was that in contrast to Candle's orders?

We learned that Faraday was present during the construction of the Orchid. We can assume he got there via time travel given both his stunned look and the fact that he looked the same then as he does normally. What was he there to do? What if he was able to turn the wheel again? What if he was able to prevent DHARMA from accessing the Donkey Wheel?

Ben Linus claims to have had no contact with 'Jeremy Bentham' after Bentham left the island. This pertains to the matter of how Locke dies. If Locke is to die voluntarily, as part of a plan to save the island, does that mean the Others killed him, or will he have to die via actions he must take, or do Widmore's people kill him?

We seem to have evidence that the island is indeed within its own pocket of space-time. Faraday mentions a 'radius' of effect just after the island jumps. The island must move in both time and space. (Evidence for this, also, is the fact that it left ocean ripples when it jumped.)

We learned that the island, once the wheel is turned, jumps backward and forward in time. Living things on the island seem to remain in a more or less constant state of being, in their own 'present', while they shift back and forth along the island's timeline.

We learned, though, of potentially deadly side effects. Charlotte is having some serious health problems with the time-shifting phenomenon. She doesn't seem to be suffering from the 'unstuck in time' disorder, though she is experiencing physical symptoms in her brain. This also raises the question of what killed the boar Miles brought into the camp.

We learned that Ben's off-island network is significant. We also got a glimpse into the nature of the operation. It's old-school cloak and dagger. Operatives posing as shop clerks and so forth. Is this also one of the sources of funds for the operation?

We learned that Ms. Hawking is not just a random jewelry store clerk with future-prediction abilities, but is deeply connected to, it would seem, Jacob's tribe. This is a huge detail, believe it or not. Previously, it could be assumed that Hawking's connection was to Widmore – or more importantly, that Widmore's advance knowledge of Desmond's fate could have allowed Widmore to manipulate him. But now that we know that Hawking is connected to Ben, we have to wonder if it was in fact Ben's scheme all along.

Here's a big nasty possibility: Did Ben manipulate the murder of Alex in order to justify the vendetta against Penelope Widmore, given that his schemes (were he to be behind Desmond's various misfortunes) had already brought Penelope within his range? It's a wild stretch, true – but he could be using the vendetta situation as a means to accomplish what he really wants: The death of Charles Widmore.

We learned that Charles Widmore does seem to have significant influence at Oceanic. I have long hated the idea of Widmore owning Oceanic Airlines. That would just be too much of a simple out for the writers. The big bad guy controlling everything is much less satisfying as a story than a cunning villain who schemes and conjures massive conspiracies.

We learned that Sun considers Ben her enemy as opposed to Widmore. From this, do we learn that Sun is just setting Widmore up for a fall, or is Sun really that stupid? How does she figure that Ben is the cause of Jin's death? Furthermore, do we even know that Jin is dead?

Other questions:

Why does Sayid tell Hurley not to trust Ben?
Who were the military types threatening to cut off Juliet's hand?
Who was firing the flaming arrows?
Alpert tells Locke that the next time they meet, he won't recognize Locke. How far back in time will the island travel? If Alpert has done everything we have thus far seen in real time, that might mean that the island will travel back quite a ways. He's been checking in on Locke since the 1950s.
What's in the box Ben stashes in his bag?
Why did Hurley get himself arrested after Ana Lucia had specifically told him not to?
What was the apparatus Hawking was monitoring? What's the 70 hour window all about?
If the island is supposedly moving, will it not stabilize and come to rest at a new place and time? What's Locke supposed to be 'saving' it from?

Unanswered Questions 1

As we close in on the S5 premiere, I have been scanning the previous four seasons for as-yet-unanswered questions and other quirks I feel need some explanation. Some of these will be less important than others, naturally. A loose end is not necessarily fatal.

But loose ends and possible answers are what LOST geeks live for! ;)

This will be the first post on the topic, and after the seasons are fully screened, I hope to categorize the questions and prioritize them according to plot significance, with the final result being a clearer picture of what is likely to occur in the remaining seasons.

---

When did Sawyer quit smoking?
Who were "Adam and Eve"?
Why is Hugo called "Hurley?"
Where did the "others" come from?
What is the whole story of the "Black Rock" and its crew?
What is the whole story of Danielle Rousseau's science expedition?
What is the 4-toed foot and what does it signify?
What is the relationship between Benjamin Linus and Widmore.
What is the Temple? Was it DHARMA or is it older?
What is the full story of the Hanso family, its foundation, and the establishment and purpose of the DHARMA Initiative?
Who is Richard Alpert?
If Richard Alpert is one of 'the others' how did he travel back and forth from the island to the mainland without DHARMA?
Who is Matthew Abbadon?
What are Walt's abilities?
How did Walt age so much in 108 days?
Is Widmore good or evil? Is Ben good or evil? Or, are they all evil?

(continued soon)