In response to your points:

1- When Oceanic 815 crashed the DI were no more. Who’s to know whether Ben or any of The Others saw that photo that Christian showed Sun and Frank? Richard is the only person who had contact with Kate, Sawyer etc. in the past, so maybe when Oceanic 815 crashed he hid the photo so that no one would recognise them?

When Richard took Ben to the temple Richard said he wouldn’t remember what had happened to him. So Ben wouldn’t have recognised Kate or Sayid in 2004 (or he could have and has been lieing about it doing what he does best).

2- Rousseau has been living on the island for 16 years and is a little crazy. Perhaps she doesn’t remember Jin, or maybe she thinks it’s just someone who looks very much like that guy she met 16 years ago.

I’ve had some time to think about your question, and in all honesty I have no idea what Season 6 entails for us if WHH is true. It could go anywhere. If Season 6 starts with Jack and co. flashing to 2007 it doesn’t neccessarily mean the Season is going to be dull, or uneventful, or that Season 5 was a waste of time.

Remember back at the end of Season 1 when Jack and Locke were looking down the hatch? I wasn’t a member of any theory sites back then but thoughts that were going through my head at the time was that there was some sort of monster down there. Not smokey – another monster that had been locked up for years. I was, obviously, completely wrong. But I doubt anyone could have predicted there’d be a Scottish man down there pushing a button to save the world.

My point is: the writers will come up with something exciting, extraordinary, confusing etc. regardless of whether they flash to 2007 at the beginning of Season 6, or if there is, as you say, an alt. timeline.

For me not being able to give you the whole story of Season 6 if WHH doesn’t mean this theory cannot happen. I can’t sit here and try to explain what will happen in Season 6 because it will be impossible for me to do so. That doesn’t mean that I don’t believe in this theory any less.

Now, your other questions about what was the point of Season 5 I can answer. The whole point of it was to show us, the viewers, the Dharma Initiative, what it was like in those days before The Purge, how Ben became an “Other”, the fact the Eloise and Widmore were once an item and are parents to Daniel, and to show that Richard has been there for a looong time (although I think we already knew that). The point of Jack and co. going back to the 70′s was to explain that they themselves set the cause of events in motion for Oceanic 815 to crash on the island – that they in their attempt to avoid it happening tragically were the cause.

How do you know this isn’t “The Incident” that Dr Chang talks about? When Chang speaks of The Incident he has a prosphetic hand does he not? In “The Incident” we saw, Chang got his hand trapped under something heavy: something heavy enough to warrent his hand be removed. It seems like it’s the same Incident to me?

I don’t think Eloise pushes Daniel to be a physicist so that he could try and change things. She simply does it because she knows he has to eventually end up on the island. She’s not trying to change things through him, she’s trying to make sure nothing changes. This is why, when she speaks to Widmore outside the Hospital, she tells him that she’s just sent their son back knowing full well she’ll kill him.

Daniel at first was adamant that Whatever Happened, Happened. Then he does some study and thinks “no actually, I can change things”. One of these assumptions has to be right, and one has to be wrong. Just because Daniel changes his mind doesn’t neccessarily mean he’s right.

When he spoke to Desmond outside of The Hatch, it didn’t form a new timeline because it hadn’t happened – it caused Desmond to remember because it had happened. Whatever Happened, Happened.

Daniel may have thought that he could change things, but how would he have known what to change? How does he know what people did or didn’t do on that day? To be able to change things you have to know what happened originally.

I just think that with One Season left and a whole load of questions unanswered, that introducing alt timelines will take up more time and waste episodes that could be explaining all of the other island mysteries.

1- The picture on the Dharma wall with some of the losties in it. Do we really think that none of the DI would have recognised the 815ers, even though they were new? Or at the very least that Ben wouldn’t recognise kate and Sayid?

2- I am rewatching LOST and I noticed that Rousseau, the Frnch chick was in a few scenes with Jin. Do we really think that she wouldn’t have recognised Jin?

That is just a couple of reasons that I feel it is an alternate timeline. I know there are more, but just those 2 alone illustrate that somethings have changed. Because if whatever happened, happened, all of the DI would realize what is going on right now and Rousseau woul have recognized Jin.

Ban – maybe Eloise pushed Daniel into a life of physics because she always does/did. Or maybe she pushes him because she panics that something may have changed and she wants to make absolute certain that he goes there. Its like she says to Widmore when Dan leaves – ‘I just had to send my son back knowing full well..’ the only way this can be translated is that she sent him back knowing she was going to kill him.

I like this theory Trinity.. It causes a lot of debate lol

So, even if Eloise is under the impression that the H-Bomb won’t blow up everyone and everything, it doesn’t mean it’s true. And if Jack was successful, she could have died.

However, if Daniel was right and it doesn’t blow up the entire island, what’s to stop them from building the Swan in the future?

@france – Richard said this because after the explosion he didn’t see Jack and co. ever again (not until 2004 when they crashed), so he must’ve persumed they had died (when they actually flashed to 2007).

Roland – no problem at all. Thanks for your input

Tas – I’ll get back to you on your question once I’ve given it some thought.