I look forward to reading the theory, and you’ll probably win me over like Jack with Richard. If it is not real, i’d be interested to see where and how you think it fits in the story as i have no idea.

The thing i’m most confused by though, is how the two timelines will merge.
Alot of people have talked about it, and now i can’t remember if this is speculation of if the producers have said this themselves.
I’m still of the belief that its not so much ‘parallel’ (if it is real), but i’m now torn between whether its before or after the story we have seen so far.
The only thing i feel sure about is it wasn’t caused by jughead, and more likely a reality were they never went to the island (and maybe not chosen yet) which also entails NOT letting off jughead in 1977.

Wow, i just realised how tricky these writers are, whilst slowly revealing all the secrets of the show to us, they tag on the most mysterious element of all!

So right now I am working on a theory explaining why it is not an alternate time line with two very simple options…

One I have been blabbing about on every post I write or comment on, that the “parallel” timeline is simply a not real…I dont think everyone is necessarily getting my idea of not real, so I am going to explain it further.
The other option is one which plays off of the thought that it is real…which I dont believe…and that I am wrong, which I believe less than anything…settle down people, I kidding…
It makes some stupid sense, but if nothing else explains why I keep saying its not an alt timeline…

I do like this post Shep, and you beat me to the punch about off island MIB, which actually works out because Im going to cover Jacob off island in my post…great thoughts here again…in my opinion, its a very good possibility…

i’m kidding, but i’m still not to sure about ANYTHING!
I still can’t really see how these two timelines will ‘converge’ and if MIB is involved in this other timeline (or various realities) i don’t think the writers would go down the whole ‘its a dream/its not real’ route as they know at this point it would infuriate the fans. So what IS it?

Its very confusing, and increasingly difficult to second guess them, i do have the feeling that when it comes together though, we’ll all be VERY surprised.
I hope so anyway.

A.E.S, out of interest, you got a name for the ‘alt’?

I’m calling it that because I’m not sure what else to call it. Alternate Story Line? Slightly Overlapping and Interacting Lines of Reality Bearing Many Similarities Yet Subtle Differences Causing Seamingly Major Differences? I don’t think it matters what it’s called…

I guess it could go either way… their fate in one is determined by their choices in the other… It makes a little more sense to me that it’s the off-island stuff we’re seeing now determining the on-island stuff but it works either way…

There is a lot more to this…and I believe that at the very least Jacob is off island…if not both of them…

No, really… I don’t think it’s been discussed all that much actually. And I think it may be right on… the original timeline showed the Losties living with the influence of Jacob and as we’ve seen some fo them had some tough times…

Maybe the new timeline IS showing the Losties living with the influence of that other guy. So far Ben and Jack have been tempted with something the old Ben and Jack would probably have gone for… Jack, a drink… Ben, power. In each case though they made the right decision and on the island they end up with Team Jacob.

Sayid, on the other hand, is possible pushed by the MIB into this situation with Keamy where he has to make a choice and he chooses wrong. Now he’s on team MIB.

Maybe Sawyer will find himself in a situation with an opportunity to con someone (Hurley maybe?)… I wonder what kind of choice he’ll make… There’s still so much to see in the alternate timeline…

I’ll be the first to tell ya, this alt. timeline feels like a complete waste of time. At least it does on the surface. If it’s only purpose is to show us that people can change…Wow, WASTE OF TIME! Therefore, I strongly believe there’s more to it.

The nail polish thing that you’re referring to can also be in conjunction with the shirt Helen is wearing during that scene. Her shirt says something weird like “Peace and Karma, Joy and tranquility” along with Chinese characters. That shirt, coupled with her crazy nail color preference = something very odd, and something worth noticing. There’s a reason for it, and I believe it’s not just to throw us off course this time. Like you, I wish I had more to go off of.

Don’t hit ME for saying this….but I’ve also been wondering if we’ve seen E.I. in some people’s flashbacks in seasons past. How many times have we seen someone cross paths with multiple important characters in flashbacks, and we’ve just blown it off as coincidence? Kelvin sure has been around, so has Nadia, Christian, and many others (even that psychic was in one of Eko’s and Claire’s flashbacks). I’m not saying they’re all E.I. in disguise, but I’m saying there’s a strong reason for all of that happening.

Didn’t Charlie save Nadia from getting mugged or something? I’d like to go back and see if there was any blatent “touching” going on in that scene. Now that we know what to possibly look for, it might be fun to go back and investigate a little.