What the Bomb Did!
In the final scene of “The End” it was revealed that no alternate reality had been created by the H-bomb. This resulted in many fans crying foul, arguing that the entire second half of season 5 was a mind f***. That Jughead was pointless and did nothing.
That was my first reaction too until I thought about it rationally… Then I started to realize what the point of the bomb actually was!…
First of all, if the bomb did in fact detonate (now that we know that there was only one timeline), Pierre Chang and Radzinsky would have died in the explosion (along with several others). But we know that Chang lived to make those DHARMA videos and Radzinsky lived to push the button in the hatch…
So the most plausible start to any theory regarding the bomb (though not automatically the correct one), is to assume that the bomb did not explode…… at least in 1977. Here’s what I think happened:
The Island flashed the Losties back into their original time frame right before Juliet could detonate the bomb. The Island had to do this as a last resort because it was the only way left for the Island to stop them from detonating it. So now, there’s an H-bomb sitting at the bottom of the very deep hole that the D.I. has drilled. We know that after the incident, the D.I. had to build a device (the button in the hatch) that would dissipate the electro-magnetic energy that was seeping out of the Island as a result of them drilling into the pocket of energy. As a failsafe, they connected the hydrogen bomb to a keyhole and gave the failsafe key to the button-pusher. If it for some reason became impossible for the button-pusaher to press the button, he could turn the key and it would detonate the bomb and negate the massive amount of EM energy that had leaked out of the Island. But whoever turned the key would die because no one can survive the electro-magnetic pulse created by a hydrogen bomb… except Desmond.
So the Losties had to go back in time not to detonate the bomb, but simply to put the bomb there so that the D.I. could create a failsafe that Desmond would later utilize to save the world!…
After all, the bomb was rigged to detonate on impact. If it were supposed to go off in 1977, it would have gone off when it hit the ground after falling for over 100 feet.
So what was the importance of the bomb?… If they had not gone back in time and put the bomb there, the failsafe would never have been created and Locke’s failure to press the button would have lead to the end of the world… So although it didn’t create an alternate timeline as Dan had hoped (although he previously admitted several times that he knew this to be impossible), it did save the world–a feat that I would classify as “pretty damn important.”
i guess we will never know
From what i’ve read about the whole point of Lost is for us to find our OWN answers, I think you’ve fulfilled it for this one. I like the way you’ve thought this out, it is a brilliant theory and it makes me feel better from reading it. Thankyou for the theory that has given me a little bit of closure on this subject.
mrmagic,
you’ve got some good thoughts here..
I don’t think I ascribe to your theory, but you’ve made some good points..I’ve got to think on this, I’ll probably comment later..
whole show is crap it all meant nothing.
I like this theory.
Something like this would’ve worked, but as eluwan said… we’ll never know…
I disagree will repost why (from Why did Daniel Die?)
The bomb coupled w/the electromagnetism caused a folding of space-time and created a wormhole we saw as the final time flash that reunited the Losties.
Had this not happened, Jack, et al. would have died in the purge and they would *not* be there when Ben killed Jacob or be able to “save the world”.
I loved this theory although there are some holes in it and it does not fit the story… Well done..
you said “The Island flashed the Losties back into their original time frame right before Juliet could detonate the bomb.” By turning the wheel, Locke stopped the flashes which happened randomly. How could this happened?
“If they had not gone back in time and put the bomb there, the failsafe would never have been created and Locke’s failure to press the button would have lead to the end of the world…” So if the failsafe was not created, how could Locke fail to press a button which was not created? What i am trying to say is that, if Losties did not put the bomb down there , there would not be a button that is needed to pressed. So, no incedent, no button, no need to (save the cheerleader) save the world…
Remember when Miles said something like “did you guys ever think that us detinating the bomb is what caused this?” or something like that, don’t remember his exact words but I remember the implication… that one possibe outcome was that the bomb *started* the chain of events that lead to the 815 crash, not prevented it. That’s what I think happened, ironically Jack brought people to the island.
Nice post – I like the theory, but have a slightly different opinion of what happened.
I think that the H-bomb released the magnetic energy, flashing Jack et al ‘back to the future’.
Because the island in the main timeline did not sink, the energy of the h-bomb was not present. Instead, the magnetic energy/light flash, which travels at the speed of light, created the timefold faster than the explosion itself. This means the energy from the explosion occured in the alternate timeline, sinking the island, and helping to create the ALT reality as we know it. I believe this is why Juliet said ‘it worked’ – in a way, it did – Jack’s plan was to have them fly over the island unharmed by sinking it, and they did, but in the alternate reality.
In Stephen Hawkings book, A Brief History of Time, he references “Consistent Histories”, which is a time travel theory that states ‘what happened, happened’. Therefore, the Losties could not sink the island by traveling back in time – impossible, because it was not sunk in 2007. Thus, the sinking had to occur in an Alternate Reality, which they “created” by creating the time fold.
I think the cement and pushing of the button, etc., was done to stop the leaking of the magnetic energy caused by the h-bomb blast (but since the blast itself was shifted to the ALT, the leak was likely serious but not insurmountable for the Dharma personnell to handle).
@clairespb
nice thoughts!
One of the issues I can’t seem to come to a decision on, and this touches on your theory..Which event could sink the Island?
Is it detonating Jughead, which cancels out the Island energy, but in turn causes the island to sink? Or is it NOT detonating Jughead, which allows the Island energy to continue to release, which eventually causes Island to sink?
I’m thinking now..based on THE END episode..that it’s the Island’s energy left unchecked by some other mechanism or force (Jughead at the Swan or the corked pool in the tunnel light) would cause the Island to sink…
Saying all that, I’ve kind of got a third theory to Island being underwater. It was when the light turned off briefly in the Actual Time line; I know it was probably only a couple hours (10 minutes TV time), but time doesn’t really matter in the ALT time line..
@bobt – all of those possibilities seem viable. in my theory, the detonation of the h-bomb follows the flash into the alternate reality.
have you ever seen that old footage of nuclear bomb testing – the people would sit miles and miles away in the desert waiting to see the mushroom plume? first they would see the flash of the explosion (light travels the fastest via speed of light), and then they would get hit by the wind, etc. from the force of the explosion.
my theory is somewhat similar – the idea Jack had was to sink the island by detonating the h-bomb, and Juliet said “it worked”.
I believe it worked because the “flash” (magnetic energy) released by the initial explosion at the “point of impact” (where Juliet struck the h-bomb) traveled faster than the explosion itself – so the explosion followed the flash (like a car following the light from its headlights, or think of the light as a wormhole); and the explosion literally created the ALT by sinking the island, which could not occur in the true reality, yet had to occur somehow (thus the ALT).
A couple things to keep in mind: Jack et al flashed away before they were killed by the explosion, affirming that the flash was faster than the explosion (and thus the explosion followed the flash elsewhere). The explosion would have followed them into the current timeline if it was allowed to – but the theory of consistent histories (what happened, happened) did not allow the island to sink in the current timeline, because it never sank.
Also, the energy from the h-bomb cannot simply disappear or cease to exist. The energy had to go somewhere, and thus by going into the ALT, it makes more logical sense than it just converting into light or something like that…
@clairespb
yes definitely, all 3 are viable, actually think mine is least possible compared against yours and mrmagics..
Read through yours again.. I’m understanding only partially though… I understand flash and explosion, flash faster than explosion. Flash tears the fabric of space-time, allows the Losties to jump to 2007 before explosion hits them..
But I’m not fully understanding explosion part..You’re saying that the explosion occurs in the actual reality, but since it can’t happen in actual reality because of WHH, immediately there is another reality formed? The reality where island sank? So you’re not saying, that the explosion also went through a tear in space-time, to another Island reality and sank that island, correct? Maybe one in the same difference..
So the main issue I have with your theory is that, the purpose of exploding Jughead was to neutralize the Island’s energy buildup at the Swan.. If it did explode and neutralize it, but that particular Island that it neutralized is in another reality, what about the original island in the original timeline? Isn’t that energy still building and causing the Incident?
Speaking of explosions, my head just exploded 🙂
@bob – yes, correct!
in the current reality, yes that energy is still building, and that is why Dharma had to layer all of that concrete onto the fissures and type in the numbers to prevent the electromagnetic energy from reaching dangerous levels…(i am not sure what the actual mechanism is that typing the numbers performs – perhaps it releases a small amount of energy, not enough to cause damage, but enough to prevent it building to dangerous levels)…
And all of this eventually gets Desmond his job as the button pusher.
@clairespb
ok cool gotcha..I like how explains Losties flash, and Island sinking..
But I just can’t fathom Dharma people having enough time to pour concrete on it and build the button pushing mechanism..they would need to do it immediately..the Incident kept getting more intense every minute..
I’ve always imagined that bomb goes off, Losties flash of course, but then there is a calm on the Island because the bomb worked to cancel energy. Dharma people such as Dr Chang figure out something happened to negate energy. Even though there is energy negated, maybe still small amount coming out or another pocket below. Swan is built over pocket to study residual energy, button mechanism is built..
But this is my confusion with the whole Incident situation.. Doesn’t there look like there was even another Incident? I mean the Swan is built nicely, hatch doors, blast doors etc… but then the door going to energy pocket on side. Completely sealed. The door that pulled the metal on Jack’s necklace. Why would they build a door to the energy pocket after the Incident? There must have been another incident, after first incident..then they sealed that door. I’m confused.. Always have been about that.. It is a cool mystery though, I don’t mind that they never explained it..
I’ve heard and one could give it some credence, it is theorized the Bomb did detonate with Jack et al perishing at that point in 1977. I think it is generally agreed upon last season’s events were played out in a Alt Universe/pseudo-reality (purgatory) including the sunken island. But the blast may have also opened a window. The “Through the Looking Glass” episode title may have served as a precursor metaphor for viewing a different universe or reality which would also be valid. And perhaps season 6 was indeed patterned after this different reality (if you want to keep events chronologically ordered, ie life then death; A universe in which Jack did have a son. Never to say the original timeline (we all enjoyed watching) was not valid. It was most likely the original time line, or at least I hope it was.