Widmore/Hawkins – Let down!
These two seemed to be so important in the story. I thought there mysterious ways would play a bigger part by the end, but it turns out they were rather pointless! Bit of a let down I think!
I mean, Widmore….why/how didhe know or at least understand that Desmond needed to go inside that electro ring thing sending him to the sidewaysville! Yeah the cop out is Jacob told him but he seemed to know much more and his death was pointless end to the character! He told MIB what he wanted to know but he apparently knew there was an afterlife so why did he fear pennies death from MIB????
Hawkins again is a leg down, all mysterious but no explanation of why, couldn’t been so much better for these two characters
I thought he was exposing Des to the EMR because he liked torturing him. I’m joking.
I think, this is one of those big – you will in the blanks situations. Good compilation to why Widmore did that. I originally thought it was simply one of his megalomaniacal maneuvers to control the world (not to say it wasn’t either).
LostAddict,
For Widmore, I couldn’t agree with you more..My favorite episode of Season 6 was “Happily Ever After”, and the main reason it was my favorite is because I thought it started to bring story elements together that might bring Lost to a fantastic ending.. Des seemed to be the key “package” that could communicate in both realities (the main timeline and the Alt) to the Lostie’s counterselves, and maybe somehow merge them together by bringing them out of one and into the other or awakening them or something..sadly that ended up being not true..
And then the part of the story I was soooooo dissapointed in, was one of the episodes after Happily Ever After, the one where Widmore and Zoe died.. I was thinking, at that moment when they were hiding in Ben’s house, something spectacular was going to happen. Just think; Zoe, a geophysicist that was brought to the island by Widmore, now knows where Ben’s smokey summoning waterhole is. I thought her and Widmore were going to crawl down that passage to the waterhole, Zoe was going to be like “We can use the unique geophysical properties in the water and do this etc…”.. But NO! Ben brings Flocke into Ben’s closet, and Widmore and Zoe were just standing there like they were 2 teenagers getting caught by their parents in the closet kissing.. And they both die in a matter of 30 seconds.. What a JOKE!!! For What?!!!!
Ok enough on that rant..
For Eloise Hawking, her part worked well, even though the Alternate reality was just a “world they created.” It’s interesting to think about all the other characters in the Alt that didnt go into the church; were they actually their real souls? Or just part of the “world they created”? For some of the characters, such as Keamy and Mikail, I think they weren’t real at all. Rouseau and Alex, I’d like to think they were real, and Ben would eventually awaken them.
For Mrs. Hawking, I believe she was very real; as real as those that went to the church. But she was using that “world” in order to keep her son for as long as possible. It makes sense; in the real world, she tried to keep things in line such as Daniel being a physicist, so that maybe Daniel could figure out a way to change things, so he could be alive (that’s what i believe). But now that everybody is dead, allow Daniel to pursue his desire to be a musician; physics would probably only reveal the world isn’t real I suppose!
So Mrs. Hawking was consistent in both worlds by trying to manuevar circumstances to make the best inside both worlds..
Maybe mentioned before but when DES was exposed to EMR with what we know now, he was having a Near Death experience. This of course meaning he was near death or dead during the experiment. The presentation was epic but the idea mundane. Plot comparison to the movie Flatliners.
hey wolfx,
I’m glad you brought this up. I struggled thinking through this before..
I actually don’t believe it was a “Near Death” experience, even though he actually was dead..
I believe it was just as real as any of his other flashes back and forth through time. He was brought forward in time, and because he was dead, he was in “the world they created.”
You may not disagree with this..This could be defined as “near death experience.” But my point is, the electromagnetism did in fact work and brought his consciousness forward in time. If he was brought to a point before his death, he would have woken up as an old man, for example…
Bob, I like your take on this. IE; Des time traveled forward to the point prior to or as of his death to be able to connect with the afterworld. I think this analysis would be more consistent with events if I understand correctly.
Now, should Widmore know this or was he probing for alt timelines or whatever?
@wolfx,
that’s an excellent question! I should have thought that through..
I believe Widmore and his team believed it was an Alternate timeline..Just as Desmond believed it was an Alternate timeline, until he couldn’t make it back when he unplugged the cork..that’s when he fully realized it and Jack also told him, there are no second chances to life.
The real purpose of it was, and this was a detail Jacob left out when he explained to Widmore; because they believed in it, they were no longer afraid of dying.
I know that’s kind of vague…I was writing out a huge answer and rambling on for an entire page.. I thought I’d just leave it at that..
Anybody else, thoughts? Wolfx, what do you think?
Looks like everyone else is on vacation!
If we want to say true to our argument it may be a stretch that Widmore thought Des would time travel to his death. Therefore he probably thought Des might be able to time travel say to the past and prevent the Smoke M from ever evolving or not letting 815 crash, etc.
wolfx, ya either they’re on vacation, or if they see any talk about afterlife they yawn and go to the next site 🙂
..yes, I agree, it would be a stretch for Widmore to think of traveling beyond death..so either an Alternate timeline or to the past; and in that line of thinking, Alternate timeline is a stretch too..
You’re absolutly correct Bob and thanks for the reality check ha..ha.
Oh my goodness, I think the obvious has been overlooked by everyone here!
After Desmond is locked inside the cage with the solenoid coils, Jin demands to know what is happening. Widmore replies that Desmond is the only person alive to ever survive a catastrophic EM event, and that he needs to know if he can do it again. Why? Because he knows that if Desmond can in fact survive the EM energy, he can be lowered safely into the Source to unplug the cork, as per instructions from Jacob.
It had nothing to do with the flash-sideways or near death anything; Widmore says it in plain English. It’s a test to see if Desmond can handle the EM energy.
Inquisitor, what?! I think there was a bigger purpose than just “surviving the EM energy”, although you’re right, Widmore did say Des is the only person known to survive it…
But being lowered into the Source and unplugging the cork was MIB’s idea to destroy the island, NOT Jacob’s instructions. I don’t believe Jacob ever gave instructions for that to happen..But Des figured he could do something more (they were leading us to believe)when he went into the source and experienced the EM energy again..
I’m eager to watch that episode again to see if Widmore said that Jacob told him to bring Des to the source and remove cork, I don’t believe that’s the case..
bobt, you’re correct in surmising that Widmore never said that is what Jacob told him to do with Desmond. However, he doesn’t say that he didn’t say it, either.
As far as I can remember, Widmore said that Jacob told Widmore to bring Desmond as a fail-safe. My thinking is that Jacob wanted Desmond to go into the Source; why else would Desmond’s ability be so important? Jacob knew Smokey came from the Source, and he knew anyone other than Desmond going into it would be killed or whatever. I’m not sure Jacob knew or thought he knew what Desmond could do once he was inside, but I think it’s kind of obvious that if you’re going to try and kill something like Smokey, you might as well head to where it all began.
Jacob tells Jack, Sawyer, Kate, and Hugo (What They Died For) that he does not know if Smokey can be killed or not. Jacob thinks Desmond is the fail-safe because he’s the only one that can safely go into the Source, and therefore the only one that can try whatever there is down there that may or may not do it. Smokey has the same idea for destroying the Island. Two different opinions about the results of one action. In a funny way, it did both.
@Inquisitor, sorry I meant to get back to you earlier..
What you’re saying could be correct, and it is the simplest explanation..that Widmore brought Des to the Island simply to withstand the electromagnetism at the light source..
I’m still not buying it though..
Just think of all that electromagnetic equipment at the Hydra; the coils, the box, the generator etc. Why do you think that was there in the first place? I believe the DI was testing it on…maybe…Polar Bears? Maybe humans too. My theory is, they were attempting to replicate what the Island’s energy did to people in the first place; and that is, it made their consciousness time travel, such as Desmond and Minkowski. They were probably attempting to do it at a smaller scale and a more controlled method..
So that is why I am hung up on this…I refuse to believe that generator and coils were there just to test people/animals to whether or not they survived electromagnetism..
One other thing; I can believe Widmore’s purpose and Jacob’s plan were different. Widmore brough Des so he could time/dimension travel, but Jacob’s only intention was so he could remove the cork…
Let’s face it: Lost can’t be explained or understood.