What Jughead Did…
First of all… I am aware that this theory is incomplete. It is really just the first idea that made sense to me after watching the finale… Having said that, I would really appreciate your input in either adding on to this theory or completely debunking it… your choice.
The question I am attempting to answer is this:
“So if Jughead didn’t create an alternate timeline, then what did the bomb do?”….
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 fail-safe, they connected the hydrogen bomb to a keyhole and gave the failsafe key to the button-pusher. But whoever turned the key would die because no one can survive the electro-magnetic pulse created by a hydrogen bomb…Â 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.”
hey mrmagic, welcome back! so glad you chimed in…this site has been ghostly silent lately, and I figure as time goes by it’ll only get worse, unless ABC/Disney puts something out new with Lost (spinoff movie or show)
about your theory; you’ve come up with some great thoughts.. I’ve heard similar theories, especially the part about the bomb not going off and it being the energy source Desmond released by turning failsafe…I have to disagree with your theory though, mainly because your assertion that if the bomb detonated in 1977 Chang and Radzinsky and all the other Dharma workers would have died..
I think just the opposite was true; once that drill tapped into the pocket of energy below the Swan, that’s when it got chaotic, and if something wasn’t done to counteract that energy; it would have been catastrophic. Remember the craziness of that Incident scene? How in the world could Chang and Radzinsky finish building the hatch with the computer to enter the numbers and build the failsafe with that drill hole pulling everything metal into it?!! Just think if it released it’s energy for another hour..So the bomb detonating in 1977 somehow negated the effects of that energy being released..
I know it sounds farfetched; but think of it as being two equal very powerful erergy releases but opposite in nature; implosion and explosion; and because they were almost equal and opposite; the result was zero destruction..
So here’s my theory: after Jughead blows in 1977, the ground rumbles and all the Losties are gone. Chang and Radzinsky and other Dharma people are left in 1977 to figure out what exactly happened..They could have just left the Swan site and never gone back, it was safe..just like the site was safe after Des turned Failsafe..
But Radzinsky couldn’t leave the Swan alone; it was his baby..The pocket eventually builds up energy again; Radzinsky isn’t just going to drill into it like he did last time; he’s going to be extra careful..
He builds the Swan and they’re able to expirement with the energy. But according to what we saw inside the Swan, such as the sealed bomb blast door and the computer to enter the numbers to discharge the energy every 108 minutes; something ELSE must have went wrong..
OK I’m going to stop there with my theorizing…Your theory about the bomb NOT detonating in 1977 does make sense in explaining nobody was hurt. I mean, even if it did detonate and it was completely negated by the Swan energy; Juliet was right there next to the bomb when it exploded! But then again, if what your saying is the bomb did detonate when Des turned the failsafe, Des wasn’t the only one to survive, remember? Locke, Ecko, and Charlie were down in the hatch when he turned the key too..
Ok enough for now…thanks again for chiming in…please comment back mrmagic, I’d love to keep this conversation goin’!
I like it! I bet the writers would as well. It “seals it in” effectively. Pun normally intended.
I like time lines, though. Personal preference.
As for the 108 minute thing Bob, Atomic time or clocks comes to mind which would reinforcing Mrmagic’s theory, i believe.
reinforce not reinforcing, wolfx.
Oh and I like the explosion/implosion theory. I too say Jughead detonated and this nicely explains why there was little residual damage. Once the losties completed their task, the island brought them back to the “present” to complete the rest of their work which was basically to get rid of the MIB for reasons beyond this discussion.
mrmagic522 – Just a question; why do you say we now know there was only one time line?