Just Some Big Questions Questions.

[The Boy Who Cried Worf]

There are a few things I have been debating that I don't quite understand so I am curious what the consensus of opinion is.

Was the flash-sideways a real alternate reality? When Jack's father explained what it was I assumed it was kind of a "spiritual collective consciousness" created by everyone in purgatory after they died rather than something that actually took place in the physical world.

The flash forward world was real though right? And the bomb did go off right? So what was the effect of the bomb going off? It wasn't what created the flash sideways reality. What reality was it when the island was under water?

Why did Eloise seem to know what was going on in the flash sideways? If my idea about the flash sideways was right than why would she discourage Desmond from finding everyone since that was the whole point for the existence of the flash sideways. And why did Desmond on the island know about the flash sideways world when that was part of the afterlife?

 

[RoJoHen]

There are a few things I have been debating that I don't quite understand so I am curious what the consensus of opinion is.

Was the flash-sideways a real alternate reality? When Jack's father explained what it was I assumed it was kind of a "spiritual collective consciousness" created by everyone in purgatory after they died rather than something that actually took place in the physical world.

It was some kind of afterlife, a holding area for them until they were all ready to move on. It did not take place in the physical world.

The flash forward world was real though right? And the bomb did go off right? So what was the effect of the bomb going off? It wasn't what created the flash sideways reality. What reality was it when the island was under water?

The flashforwards were absolutely real, and yes, the bomb went off. But when it did, it caused the Island to jump back to the present day. It did not create the flashsideways.

As for the underwater island, that is still up in the air. I have a theory, but mostly it was there to throw us off.

Why did Eloise seem to know what was going on in the flash sideways? If my idea about the flash sideways was right than why would she discourage Desmond from finding everyone since that was the whole point for the existence of the flash sideways. And why did Desmond on the island know about the flash sideways world when that was part of the afterlife?

Eloise didn't want her to take her son away. She felt guilty about having killed him, and she wanted to be with him in the afterlife. If Desmond had taken him away, they wouldn't be together again.

As for why Desmond was aware of the flashsideways, I really don't know. He's always been a time-traveler. Maybe he simply became aware of his own future, albeit a post-death future.

 

[DeafPoet]

Was the flash-sideways a real alternate reality? When Jack's father explained what it was I assumed it was kind of a "spiritual collective consciousness" created by everyone in purgatory after they died rather than something that actually took place in the physical world.

That's a pretty good description of what's going on.

The flash forward world was real though right? And the bomb did go off right?

Yes on both accounts.

So what was the effect of the bomb going off? It wasn't what created the flash sideways reality.

Jury's out on that one. At the very least the effect of the bomb was to throw every one back into 2007. I need to watch the season again but I'm not enirely convinced the bomb didn't have a hand in the sideways.

What reality was it when the island was under water?

Sideways.

Why did Eloise seem to know what was going on in the flash sideways?

The most reasonable explanation would be that she's already "woken up" and is aware of both realities when Desmond first meets her.

If my idea about the flash sideways was right than why would she discourage Desmond from finding everyone since that was the whole point for the existence of the flash sideways.

She's probably not omiescient. She thought they weren't ready to find out about their past lives. Desmond disagreed. Turns out he was right. There's also a good chance that she didn't want Desmond waking her son up fully, thus taking him away from her. "You mus stop this Desmond. It's a violation."

And why did Desmond on the island know about the flash sideways world when that was part of the afterlife?

Giant Fucking Magnets. And then he misinterpreted what the Giant Fucking Magnets showed him.

 

[Mallet]

I feel pretty sure that the bomb just pushed them forward in time (or Jacob pulled them forward in time just before it went off). It was always the Incident that had been talked about in past episodes. "Whatever happened, happened". They couldn't change the future, even by using the bomb to do it. All they did was cause the original Incident that we heard mention of in the Dharma videos.

I would assume being that close to the blast and the electromagnetic energy allowed Juliet to see her (after-life) future much like Desmond was able to see glimpses of the future after his use of the fail safe explosive device at the same location with the same energy source, years later.

 

[RoJoHen]

I would assume being that close to the blast and the electromagnetic energy allowed Juliet to see her (after-life) future much like Desmond was able to see glimpses of the future after his use of the fail safe explosive device at the same location with the same energy source, years later.

Indeed, this is my theory as well. For a brief moment, Juliet became unstuck in time, much like Desmond had been before.