I know that many were expecting solid explanations from the last episode of Lost and were disappointed to getting at best only spiritual and metaphysical answers and more questions. After some thinking and remembering past episodes, I came to some theories that attempts to explain the island’s anomalies.
From a scientific point of view the island has unique electromagnetic (UEM) properties with its main source coming from the well as seen in “The End” and “Across the Sea” these UEMs are subterranean with another pocket or artery contained under the Hatch.
The UEMs have many properties and effects, in addition to emitting powerful EMPs (which is what brought down Flight 815). The UEMs affect the magnetic field directly around the island to the point that it’s nearly impossible to regularly navigate to the island (and difficult to locate). The UEMs also rip apart the local space/time continuum as seen with the time flashes in Season 5. However the time flashes are dangerous after prolonged exposure to organic tissue (seen throughout Season 5 as Sawyer’s group begun suffering ill effects from all the flashes). The tears in the space/time continuum can also provide teleportation as seen with Jack and the MIB winding up outside the well and Locke and Ben being transported by turning the donkey wheel. Also the UEMs affect organic tissue in several ways either directly or indirectly.
Direct exposure to the UEMs is lethal (this could be what actually killed Juliet since she was close to the UEM pocket in the future site of the Hatch in“The Incident.”) and the reason why Desmond was immune could be because he might’ve been slowly inoculated to its effects from all the years he spent in the Hatch pressing those keys. Remember that the Hatch provided some shielding from the UEM but a prolonged stay in the Hatch will probably expose someone to the UEM regardless. However, Desmond wasn’t fully immune to the well’s UEM, even though he was able to pull the cork you could see that he was being harmed from the direct exposure
The UEMs in the well are far more potent, which is why Desmond suffered ill effects despite being “immune” as well as Jack, though I think being a designated protector offers some kind of inoculation (for all we know that is why the ceremony of drinking the water by the well is important, with the water being so close to the well it could have residual UEM in small amounts that gives the protector some protection as well as giving the protector beneficial side effects, such as an enhanced life span). By not drinking the water the MIB was killed when he was thrown down the well in “Across the Sea.” The cadavers seen by Desmond are further proof that the well and its UEM are deadly. Perhaps others, maybe Widmore’s people tried going into the well and were killed. This explains why Widmore wanted to capture Desmond and use him as a weapon.
One beneficial side effect on people that have close or direct exposure could be the ability to glimpse the afterlife or at least the “way station” reality the characters occupied in “The End.” Juliet, Jack and Desmond were able to experience their afterlives as they were exposed to the UEMs. As for the MIB turning up dead outside the well and at the same time turning into the Smoke Monster, I think that since he wasn’t inoculated by the water (yes a sudden inoculation by Jack and Hurley is dramatic license) and died the UEMs affected his dying mind and separated his consciousness from his body. The conscious was transformed by the UEMs into sentient black smoke. This could largely be due to the MIB’s state of mind and this could be why no smoke emerged from the well after Jack died. On the other hand maybe since he didn’t immediately die and was away from the well when he passed away the well’s UEMs weren’t able to separate and transform his consciousness. When the cork was pulled out by Desmond the UEMs were dispersed and I think that it weakened a link of sorts between the MIB and the well and he wasn’t able to derive power from the well. Being that he was in human form when the cork was pulled out, the MIB became fully human and was thus vulnerable. So while the cork kept the UEMs in check and protected the world it was also the source of the MIBs power and sentience.
One mistake that Faraday and Jack made was in thinking that the UEM pocket located under the Hatch was the main source of all the electromagnetic anomalies. The nuke they dropped only triggered a time flash (and this could also be what killed Juliet since she was so close to the explosion and the source of the time flash) and its doubtful that Juliet would be able to trigger a nuclear explosion just by banging on the canister with a rock. Most likely she probably set off what for all intents and purposes could be a dirty bomb, dangerous of course but containable and the explosion broke open the pocket of UEMs underground in that site. And all they did was ensure that the Hatch be built to insulate the radiation and the now exposed UEMs in that site. On the other hand the nuke may have gone off but the UEMs absorbed it completely and instantly before the blast could have its expected effect but it still probably triggered the time flash.
This is probably why Jacob wanted to keep the cork in place, which to me looked like it was made out of some kind of ore metal, perhaps it was an extremely rare metal only found on the island that was able to counteract the UEMs’ properties. Once the cork is removed the released UEMs will probably have a runaway cascade effect not just on the island but in the world itself. If left unchecked all the released UEMs would probably tear apart the Earth, as they cause geologic havoc (seen as the island suffered devastating earthquakes in “The End”), flood radiation and EMPs everywhere in addition to massive and chaotic time flashes on a worldwide scale.
From a scientific point of view the island has unique electromagnetic (UEM) properties with its main source coming from the well as seen in “The End” and “Across the Sea” these UEMs are subterranean with another pocket or artery contained under the Hatch.
The UEMs have many properties and effects, in addition to emitting powerful EMPs (which is what brought down Flight 815). The UEMs affect the magnetic field directly around the island to the point that it’s nearly impossible to regularly navigate to the island (and difficult to locate). The UEMs also rip apart the local space/time continuum as seen with the time flashes in Season 5. However the time flashes are dangerous after prolonged exposure to organic tissue (seen throughout Season 5 as Sawyer’s group begun suffering ill effects from all the flashes). The tears in the space/time continuum can also provide teleportation as seen with Jack and the MIB winding up outside the well and Locke and Ben being transported by turning the donkey wheel. Also the UEMs affect organic tissue in several ways either directly or indirectly.
Direct exposure to the UEMs is lethal (this could be what actually killed Juliet since she was close to the UEM pocket in the future site of the Hatch in“The Incident.”) and the reason why Desmond was immune could be because he might’ve been slowly inoculated to its effects from all the years he spent in the Hatch pressing those keys. Remember that the Hatch provided some shielding from the UEM but a prolonged stay in the Hatch will probably expose someone to the UEM regardless. However, Desmond wasn’t fully immune to the well’s UEM, even though he was able to pull the cork you could see that he was being harmed from the direct exposure
The UEMs in the well are far more potent, which is why Desmond suffered ill effects despite being “immune” as well as Jack, though I think being a designated protector offers some kind of inoculation (for all we know that is why the ceremony of drinking the water by the well is important, with the water being so close to the well it could have residual UEM in small amounts that gives the protector some protection as well as giving the protector beneficial side effects, such as an enhanced life span). By not drinking the water the MIB was killed when he was thrown down the well in “Across the Sea.” The cadavers seen by Desmond are further proof that the well and its UEM are deadly. Perhaps others, maybe Widmore’s people tried going into the well and were killed. This explains why Widmore wanted to capture Desmond and use him as a weapon.
One beneficial side effect on people that have close or direct exposure could be the ability to glimpse the afterlife or at least the “way station” reality the characters occupied in “The End.” Juliet, Jack and Desmond were able to experience their afterlives as they were exposed to the UEMs. As for the MIB turning up dead outside the well and at the same time turning into the Smoke Monster, I think that since he wasn’t inoculated by the water (yes a sudden inoculation by Jack and Hurley is dramatic license) and died the UEMs affected his dying mind and separated his consciousness from his body. The conscious was transformed by the UEMs into sentient black smoke. This could largely be due to the MIB’s state of mind and this could be why no smoke emerged from the well after Jack died. On the other hand maybe since he didn’t immediately die and was away from the well when he passed away the well’s UEMs weren’t able to separate and transform his consciousness. When the cork was pulled out by Desmond the UEMs were dispersed and I think that it weakened a link of sorts between the MIB and the well and he wasn’t able to derive power from the well. Being that he was in human form when the cork was pulled out, the MIB became fully human and was thus vulnerable. So while the cork kept the UEMs in check and protected the world it was also the source of the MIBs power and sentience.
One mistake that Faraday and Jack made was in thinking that the UEM pocket located under the Hatch was the main source of all the electromagnetic anomalies. The nuke they dropped only triggered a time flash (and this could also be what killed Juliet since she was so close to the explosion and the source of the time flash) and its doubtful that Juliet would be able to trigger a nuclear explosion just by banging on the canister with a rock. Most likely she probably set off what for all intents and purposes could be a dirty bomb, dangerous of course but containable and the explosion broke open the pocket of UEMs underground in that site. And all they did was ensure that the Hatch be built to insulate the radiation and the now exposed UEMs in that site. On the other hand the nuke may have gone off but the UEMs absorbed it completely and instantly before the blast could have its expected effect but it still probably triggered the time flash.
This is probably why Jacob wanted to keep the cork in place, which to me looked like it was made out of some kind of ore metal, perhaps it was an extremely rare metal only found on the island that was able to counteract the UEMs’ properties. Once the cork is removed the released UEMs will probably have a runaway cascade effect not just on the island but in the world itself. If left unchecked all the released UEMs would probably tear apart the Earth, as they cause geologic havoc (seen as the island suffered devastating earthquakes in “The End”), flood radiation and EMPs everywhere in addition to massive and chaotic time flashes on a worldwide scale.
