The Final Season - Mysteries

[Starbreaker]

Spoilers will be up to the current episode!

I've tried to compile a list of major unanswered questions. We can start checking them off as the episodes air!

1. What is the monster?
2. Who is Jacob?
3. Who is the Man in Black?
4. What's up with the numbers?
5. What's up with Desmond's time traveling?
6. What's up with the pregnancy issues on the island?
7. Who are the Adam and Eve skeletons?
8. What's up with Walt?
9. What's the final piece to Libby's backstory?
10. What's Claire up to?
11. What's up with the supply drop? (seems to have been dropped)
12. What does Ilana's team want?
13. What's in the Temple?

Help would be appreciated.. and no I'm not talking about stuff like: Does Kate choose Sawyer or Hurley?

And obviously the answer to "what happened after the bomb went off" will be answered in about a second

 

[Alidar Jarok]

Comments on some:

4. What's up with the numbers?

I think that's been answered for the most part either on the show or in the ARG (The Valenzeti Equation, I believe). In the show, they're numbers that were broadcasted (which caused Hurly's luck and Rousseau crashing on the island) and they had to be typed in to keep the energy pocket at bay. It doesn't really need more info, imo.

5. What's up with Desmond's time traveling?

He absorbed the TARDIS time vortex thingy. He got exposed to the island's time travel radiation. In show physics it was pretty much answered as soon as Farraday asked if he had been exposed to radiation. The only uncertainty, imo, is if Hawkins was real there.

6. What's up with the pregnancy issues on the island?

I hope they address that one. It's one that I don't think has been addressed.

7. Who are the Adam and Eve skeletons?

Hard to tell. My assumption was Rose and Bernard. Not easy to tell now. It could be the Others for all we know. Light and Dark was a theme then and I think is still one now. Whether or not they address the identity of those two, I'm not sure.

8. What's up with Walt?

I hope they answer it, but I'm not sure. They were setting up the idea of certain people being special, but all the other special people seem a bit more mundane these days (fate/coincidence/Jacob). Only Walt seems to have special powers. It could be Jacob using him. Whether or not they answer this depends on how much they want Big Walt involved.

9. What's the final piece to Libby's backstory?

They explained in the podcasts about this one:

Spoiler: Libby

Basically, when her husband died, she "went to a dark place" as she said and got committed to the mental hospital. They had considered doing an episode to explain this, but the actress didn't want to do it after they killed her off

11. What's up with the supply drop? (seems to have been dropped)

This is a weird one. Clearly, they were showed that the Initiative dropped supplies based on an order from the Flame. But, based on what we've seen, the Dharma Initiative doesn't know where the island is and can't drop it (if they still exist). I think they might just ignore this one in favor of moving the plot along, but we'll see.

These:

1. What is the monster?
2. Who is Jacob?
3. Who is the Man in Black?
10. What's Claire up to?
12. What does Ilana's team want?
13. What's in the Temple?

I think will be answered either as integral to the main point of the series or simply necessary for the plot (Kate is trying to find Claire, so we will likely find out what she's up to. Ilana and the Temple will likely be revealed by the plot progression. Jacob, the Man in Black, and the Monster all seem tied up with the answer of the island).

 

[bigdaddy]

I think the food drops were just to explain why a certain character never lsot any weight.

 

[Starbreaker]

I also wonder if the time dilation involved with the island may have caused a 30 year old food drop to suddenly appear.

Spoiler: Libby

Since she is reappearing this season, I wonder if they have something else planned

 

[Luckyflux]

The numbers also appeared on the Hatch and the vaccine that Desmond was taking. I don't think that was ever explained.

Is the "Hurley Bird" a mystery that needs explaining? I can't recall if it was ever mentioned.

I would like to know about the box that made whatever you wished for to appear.

What happened to Cindy?

What happened to the kids?

 

[Stone_Cold_Sisko]

I also wonder if the time dilation involved with the island may have caused a 30 year old food drop to suddenly appear.

I hope that's the answer because it makes a weird twisted cool kind of sense that this food drop from the 1970s found its way there, complete with cheesy 70s brands and Dharma logos on everything. DHARMA pancake mix!!! DHARMA STRING CHEESE! DHARMA seems to be more or less extinct (Lamppost on the real world is abandoned).

 

[Stone_Cold_Sisko]

Comments on some:

4. What's up with the numbers?

I think that's been answered for the most part either on the show or in the ARG (The Valenzeti Equation, I believe). In the show, they're numbers that were broadcasted (which caused Hurly's luck and Rousseau crashing on the island) and they had to be typed in to keep the energy pocket at bay. It doesn't really need more info, imo.
.

I suspect the episode last season where Miles and Hurley visited the Swan site and saw the numbers being stamped into the hatch WERE the explanation. They were a random serial number DHARMA put on the hatch. And because the computer was in that hatch, they were required to (or just chose to) use those same numbers, and the innoculations were that hatch, they needed the numbers as identification of which hatch they were in... etc.

I do think they need to elaborate a little bit on why they were being broadcast. There were some hints that i might actually be Hurley's voice broadcasting them (from, I think, the episode in which we saw Danielle's crew meet Jin), makes me wonder if that was another intended time loop, Hurley somehow broadcasts them and is responsible for all the stuff. If that was the actor's voice (i'm not so sure) it speaks to what might have been an aborted plot where Hurley recorded them while in DHARMA-ville.

 

[RoJoHen]

Well, we know who the Smoke Monster is...

My question is: where is his home, and why does he want to go back? Also, why has he not been able to go home before? Part of me fears that he will turn out to be an alien and that the island is his spaceship.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

Please be careful about uncoded spoilers

 

[RoJoHen]

Eh? The first line of the thread says "spoilers will be up to the current episode."

 

[sidious618]

I think a new question is how terrifying will Terry O'Quinn be as the man in black?

 

[Starbreaker]

He creeped me out in the Stepfather movies, so I can only imagine.

 

[Hober Mallow]

I also wonder if the time dilation involved with the island may have caused a 30 year old food drop to suddenly appear.

They should have had an episode last season in which Horace complains to Sawyer, "How does a food drop just disappear in mid-air?!"

The biggest question I have is who was that in Jacob's cabin in "Man Behind the Curtain?" It couldn't have been Smokey, because Smokey was out causing trouble already, and it wasn't Jacob according to Ilana. Whoever it was, he was trapped inside the ash circle around the cabin. That suggests Smokey, but we know that's not the case. So who was it?

The numbers may not get a concrete explanation, but according to recent spoilers, they're going to be showing up again. Possibly

Spoiler: the numbers

on the list that Jacob hid inside the ankh. According to a recent spoiler, it's a list of names. The Losties find their names next to certain numbers we're all familiar with.

 

[Velocity]

what is going to be the horrible result now that Claire is not raising Aaron?

 

[Morpheus 02]

what is going to be the horrible result now that Claire is not raising Aaron?

The original warning included that Aaron should "not be raised by another.", though i interpret it as Aaron should not be raised by "an Other". So i think if that part is not fulfilled...that's the issue.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

Yeah, but it also said that Aaron needed the positive influence of his mother. Unless you completely ignore everything else and the context (and the fact that no one but Rousseau called them others at that point) it doesn't make sense.

 

[LitmusDragon]

The biggest question I have is who was that in Jacob's cabin in "Man Behind the Curtain?" It couldn't have been Smokey, because Smokey was out causing trouble already, and it wasn't Jacob according to Ilana. Whoever it was, he was trapped inside the ash circle around the cabin. That suggests Smokey, but we know that's not the case. So who was it?

This was touched on in the enhanced version of LA X last night (transcript here).

The ash is used as a protective barrier
to keep the smoke monster out.
Ash was also used around Jacob's cabin
as seen in the Season 3 episode
"The Man Behind the Curtain."
But Ilana and her team
discovered the circle of ash had been broken
which allowed the smoke monster
to take over the cabin.

This doesn't necessarily confirm if it was smokey in the cabin in Man Behind the Curtain, but it does suggest it.

 

[Hunter X]

Spoilers will be up to the current episode!

I've tried to compile a list of major unanswered questions. We can start checking them off as the episodes air!

1. What is the monster?
2. Who is Jacob?
3. Who is the Man in Black?
4. What's up with the numbers?
5. What's up with Desmond's time traveling?
6. What's up with the pregnancy issues on the island?
7. Who are the Adam and Eve skeletons?
8. What's up with Walt?
9. What's the final piece to Libby's backstory?
10. What's Claire up to?
11. What's up with the supply drop? (seems to have been dropped)
12. What does Ilana's team want?
13. What's in the Temple?

Help would be appreciated.. and no I'm not talking about stuff like: Does Kate choose Sawyer or Hurley?

And obviously the answer to "what happened after the bomb went off" will be answered in about a second

I had the same idea for this thread and foolishly wrote it up in Word before seeing if anyone else had done it. Seeing as I tried to think of every mystery the show has presented, including the trivial ones (to me at least), like Kate choosing between Jack and Sawyer, it ended up being fairly comprehensive. So if you don't mind, I'll throw it out below so it doesn't go to waste.

The italicized questions are the ones I feel have been answered already. If anyone wants to argue that a particular question isn't actually answered satisfactorily...well, the forum needs some more life in it.

Oh, and I divided them up by season, since I thought it'd also be fun to reminisce on the mysteries we speculated on in previous years and have long been answered. It was pretty surprising to me to see how many of the foundational mysteries of the show, ones that still haven't been fully explained, originated in season one.

Season One
--Why did the plane crash?
--What’s the monster?
--“Where are we?” (Charlie)
--How is the Island undiscovered in this day and age?
--Who is the French woman?
--Where did the Polar Bears come from?
--Why was the plane off course?
--What did Kate do?
--Will Sayid and Nadia—the girl in his picture—end up together?
--Are Boone and Shannon really brother and sister? They seem flirty.
--Is Rose’s husband really dead?
--What happened to all the hair-brushes (that’s for Temis)
--What happened to Christian’s body?
--What’s up with Ghost Christian?
--What’s up with the infection?
--What’s up with the whispers?
--Who are Adam and Eve?
--How did Locke get in the wheel chair?
--How/why did the island heal Locke?
--Who is the real Sawyer? Will James ever get his revenge?
--What’s so special about Walt?
--What was Jin really doing for Sun’s father? Is he a hit-man?”
--What’s in the hatch?
--Who is Ethan?
--Who are the Others?
--What’s Ethan’s fascination with Claire about?
--Why does Aaron have to be raised by Claire?
--What happened to Claire when she was kidnapped by Ethan?
--What’s the Black Rock?
--What’s up with the Nigerian Drug Plane?
--Where’s Rousseau’s signal transmitting from?
--What does the cable on the beach connect to?
--What happened to Alex and will Rousseau ever see her again?
--Who will Kate end up with: James or Jack?
--What’s up with the numbers?
--Who torched the raft?
--Why do the Others kidnap Walt?
--How did the Black Rock end up in the middle of the Island?

Season Two
--Who is Desmond?
--What is the Dharma Initiative? Where did they go?
--Is the button real?
--What’s up with the hiroglyphics?
--Why do the Others kidnap children?
--What’s up with the lists?
--Why do the Others kidnap most of the Tail-Section Survivors?
--What’s the story behind Rose and Bernard?
--What happened to Michael after he ran into the jungle?
--What’s up with the line the Others tell the survivors not to cross?
--What does Jack plan on doing with his army?
--Where did the parachute of Dharma food come from?
--Why was Libby in the same mental institute as Hurley?
--Did Sun cheat on Jin?
--Will Sun ever find out it was Charlie who dragged her through the jungle, at Sawyer’s behest?
--Is Henry Gale an Other?
--What’s the story behind the real Henry Gale?
--What’s up with the invisible map Locke sees?
--How many hatches are there?
--Why does Dr. Candle change his name between orientation videos?
--How did Dr. Candle lose his arm?
--Will Desmond and Penny ever end up together again?
--What happened to Locke, Eko and Desmond after the Hatch imploded?
--Why to the Others want Jack, Kate and Sawyer?
--What’s the deal with the four-toed foot?
--Did Michael and Walt get off the Island for real? Why did they have to follow such a specific heading?

Season Three
--Is Juliet completely in league with Ben or is she doing her own thing?
--How do the Others come and go from the Island?
--What’s Room 23?
--Who’s the eye-patch guy seen in the camera in the Pearl Station?
--What’s the story behind Ben?
--Who is Jacob?
--Is Sawyer’s daughter important at all to the story?
--Why do pregnant women on the Island die?
--Who is the old woman Desmond met in his trip back in time?
--Is Charlie really going to die?
--What’s up with Ben’s “Magic Box”?
--How did Locke’s Dad end up on the Island?
--Why do the Others think Locke is so special?
--What was that in Jacob’s Cabin? Why does he need “help”?
--Why is there ash around the cabin?
--Did Ben really see someone there or was he faking it?
--Why does Richard never age?
--What’s the temple?
--Will Jack find out Claire is his half-sister?
--Who is Sun’s baby-daddy?
--Will Sun survive the pregnancy?
--Is the Flight 815 found on the bottom of the ocean real?
--What’s Naomi’s agenda?
--What’s the freighter’s agenda? Will they really try to kill everyone?
--Who does Kate have to get back home to in the flash-forward?
--Who’s in the coffin?

Season Four
--Who are the members of the Oceanic Six?
--How do the Six get off the Island?
--Why does Kate have Aaron?
--Is Jin really dead?
--What’s up with Hurley seeing and talking to dead people now?
--Why was Daniel crying when he saw the 815 footage?
--What’s up with the time-experiments Daniel performs?
--Why are people on the Freighter going crazy?
--What’s Widmore’s significance to the Island? What’s his rivalry with Ben about?
--How did Ben get off the Island in the flash-forwards?
--How is Desmond Daniel’s Constant?
--Why did Richard appear periodically in Locke’s life?
--Why did Jack get sick with appendicitis when the Island heals?
--What’s up with the Frozen Donkey Wheel? How does it work?
--Why does Claire tell Kate not to bring Aaron to the Island in the flash-forwards?
--How did Locke die in the flash-forwards?
--What happened to Claire/why did she wander off with Christian and leave Aaron?
--What happened to those left behind on the Island?
--How are the Six going to get back?

Season Five
--Who is trying to get Aaron from Kate?
--When will Sun and Jin reunite?
--What exactly is Richard’s role with the Others?
--Why was the Six’s return necessary to the survival of the seemingly happy survivors?
--What role does the Island still have in store for Desmond?
--What’s the deal with Eloise?
--How did Ben oust Charles as the leader of the Others?
--What’s the deal with Ilana and the other Ajira passengers with her?
--Can you really change the future, or is it set, as Daniel says?
--Who is the Man in Black?
--Is he the same as the Smoke Monster and faux-Locke?
--What’s his relationship to Jacob?
--What was the significance of Jacob’s visits to the characters?
--What happened when the bomb went off?

Season Six
--Did the X timeline come about because of the bomb or something else?
--How will it intersect with the timeline we know?
--How did the Island sink in the X timeline?
--Why is Desmond on the plane with a wedding ring, then disappears?
--How do faux-Locke and Richard know each other?
--Who are these new Others at the Temple and what do they want with the survivors?
--What does is mean that Jin could be “one of them”?
--What does it mean that Sayid and Claire have been “claimed”?

 

[Mallet]

Good list.

-Not that it's been confirmed, but I always figured Jack got appendicitis and wasn't healed by the Island because he was going against the Island's(or Jacob's or The MIB's?) wishes. He was going to radio the ship and bring other people to the island. very bad people. Jack, of course, didn't know they were bad, but the Island(or Jacob or the MIB) was trying to stop him from doing it.

-Maybe the Other took all the hair brushes to do DNA and genetic tests on the survivors?

-We also know why the Other's kidnapped Walt. He was special and apart from that the Kidnapped all of the children. I guess children are "innocent".

-As for the four toed foot, we now know it was a base of a giant statue of T-something, an Egyptian god that only had four toes on each foot.

-How is Desmond Daniel's constant? We'll your constant is someone who knows you in both time frames that you are jumping through. Daniel knew Desmond from both the past (when time traveling Desmond visited him) and the present (on the island). So Desmond could be Daniels constant.

There might be more I will comment on, but it's late right now.

 

[RoJoHen]

Something that just popped in my head: Will we see an Alternate Universe version of Danielle and Alex?