The consequences of the key...

[CurbFan]

Right, so, because of The Pearl Locke thinks that The Swan is a big experiment and that nothing will happen if he stops pressing the button (a very rare mistake on his part), when the counter goes past zero and The Swan starts shaking and what not Locke realized he was wrong. Desmond, having also realized that it's "all bloody real", uses the failsafe key and then we see the sky turning purple and there's the big noise, AKA The Discharge.

Now then, Kelvin made it quite clear that turning the key wasnt the best idea, even if it did get you away from pressing the button. Desmond obviously didnt want to turn the key but knew he had to, risking his own life, to save Locke and everyone else.

Since then, The Discharge has effected The Others communications, The Swan imploded and Desmond now has flashes of Charlie dying. Do you guys think those are the only consequences of Desmond turning the failsafe key? I hope it isn't. The hatch was a massive part of the story for one and half seasons, now that it's gone, Desmond seeing Charlie dying in flashes just isnt enough for me.

Also. Do you think Locke not pressing the button and The Swan doing whatever it would have done had Desmond not turned the key, would have been worse than Desmond turning the failsafe key? I'm guessing it must of been since Desmond risked his life to turn the key, but what do you think the consequences of just the button not being pushed would have been?

[The Smiley-Faced Balloon]

Not pushing the button would keep the electromagnetic anomaly growing: So it would eventually cause chaos throughout Earth. All sorts of things would have landed on the island, due to the Swan. I believe.

The key, as we know, wiped out The Others' communications.

I think Desmond's flashes will become more important yet, but it will still all centre around Charlie. What I think happened, by the way, is he went so far into the future, say, 48 hours from when he turned the key. This is from when he relived part of his past. Perhaps it wasn't meant to, but anyway. He saw Charlie die. This is where the course-correction kicks in, because if he saw Charlie die, but he didn't, he'll keep seeing it as it is the SAME EVENT e.g. on a timeline "Charlie Pace dies". It is a recurring error, until it's fixed. I don't know if I explained that. He saw the future, incorrectly, and now it has to keep replaying him the course-correction.

Bah, confusing.
We need to reinvestigate the Swan. Hopefully Penny's story will focus on it's significance more.

[CurbFan]

This is where the course-correction kicks in, because if he saw Charlie die, but he didn't, he'll keep seeing it as it is the SAME EVENT e.g. on a timeline "Charlie Pace dies". It is a recurring error, until it's fixed. I don't know if I explained that. He saw the future, incorrectly, and now it has to keep replaying him the course-correction.

Yes on the course correction and yes on him seeing the flashes of Charlie dying, but no on the error. I thought it was just simply he saw the future in a flash, in it Charlie dies, so he saves him, he gets another flashes and saves him again, thus messing with destiny or fate or whatever and so the universe will course correct until Charlie is dead. Unless you mean that the error is Desmond saving Charlie?

What did you mean by "He saw the future, incorrectly, and now it has to keep replaying him the course-correction." How was it incorrect? :confused:

[The Smiley-Faced Balloon]

He saw the future, in which Charlie died. But, he saved him. He keeps seeing Charlie die kind of as an update to the previous version, as this is how he will die this time. If there was a list of what he saw, e.g.:

Locke's speech
Charlie dying

He will keep seeing something until it unfolds in the present. It's hard to explain. He isn't seeing the flashes as it was destiny as such, but argh. I'll try and think of a way to explain my idea.

Back to your question, his flash was incorrect. Like the lightning: The lightning hit Charlie in the flash. In real life, it hit the rod. Thus incorrect. He will keep getting flashes until they agree with what happened in the present, thus be correct.

[PaulineMRoss]

Do you guys think those are the only consequences of Desmond turning the failsafe key? I hope it isn't. The hatch was a massive part of the story for one and half seasons, now that it's gone, Desmond seeing Charlie dying in flashes just isnt enough for me.

I like DiamondDog's theory (in the main forum, thread entitled 'A Crossing In Time') that the failsafe key has sent the whole island(s) back in time, but no one quite realises it yet. I'm sure there's more to the time thing than Desmond's flashes.


Also. Do you think Locke not pressing the button and The Swan doing whatever it would have done had Desmond not turned the key, would have been worse than Desmond turning the failsafe key? I'm guessing it must of been since Desmond risked his life to turn the key, but what do you think the consequences of just the button not being pushed would have been?

Interesting thought, which I've wondered about myself. The incident, maybe? The Dharma people must have known; now if only Locke hadn't blown up all those Dharma manuals in the Flame......

[CurbFan]

He saw the future, in which Charlie died. But, he saved him. He keeps seeing Charlie die kind of as an update to the previous version, as this is how he will die this time. If there was a list of what he saw, e.g.:

Locke's speech
Charlie dying

He will keep seeing something until it unfolds in the present. It's hard to explain. He isn't seeing the flashes as it was destiny as such, but argh. I'll try and think of a way to explain my idea.

Back to your question, his flash was incorrect. Like the lightning: The lightning hit Charlie in the flash. In real life, it hit the rod. Thus incorrect. He will keep getting flashes until they agree with what happened in the present, thus be correct.

Gonna have to disagree, the flashes arent incorrect, what happens in real life is incorrect because of Desmond intervening. The flashes are what should/will happen, but Desmond prevents it from happening, the next flash is of Charlie dying in a different way, Desmond again intervenes, the flashes will continue, each time showing Charlie dying in different ways, until Charlie does actually die and the universe is correct.

Pretty much like Final Destination only better.

[The Smiley-Faced Balloon]

Gonna have to disagree, the flashes arent incorrect, what happens in real life is incorrect because of Desmond intervening. The flashes are what should/will happen, but Desmond prevents it from happening, the next flash is of Charlie dying in a different way, Desmond again intervenes, the flashes will continue, each time showing Charlie dying in different ways, until Charlie does actually die and the universe is correct.

Erm, that's what I said. :confused: :confused: :confused:

Just expressed differently. I was meaning why it was showing only Charlie. If Des had run out in front of Locke and knocked him out, he would see a flash of the speech again.

[CurbFan]

Erm, that's what I said. :confused: :confused: :confused:


Wasn't aware I couldn't repeat something. ;)


I like DiamondDog's theory (in the main forum, thread entitled 'A Crossing In Time') that the failsafe key has sent the whole island(s) back in time, but no one quite realises it yet. I'm sure there's more to the time thing than Desmond's flashes.


Hmmm... but, why? That wouldn't really effect the island until they got off it and found out they'd only been gone two weeks or something.

[PaulineMRoss]

Hmmm... but, why? That wouldn't really effect the island until they got off it and found out they'd only been gone two weeks or something.

Well, DiamondDog's idea was that they have gone back decades, and that this has happened before, so the Others are actually the Losties (plus recruits), and Aaron grew up to be Ben, and Adam and Eve are two of the Losties. And this all fits pretty well with hints from the producers over time. It explains why the communications are down since the purple sky (the outside world doesn't yet have the technology for satellite links). It could explain Desmond's experiences. If the island was always slightly unstable time-wise, it could explain why it appears to be 'invisible' to the outside world most of the time. It's a neat idea, which explains a lot and hasn't yet been disproven.

But whether this particular theory is right or wrong, I'm convinced that time is the key to everything on the island.

[CurbFan]

Interesting, but I don't think it'll end up being the case.

[Addicted2LOST]

I really think that turning the key will have a larger impact then just what we have seen so far!

[The Smiley-Faced Balloon]

Well, no communication with the outside world is pretty big. But it will tie in with Penny a lot more yet- for good, bad, or both, I don't know...

[CurbFan]

I'm sure we'll find out soon. Although that's probably stating the obvious... We have a Des episode soon, so who knows.

[dharmachameleon]

Well, DiamondDog's idea was that they have gone back decades, and that this has happened before, so the Others are actually the Losties (plus recruits), and Aaron grew up to be Ben, and Adam and Eve are two of the Losties. And this all fits pretty well with hints from the producers over time. It explains why the communications are down since the purple sky (the outside world doesn't yet have the technology for satellite links). It could explain Desmond's experiences. If the island was always slightly unstable time-wise, it could explain why it appears to be 'invisible' to the outside world most of the time. It's a neat idea, which explains a lot and hasn't yet been disproven.

But whether this particular theory is right or wrong, I'm convinced that time is the key to everything on the island.

First I've heard of this theory as I avoid the main forum; and I like this theory a lot. Very interesting!