A LOST mystery that may not be as crucial as others, but would be extremely satisfying to know, is how the island was discovered by civilization in the first place. Like most LOST mysteries, we have been fed lots of little morsels of data to chew on until the episode where the story is wrapped up in a nice neat package (hopefully). So far none of the island clues really link together as far as we know at this point, although many imaginary connections can be made with what we've been given. I'm tired of doing that though, and would like TPTB to fill us in on how the island was discovered -- either by the DI, or by the long lost Magnus Hanso leaving his secret to his family, or whatever, by whomever. Apparently the indigenous inhabitants were there for a long time (and they might have an "arrival" of sorts as well in their own past which could be interesting) before hapless travelers like the Black Rock crashed there. The details of time in between the slave ship "landing" in the jungle and the DI's approach are blank. Even in Hanso's speech to the new DHARMA recruits, when he talks about where they are to do their research, he goes from speaking of "the facility" to "the island" with no connecting details. It would have been so nice if he would have said, "The facility at which you will be conducting your important research is located on a secret uncharted island that was handed down to me by my forefathers, and is known only to myself, the De Groots, and now you." Oh well.
So TPTB, how about it? How was the island "discovered" in the first place? Like the saying goes, "Enquiring minds want to know."
P.S. Since Season 1 of LOST (even before TLE resurrected Verne's Jup [Joop] the orangutan) this show reminded me of the 1960s movie "Mysterious Island", and continues to do so as it moves along. That's not a bad thing, Verne's story was due for a well done remake for this century and I am enjoying TPTB's efforts and homage of sorts to one of my favorite scifi/fantasy writers. :-) See the wiki entry for comparisons:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mysterious_Island
18 comments:
Shipwreck..blackrock. =]]] That's my guess.
Me too CF. And somehow, Great Grampa Hanso (who was maybe on the ship according to TLE I think) got word to his family that it was there, etc. But, I could surely be wrong. :-)
Maybe we'll find out something about the island's past history at "The Temple". :)
Oh man, Maven, I have super-huge hopes and dreams for The Temple!
:-O
This are great questions, ones that have been bugging me as well!
Here's my theory: Whatever anomaly exists on the island causes ships, planes, balloons, etc. to be stranded there. Because of this, it just sort of naturally collects people throughout history. It collected an ancient culture (possibly Egyptian, as hinted on the Blu-Ray DVD for the third season), the Black Rock, Rousseau's team, the Nigerian plane, flight 815, and probably many other unknown folks. Some of these people are chosen by the island/Cerberus/Jacob, others are left to their own devices. The followers of the island invariably wind up having to kill the other inhabitants.
But the big question is, how did Alvar Hanso know about the island? The info about the Black Rock presented in TLE seems to imply the ship and Magnus Hanso just disappeared. If this isn't true, then I'd guess the answer is most certainly that ol' Magnus kept the island as a family secret. If it is true, I think what happened is that Alvar went searching for his legendary long-lost grandfather, and wound up discovering the island. This brought the outside world to the island in a big way.
I'm thinking along the same lines, PAA. Throughout time the island could have been somehow "sucking" people and vessels into itself, and stranding them.
The big question then is, which one of them was able to get away to tell someone else in the world about it? Say, if Grampa Magnus was on the Black Rock, how did he get back to Europe to tell his secret to his family? It's not like he could have just phoned them, back then :-) If there were other ships with the Black Rock at the time, they could go back and tell that at such-and-such a measurement on the earth, this weird thing happened and the Black Rock disappeared. Then Alvar could have set off to find the anomaly of legend and gotten lucky and found the island and the ship.
It's beginning to make me feel that there is a kind of Bermuda Triangle thing going on here. Maybe TPTB are sort of posing a possibilty that in the Bermuda Triangle there is actually an island there in the middle of the anomaly, that we can't see, unless we get trapped in it. And then the rest of the world can't see us, but we are there, on the island that can't be seen, inside the anomaly. ????
I'm a big fan of the Atlantis and Mu theories to explain the 4-toed statue and temple area.
Then I think people are brought there over time through the creation of spontaneous portals, probably storm related, which eventually DI managed to control and which the Others also learned to control and controlled at least until the destruction of the control room of The Looking Glass.
My guess in terms of how Alvar found the place is that Alpert or someone like him managed to travel through a portal to Denmark in order to find Magnus' family. Maybe he went to extort money or some other nefarious intent. Maybe he went as a favor to Magnus for example to fulfill a dying wish.
I'm guessing this is something that we will know the answer to by the end of the series by seeing certain things happen and more likely by being told by DL and CC in a podcast or a DVD extra or an ABC special "Now That You Watched All of LOST, WTH Happened?"
I like the idea of Richard acting on Magnus' behalf on a mission to connect with his family, Memphish! I would like to see a Lemuria conntection also, something like that would make the explanation a bit easier for them I think.
And I also very much like the idea of a final wrap-up episode. Heheh, I imagine that if TPTB don't come thru on all the Qs by the end, there will be a bigger outcry from the fans than when they pulled Nikki and Paulo out of their...uh...hats. :o)
Here's the thing: We don't know if people were ever able to leave the island before DHARMA showed up. The answer to that question will answer a whole slew of others.
Too true! Heheh, it might be that you can just sail away from the island every time that the earth does its natural periodic magnetic shift. That happens every, what, 100,000 years or so? But that would make Richard pretty dang old. :o)
I'm guessing Hanso and his technology allowed people to willingly discover the island, as opposed to merely being stranded there. That might have significantly changed things.
Im not sure that I understand what you mean PAA.
Sorry! I was being obscure. What I mean is that it's possible that people have been stranded there throughout history, unable to leave the island once they arrive. No contact with the outside world, no going home ever again, nothing. But then Hanso and DHARMA show up, and become the first people to be able to come and go as they please. This would significantly change the island's relationship with the outside world.
Great post, I've been thinking about this stuff for a while.
I'm surprised that there isn't a more diverse group on this island. I mean over the years there would have been, Egyptians, Samoans, Hawaiians, Spanish Galleons, British Frigates, maybe even Japanese fishing vessels caught by the island.
If people don't age or age slowly, there should be plenty of people of genetic diversity in the population. UNLESS, no one can on island can breed and the islands current population is really not that old, Maybe a couple hundred years (extends life, but not forever).
Still, It would take a pretty large workforce to build both a Temple with columns and erect a giant statue (four toes).
Another thing bugging me is that there are no recent, last 60 years, big shipwrecks. There was a world war in the pacific that had lots of warships, subs, planes, etc. cruising all over the Pacific Ocean, how come none of these ever stumbled on the island by accident?
as far as the Bermuda triangle theory? It would be really cool to see "Flight 19" crashed in the jungle.
Much to ponder...
Heheh, and I was being obtuse PAA. :o) Now I get what you were saying, and I agree, I bet that's what it's going to be.
Seriously Hatchling, that's a good question! Maybe we will see evidence of other groups (dead remains if not alive), since TPTB keep saying that there are many more groups of people that are, or have been, on the island. Maybe the Hostiles are actually a mix of all the people who have crashed and survived, plus the aborignials.
It would be funny to see a WWII Japanese soldier running out of the jungle at the Losties, not knowing that the war was over.
Capcom,
Looks like we were on the same page and didn't realize it! As for what you said about the Hostiles being a mix of natives and various people plucked from other groups that once existed on the island, I think that's pretty much it. We don't even really know what "natives" even means . . . is anyone actually indigenous to the island, or do the Others require new arrivals in order to replenish their society? Oh, and funny what you said about the Japanese soldier. You just might like this project I'm working on. (Please don't sue me, I swear I didn't steal the idea from you!)
Capcom said:It would be funny to see a WWII Japanese soldier running out of the jungle at the Losties, not knowing that the war was over.
This would prove the Gilligan Island theory.
Good thing that I wasn't drinking anything when I read that Memphish! I would be cleaning off the keyboard. :-D
Sounds interesting PAA!
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