THE AARON PROBLEM

If The End had a major flaw, it would have to center upon the awakening of Kate and Claire at the concert. Many in the Lost community called it "The Aaron Problem."

Now, many posters felt that children were treated on the whole badly throughout the Lost series. For example, plane survivors Emma and Zach were kidnapped by the Others and had no resolution of their plight at the end of the series. The whole story arc with Walt being "special" but having no consequence in the show's conclusion has left many viewers with a bad taste.

So, yes, everyone is in agreement that everyone in the church in The End are dead. Dead dead.

But what about Aaron?

The pro-enders believe that the "re-birth" of Aaron in the sideways world was necessary for Claire "to remember" her island life and her bond with now Egyptian eyeliner Charlie Pace. Except, Aaron was already "born" on the island. It makes no sense to have Aaron born in the dead realm to Claire unless:

a) Aaron, like the other children including sideways David (Jack's son) are just mere illusions or props;

b) Aaron was never truly "born" on the island;

c) the sideways world characters are separate entities living in a parallel dimension from that of the island world, meaning that events in one place had no effect on the other; or

d)  it was a major writing error in the finale.

We were told that Aaron was "alive" in Los Angeles, raised by Kate for three years. Then when Kate returned to the island, Aaron was given to his grandmother. So based upon that information, Aaron is no different than anyone else in the church - - - he was already born, living and breathing in the island world. We do not know when he "died" in the island world - - - whether he lived a brief, or a long life; with his own family, friends, children, grandchildren, etc.

But the sideways world pre-supposes the opposite. For if Christian's statement was true, these people were the most important people in their collective lives (including Aaron's) during their time on the island, which lasted initially about 100 days, then time split for three years, to re-converge for approximately 12 days after Ajira 316 landed on the Hydra Island. The 12 days also seems to coincide with the time line for the sideways events. Christian tied both worlds together so there is no evidence of parallel universes. There is no evidence that the sideways world was an "alternative" place in time or space, but merely a holding fantasy, for souls to remember and re-connect to people that allegedly meant the most to them in their previous existence.

In order to reconcile the condition of the island characters to their sideways doppelgangers, in order to be truly consistent and logical, if he truly lived a "real" life,  Aaron should have arrived at the church either as a three year old boy or an old man when his life ended in the non-sideways world. Everyone else in the church had their same island time line appearances.

Many people do not want to hear this explanation: that Aaron was "reincarnated" in the sideways world. If he was reincarnated as a new born in the sideways world, it means he had a horrible, non-existent "real world" life.

But most believe Aaron did have a life before dying. So how can he be in "two" places at once. (The Christian explanation of the sideways world having no time does not hold water if one believes that a person only has one soul, whether it be living or dead.) So if Aaron went through adulthood, his reward for living was becoming a new born infant in purgatory? Again, that makes no sense. And further, why would Aaron return to his mother as an infant, if she returned to him as a crazy person when Ajira left the island? It would seem Aaron's expected life would be just like poor John Locke's.

Then again, one could argue that this part of the sideways fantasy world was Claire's dream to be with Aaron always so she made him return as a fetus - - - but why, if she did leave the island and was reunited with her three year old son and her mother?

And if Aaron was reincarnated at the sideways concert, what about the rest of the characters? They were somehow also reincarnated into the sideways world.  And if the characters were reincarnated in one place (sideways), then it is just as logical that they could have been reincarnated in the other place (the island). Many fans abhor the idea that the characters were somehow "dead" from the beginning of the pilot episode and throughout the series. But why then, are those fans content with the same reasoning fashioned in the sideways world finale?

How Aaron was depicted in the series is a real series paradox.

Was he just a literary prop to add some tangent drama to a secondary character's story as part of a four season filler arc?

From the after life theorists, for Aaron to be "reborn" in the sideways finale, he would have had to have been killed on or before Flight 815 crashed on the island. One life; one soul.

How Aaron was used in the finale is one of massive contradiction. It raised more questions about the disregard of the first five season plot lines in favor of a final half season white wash sideways explanation to the conclude the characters lives. But Aaron's birth to his dead mother has no explanation in either the island or sideways time frames. It is really one of those plot points that still gnaws some viewers. Claire could have "awakened" in another fashion than using Aaron as a prop doll.