12

In order to probe for more meaning in the Series, this post postulates working the Numbers in order to see if something falls from the creative tree.

The Numbers: 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42.
The Numbers were the winning picks for Hurley's cursed lottery ticket.
The Numbers were the SOS signal that Hurley's mental patient friend heard in the Pacific.
The Numbers were assigned by Jacob to his candidates.
The Numbers were used to control the electromagnetic discharge.

One of the themes of the show was time. Time was an important plot and action device to move characters into twisting situations.

Time is best represented by a clock face.

If the Numbers were the first part of a code, then using clock face we can try to find hidden information. If we start at 4 then add 8 we get to 12 (circled). If we add the next Number, 15, and count through the dial we land, we land at 3 (circled). If we continue this addition around the clock we land on 6, 7 and 12 again.

If the Numbers now lead us to another set of numbers (as codes often do), what does 3, 6, 7 and 12 represent?

If we go to the lighthouse candidate dial, there begins some speculative answers.

The Number 3 does not appear in the records. Neither does Number 6 or 7. If we use this set to represent people, the first thing that came to mind was the island's first "known" family.  The Number 3 could represent "Crazy Mother." Numbers 6 and 7 could represent Jacob and his brother who were born on the island. Crazy Mother killed their Roman mother in order to have company and a successor for her island guardianship.

But then who is 12?

In the lighthouse dial, the name FOSTER appears, struck out.
There was no known character with the surname Foster in the series.
But since this code has 12 doubled in occurrences, 12 must have important significance.

The word "foster" means to encourage, promote, nourish. It comes from the English word for feed, nourish. It also has a reference to "bring up another" as in being a foster parent or guardian. In English surname ancestry, the name Foster means forester, or forest ranger, a person in charge of the hunting territories.

One can make the supposition that the Number 12 represents a guardian, and in the context of the island, the island's natural guardian. It is possible that Crazy Mother was the third successor island guardian, and Numbers 4 and 5 could have been Jacob's parents who were killed prior to assuming the office or title.

Foster does impact on Jacob's childhood. Crazy Mother was actually his foster mother, not his birth mother. She raised him to become the island's new guardian. This fostering for an orphan or an abandoned child is the centerpiece of Locke's back story.

In the episode, "Cabin Fever," Locke's story starts with his mother, Emily, going out to see that older man, Cooper. Against her mother's wishes, Emily storms out to meet her boyfriend, but she is struck by an automobile. She is rushed to the the rural hospital where it is found that she is pregnant. Against all odds and 1950s medical technology, her child, Locke,  is born premature. Witnessing the miracle baby from the observation window is Richard Alpert. Alpert would return to visit Locke as a child, giving him the object test to determine his character for island leadership. Locke apparently picks the wrong item, and Alpert leaves disappointed in Locke's choice.

By this time, Locke has bounced around between foster homes. In his current situation, his foster sister, Melissa, does not like him. She disrupts his board game pieces. Locke is very unhappy with his situation. But when his foster sister Jeannie dies, a golden retriever appears at the house then takes residence in Jeannie's room. Locke sees the dog as a person, the spirit of Jeannie. Once Jeannie's mother passes, the dog vanishes.

Dogs play important roles in modern society. Dogs show unconditional love, support and companionship to human beings. Dogs provide protection and comfort to people. Dogs help people, especially young children, caring, nourishment, responsibility and play.

Dogs are also powerful symbols.

Dog is a symbol for companion and guardian. In a positive light they are a symbol of loyal, faithful, honesty and willing to fight injustice.

The dog is seen as a powerful symbol of loyalty, intelligence and vigilance. As a descendant from the Asiatic Wolf man’s relationships with dogs goes back over 40,000 years and then it was the 11th sign of the Zodiac where it represented symbols both positive and negative.

In some ancient civilizations the Dog was a symbol of the underworld. In Egypt, the guardian of the dead was Anubis who was a dog-headed god. The jackal portrayed as black was the symbol of both death and regeneration.

The Dog’s quality made it associated to a guardian and therefore the protector of souls that entered the underworld. Its ability see well in the dark makes it a symbol of instinctive knowledge and the Greeks, North American Indians and Romans were said to associate Anubis with a star (Sirius) and called it a dog star.

Additionally, in ancient Mexico, the dog was buried with human sacrifice so that it could guide it to the hereafter while in ancient Scottish legend the green dog of the fairy world was believed to drive nursing mothers into the hills so as to provide milk for the fairy creatures.

It is important to connect the massive amount of ancient Egyptian symbolism in the LOST mythology.  Many believe that the time and resources to create these backgrounds, symbols and messages were important background clues to the island mysteries and the overall series premise.

And what did Crazy Mother tell Jacob about the light cave? It was the source for life, death, and re-birth. Anubis, the dog god of ancient Egypt was the symbol of death and regeneration (or rebirth). These stories fit perfectly like adjacent puzzle pieces.

The Number 12 must represent Anubis, as the guardian of life, death, the protector of souls, and the underworld's agent of regeneration in the after life. As the guardian of the underworld, this means that the island is a portal or intermediate stage along the journey from life, death and rebirth. That is why Crazy Mother and Jacob sought to protect it from outsiders like Widmore who had evil intentions.

As a way station between the living and the dead, it does not mean the main characters were "dead" on the island - - - they may have been caught between the two worlds. A person's candidacy to  immortality ends with their death; but to become the guardian, one needs to "accept their death" in order to be reborn. This could be what the series creators were asking in their big questions: what is life? what is death?

To assume such a powerful and important role, a viable candidate would need the compelling traits of a dog: loyalty, faithful, honest, willing to fight injustice, protect others, be vigilant, and nourish other people. The two successor guardians, Jack and Hurley, had those qualities.

The island guardians may be the gatekeepers, like the ferrymen on the River Styx, and not actually the heir to Anubis' throne. The island ordeals may have been the tests of who was worthy of the role of helping others in their journey to the next level of existence.

And this makes more sense when you realize that the last character "to awaken" to take the next step was Jack. On the island, he was the leader who rallied the survivors into a community. He continues to put himself behind the needs of other people. He helped, counseled, treated and risked his own life for them. In the sideways world, he was the last person in the church to realize what had happened to them. That they were now dead and ready for the next stage. His friends in the church greeted him warmly. Jack sat in the first pew, almost in a daze that "the most important people" in his life created the ending so they could stay together, forever.

And this parallels Jack's final moments on the island. For it is Walt's dog, Vincent, who comes from the jungle to lie next to Jack. Recall, it was Vincent who first awoke Jack after Flight 815 crashed on the island. It was Vincent's interaction with Jack that set Jack on the path to the beach, and into the chaos of helping all of the survivors - - -  without any judgment.

Some may doubt the importance of Vincent as a character. Vincent was in the jungle, he heard a whistle from Christian Shephard, who we would learn was the human manifestation of the smoke monster. We presume that there were two smoke monsters on the island: Jacob and MIB as being the two immortal beings. It called Vincent over and told him to go wake up "his son." That is not a true statement, unless you use it in the context of being a foster parent.  As Vincent ran off towards Jack to do this, Christian stated that Jack "had work to do." One could use those statements to indicate that this Christian form was in fact Jacob, who brought "his candidates" to the island to play a game with MIB.

But that opens the possibility that Vincent was the manifestation of MIB, taking the command from Jacob to start a "new" game. But there is a more plausible explanation - - - that Vincent was not MIB but a higher power in disguise. A higher power more important than Jacob, in a role that would not shine any light of suspicion or concern on the island hierarchy.

The final link in this decoding of the Numbers shows that Vincent is Anubis. Vincent found Jack in the bamboo clearing and led him to his flock of lost souls. In turn, it was Jack who guided the decisions for the survivors to find salvation. Vincent was present to observe all of the island tests. In a quiet way, Vincent also helped push the characters into finding clues or messages when he would "get lost" and search parties had to go and find him. It was in these searches that the characters began to bond which would be an important factor in facing the long journey and island trials. What better way to get people to do what they need to do by nudging them along instead of commanding them to so something?

And the symbolism of new numbers embodies the qualities of the family unit: mother, father, children. Parents are present to foster, nourish and develop their children into good human beings. Children are present to explore a new world, challenge it, learn about it, find their values and principles, to create purpose and understanding to their lives . . . . then repeat the process of creation.
 
Anubis creates new family units for the island over the eons on time. As society has developed from small tribes of hunter-gatherers into modern technology advanced families, Anubis recognizes and supports the concept of "foster" families to help lost souls find deep and meaningful relationships in life. And his foster families can include misfits, outcasts, cripples, criminals, the mentally weak, lonely and rebellious. . .  the main characters on the show.

TIME NUMBER

What is the most important Number in Time?

That question popped into my head while I was looking at a large public wall clock.

I saw the line between 12 and the 6 and started doing simple math: 12 minus 6 equals 6.

Then I mentally drew lines around the clock face:

11 -5 = 6
10-4 = 6
9-3 = 6
8 -2 = 6
7-1 = 6.

I concluded that 6 was a key number in time.

A minute is 60 seconds; an hour 60 minutes and a tenth (our current counting system) of an minute is .6.

Time was a major theme in LOST. In one aspect, Time had trapped Jacob and his brother on the island. Time was frozen for thousands of years based upon the people brought to the island. Jacob and his brother were then also brought to the island as candidates by Crazy Mother.

Who was the Number 6 candidate in the Lighthouse?

Jensen.

But his name was stricken.

What does Jensen mean?

The name Jensen is a Scandinavian baby name. Its meaning is from: Hebrew John 'Jehovah has been gracious; has shown favor.

In Numerology, the name Jensen is tied to these attributes: 

SOUL: 

People with this name have a deep inner desire to use their abilities in leadership, and to have personal independence. They would rather focus on large, important issues, and delegate the details. 

EXPRESSION: People with this name tend to be a powerful force to all whose lives they touch. They are capable, charismatic leaders who often undertake large endeavors with great success. They value truth, justice, and discipline, and may be quick-tempered with those who do not. If they fail to develop their potential, they may become impractical and rigid. 

There was a character who showed leadership ability with a strong sense of personal independence to leave his brother and his mother. He had a single focus on a large concept that there was something bigger and better away from the island; home. He helped the survivors try to harness the energy of the island to find a way home. He was quick tempered when his plans were thwarted, because he was rigid in his mission and ideals. 

That man was Jacob's brother.

We were never told his name. But it could have been Jensen based upon the attributes of the Number 6, the number tied to Time itself, something that MIB was desperately trying to release so he could become mortal and go home.

CANDIDATE FORMULA

What did it really take to be a candidate?

If we start the basic premise that the Island was divided by both Jacob and MIB, then we have one part of the formula. Jacob and MIB appeared to have a distant rivalry for control over the island. It was such a long rivalry, that it became a mere game to them. A game which may have had the ultimate ending of both of them ceasing to exist.

Jacob was the person who brought people to the island.
MIB was the person who challenged the candidates to determine if they would corrupt themselves.
But at the same time, Jacob was also manipulating people on the island - - - including the Others who apparently worshipped him.

As events played out on the Island, the candidates were divided by the Others (through kidnapping, deals, and deaths).

So a basic formula emerges:

If we examine this further, how did the story events play out? How did a new guardian emerge from all of the candidates. Both Jacob and MIB had to be eliminated from the equation. To do so, the formula would be reworked to form

CANDIDATE x (JACOB + MIB) = ISLAND x OTHERS

If Jacob and MIB were eliminated to zero, then NOTHING equals the Islands and Others.

But what if Jacob and MIB merged into "one" as two halves of an Egyptian soul in the underworld, then the formula turns to work out as

CANDIDATE = ISLAND x OTHERS.

For a candidate to succeed Jacob or MIB, he or she would need both the factors of the Island and the Others. A candidate cannot guard nothing, so the island must remain a physical place that contains displaced people.

Then we get to a similar vein with Hurley's guardianship. If Hurley and Ben take the place of Jacob and MIB in the equation, then we they become "one," in death, then a new candidate becomes a guardian.

REBOOT: FINAL 4

Now that the reruns have concluded on cable, and the madness of March will soon be upon us, it is time to look back what fans thought were the key issues, comments or direction LOST was heading in the final four episodes. The commentary is based on views expressed right after the broadcast in the LOST community blogs that I haunted:

THE CANDIDATE

This should have been the launch pad for the neat tie up of the series. But instead, it led to some harsh comments on the show's direction.

1. The treatment of children and parenting was a hot button. When Sun was trapped in the submarine, she never used their daughter, Ji Yeon, as a reason for Jin to save himself. They never thought that Jin saving himself for the sake of their daughter was important. Many viewers saw this as a major character flaw. It was a stupid and illogical that newborn parents would not have any strong bond with their only child. There appeared to be a total lack of parental instincts, common sense and the value of human life as the series wound down.

2. The submarine aspects of the show drove fans up the sea wall. Granted, it was a television show, but one that TPTB claimed to have crafted super-intelligently, but could not hold water. People observed the obvious and significant issues with the scene:

A. The sub was located inside a harbor. It would take several minutes to leave the harbor to get into open water to dive.

B.  Within a minute after diving, Jack finds a bomb below deck which meant that the submarine was not at any deep depth. Realistically, it should have still been on the surface in the harbor. The camera angle on the sub was level; this was not a "crash dive" but a normal one. Normal dive can be at most 50 feet per minute. Based on the sequence of events, the sub was probably less than 20 feet below the surface with more than 3 minutes left on the bomb clock (i.e. plenty of time to surface).

C. Submarines fixtures are all built in structures. A cabinet coming loose and trapping Sun was highly unrealistic. In addition, Sun being pinned by wall pipes meant that she had to wedge herself behind them before the explosion. Really? She did that?

D. Sayid taking the ticking bomb down the hallway, but not shutting the blast door was dumb, too. Submarines are built to be water proof segments. Besides, the bomb blast down the ship hall would not have dislodged the cabinets and pipes to trap Sun.

If they were trying to re-create the Looking Glass death scene, the set-up for Charlie's death was more believable than the Jin-Sun tragedy.

3. Many people observed the unbelievable inconsistency in the vague explanation and motivation of Flocke. First he said he needed all the 815ers to leave "with him." Then he needed to kill them all. Then he needed to kill all the candidates.

If Flocke needs all of the candidates to die in order for him to leave the Island, then why didn't he just let Widmore's mortar bombs kill the candidates? Zoe came over to the camp and threatened to bomb the camp if Flock didn't return Desmond? Why didn't Flocke just let her bomb the camp? He had all the candidates there except for Jin (and Jin might not even be a candidate - he had Sun which gave him a 50/50 chance of possibly having ALL the candidates in one place at the same time).
The missed opportunities for Flocke to kill off the candidates was unreal. With the sonic fences off, couldn't MIB as Smokey have easily killed Widmore and his entire group during the bear cage scene? 
When Zoe and Widmore's gang came to ask for Desmond back why they weren't all just "Smokied" right there. Certainly would have weakened Widmore's position and given MIB free reign to finish what he started.



4. The whole explosive nature of blowing up the plane to stop Flocke from leaving had one big story line hole: If Richard and Ben had stable Dharma C4 at the barracks, there was no reason for Ilana's crew go get the dangerous and unstable Black Rock dynamite. So no matter what any character said afterward, Ilana's death had no meaning or purpose. But it did follow a dark theme as the series was winding down: the shows turned into more of a human hunt than character development.

5. There were creeping major concerns about what we would find out about the island. Fused with that concern was the open question of what the sideways world meant, if anything, to the resolution of the island story. I disliked the sideways world then because I thought it is a last season crutch to be probably used as "an out" to not explain the mysteries that have piled up in the previous five seasons.

For the first five seasons, the island world could have been classified either as a) real, b) real people in a different realm, c) the after life, or d) something else (dreams, mind control).

By adding the sideways story arc, as its own contained and separate universe, the classification of the island world to the final story resolution multiplied the confusion. There is now at least 16 possible explanations of the saga (example, island world is (d) mind control in the sideways (a) real world; or island world is (c) after life test of redemption to pass on to (a)/(c) a "new life" in the sideways world.)

The idea of a "multi-universe" explanation was received with tepid remorse like old theories such as
815 flies through the electromagnetic burst which causes all sleeping passengers to have a collective dream/nightmare; and they "die" on the island by "waking up."

Many fans commented on another dilemma, the EM quandary. Typically in other television shows, a magical particle/energy substance had been used as a device to jump to alternate universes. If the island EM was used as a portal between universes, why was Widmore so keen on taking control of it? If Widmore is "amped" on getting this thing to work then he is in knowlege of an Alt uni. If that's the case, which one of the universes is he trying to "jump" to, or who is he wanting to "jump" where to do what? He was rich and powerful in both universes. Both universes were self contained and the characters functioning independently of the other universe.

A device such as an "EM field" is frequently used to keep things in, or keep things out.
So several people raised a big question:  What is Widmore's ultimate purpose for the home-made Stargate looking thing that buzzes or chars people but leaves bunnies unharmed? And that is another critical flaw in the story: the EM properties are inconsistent from season to season.

6. There was a growing angst that the series might not end well. Commentators did not want the show to be about  the after life, or  something else like dreams or a mind control experiment.  TPTB have been so adamant for so long about rejecting both options that they would lose all credibility to pull either of those rabbits out of the hat at the end of the series.

The mythology of the show had to be crystalized in order to attain full acceptance. But as the creative force behind the series, Darlton viewed the show as primarily about the characters and their arc of redemption. The idea of having the characters already dead, or in some sort of Bob Newhart-Bobby Ewing extended dream sequence destroys the reality of everything that has occurred over the first five seasons. Fans wanted to have confirmation that the events of the first five seasons were actual "real" events in the Lost universe. Any ending had to accomodate that premise and not dilute the viewer and character investment in what has already happened.

7. The beginning of the Big Why? questions. 

Why is there an EM breach? (Is this the portal between the parallel universes that needs to be capped?)
Why are humans brought to the island if the EM science is beyond their knowledge and technological skills? (Are tasty human souls the real food for Smokey?)
Why would the guardians treat their island mission (holding back the breach) as a game?
Why did several characters say "the Island isn't done with you yet."
Why did/does the island move in time?
Why are there "rules" which some people know (or think they know) but we, as viewers, don't know?
Why is the vague explanation "whatever happened happened" so important in the island universe?
Why is Widmore so important to the island's survival?


8. There was a growing concern about the relationship between the island and sideways stories.
Most critical was question "why are the two worlds time shifted?"


The sideways world is set in 2004.

The island world is currently in 2007.

If a single universe, looping on itself:
How could sideways Desmond, Charlie or Faraday "pull" memories from the island future, if their present was already changed in past?

If parallel universes:
How could sideways Desmond, Charlie or Faraday "pull" memories from the island future, when there is no "overlap" in both worlds to act as a portal? (the island in sideways 2004 is underwater, so no of the 815ers are there to start any process of change).

Some commentators responded that what happened in one universe,  did not happen in the other. It is relative. Only a person's consciousness would pass from time line to time line. However, the debate went on: that was a paradoxical point: there is no need for consciousness to move from one dimension to the other if the parallel universes are already self-contained, separate time lines. The island incident did not reboot a single time line/universe because apparently the island time line still exists in 2007. There is no evidence that the island incident created the sideways universe. A paradox is a statement or proposition that, despite sound (or apparently sound) reasoning from acceptable premises, leads to a conclusion that seems senseless, logically unacceptable, or self-contradictory.

Many fans thought he sideways universe was created long before "the incident," and  long before Flight 815.The two time lines co-exist but the mystical forces that are unexplained on the island allow certain individuals that are on the island to transcend the other time-line on a consciousness level. Memories of an alternate life are uploaded with the help of a special catalyst. Some thought Desmond was that catalyst.

Others cited the example of the Steven King story, the Langoliers. In that story, ten sleeping passengers on an airplane awake to find that all their fellow passengers and crew missing. An off-duty pilot lands the plane at a deserted airport where nothing inhabits this dead world except for monsters who devour people who are lazy or waste time. The characters come to realize that they have gone through a time rip, and try to find a way back to their own time and world.

Viewers began to doubt which time line was "real" or most significant: the island or the sideways. Trying to logically deduce which time line was correct was hard. The flashbacks and sideways being part of the same time line because key character differences, like Desmond knowing Penny before the island events in the flashbacks. However, if the island events are the "fake" time line, that is probably the worst possible story line because many viewers had invested five years in it.

Many fans hated and loathed the idea of the sideways universe was being "projected" as a reward universe for those who made deals with MIB. That made little sense, since the show that started off with survival of a plane crash on an mysterious island searching for rescue as its main plot, is turning into one massive human hunt by MIB. It did not seem MIB/Smokey cared about anyone but itself.


So The Candidate episode did not quell many anxieties in the show's final direction.