What we didn’t see (yet) - The Rumble at the Radio Tower
+5 13 Votes
Rate it:
By Dharmacist
- What we didn’t see (yet) - The Rumble at the Radio Tower
- Created: Jun 4, 2007
- Last updated: Aug 13, 2008
- After episode: 3.22: Through The Looking Glass
- Status: Current
- Flag this theory:
Whether it is through via a dedicated episode or through weeks of smaller flashbacks, we will no doubt be finding out (in addition to filling in the almost three-year gap between rescue and Jack’s ode to Jim Morrison lifestyle change) what transpired on the island after Jack placed the call to Naomi’s freighter friends waiting near the island. So what did happen, and how does it affect events and situations reflected in the ‘flash-forward’ part of the finale as well as people and events we have not yet seen?
I believe that when we (the viewers) are taken back to the island after Jack makes the satellite call to the ‘rescuers’ we will see a battle worthy of a season finale but Lost fans will be getting it in the season four premiere.
Flash-forwarding aside, the finale of Lost showed the inhabitants of the island spread out in various locations. Ben had instructed Richard and the Others who weren’t sent out on the beach raid to retreat to the temple. He (Ben) left with Alex to head off to their surprise rendezvous with the flight 815 survivors. Desmond was in the underwater hatch, jaw still on the cold, metal floor from finding out that his parachutist and her pals on the nearby freighter weren’t sent by Penny Widmore after all. Juliet, Sawyer and Hurley, along with the shooters (Jin, Bernard and Sayid) were still on the beach. The ‘rescuers’ had the coordinates and were on their way to the island.
I think we’ll find out that all of these various groups of people came together in very short order after Jack’s call was placed. Think about it this way….
Desmond, realizing that he has potentially endangered the lives of his friends by being tricked into thinking that Naomi had been sent by Penny, will make use of the scuba gear he’s found and get back to the surface as soon as possible. He’ll make his way to the beach where he’ll encounter Sayid, Sawyer, Jin, Bernard, Juliet and Hurley to tell them what’s going on. They will grab their weapons as well as those belonging to the Others who were slain in the beach showdown and advance as quickly as possible towards the radio tower. Elsewhere, Richard (already troubled by Ben’s methods and actions) has decided to ignore Ben’s order to take everyone to the temple. Instead, he and another group of armed Others make their way to the radio tower as well. We also see more dialogue among Jack, Ben, Locke and the rest of the flight 815 survivors. Ben tries again to explain to Jack what is about to unfold, but still Jack doesn’t believe him. However, as soon as the ‘rescuers’ arrive, it is obvious to everyone that Ben’s fear and desperation were justified.
What we end up witnessing is a united front, with the Others and the flight 815 survivors working together to obliterate the sinister ‘rescuers’ who have invaded. Ultimately, these outsiders are defeated, but there are losses on both sides, including Juliet, Ben’s one hope for finding a solution to bringing new human life to the island. Worse yet, Jack has gone from hero and fearless leader to the man who brought hell to the island. He may have been a leader to the other survivors, but he (like many of them) has always had his mind on doing whatever he could to get off of that island. After the battle at the radio tower, Richard is prepared to do just that. As a matter of fact, he wants Jack to leave the island after everything that has happened, and so his single-minded focus and determination won’t bring more unwanted visitors to the island. But there are conditions….
Anyone who wants to leave will be taken to another island to be ‘found’ and subsequently rescued. However, they must never speak of the other island, its people (e.g., the Others) or those flight 815 survivors who chose to stay behind. Jack, Kate, Sun and Jin, Claire and Aaron, and Desmond all leave. Sun and Jin can’t chance having their child on the island now that they know what happens to pregnant women there. Claire doesn’t want to raise her baby on an island. Desmond wants to get back to Penny, and Jack and Kate plan to start a relationship when they get back.
I believe that Rose, Bernard, Locke, Rousseau, Sawyer, Sayid, Alex, Hurley and the surviving Others (including Richard) stay behind. Rose never wanted to leave anyway. Locke is going to lead the Others. Rousseau already stated that she was staying. Sawyer, even knowing that Kate could be pregnant with his child, will be typical Sawyer and drive Kate away by saying something cruel. Sayid will choose to stay to join the Others in fighting off any new invaders or those who will come there looking for the other people from Naomi’s freighter. Hurley’s luck was crap after he won the lottery. He’s a hero on the island after saving Jin, Sawyer, Juliet, Bernard and Sayid.
Some other aspects of the plot could go either way. Richard could banish Ben off of the island along with Jack, and I believed this for a while (especially after the coffin theories started to pop up), I believe Ben remained on the island. Further, the invasion by Naomi’s people may even make Ben’s actions seem somewhat justified. Besides, he can supposedly communicate with Jacob, so that alone would make him relevant to Richard and the rest of the Others.
There are the questions surrounding Jack’s mention of his father as if he were alive and kicking in the flash-forward sequence, as well as Kate’s mysterious lack of incarceration. I think jaz’s theory does a lot to explain this, but there is also the possibility that we are over analyzing. First, Jack was pretty hammered. Even though almost three years have passed since the crash (linearly speaking, of course), Jack’s obsession with returning to the island keeps him tethered mentally and emotionally to 2004 when the plane went down….when his father been alive just 12 or 13 weeks before his life changing satellite phone call to Naomi’s freighter. I state this skeptically because he did have a prescription pad with his father’s name on it….something that one might not just find lying around three years later. Regarding Kate, the only alternative scenario (outside of the various time-related theories) I can think of is that Richard (remember, he seems to be able to make just about anything happen) was able to grant her immunity or have ‘new evidence’ emerge which exonerated her in exchange for her keeping he mouth shut about the island. She and Jack start anew after being rescued, but Jack carries a huge weight on his shoulders. He is haunted by the ghosts of those who died as a result of his phone call, including Juliet. He understands the island’s importance and his place on it. He is obsessed with finding his way back. This being the case, there is no room in his heart and mind for Kate. Consequently, she leaves him and moves on. This would explain why they live in the same city, had a ‘usual place’ at the airport, etc. When Kate mentions the “….he will wonder where I am” she could be talking about a new boyfriend or husband in her life, or she could be talking about her three-year old son whose biological father is Sawyer. Yes, the kid would be young, but entirely old enough to notice their mom not being at home.
John Latham (or Lantham) was Michael. This would explain the part in the obituary which mentions him being survived by a teenage son. He and Walt did indeed make it away from the island, but like the other survivors who Richard allowed to leave, Michael had made a promise to Ben to assume this new identity and to speak to no one about the island or what had happened there. Like Jack, Michael could never really leave the island mentally, and he also carried the guilt of killing fellow passengers and selling out the rest of them to get off the island. He sees Jack on the news after he is rescued and secretly contacts him. I think back to that scene from the movie Jacob’s Ladder when Tim Robbins and one of his former fellow vets are talking about what happened in the war. Robbins has found these people who are haunted by these ghosts and horrific memories just as he is. Anyway, that’s how I see the conversation with Jack and Michael (John, whatever)….like two war vets with some severe PTSD who have to face the guilt and despair alone. Jack still despises him for what he did, be he also now identifies with him. John (a.k.a. Michael) has a son to protect and for fear of Richard doing something to him he refuses to help Jack get back to the island, so Jack knows he has to go it alone. Still though, he secretly holds out hope that Michael will change his mind. Once Jack reads the obituary though, he knows that there is no hope of this happening, causing him further distress.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the pond, Desmond and Penny are together but the presence of her powerful father still looms large. In time, they both discover that her father is connected to the sinister folks on the freighter. He knows about the island. Though it could mean never seeing each other again, they know that Desmond must get back to the island to help. But Desmond knows that he needs a natural leader to help. Desmond will prove to be the key to Jack getting back to the island. And he will appear to Jack much in the same way that he did the first time they met. Jack’s life was in turmoil, he had driven away the woman he loved. Michael’s son Walt may play a role in this too since he seems to have the same ‘time-hopping’ talents as Desmond, and also since he appeared to Locke as a noticeably older boy, a fact that the writers stated had significance and would be explained at some point down the road.
I apologize for the lengthy, stream-of-consciousness style of theorizing, but it’s easy to get lost (honestly, no pun intended) in all of the theories, characters, mysteries, etc.
Key characters
| Short Name | Full Name | Episodes | Theories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Desmond | Desmond David Hume | 2.23, 3.17, 4.5 | 853 |
| Hurley | Hugo “Hurley” Reyes | 2.18, 2.4, 1.18, 4.1, 4.12 | 556 |
| Jack | Jack Shephard | 1.1, 1.5, 2.11, 1.11, 1.16, 1.20, 3.9, 3.22, 3.1, 4.10, 4.12, & 3” href=”/episodes/theres-no-place-home-parts-2-3/”>4.13 | 1451 |
| Kate | Katherine “Kate” Austen | 3.6, 1.2, 1.3, 2.9, 1.12, 1.16, 1.22, 3.15, 4.4, 4.12 | 711 |
| Sawyer | James “Sawyer” Ford | 3.4, 2.3, 2.6, 2.13, 1.16, 3.10 | 451 |
Key episodes
| # | Title | Aired | Central character | Theories |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.22 | Through The Looking Glass | 5-23-2007 | Jack | 1251 |
| 3.21 | Greatest Hits | 5-16-2007 | Charlie | 171 |
So Richard is just going to change his mind after the blood bath? Not a very grand way of “being rescued” is it?
Plus Rose never says she doesn’t want to get off the island. She just doesn’t want to waste her time obsessing over finding a way off. She’d been given a second chance with the disappearance of her cancer, and she wants to live it in the fullest and not waste time obsessing. I know that doesn’t really crack your theory but I think that’s better insight into Rose’s character.
This is a very lucid and likely prediction. I think you interpret the narrative incredibly well here. You could get a job writing for the show.
If this isn’t what happens, it should be what happens!
What blood bath? You mean the proposed battle at the radio tower? I think a lot of people probably end up changing their minds about a lot of things if that happens. Some may start to understand why Ben wanted to prevent Jack from making that call. The enemy will no longer be the Others (to the survivors) or the survivors (to the Others).
Richard (with the help of Dharma insider Ben) was able to easily handle the Dharma people, but the flight 815 survivors have proven to be a much more formidable foe. Together (and alone), they have caused the deaths of several Others. They have brought all kinds of trouble to the island. They know the location of several of the hatches. They are resourceful and dangerous, and will obviously go to great lengths to leave. Richard, Ben and the Others are (theoretically) safer without Jack, Kate and Desmond there. Naomi had a picture of Desmond with her, which means that (whatever his significance to Naomi and her crew) they are in danger of invasion as long as he is on the island. If they want off of the island this badly, it is time to make it happen. Besides, Ben had long ago promised Jack he could leave the island.
Thanks for the clarification on Rose too. It’s been a while since I’ve seen that episode, so I obviously remembered her words differently that they actually were.
I think you cover many of the possible outcomes, some of which have been mentioned by others, but not put in quite so well a narrative form as you have it here. Well done!
That said… anything could happen. :-)
this theorie kinda makes sense.
good idea. that could most possibly work. but after the writers read it they will change. =) lol
You make some very interesting points! Nice post.
hope the writers dont find this theory…lol…lol….i totally dig it… anyone remember the mention of “Misottel” on the show ..its an anagram for “lost time” maybe might explain why Walt looks older.
there won’t be a war until last episode of season 4, instead, jack, kate and a few other people will get on the boat and be rescued while the others plus the losties hide in the forest.
jack will find the island and come back, and then the battle against the people that discovered the island will arise, and the losties with the others will gain control of the island at last.
then almost everybody will have to find a new way to come back to the real world (season 5 and 6) and a few others will sit back and enjoy the island through eternity…
nice
I think that it might not totally play out exactly like this, but I can see most of it happening. The part I agree with the most is Penny’s father’s involvement with the ‘rescue’ and Desmond’s role of getting people back on the island. Naomi was carrying a pic of Desmond for some reason. Des will come up huge like he usually does. Not too many people take notice to the fact that Desmond might be the most important character in the show.
Whew–-rather verbose aren’t we! Your hypothesis is intriguing except where you said, “Richard (already troubled by Ben’s methods and actions) has decided to ignore Ben’s order to take everyone to the temple.”
Though we haven’t seen it yet the “temple” is at the heart of the island’s secret–-it is too important not to protect it and Richard certainly knows that. Ben, Richard, and Jacob are the three characters that know how to use the temple’s advanced technology except Jacob was the one who had an industrial accident and wound up between dimensions of sorts.
Ah yes… I’d wanted to make a similar point about the temple, Blackspeare. But I guess we’ll see! :-)
I think your versions is impressive and very, very plausible. I would make one minor change which is that I don’t think Jack & Kate would get together for the same reasons you state as breaking them up—Jack being too obsessed with what happened on the island. His behavior with Kate, though, was reminiscent of his behavior toward Sarah after they separated so you may be right.
Blackspeare, I like what you said about Jacob. I’ve been thinking this as well—especially after seeing Spidey III, I wondered if a similar industrial accident (the incident?) was responsible for Jacob’s condition.
Great theory, although I am questioning the coffin occupant being Michael even with the knowledge of the teenage son.
My feeling is that Jack would by no means be so upset as to jump off that bridge. Were it not for the accident - he would have.
I don’t buy into the theories that Jack is so riddled with guilt, or empathetic towards Michael, that he decides to commit suicide. It simply doesn’t equate into something plausible.
Who is in the casket? That’s only something time will tell us. I do think that the key to that answer lies in the simple fact that the death would cause Jack to go through with killing himself.