Tesla Clones or Time Travel
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By Lost_Dbutz
- Tesla Clones or Time Travel
- Created: Apr 3, 2008
- Last updated: Aug 14, 2008
- After episode: 3.22: Through The Looking Glass
- Status: Current
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Heard of Nikola Tesla?
Nikola Tesla, yeah, first heard of him while going to college because his name Tesla (T) is actually the Standard International (SI) unit for a magnetic field. Only learned about him and his AC vs. DC feud with Thomas Edison (turns out they were both right) and his work in motors and RF technology. Then I watched the movie “The Prestige” and went on Google to do a Wiki search to learn more and find out what is/isn’t accurate. Apparently he believed, until the end, that we would be able to transmit energy remotely. Think of it, no power lines or direct connections, just power going from a transmitter to a receiver over the air. He never figured out how to do it, but he did figure out the basic concept of remote data transfer. Either way, it was all very interesting to me, brainstorming how it might be possible.
I have heard the concept being mentioned in several other theories. If you’ve seen “The Prestige” you’ll know what I’m talking about. A cat goes into Tesla’s little machine, and a copy cat is made (no pun intended). It utilizes Tesla’s theory of energy transfer, so some degree, and adds a twist to it. I also know that the Orchid video is likely 90% responsible for everyone thinking that these concepts are related. I personally think that the bunny in the Orchid is not a copy, but the same bunny from a different time. I think that the Dharma scientists were trying to calibrate some sort of “time machine,” (which could just be an electromagnetic ray gun) and they caused bunny #15 to go to a different time.
Of course, I think that after the events of the Orchid video, the scientists had to go and send the original bunny #15 through the machine to make him come back to the video recording. Essentially, the scientists were planning to put the bunny through the machine after Halowax’s introduction, but right after he talks about safety, something happens and another bunny #15 shows up. Then he asks when the shift was set, and the woman says “negative 20.” Halowax now knows that in order to fix the paradox, he has to send that bunny through the machine in exactly 20 minutes. This shows that they thought they had everything under control, calibrated correctly and such, but they didn’t. Halowax thinks “Hey, if anything happens, I’ll just do what is necessary to fix the paradox. I’m a scientist! Nothing will go wrong.” But something has been influenced by their intention. Was their ever a time when the video went as planned and there was no bunny clone showing up? Did they throw bunny #15 into the mis-calibrated machine and send the bunny to the wrong time the first time, or was the bunny always being produced and sent as a response to the clone (itself)? Hard to know for sure, but I think it was the latter
These kinds of paradoxes are going to come up with the concepts of time travel, but I think that TPTB are trying to avoid these the best that they can. Luckily, they have a tool to help them with this…the Island. They can essentially use “the will of the island” to explain away just about anything. Something like: “the island was mad because the scientists were messing with it, so it changes its field to a point where the calibration didn’t work and a paradox was created.” This way, the island has seriously messed with the research of the Dharma Initiative. They apparently didn’t get the point, so the island had to take them out another way.
On the other side of the argument, maybe there were clones made, just like in “The Prestige.” Maybe there was only one bunny in the beginning. The bunnies couldn’t reproduce on the island (because of the pregnancy issue), so the scientists just made a bunch of clones. Heck, they may have even decided that they liked Marvin Candle so much, they made a few clones of him, but gave each clone a different name: Mark Wickmund and Edgar Halowax.
What do you think?
Key characters
| Short Name | Full Name | Episodes | Theories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Richard | Richard Alpert | 322 |
Key episodes
| # | Title | Aired | Central character | Theories |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.22 | Through The Looking Glass | 5-23-2007 | Jack | 1265 |
Tesla was brought up in another thread called The Prestige of LOST, which I’m unable to find right now. I did find this over on DarkUFO’s site and it may or may not be the same theory that was posted here.
http://theoriesonlost.blogspot.com/2008/03/prestige-of-lost-by-keeping-pace.html
Don’t get me wrong, I love the movie The Prestige. And you’ve presented your information well here. But the term clones has been debunked by Damon Lindeloff. - http://www.aintitcool.com/display.cgi?id=23952
This does not precisely debunk a duplicate person/thing from a different timeline, but alternate timelines and parallel universes have also been debunked. Perhaps the term clone is only being debunked in the scientific lab sense and the use of an archaic tesla-inspired electromagnetic device producing a clone is okay in their book. I don’t know. The Orchid Orientation Film clearly puts the producers up against the ropes in how they will explain a duplicate rabbit not being a clone or from an alternate timeline, particularly when we’ve been shown how Desmond doesn’t physically travel time.
I agree with the Goat, but I like the theory.
Like you said BG, it’s going to be tough for the writers to explain the other bunny on the Orchid film, unless they claim that it is just part of a psychological experiment and it’s not even real. The video could have been set up that way just to mess with the Dharma viewers. Even if that’s the case, I think it will be pretty lame. Maybe they have trained the rabbit to remotely project himself or something.
When did the writers say that there can’t be someone from a different timeline? I don’t think I read that interview or heard that podcast. I did hear a podcast where they said that their interviews are not necessarily canon. They could be throwing a lot of junk out there just to throw us off. I’ll bet it even makes them chuckle a little bit. Lost fans probing them for answers probably drives them nutz, and this is their way to keep them occupied without giving away the whole story.
I think reality says there can’t be someone from a different timeline, unless it’s marty mcfly
Lost_Dbutz -
Don’t get me wrong. I like your explanations of the Orchid Orientation film. It is going to be difficult for the writer’s to explain the duplicate rabbit, or they will simply ignore it. Either way the writers have had much to say about parallel universes, alternate timelines and paradoxes and it can be implied from their interviews that they are using one single linear timeline that does not allow for major paradoxes (although minor ones are allowed), alternate timelines, or parallel universes. Short of reposting or linking my own theories, I feel I should discontinue my comments on this.
While it is true that the producers / writers have mentioned that their interviews are not to be considered absolute canon, it seem clear to me when listening to or reading them when they are joking (which they do alot) and when they are answering questions openly and as truthfully as possible without giving out spoilers.
Either way, I love The Prestige and believe Tesla to be one of the most interesting and misunderstood scientists / inventors of our time. His theories on electricity and magnetism are so influencial on the world we live today, that it’s no leap to assume some of his ideas have crept into LOST.
I just not ready to make the leap from hard science into the cloning technology shown in a fictional movie.
lockeko….reality?! Is that a joke? I was under the impression that Lost is a work of fiction, which incorporates many realistic ideas. ;) I was just hoping GUV could point me to a specific quote where the writers mentioned this.
well, there’s fiction, then there’s alternate reality, pointy ears, crap. I still hope that lost is just fiction.
Lost_Dbutz,
Very well. Here you are:
http://lostpedia.com/wiki/OfficialLostAudioPodcasttranscript/February28%2C2008
Damon Lindelof: Just a quick sort of side note in terms of the way that we deal with time travel on the show - we are very paradox averse; that is to say, when our characters are time traveling, nothing that they do can change the present or the future that you have seen. Which is different than you know, the conventional Back to the Future time travel story telling.
Carlton Cuse: The hard thing about this episode was actually structuring the time travel elements - or consciousness traveling elements - and avoiding paradox. But that again is something that I think a lot of people have speculated about - “are there parallel futures, are there sort of multiple universes and worlds that exist in the future depending on how events in the past play out?” and that is not our intention.
DL: Yeah, and Ms. Hawking basically explained those rules in the first episode, “Flashes Before Your Eyes” where she basically said that the universe has a way of course correcting, so even if you did something in the past that you didn’t do before, somehow the sort of fabric of time like swoops in around you and fixes everything so things don’t go off the rails.
I suppose this is all open to interpretation but it seems quite clear to me. No major paradoxes, no parallel universes, one single timeline. I still think the Orchad Orientation will be a problem for them.
Nice try 8. Formatting looks tight though. We all know the names of the writers, so you don’t need to always mention them. It’s chick repellent.