'Six in Six': Questions about the Others I hope aren't 'Lost' in Season 6
We're coming to the end of our two-week look at The Others, a group that will no doubt help shape the ultimate fate of "Lost." Since we've covered so much territory, I thought I'd give a handy run-down of everything we've discussed up until this point.
Overview of the structure of The Others
A proposed timeline for The Others' history
Are The Others the "good guys" of "Lost"?
The evolution of The Others' isolationist tendencies
The Others and the lists
The issue of Charles Widmore's mysterious fortune
Analyzing the quality of The Others' leaders over the years
Whew. I got exhausted just coding all those links. But looking over those entries once again, I thought it best to do another installment of one of my off-season series, "Six in Six," in order to sum up this fortnight's worth of entries. Today's topic? The six mysteries surrounding The Others that I insist, nay, DEMAND get answered in the final season of "Lost." And if they don't, well, um, I'll pout. A lot. Take THAT, Darlton.
Why doesn't Richard Alpert age?
A no-brainer pick, really. Of all the questions I have, this one has the greatest chance of actually being answered next year. And by "greatest chance," I mean 100%. It's the closest thing to a sure bet other than Kate at some point declaring that she's coming with you.
What is so important about The Temple?
Other than Ben's journey inside in "Dead is Dead," (the events there revealed to be a big ol' con by season's end), we know almost nothing about this central place in Others' life. We know that going in there can turn you into something else than when you entered (see Danielle's baby daddy, young Ben Linus), but we've also heard it called "the last safe place on the Island." Is it the precursor to Room 23? Smokey's homebase? The Island's version of the Tower of Babylon? Enquiring minds want to know.
Wherefore kidnap, Others?
The recruitment process for the Others pre-Purge is sketchy at best. But in the time since the Purge, we've seen active recruitment off-Island (Mikhail, Juliet) as well the as forceful abduction of several of Oceanic 815's members. They seem particularly interested in children, no doubt due to the fertility issues that plague their society. Did The Others always have to resort to coercion and kidnapping, or is this a recent phenomenon?
What are "the rules?"
More than once, Ben Linus and Charles Widmore have referred to "the rules," a code of conduct that extends not merely towards mere morality but extend beyond as well, even so far as preventing the two from ever killing the other. Are the rules established by the Island? Jacob? The universe preventing time travel paradox? The answers may lie in the nightmares of an off-Island Charles Widmore.
Annie, are you OK? Are you OK, Annie?
I have not overtly addressed this topic in the last two weeks, since it's more of a Ben issue than an Others' issue. On the other hand, her influence over Ben shapes his overall ethos, and therefore is still related to the last two questions. Annie, alongside Emily Linus, are the two most influential people in Ben's lives. Harper mentioned during a therapy session with Juliet that she "looked like her," referring to either Annie or Emily. Annie's absence casts a long, long shadow, one as invisible and almost as wide as that cast by Jacob or The Man in Black. Speaking of those two...
Do the Others truly serve Jacob or The Man in Black?
Jacob's hands-off approach might be intentional, but it's allowed for a tremendous degree of misinterpretation, corruption, and overall chaos as his potential chosen people keep getting his message and meaning wrong. As such, we may learn that everything that The Others thought they were doing in honor of their unseen leader may in fact have been aiding the enemy. It will be interesting to see the veil lifted from their eyes as Ben emerges from the statue with Jacob's blood on his hands. Perhaps only through his death could Jacob truly set them free to perform the tasks they were always destined to achieve.
Those are my burning questions about The Others for next year. What are yours?
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I guess in the large scheme of things it could be ignored without damaging the story too badly, but I will not be happy if we never find out who ordered the Purge and why they did it.
re the rules. i'm sure you already said this somewhere but - i wonder, if perhaps the main reason why they can't kill each other is they both know that the future of other people lies in their pasts. and since they orchestrated a lot of what has happened, they can't kill each other because otherwise what they do or did won't happen.
didn't ellie say to desmond before they parted at the station that for the first time she didn't know what was going to happen?
could widmore and ben off each other now?
of course with the bomb explosion that sort of changes everything. potentially.
Just FYI - the link for "The issue of Charles Widmore's mysterious fortune" should go to:
http://blog.zap2it.com/lost/2009/11/lost-mo-money-mo-problems-for-charles-widmore.html
Thx, fixed.
I have mentioned many times about wanting to know the rules of the game that Ben and Charles live by....makes me wonder if it has to do with the "Others" code of honor to not kill each other...which got Juliet in trouble for killing Picket. Thinking about what Katie mentioned about wanting to know for sure who ordered the Purge....could something have happened to Annie and she was killed and Ben blamed the Dharma folks for what occurred? He then unleashes his vengeance on all the remaining Dharma people?
Has the Smoke monster come into being by the same mechanisms as MiB and Jacob, just under a different 'belief' system? If so, would that apply to Taweret also? Of course, that question assumes that Smokey is an independent entity.
Ryan,
"Long time listener, first time caller"
Love the blog but these last 2 week in particular BUT...
I take issue with 2 things mentioned.
In "Wherefore kidnap, Others?"
...But in the time since the Purge, we've seen active recruitment off-Island (Mikhail, Juliet)
At what point did we see the active recruitment of Mikhail? If you are taking his word then do you count Ethan stating he is from Ontario?
In "Annie, are you OK? Are you OK, Annie?"
... Harper mentioned during a therapy session with Juliet that she "looked like her," referring to either Annie or Emily...
Um, I am of the camp that young Ben remembers part of his past and remembers what Juliette looked like from when she and Kate took him to the temple.
Keep the great thinking conversations going.
John
Ryan- my question to you is related to "Juliet that she "looked like her," referring to either Annie or Emily"
Is it possible that they've always been referring to Juliet looking like, well, Juliet..the person who saved his life after getting shot?
How would Harper know? Was she a part of the "others" when Ben was brought there as a child? Kate and James brought Ben to Richard, not Juliet. Ben was pretty much out of it the whole time Juliet was treating him and Richard said he would not remember any of it. Ben may have confided in Harper in therapy session that he remembers a woman or dreams of a woman who resembles Juliet from when he was living with Dharma. Maybe he had a crush on her then.
I want to know where the polaroid photo of Ben that was flashed around by the freighter folk was taken. I want to know if Widmore sent the freighter army to get Ben, was it really to prevent Ben from killing Jacob, was there someway that Charles might have known that was going to happen. If Ben had been captured and taken off the island or killed, who would have become the leader of the Others? Did Widmore just assume he could come back somehow if Ben had been captured or did Widmore have someone else in mind?