This article contains discussions and references to fertility issues and death
Whether it was figuring out who the smoke monster was, how they traveled through time, or why certain survivors could hear ghosts, it took years for fans to get the answers to some of Lost's biggest mysteries. First premiering in 2004, Lost was a sci-fi drama that followed a group of survivors who all crashed on an island after flying from Sydney to Los Angeles. Although the group's main priority was to try and get off the island, they soon discover that they aren't alone as there are several other hostile groups and supernatural entities desperate to stop them from achieving their goals.
While the show was full of action-packed sequences and shocking twists, Lost's thought-provoking drama and compelling mysteries also helped to draw the audience in week after week. Although there were a few subplots that weren't resolved (such as what happened to the Egyptians that built the statue of Taweret), the writers did try their best to make sure any major plots and loose ends were tied up to give everyone the answers they wanted.
10 The Purpose Of Lost's Island
Although many Lost fans believed that the Island was purgatory and that the survivors of Oceanic 815 were dead all along, this couldn't be further from the truth. Not only was everything on the Island real, but the Island also had a really important purpose. While Jacob's explanations were rather vague and filled with confusing metaphors, he informed the viewers that the Island had trapped a great evil and was protecting humanity from its darkness. However, if this darkness was to ever get out, then the world as everyone knew it would cease to exist.
Initially, some believed that Jacob meant the Smoke Monster (who he came to view as the embodiment of evil). However, it turned out that the Island was actually acting as a cork and was sitting on a large pocket of electromagnetic energy. This energy had the potential to cause a global catastrophe if too much of it was released, so Jacob and his followers worked out a way to keep it contained in the Island's heart. Essentially, the Island was saving the world from collapsing in on itself.
9 Jacob & His Brother Were Island Inhabitants Who Were Over 2000 Years Old
Although many of the best relationships on Lost were grounded in friendship and love, there were a few rivalries that also stole the show. One that particularly stood out was Jacob and his brother (the Man in Black). As seen in season 6, episode 15, "Across The Sea", Jacob and his brother were born on the Island and had been there for over 2000 years. Unlike the Oceanic 815 survivors, they were raised away from civilization by Jacob's predecessor as she didn't want them to be corrupted by humanity (who she believed were evil). She also wanted one of them to take over her role as Protector of the Island.
Jacob and his brother were initially close when they were growing up, but their relationship changed once the Man in Black discovered that there was life across the sea and he wanted to leave the Island. Although Jacob didn't initially interfere with his brother's plans, he soon realized that he couldn't let him go once he discovered his brother killed the "Protector" in retaliation for her destroying his chances of leaving. While the Protector's death was a shocking moment, there are hints that she already foresaw it coming.
As Jacob's predecessor told him numerous times the Man in Black had to stay on the Island, it seemed like she knew he harbored a great darkness that couldn't be let out into the world. She even tried to quell it by showing him more love in hopes of guiding him onto the right path. However, as the show frequently argued, it's impossible to change fate once it is set in motion (and she seemed to accept that in the end). Therefore, after she made Jacob the new Protector, she sacrificed herself to show Jacob what his brother was truly made of and why he couldn't leave.
8 How The Smoke Monster Was Created (& His Goal)
One of the biggest antagonists in the series was the Smoke Monster (the Man in Black). Throughout the six seasons, the Man in Black tormented the survivors of Oceanic 815 by either chasing them through the jungle, impersonating their loved ones, or even killing them. While viewers initially believed that the mechanical monster was just another supernatural entity belonging to the Island, it was eventually revealed in season 6, episode 15, "Across The Sea" that the Smoke Monster had once been Jacob's human twin brother and another long-time inhabitant of the Island.
After Jacob discovered that the Man in Black had killed the Protector because she wouldn't let him leave, Jacob threw his brother into the "Heart of the Island" (which permanently tied his life source to the Island and condemned the Man In Black to a life of misery). The only way for him to get off the Island was if the energy from the "Heart" was released and the Island was destroyed. However, given Jacob's role as the Island's Protector was to make sure this energy didn't get extinguished, this was not going to be an easy feat. This is one of the reasons why a bitter rivalry between them grew.
7 What Brought The Oceanic 815 Survivors To The Island
Although season 2 showed that Jacob wasn't responsible for the plane crash on Lost, he played a major part in bringing the Oceanic 815 survivors to the Island. With the Man in Black's plans getting far more devious, Jacob knew he was going to die soon and that he needed a replacement. Therefore, he began looking for potential candidates. However, Jacob didn't have malicious intentions when he chose them.
As revealed in season 6, episode 16, "What They Died For", Jacob told the remaining candidates that one of the main reasons he handpicked them himself was because he recognized that they were all flawed individuals who were desperately seeking a fresh start with life. While he would have liked for one of them to become his replacement, he also wanted to help them work on their issues so they could heal and move on (which the Island could also help them do). Jacob didn't always go about things in the right way, but it was clear that he had the best intentions at heart.
6 What Did Hurley's Numbers Mean
Although Hurley believed his lottery numbers (4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42) were cursed, it was eventually revealed that they were personally tied to each main character. This was seen in season 6, episode 16, "What They Died For," when Jacob stated that these numbers were assigned to the candidates he wanted to replace him as Protector of the Island: "4" was Locke, "8" was Hurley, "15" was Sawyer, "16" was Sayid, "23" was Jack, and "42" was Sun/Jin. While Jacob did state that anyone could take the job, the fact that they followed Hurley the most suggested that he was the prime candidate all along.
This wasn't the only significant meaning the Lost writers tied to Hurley's numbers as they also revealed that they were connected to the Valenzetti Equation (which is found in the game, The Lost Experience). According to the game, the DHARMA Initiative began researching this equation as they believed that it predicted the end of the world. This is why the numbers can be found in all the stations and heard on the radio tower.
5 Why Did The Flash-Sideways Timeline Happen?
Despite the Lost timeline already having a complicated timeline with the number of flashbacks and flash- forwards, season 6 saw the show's chronology become even more convoluted and confusing when the writers introduced the flash-sideways. Since the flash-sideways arrived after Juliet activated the "Jughead" bomb in the season 5 finale (episode 17, "The Incident"), which was supposed to stop the crash from ever happening, it seemed like Jack's plan had succeeded and that everyone who died on the island was alive again. However, this wasn't exactly true.
In season 6, episode 18, "The End", Christian Shephard revealed the flash-sideways was a realm created by the Oceanic 815 survivors to help them find each other again after they died. Like the Island, they also created this 'alternate reality' to allow several of their friends to resolve some issues that had been plaguing them when they were alive (for example, Jack's father issues or Ben's guilt) so that they could all rest in peace in the afterlife. Since their time on the island together is when most of them were happiest, it's not surprising that they all wanted to be together when they moved on too.
4 How Was A Polar Bear Was On The Island?
After Sawyer shot a polar bear that was about to attack several of the Oceanic 815 survivors (season 1, episode 2's, "Pilot"), questions were raised as to how the animal got on the Island in the first place (especially since the hot climate should have made this impossible). It took a while for this mystery to be solved since it did get overshadowed by several other entities (such as the Smoke Monster), but the answer eventually came in season 3 when Ben revealed the DHARMA initiative brought them to the Island to experiment on them. The simplistic answer might not have satisfied everyone, but at least it provided closure.
3 Why Pregnant Women Often Died On The Island
In season 3, the writers set up another shocking mystery when Juliet revealed that women who conceived on the Island would often die in their second trimester. Although there was much speculation as to what the main reason was, the answer to this mystery soon came in the season 6 epilogue "The New Man in Charge" when Pierre Chang revealed that "the electromagnetic levels [...had an] extremely harmful effect" in the early stages of pregnancy as too much exposure was lethal and caused several fertility problems.
While it was initially safe to be around if concealed, unfortunately, after DHARMA drilled too far into the Swan's energy pocket and Juliet detonated the hydrogen bomb (season 5, episode 17, "The Incident"), large amounts of electromagnetism were released into the atmosphere. Since DHARMA struggled to conceal it, this radiation continued to leak out and began affecting the inhabitants' immune systems (which was why some of the pregnant women's white blood cell counts were so drastically low). The reason Sun didn't suffer the same fate as the other pregnant women on the Island was because she wasn't exposed to the radiation as much.
2 What Were The Whispers In The Jungle?
While the whispers certainly added a level of creepiness to the series, the writers soon revealed why they were also important to the story. As seen in season 6, episode 12's "Everybody Loves Hugo," Hurley learned from Michael's ghost that the whispers everyone had been hearing belonged to people who died and were now trapped on The Island. Unlike the other Oceanic 815 survivors in the flash-sideways, they were unable to move on since they were being punished for the deeds they committed. It seemed like they were trying to redeem themselves by helping protect the innocent from The Others and the Man in Black.
1 How The Island Managed To Travel Through Time
After it was hinted in season 2 that the Island was constantly moving (which was why no one could find them), many fans speculated as to how this could happen. Like the majority of mysteries, it turned out that the electromagnetism at the Heart of the Island was responsible as the energy had the power to manipulate time and space. This was where the DHARMA stations on Lost came into play. With there being different pockets of energy on the Island, DHARMA tried harnessing this energy by building several research centers on top of them.
The Orchid station was built to study time travel, with the frozen wheel beneath it helping to transport people off the Island (as seen in season 4, episode 13, "There's No Place Like Home Part 2" when Ben used it). However, turning this wheel also had repercussions for those on the Island. Instead of simply moving it, Ben's ended up pushing the Island too far off its axis, causing it to travel through time instead.