DHARMA DHARMA DHARMA

I explained here that I'm constraining the contents of this blog to meanderings about ABC's Lost. As I am neither as brilliant or as lucky as some, I must spend some small part of my days on things I am paid to do--that is, working on non-Lost related tasks. Because of these duties, it turns out that I know a little bit about the lives of graduate students pursuing arcane research without immediately realizable real-world benefits. Y'know, people like Gerald and Karen DeGroot: Just a couple of kids working on their PhD's at a prestigious Big Ten research university. Getting by on a research fellowship one year, maybe scraping together a summer salary by acting as teaching assistant in remedial summer classes, sharing cramped living and office spaces with like-minded junior laborers in the academic vineyards.

But once Gerald and Karen landed a benefactor with endlessly deep pockets, modified their dissertation research into the basis for a genuine alternative society, and colonized a magic island...did they ever finish those dissertations?? I've heard of thesis projects sprawling beyond what was expected...but this is ridiculous. In any event, it would be awesome to run into the DeGroots in the Sideways Universe.

Still, a couple issues remain concerning their underlings, the Dharma Initiative. In the main timeline, they must have known that the hostiles were eventually victorious after the purge ended all on-Island DI activities and communications. But Kelvin Inman was pushing the button, sealed into the hatch *after* the purge. And of course, Radzinsky was doing it before him. Given '77-era Stu's obsession with the Swan site, it's totally believable that he would develop into the crazy hermit locked in his precious hatch, pressing his buttons and drawing blast door maps. Even Lostpedia can't confirm if Inman arrived prior to, or after the purge to join Radzinsky. This is pretty key, because if Inman arrived after the Purge, the DI HQ knew that despite the Hostiles having knocked them off the Island, they'd have to ensure button-pressing continuity in the face of the dire consequences of failure. Even if Inman arrived before the purge, the DI continued to send food drops afterwards. My guess is to keep the button-pushers supplied. In addition, I'll bet that the 'sickness' aboveground so feared by Inman and Dez was just a kind of psychological tool the DI used to keep the button-pushers continuing their very unnatural task. So...

THE DHARMA INITIATIVE DOSSIER: QUESTIONS:

1. When did Inman arrive on the island, before or after the purge? Was the mainland DI active after the purge, even up until current 2007 times?

2. Who was responsible for the DI food drops after the Purge?

3. Was the 'sickness' real, or just a Dharma mindgame?

4. (Also asked in my Jacob post) Did Jacob bring Dharma to the Island, or did they use science to bypass Jacob's invitation-only Island visitor policy? Did Jacob really order Ben to execute (tee hee) their mass murder?

Why were the Others going extinct?

Sickness is a constant Lostian theme, more frequently alluded to than nearly anything but the clash of destiny and free will or the ill effects of bad dads. Danielle mutters about losing her crew to the sickness. Claire is convinced that sickness has attacked Aaron. Desmond, and Inman (and presumably Radzinsky) stow themselves in the Hatch for years, dutifully injecting vaccine to avoid the sickness. And now, Sayid and Claire have apparently succumbed to a sickness that has 'reached their hearts'. Still, there's one prominent sickness on the show, that's actually been, y'know a sickness.


At some point after 1977, those women whose fetus was conceived on the island died, as did their undelivered infant, at some point in the 3rd trimester. That Ben decided modern science was the answer to the problem, and thus brought Juliet to the island is, in retrospect, surprising. Ben knew quite well that the Island's effects on human health was, basically, magical. That he considered it possible that science might trump the island spirit's whims is questionable. He very well may have brought Juliet to assuage the fears of the lower ranks of the Others, who perhaps were not quite initiated into the Island mysteries and retained a dependence upon science and reason to explore the unknown.

But...perhaps Juliet's name was on one of the Richard Alpert couriered 'slips of paper' that Jacob sent on over Ben's way. Maybe Jacob wanted her to come because he thought, maybe, she might be so gifted as to thwart the sickness afflicting his devout followers. It all kind of depends on who (and there are really only two choices) was responsible for the illness.

I've seen Jacob suggested as the illness's cause on several forums, but to me, it just doesn't seem like Jacob's style. The guy hardly ever actually 'makes' something happen, he cajoles, suggests, requests, and manipulates others into positions where they are presented with a choice of either a.) do the thing Jacob wants or b.)do the opposite of the thing Jacob wants. Like in Dr. Linus, when Flocke waves a hand and Ben's ankle manacle just falls open...I couldn't see Jacob intervening in things so directly. So my prediction is that the MiB is directly responsible for the baby plague. Why? Well, let's look at what the presence of the illness led to:

1. Juliet came to the Island
2. The Others (maybe) had to recruit more heavily off-Island.
3. Ben becomes the girfriend's-dad-from-hell for poor Karl.
4. The Others (likely) became progressively more male-biased.

I really don't see a pattern here. But I still believe MiB's responsible.

And, Lost has officially identified the statue as 'Tawaret', the Egyptian deity of childbirth and fertility. It's all connected. Somehow.

THE PREGNANCY SICKNESS DOSSIER: QUESTIONS:

1. Why did pregnant women and their children die before coming to term starting some time after 1977?

2. Who's responsible?

3. Does the Island connection to Tawaret have something to do with the sickness?