Old Clues, New Thoughts
I had an idea regarding Harper's conversation with Juliet. In "The Other Woman" Harper tells Juliet that she "looks just like her". I always assumed the her that she was referring to was Annie. But now that Juliet is living on the island and has been before Ben arrives I was wondering if the "her" Harper refers to isn't actually Juliet herself. I wonder if we're going to see a young Ben with a crush on her, followed by an older Ben getting rejected by her which along with his father's rejection pushed him towards Richard.
Here's the transcript from "The Other Woman";
HARPER: So, Juliet, what do you think of Ben?
JULIET: He's great. Uh, very smart... and intense. Challenging. He's been really good to me.
HARPER: Of course he has. You look just like her.
JULIET: I'm sorry?
HARPER: And I see you and my husband have become friendly.
JULIET: Yeah. He's great. He's been really helpful.
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Last season, Locke comes across Horace who was building a cabin in the woods after being dead for 20 years. He had a nose bleed which didn't mean anything to me at the time but in light of the time travel ideas and the nose bleeds they produce it seems like this is a pretty good indicator that Horace was doing a little time traveling of his own. He was responsible for recruiting Ben's father to the island and therefore responsible for Ben being on the island in the first place. So who exactly is he and what has he been up to?
Following Jaz on her Egyptian God idea I found something interesting in wiki that might relate to Horace. Horus is a god of the Ancient Egyptian religion, most commonly known by the Greek version Horus, of the Egyptian Heru/Har. Horus was an ancient and important deity. He was also the son of Isis and Osiris. Horus was told by his mother, Isis, to protect the people of Egypt from Set, the god of the desert, storms and chaos.
Since he was god of the sky, Horus became depicted as a falcon, or as a falcon-headed man, leading to Horus' name, (in Egyptian, Heru), which meant The distant one. As falcon he may be shown on the Narmer Palette dating from the time of unification of upper and lower Egypt. Horus is best known for being the protector of the ruler of Eqypt and therefore became a symbol of protection.
Here is the Egyptian symbol for Horus. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e0/Horus_as_falcon.svg
Here is a look back at the symbols from the countdown clock in the Swan. http://lost.cubit.net/pics/2x14/glyphs.jpg
Re: Horace & Cut and Paste
Numbers Broadcast
Hey Jukin,
The longer version--it became part of that long "theory merge" post (the one that begins "Distractions"). I guess my idea of why the numbers were broadcast is tied to the idea that Widmore got kicked off the island for trying to use the open door for his own purposes. The door opens to multiple possibilities in a multiverse (Many Worlds idea) and to control possibilities would allow one to amass a great forturne (for one thing). After getting kicked off, I think Widmore funded the DI to go back and find a way to artificially get access to the same power that naturally occurs on the island. But I think that Dan's insertion into the DI past is what leads to the incident (heh, this is the condensed version of my theory). After the incident, the door's been opened and the broadcast of the numbers (I'm thinking by the DI) are to give Widmore access to them. Hmmm, I like that idea of planting the seeds along the path...
Another idea I had that I didn't add into that long post was about immortality. If the island is this hub opening onto the multiverse then maybe what is happening with immortality/resurrection is that for every world in which someone has died is another in which they are not (Schroedinger's cat again). For those the island wishes to keep alive, the island keeps choosing the 'verse possibility "alive." So I think that's what's happening with Richard, that may be what just happened with Locke, and perhaps, aside from the fortune amassing, that's what Widmore is trying to control off the island--maintaining his immortality.
Recall also, though...
Purge/Sickness/Tempest Bloody Noses
When I was thinking about that idea that Des might have been being exposed to the em radiation in a controlled way to create a rule breaker--not sure if I said this in that thread or not--but I was thinking that all the Losties would eventually have come down with the bloody nose sickness in time. They would have come down with it because they are out of phase with the island. I wonder now if that is true or not. Maybe those like Jack, Locke, Kate--those who I'm thinking are children of people who had been on the island--maybe they are able to attune to the island time naturally (not sure how Rose fits in there).
Des was injecting the vaccine so being exposed to the EM but also being vaccinated against the negative effects. As Aaron was--if Widmore has him will he be trying to use him to counter whatever Des is supposed to do?
What then was the gas that was released at the Purge (and stored at the Tempest)? It seems like it has to relate to the same temporal illness. Also wouldn't Dharma Iniative types have succumbed to the temporal illness without figuring out some means of protection--so they must have been taking the vaccine? I thinkthe vaccine must be the scientific proxy for the initiation from the temple. Could the gas be something which eliminates the vaccine's effect bringing on the time sickness suddenly?
Interesting allusions: The god Horus prtoects against the effect of the Tempest and Chaos--which are marshalled by the god Set, the god of the desert...Ben?
The Tempest--Shakespeare's play and then the sci-fi film version "Forbidden Planet"--in which the monster comes from the scientists own mind. The sickness--the mind destroying itself because of temporal paradox.
Horace
Hey Jukin,
Didn't have much to add onto the idea about Ben/Juliet except that it seems likely.
As far as Horace/Horus--when I read the Wiki entry it seemed interesting to me that he's another God associated with both the split between upper and lower Egypt and the eventual unification. That plus what you said about Horace time-travelling>>that led me to a whacky idea which I posted as part of my response in the Time Lords thread: that possibly the Incident is going to reach back in time and be the origin of the phase shift of the island--the origin of the Island being different from the rest of the world. So that's the original split and the plot of the show is heading us toward the eventual unification.
Only other minor points I noticed in looking at the Horus wiki entry is that he also has the eye injury in common with Odin. And the eye of Horus is also the eye of Wadjet. He's a hunter god (as opposed to a farmer).
Horace: C&P from "Cabin Fever"
Here's a C&P of an idea I had about Horace's nosebleed from Cabin Fever--I'm working on a longer theory too,of which this might be a part:
Horace Goodspeed-- The bleeding nose--aneurysm--I think Horace along with other members of Dharma were using the electromagnetic properties of the island to mind travel. Now, although he's dead, his consciousnesses is still trapped there. That's what I think the apparitions are.
His name: (an old theory of mine)
Goodspeed is derived from the phrase “God’s speed” a wish bestowed on travellers for a safe and quick journey.
Expanding on what it might mean—speed is distance over time=space/time. God’s speed, or God’s space/time could then mean the infinite. In one of my Group1 posts I’d been speculating on some connections to a quotation from William Blake’s “The Marriage of Heaven & Hell” that is about the infinite (side note—Blake’s poem is all about the need to balance opposing forces: “Without Contraries there is no progression.”) Blake’s quotation is: “If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is, infinite. For man has closed himself up, till he sees all things through narrow chinks of his cavern.” The infinite, perception, man’s limited perception as if living in a cave—I’ll let you guys connect the dots there. The quotation was used for Aldous Huxley’s book “The doors of perception” about changing perception using psychotropic drugs—one of his peers was Dr. Richard Alpert. Huxley also wrote “The Island.” And the name was also adopted by The Doors (“Break on through to the other side”—”See you on the other side”?).
One idea I have about the numbers is, then, that they are a key to that door—opening the door ‘caused the incident. And as a key, they are also being used to try to reclose the door (entry into the computer). Which is also perhaps alluded to in the station name “The Arrow”—an arrow, instead of being God’s space/time would be man’s—moving only in one direction—fate. I think Dan's experiment with the rocket enters in here.
Horace's first name alludes to a Latin poet who gave us some of our most well known latin phrases—all of which thematically connect to what I’m saying here.
carpe diem-seize the day
Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori-sweet and fitting it is to die for one’s country (but more accurately father-land)
and finally, he gave the name aurea mediocritas or golden mean—the desirable middle between two extremes.