Appearing not to have been hit by Ben’s bullet, Desmond falls over, then gets up and beats the living shit out of Ben, tosses him into the water and then collapses with a potentially fatal (but invisible) gunshot wound. OK, then.
Eloise - or should I just call her “The [Matrix] Oracle” ? - introduces herself to Penny by asking how old Young Charlie is. She then remarks that he’s got his Father’s hair, which he doesn’t, but whatever. Her Mission isn’t Baby Flattery, but to deliver some Motivation to Penny:
Desmond’s wounding is incidental to an Old and Complex, um, “Conflict” involving herself and her son Daniel (among others). Ellie doesn’t mention Daddy Widmore’s participation in this War, nor the fact that Daniel and Penny (like Jack/Claire and Boone/Shannon) are half-siblings. Ellie does tell Penny that she’s there to Apologise (that word again) and that for the first time in a long time, she doesn’t know what’s going to happen next. In other words, until now, she has Known The Future - which Convalescing Desmond will confirm.
If Ellie’s telling the truth about not knowing the Future any more, it would seem that her willingness to send her son back to 1954 and 1974 was mostly to Close The Circle - a “memo” to her Past Self about the possibility of TT.
If Ellie herself is being played by the Island/Jacob and truly doesn’t any longer know The Future, doesn’t really know that Sacrificing her only-begotten son is/was necessary for The Greater Good, then she’s taking an awful lot on Faith.
After Eloise exits the hospital, (LOST sure spends lots of time in hospitals) Charles approaches from behind and asks:
"Is he alright?" Desmond? Or Young Charlie?
"Yes, Charles, he's fine."
"Good."
"Your daughter's in there. Why don't you go in and say hello?" Note that Eloise doesn’t say “our daughter” - which supports Ben’s accusation that Penny’s Mother is/was an Outsider. Note also the collegial, almost affectionate tone of Ellie’s suggestion to CW.
"Unfortunately, Eloise, my relationship with Penelope is one of the things I had to sacrifice." I guess Eloise and Charles haven’t been in, um, close contact for many years.
"Sacrifice! Don't you talk to me about sacrifice, Charles! I had to send my son back to the island, knowing full well--"
"He's my son, too, Eloise." [Slap] No surprise here, especially given CW’s Sponsorship of Dan’s Research, complemented by Ellie’s unrelenting “support” of Daniel’s Mission as well. So ... Daniel was conceived on-Island, possibly born/raised in the US (where he acquired his American accent) and then sent to Oxford to “finish” his Education and conduct his Research.
Island (1977) :
As soon as Daniel climbs out of The Sub (8 or 9 PM), he blows by Dr Chang (which explains why Dr C doesn’t recognise him later that day) and gets Miles to bring him to Jack - whom he wakes up at, say 5:30 AM. Long drive from the Sub Dock to Dharmaville, I guess. He’s returned to the Island because he got his hands on a copy of the 1977 New DI Recruits photo. “Material Boy” Miles is surprised to see Daniel because he thought Dan would use his future knowledge to become rich by inventing “the DVD or something”. Future Knowledge is exactly how Charles got rich after he was Banished.
Ben, CW and Eloise all worked together to enable Flight 316. To some extent, these three Puppeteers are on the Same Team.
During the Daniel/Jack chat, we learn that Daniel’s been “doing research” at the Ann Arbor DI HQ and that in Dan’s opinion, Jack, Kate and Hugo (never mind Sayid) should not have been sent/summoned back into 1977 and that Mummy was wrong to have enabled this Mistake. I respectfully disagree with Dr Dan (if he does indeed believe what he’s saying). It seems to me that Jack, Kate and Hugo (and Sayid) were required to return (temporarily) to 1977 to:
1) Befriend and then Betray Ben ... and
2) Shake James, Juliet, Jin and Miles out of their Temporary Retirement and to (possibly) set up the (Future) Purge.
After sharing this intel with Jack, Daniel has to hustle over to The Orchid where he has a Very Important Date - with Dr Chang, who pulls up to the Orchid “on schedule” as per Dan’s Journal. Dan follows Dr C down into the Basement and - after Dr C has his little “Kill Hitler” chat with the Foreman, Dan startles him with a Warning:
"I need you to order the evacuation of every man, woman, and child on this island."
This is a “pseudo-warning” similar to the one Ben gave Jack at the RT... intended NOT to be taken seriously at the time, but to be remembered at a subsequent Right Moment. "Now why would I do that?"
"Because that man is on a stretcher as a consequence of the electromagnetic activity that your drilling unleashed down here."
"Which is now contained." He gets into the elevator and Daniel follows.
"It's contained down here. But in about six hours, the same thing is going to happen at the site for the Swan Station, only the energy there is about 30 thousand times more powerful, sir, and the accident, it's going be catastrophic." I suppose this is/will be The Incident - but doesn’t seem to have anything to do with using the Swan Computer to contact the Outside World per the Radzinsky Edit.
"That is utterly absurd. What could possibly qualify you to make that kind of prediction?"
"I'm from the future."
Daniel follows Pierre out of the elevator. Daniel is consulting his journal. He finds something and says, "Dr. Chang, wait. Wait one second please."
"Yes, yes, you're from The Future." Pierre says. "You heard me talking about Time Travel. Now you've had your fun; good for you." A comment similar to Daniel’s reaction to Desmond’s initial 1996 Oxford comments.
Miles hears what they are saying and gets out of the Jeep.
"Please, Dr. Chang," Daniel says. "Please, look in my journal. Some of these equations won't be discovered for another twenty years."
Miles runs over. "Hey, hey, Dan. Leave the man alone. Sorry, Dr. Chang, I think he had too many drugs on the sub." Miles’ contradictions remove the Urgency from this Situation, but will very soon result in Dr C deciding to send his wife and infant son away to save their lives.
"Dr. Chang," Daniel says, "Miles is your son."
"Excuse me?" Pierre says.
"Think about it," Daniel says, "a Chinese man, named Miles, the same name as your baby, shows up with me from the future."
Pierre looks at Miles. "Is this true?"
"No," Miles says. [convinced that Daniel’s comments/actions are foolish]
"Stay away from me," Pierre says and gets in a bus and drives away. If Daniel does, in fact “die” a short while later, when does he film the 2008 DHARMA Booth video?
"Are you out of your mind?" Miles says. "What are you doing?"
"I'm just making sure that your father does what he's supposed to do." Like his Mother the LOST Oracle, Daniel has told Dr C exactly (and only) what he “needed to hear”. I’m thinking that Daniel’s 3 years at Ann Arbor revealed at least some of The Big Picture about The Future and who is Supposed To Do what when.
“Flashbacks” - Since Daniel’s Memory becomes badly damaged during his young adulthood, I’m wondering what his “Flashbacks” should represent:
A) Factual depictions of Real Events as viewed by an Omniscient Impartial Being
B) His subjective memories of these events - from his personal Point Of View
C) Implanted memories cooked up by The Island to Motivate him to Choose what he’s Supposed To choose. To me, LOST “Flashbacks” “feel like” A, but might be B (except for Daniel) or C - which create issues with shared memories.
Note again the constant references to Insanity and Dreaming in this Episode and in many/most/all others. Maybe everyone in LOST is in some Sleep Lab lucidly dreaming all this stuff. Maybe everybody’s in some Insane Asylum sharing Hallucinations.
Moving right along: Young Daniel, (like Young Sun in “Glass Ballerina”) is playing piano with the aid of a Metronome. Daniel plays well, but out of synch with the metronome. His “Time Sense” is, er, underdeveloped. His (very wound up) Mother (who reminds me very much of Penny) is proud of her son’s musical ability, but reluctantly embraces her duties as a Future-Seeing Time Cop:
"Destiny means that if you have a special gift, then it must be nurtured." She stops the metronome and says, "How many beats has that metronome counted since you've been playing?"
"Eight hundred sixty-four." Daniel = Math Genius
"Your Gift, Daniel, is your mind, a mind that is meant for science, mathematics, and it's my [Time-Cop] job to keep you on your Path. So, unfortunately, there is no more time for distractions."
"But I want to keep playing the piano. I can do both. I can make time." Daniel is/was forever running short on Time.
"If only you could," she says and closes the piano. She already knows (how?) that Daniel’s eventual return to The Island will mean his (possible/inevitable) “death”.
Daniel’s Oxford Graduation: Eloise wastes no time snubbing Daniel’s Research Assistant/Girlfriend Theresa in order to share a few Moments with her Son. Ellie’s “training” of her son is at least as rigorous (and emotionally damaging) as Christian’s “training” of Jack:
You should be focussing your energies on your work."
"On my work,"
"Yes! That is what is important."
"You've made it abundantly clear. Why would I waste my gift on a woman?"
"I'm sorry to tell you, Daniel, but you're not going to have time for relationships. The women in your life [Theresa and Charlotte] will only be terribly hurt." She has Seen The Future
"What does that mean?"
"It means that your work will always come first. That's all." She can’t tell her Son that she has Seen The Future, a Gift (or a Technology) she acquired after leaving the Island, a Gift shared by her Ex.
"Only because that's what you always push me to do. You pushed, and you pushed, and you pushed and when will it be enough, Mother? When? I'm the youngest Doctor to ever graduate from Oxford, [similar to Jack’s Med School accomplishments] I just got a new 1.5 million pound research grant. What else do I have to do?" [to earn your respect/praise/love?]
"Grant? That's wonderful. From whom?" [She doesn’t answer his Real Question]
"I don't know, Mother. Some industrialist. Widmore, I think. [Ellie seems somewhat surprised (why?) to hear CW’s name] Charles Widmore." Ellie’s demeanor changes instantly darker, but she tries to cover it with a “chuckle” :
"I don't want to fight with you, Daniel. That is not why I came."
"Why did you come?"
She pulls out a gift and sets it on the table. "To congratulate you." [spoken as though bowing reluctantly to defeat]
She stands. "Good luck, Daniel, and I do hope you know that I mean that." She leaves, sticking Daniel with the bill.
Daniel opens the gift. It’s the journal that we've seen him use. Inside the front cover it says, 'Daniel, No matter what, remember [Hah!], I will always love you. Mother'
She already knows that she will have to eventually sacrifice him, like Abraham (almost) did with Isaac.
11/04 - The Fake Wreckage is on TV and memory-damaged Daniel weeps without knowing why. His visitor is Charles Widmore, who is presumably paying the cost of Daniel’s Caregiver (Caroline) as he’s been doing for Theresa and her sister.
We learn that Daniel tested The Device on himself “first” - which implies that he experienced no immediate negative effects and that he tested it on Theresa second. Or maybe she tested it on herself as Daniel had done to himself.
Regardless, Widmore’s visit has a different purpose. After admitting that he planted the Fake himself (which makes little sense, given the original 815 Flight Path, but whatever) CW says that he’s admitting this to Daniel because Daniel won’t remember it the next day. Huh? Why then tell him? Or - is he actually trying to tell us? Which makes just as little sense to me.
Anyways ... CW obviously thinks (correctly) that Daniel’s memory isn’t completely defective, since he makes a Proposal that Daniel subsequently discusses with Mummy:
“The real Oceanic Flight 815 crashed on an island, a special island, with unique scientific properties. I want to send you to the island. It will further your research, show you things you'd never dream [that word again] of, and more importantly, it will heal you, Daniel ... your mind, your memory."
Daniel’s Island Missions were to mislead Team Jack about their Not Rescue, test the Time-shield around the island using The Payload, calculate the in/out Bearing, help disable The Tempest, coach Desmond on how to acquire his Constant, recover his own Memories and Faculties, assist in the “Evacuation” of Losties to the Kahana and then to act as a Time Guide to the Left-behind Losties, including his 2003 (?) Conversation with Desmond. Oh yes, he also tried to comfort soon-to-die Charlotte as she lurched towards nose-bleed heaven.
When Daniel was marooned in 1974, he was finally able to “further his studies” in Ann Arbor.
Memory-impaired Adult Daniel plays the same piece of piano music as before, but he’s forgotten some of the notes. Given the Show’s emphasis on Memory, part of me wonders if Memory Erasure is a by-product of Daniel’s Research - or the goal. If the DI “already” knew all about TT, it didn’t need Daniel’s TT Research. But if the implantation of “false” memories is part of what’s going on, then finding a way to wipe memories clean (Tabula Rasa) would be an important first stage of the Memory Substitution Process.
But I’m thinking that in some Circular way that Daniel’s Time Travel Research is/was/becomes the basis for the DI’s and is crucial in itself. He’s certainly “way ahead” of 1977 Pierre Chang.
Mummy comes to visit:
"I hear you have been offered a job."
"How do you know that?"
"Well, it's my business to know. Aside from staying in touch with CW, it seems to me that Eloise's access to info is so good that she may be a Remote Viewer - an invisible omniscient (or nearly so) Observer.
I came here, Daniel, to tell you that it is very important that you say yes to Mr. Widmore, that you accept this opportunity." Charles and Eloise have recently been in touch
"I can't. He needs someone who can do really, really complicated space/time calibrations and calculate bearings, and I just don't know how to do that anymore."
"Daniel, this place he mentioned to you, this island, did he tell you that it could make you better? What if it's true? Why, then you could go on with your work. Just think of all that you could accomplish."
"You really want me to go?"
"Yes."
"Will it make you proud of me?"
She takes a deep breath. "Yes, Daniel, it will."
He cries. "Then I'll do it."
All of the love-starved “training” that Eloise has subjected Daniel to, all the distractions removed from his life so that he could succeed in his Time Travel Research, even the damage that’s been done to his memory ... all of it has been done to him (by both of his parents) so that he would Choose - at this point in Time - to go to the Island.
Note that Dan’s memory problem is different from Theresa’s - which seems similar to Minkowski’s and Desmond’s - albeit not fatal. Instead of Remembering The Future like Desmond or toggling between the Past and the Present like Theresa and Minkowski, Daniel’s simply forgetting some of the Past.
Speaking of Desmond, we’ve seen no evidence of his continuing ability to Remember The Future. He certainly didn’t know that Ben was coming after him and Penny. Maybe his Powers were temporary, lasting only long enough to get Charlie into the LG.
Note that pre-Kahana Naomi considered Daniel a “Head-case” and that Doc Ray thought that Daniel “couldn’t even help himself”. And yet - he was able to plot a Bearing from the Kahana to the Island - while still outside the Island’s Time Shield - and seemed totally lucid as soon as he parachuted from the chopper. And yet - a few days later, while playing Memory Card Games with Charlotte, he wasn’t happy about the state of his Memory. It was only after coaching Desmond to establishing his Constant - which may have triggered Daniel’s own use of Desmond as his own Constant - that Daniel seemed fully recovered.
Island 1977 - 6AM
Having been woken by Daniel and having watched Dan and Miles drive off to the Orchid, Jack decides to confer with James - who’s recently made Phil a Prisoner-in-a- Closet like Hugo in 403 ( “The Economist”).
Having accomplished his Orchid Mission, Daniel (and Miles) return to Dharmaville and join the Lostie Conference at Casa LaFleur/Burke during which Hugo has already voted to flee Dharmaville and head to Lostie Beach because commandeering the Sub and trying to flee to the Mainland sounded “wishy-washy” to him. Go Hugo!
"Welcome to the meeting, Twitchy. Good to see you again. Pound cake's in the kitchen. Help yourself to the punch." All Inside Jokes which only hard-core Fans will “get”.
Daniel goes inside and James asks Miles, "Is he still crazy?"
"It's on a whole new level, man," Miles says.
Daniel’s Plan is to flee Dharmaville and seek out the Hostiles because he knows his Mummy is there and that she alone can send the Losties Back to The Future.
James: "Your mother is an Other?" Sweet
Jack: "Sawyer, [Dan] said he could get us back to where we belong. Whether we go on the sub or we head back into the jungle, we don't belong here."
"I belonged here just fine until you came back, doc," Which is partly why J,K,H and S were sent to 1977
Jack turns to Kate. "You know where the Hostiles are? You and Sawyer took Ben out to them. Can you get us back out there? Kate, you made me promise to never ask what happened to Aaron or why you came back here. But I know that reason, it isn't here. It's not now." True enough. “Claire” is in 2008.
"Whatever her reason is, helping H.G. Wells, here talk to his Mommy ain't got nothing to do with it," Sawyer says. "Come with us, Freckles."
Juliet wants Freckles Elsewhere ... any Elsewhere: "The code for the fence is 141717. You should take Daniel; it's over here for us, anyway."
Instead of driving Dan, Kate and Jack to the Sonic Fence, Miles tosses Dan the Jeep keys. He’s sticking with his 1974 Buddies.
While Kate and Jack figure out how to liberate some hand-guns (Jack: “Good thing I’m a janitor”), Miles decides to chat with Charlotte and (breaking his promise to himself) warns her (unnecessarily - since her Mother would be making that decision for her) that she will soon need to leave the Island. He does not warn her never to return.
Alas, before Team Dan can make a Clean Getaway, they are accosted by Perpetually Angry Radzinsky who spies Dan’s gun and starts a firefight during which Dan receives a neck injury and Jack shoots a fuel drum, enabling a messy escape.
Radzinsky and his two lackeys storm over to Casa LaFleur/Burke where he hears Closet Phil (another LaFleur mistake) and orders Jim, Julie and Miles to Get Down On The Floor. As I’d predicted a few weeks ago, the Lostie presence in Dharmaville has been recognised as an Infiltration. Time for Kangaroo Court #2. Unless Hugo and Jin - who are outside - can turn the tables quickly.
Upon reaching the Sonic Fence, Dan offers another TT lesson:
"You've got to understand, Jack, this is our Present. When we met did I have a scar on the neck? No, because I hadn't been shot yet. We can't be so naive as to think nothing can happen to us. Any one of us can die, Jack." Jack has to hear these words, has to realise that even if his Free Will decisions “already happened”, he still has to Choose, still has to Act.
Dan: "In about 4 hours, the Dharma folks at the Swan site are going to drill into the ground and accidentally tap into a massive pocket of energy. The result of the release of this energy would be catastrophic. So, in order to contain it, they're going to have to cement the entire area in, like Chernobyl. And this containment, the place they build over it, I believe you called it the hatch. The Swan hatch. This flatly contradicts the notion that the Swan was designed and built before The Incident, with a powerful computer which was dumbed down after The Incident to the lowly task of releasing the EM charge every 108 minutes.
Because of this one little accident, these people are going to spend the next 20 years keeping that energy at bay by pressing a button (using fallible humans when a Clock would have done the job more reliably). A button that your friend Desmond will fail to push, and that will cause your plane, Oceanic 815 to crash on this island (which was the whole point of this stupid button-pushing chore). And because your plane crashed, a freighter will be sent to this island. A freighter that I was on and Charlotte was on and so forth. This entire chain of events is going to start happening this afternoon. But, we can change that. I've studied relativistic physics my entire life. One thing emerged over and over: Can't change the past, can't do it. Whatever happened, happened. But then, I finally realized, I've been spending so much time on the Constants that I forgot about the Variables. Do you know what the Variables in these equations are, Jack?"
"No."
"Us. We're the variables. People. We think, we reason, we make choices. We have free will. We can change our destiny. I think I can negate that energy under the Swan. I think I can destroy it. If I can, then that hatch will never be built and your plane will land just like it's supposed to in Los Angeles."
Despite the fact that Daniel is about to prove (again) that WHH, Jack and Kate had to hear this speech - which I think is all Daniel wanted/needed to do with them. He knows he’s about to die (maybe) but he’s ensuring (like his Mother) that Events unfold the way they must if the Current Iteration of LOST is to attain Success - however that’s to be defined.
Hearing Daniel talk about Humans being Free Will Variables, I recall John playing the Flame computer - and winning despite Mikhail’s warning that the Computer cheats. John said then that it was only Humans who cheated - and I still believe that Human Free Will is crucial to the Winning of the Looming War.
Marching through the bush once more, K&J hang back a bit and Kate says: “This is a mistake. He's talking about erasing (that word/concept again) everything that's ever happened to us, Jack. It's insane (that word again)."
"We disappeared off a plane in midair and ended up in 1977. I'm getting kind of used to insane."
IMO, if Daniel really wanted to confer with his Mom, his best tactic would have been to enter Camp Charles/Ellie/Richard unarmed. So ... I don’t think his Mission was chit-chat. I think he did what he was Supposed To Do - close the Circle - send a Message from 2008 Ellie to 1977 Ellie - the Message being: “Time Travel is real and you sacrificed your Son to convince yourself of that fact. Now get the hell off the Island and figure out how this Time Travel stuff works. Oh and before you do, collect the 7 Time Travellers currently on the Island and send them Back to the Future.”
If Daniel gets Otherised like 1977 Ben just did, maybe they both return to Dharmaville - where Daniel eventually gets through to Dr Chang and they make that ComicCon video.
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