But …
But they couldn’t “arrive” in the side universe at the same time, could they? They all had parallel lives leading up to that point.
It was neat throughout the series spotting the odd place or two in Hawaii that we could definitely pinpoint. For instance, when Claire meets her real father in a “Sydney shopping mall,” we were going: “That’s Kahala Mall! That’s Kahala Mall!” 
The side universe was the afterlife. Or at least “a” afterlife. And it began for everyone on that plane at the same time. Time doesn’t really matter. Imagine you die today and you arrive in heaven. Then you find out that EVERYONE is getting there at the same time. You, your grandma, Abraham Lincoln, Og the cavemen, and Zaxon the Spaceman from the year 5000. Everyone died year apart, but for them, they all just died, respectively. Which was part of Kate’s “I missed you.” Jack died on the island, and boom, he’s on that plane again. Kate maybe lived 50 years, had a good life, died of cancer, and boom, she’s on that plane again.
So …
They didn’t really have a life in the side universe before the turbulence in the plane? They just have false memories? Sawyer thinks he’s been a cop for years, Jack only thinks he’d been married, etc?
Well, that’s my theory.
They could’ve experienced whole lives. Either way, they all got sent there at the moment of their own deaths. So timing is still irrelevant. But the whole thing with Jack having the injury on his neck implies the universe started with them on the plane. Really, is there a difference between real experience and false memories in an “imaginary” universe?
Thanks! I think I’ve got it:
They all die whenever, but they’re sent to that moment on the plane. Whether they have actually experienced the side universe prior to the universe or just think they have is irrelevant.
This actually makes the ending more enjoyable for me.
Yep, you’ve got it.
Don’t forget that
At the moment of her death, Juliet was reported by Miles to have been thinking, “it worked.” Instead of the nuclear bomb, however, it’s implied she was channeling the afterlife moment where she was sharing a vending machine snack with Sawyer. Also, after he was electromagnetized by Widmore, wasn’t Desmond having visions of being on the afterlife plane? I think that argues for characters entering the “sidewaysverse” at the moment we saw them enter it and carrying false memories of their lives up to that point.
That first part bothers my wife a lot:
[spoiler] She thinks even if all of this is true, there’d be no reason for Juliet to glimpse her afterlife and think: “It worked.” Says that’s a flaw in the story line. However, that makes more sense when you mention Desmond’s electromagnefication. The nuclear bomb could have acted as the same agent.
But why didn’t everyone die in the nuclear blast? Another time jump? The island just wouldn’t allow it? They did seem to be back in the present day immediately afterward.[/spoiler]
I’m not sure that there was a nuclear blast. Not only did the Losties survive, so did Radzinsky and Dr. Chang (except for his arm). I think the bomb was a fizzle, with the conventional explosives going off at most.
Hey, but wait a minute!
If the goal of setting off the nuclear device was to erase all occurrence of later crash-related events, that didn’t work. As the crash clearly had still happened. There was still wreckage. Still remnants of their lives when they first arrived. In that sense, it may have worked to shape the afterlife, but the original universe was the same. Except no nuclear-type damage. What gives with that?
I’m dropping the spoiler tags, sorry.
Yeah, that’s right: they tried and failed, as the nuclear bomb plan didn’t work; probably the nuclear device itself didn’t work either. “What happened, happened.”
Also,
She was just mumbling something irrelevant, basically talking in her sleep. We (the viewers) thought she was talking about the bomb or something else that was pertinent, but she might as well have mumbled “I don’t like Apollo bars.”
But there was clearly some sort of explosion. And a time travel. I’m guessing that was Jacob’s doing. Also guessing Juliet glimpsed the afterlife and thought it was the new reality.
That’s why I think she may have set off the conventional explosives in the bomb case, but critical mass wasn’t achieved. As for time travel, eh, it’s the Lost island, whaddyagonnado?
Got it. All becoming clearer. Thanks.
Not sure where we’re at with spoiler tags, so just in case… (these are spoilers for the finale).
[spoiler]I don’t think Juliet glimpsed the afterlife, she was living her afterlife, and Miles got a glimpse of that.
As Koxinga said, Miles got a message from Juliet in the afterlife, and reported back her saying “It worked”. We assumed this referred to their plan. But in the finale we saw her in the afterlife of the sideways universe meeting Sawyer, and they were trying to get a candy bar out of the machine. When they got it loose, she said… “It worked”. And then she and Sawyer touched and got their memories back.[/spoiler]
Can we just say spoilers from here on out? We’ve spoilered nearly ever single post so anyone who has gotten this far should know everything.
OPEN SPOILERS FOR THE ENDING OF LOST FROM HERE ON OUT
Anywhoozle, thanks for reminding me about that. Yeah, Juliet’s “It worked” wasn’t about the bomb creating an alternate timeline, it was from her briefly crossing over to the other side, similar to what Desmond later did. I remember last year people were talking about why that happened to her, but not anyone when they died, but she was right at the center of the “Time Travel Explosion” (band name-dibs) and received a huge dose of electro-magnetic energy.
The writers had no clue how to finish or what would tie up all the loose ends they had created so they came up with an ending that was so ambiguous that it would satisfy whomsoever cared to question it. It was an enjoyable roller coaster with a less that satisfactory finale. If you don’t see that… well all I can say is that it is in the eye of the beholder.
Okay, open spoilers from here on out.
Didn’t Julia say she had something to say to Sawyer, though? She was going to tell him it worked. But she died before she could do so. That’s when Miles stepped in.
Yes, but although they thought she meant what worked was changing time, what actually worked was her afterlife trick to get the candy bar out of the vending machine.
I miss “Lost” and the discussions here. I hated, hated, hated that last episode though. Just about ruined my memories of the show. It’s one of those pop culture things I pretend never happened.