# LOST: What mysteries remain? Which do you want answered most? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 3, 2010, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-what-mysteries-remain-which-do-you-want-answered-most/538188 "2010-05-03T18:20:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![GilaB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@GilaB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GilaB)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2010, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-what-mysteries-remain-which-do-you-want-answered-most/538188/61 "2010-05-09T20:09:35Z")
> [@Fenris](#): > > Also, why does Hatch Defcon Zero’s display turn into hieroglyphics? As far as we know, the Dharmoids didn’t have any real knowledge of the Egyptians. What dot he hieroglyphics say, anyway? According to [Lostpedia](http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Hieroglyphics), the hieroglyphics at the very end of the counter mean ‘underworld’ according to one of the producers, and ‘die’ according to other authorities. The failure sequence itself isn’t translated. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2010, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-what-mysteries-remain-which-do-you-want-answered-most/538188/62 "2010-05-09T20:38:51Z")
> [@II\_Gyan\_II](#): > > What I want to know is how the hell did Richard cope with being alone on the island before the Others showed up? > . He was alone the whole time? No other planes/boats crashed and their inhabitants died since then? Also, wouldn’t Jacob speak to him during these times? ---
**Author:** ![randwill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@randwill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randwill)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-what-mysteries-remain-which-do-you-want-answered-most/538188/63 "2010-05-10T00:02:21Z")
> [@GilaB](#): > > According to [Lostpedia](http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Hieroglyphics), the hieroglyphics at the very end of the counter mean ‘underworld’ according to one of the producers, and ‘die’ according to other authorities. The failure sequence itself isn’t translated. Yeah, but why would they have made the symbols for those words from hieroglyphics? That, and the answer to most of the weird stuff is probably going to be, weird for weird’s sake. Which is not very satisfying, to me anyway. ---
**Author:** ![middleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-what-mysteries-remain-which-do-you-want-answered-most/538188/64 "2010-05-10T00:20:59Z")
Remember, the Dharma school children are learning about Egypt in their classroom. On a blackboard when Jack confronts Roger Linus, we see all sorts of Egyptian hieroglyphics. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-what-mysteries-remain-which-do-you-want-answered-most/538188/65 "2010-05-10T02:44:52Z")
What is Ben’s “magic box” that can produce anything? How did Locke’s daddy aka original Sawyer get onto the island? Was he Smokie? ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-what-mysteries-remain-which-do-you-want-answered-most/538188/66 "2010-05-10T13:07:39Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > What is Ben’s “magic box” that can produce anything? How did Locke’s daddy aka original Sawyer get onto the island? Was he Smokie? You have got to be kidding me. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![storyteller0910](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecae2f/32.png) [@storyteller0910](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/storyteller0910)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-what-mysteries-remain-which-do-you-want-answered-most/538188/67 "2010-05-10T13:08:38Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > What is Ben’s “magic box” that can produce anything? How did Locke’s daddy aka original Sawyer get onto the island? Was he Smokie? There is no magic box. It was a metaphor. Ben sent a bunch of his off-island goons to run Anthony Cooper off the road in Florida, knock him out, load him into a submarine, and sail him over to the island. He did this because he felt he would need leverage with John Locke, who was becoming troublesome. He did the whole “magic box” explanation because Ben, throughout his history as a character, has always obfuscated information about the island, in an attempt to create mystery and confusion and then set himself up as the single person who understands everything - thus making himself indispensible no matter what happens. > [@randwill](#): > > Yeah, but why would they have made the symbols for those words from hieroglyphics? That, and the answer to most of the weird stuff is probably going to be, weird for weird’s sake. Which is not very satisfying, to me anyway. Why do we currently use an [old Spanish symbol](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skull_and_crossbones_(Spanish_cemetery))for the entrance to a graveyard as a warning on bottles of shit you shouldn’t drink? Why not just put, in plain English, a big red marking that says “POISON?” Why do we dot our everyday writing with random abbreviations of Latin phrases (_exemplia gratis,_ e.g., or _id est_, i.e.) instead of just writing “for example (f.e.)” or “that is (t.i.)?” In the mid-1800s, the Geneva Conventioned recognized a color-inverted version of the [Swiss Flag](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Switzerland_(Pantone).svg) as the international symbol for protection; today folks in Western society universally see this symbol and know it indicates medical service. Why? Languages and cultures leech together. In LOST, it is a clearly and definitively established fact that Island culture has an Egyptian influence, in the same way that Western culture has Latin and Spanish (and many other) influenbces. So when they designed a system and needed a way to say “you’re fucked,” they chose an idiom that was part of their culture - Deafcon Penguin turned out to be a symbol that basically says “you’re fucked” in Egyptian, in the same way that the skull-and-crossbones is a symbol that says “you’re dead” in Spanish. As the Islanders were influenced by Egyptian myth and culture, this is perfectly consistent, reasonable, and requires, to me at least, no further explanation - it’s certainly not “weirdness for weirdness’ sake,” unless you’ve already made up your mind to apply that criticism to everything regardless of whether or not it actually applies. ---
**Author:** ![II\_Gyan\_II](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/bbe5ce/32.png) [@II\_Gyan\_II](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/II_Gyan_II)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-what-mysteries-remain-which-do-you-want-answered-most/538188/68 "2010-05-10T13:48:07Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > He was alone the whole time? No other planes/boats crashed and their inhabitants died since then? Richard was stranded in 1867 or soon after. Before air travel, survivors would have to arrive via ship, and we don’t see much of ship wreckage other than the Black Rock. As for Jacob, he didn’t seem too pleased to see Richard, sorta annoyed in who-did-MiB-send-this-time. I doubt they had too many wild boar BBQs together ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-what-mysteries-remain-which-do-you-want-answered-most/538188/69 "2010-05-10T14:04:22Z")
> [@storyteller0910](#): > > it’s certainly not “weirdness for weirdness’ sake,” unless you’ve already made up your mind to apply that criticism to everything regardless of whether or not it actually applies. …pretty sure the guy you’re responding to has been shrieking “IT’S ALL A CON!” since early season 2. So, that mind was made up in 2005 or so. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-what-mysteries-remain-which-do-you-want-answered-most/538188/70 "2010-05-10T14:10:15Z")
> [@II\_Gyan\_II](#): > > Richard was stranded in 1867 or soon after. Before air travel, survivors would have to arrive via ship, and we don’t see much of ship wreckage other than the Black Rock. > > As for Jacob, he didn’t seem too pleased to see Richard, sorta annoyed in who-did-MiB-send-this-time. I doubt they had too many wild boar BBQs together To be fair, that first meeting was Richard being tricked into trying to kill Jacob. Besides, while there may not be all that many ships sitting on the island, I’m guessing (not a nautical expert here) that a ship being tossed bodily into the middle of an island is pretty rare. They’ll probably break up and sink out to sea. I don’t think Richard was sad and alone the whole time, but even if he wasn’t it might have some serious psychological effects if everyone you meet dies horribly shortly after you meet them! -Joe ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-what-mysteries-remain-which-do-you-want-answered-most/538188/71 "2010-05-11T18:02:57Z")
> [@II\_Gyan\_II](#): > > What I want to know is how the hell did Richard cope with being alone on the island before the Others showed up? The 1870s must have been a bummer, not to mention the 1890s or the 1910s, especially after any new shipwrecks killed each other. The temple’s pretty old and pretty solid, not to mention Jacob’s statute itself. I don’t think it’s absolutely definitive that Richard was alone on the island (other than Jacob and Smokey) even from the beginning. But if he was, the first of those that became the Others could have shown up very soon after. What we do know is they were already well-established by the '50’s. Probably they’re older than that. –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-what-mysteries-remain-which-do-you-want-answered-most/538188/72 "2010-05-11T18:33:48Z")
Libby in the mental institution. ---
**Author:** ![randwill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@randwill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randwill)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-what-mysteries-remain-which-do-you-want-answered-most/538188/73 "2010-05-11T19:02:50Z")
> [@Merijeek](#): > > …pretty sure the guy you’re responding to has been shrieking “IT’S ALL A CON!” since early season 2. > > So, that mind was made up in 2005 or so. > > -Joe I’m the guy that was criticizing the fact that every episode, in whatever season it was, was about the characters conning each other. Fortunately the writers worked that out of their systems. Anyway, not the same thing as criticizing the show for weirdness with no satisfactory explanations. And based on what Evangeline Lilly said on Letterman last night, I’m not expecting the ending to be very satisfying. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-what-mysteries-remain-which-do-you-want-answered-most/538188/74 "2010-05-11T19:21:08Z")
> [@randwill](#): > > I’m the guy that was criticizing the fact that every episode, in whatever season it was, was about the characters conning each other. Fortunately the writers worked that out of their systems. > > Anyway, not the same thing as criticizing the show for weirdness with no satisfactory explanations. > > And based on what Evangeline Lilly said on Letterman last night, I’m not expecting the ending to be very satisfying. Maybe she’s conning you. > [@Mosier](#): > > Libby in the mental institution. They’ve actually covered that now. Of course, we don’t know if she was always in there because of the twin time lines or if she was in there because of a retcon involving the twin time lines, but it seems to have been dealt with. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![YamatoTwinkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/cc9497/32.png) [@YamatoTwinkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YamatoTwinkie)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-what-mysteries-remain-which-do-you-want-answered-most/538188/75 "2010-05-11T19:44:49Z")
Did they ever explain how Ben was able to summon/control Smokey? It somewhat made sense back when the Smoke Monster was supposed to be the equivalent of the island’s guard dog. But since Smokey is now the same person as the Man in Black, it stopped making sense for me. ---
**Author:** ![borschevsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/97f17d/32.png) [@borschevsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/borschevsky)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-what-mysteries-remain-which-do-you-want-answered-most/538188/76 "2010-05-11T19:53:27Z")
I don’t think Ben was in control of Smokey, rather he just allowed Smokey access to Dharmaville by draining that water. ---
**Author:** ![middleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-what-mysteries-remain-which-do-you-want-answered-most/538188/77 "2010-05-11T20:41:44Z")
> [@borschevsky](#): > > I don’t think Ben was in control of Smokey, rather he just allowed Smokey access to Dharmaville by draining that water. That is consistent with his “don’t get them wet” warning for both Flocke…and the Mogwai! ---
**Author:** ![Winston\_Bongo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a9adbd/32.png) [@Winston\_Bongo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Bongo)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-what-mysteries-remain-which-do-you-want-answered-most/538188/78 "2010-05-11T21:01:17Z")
> [@randwill](#): > > I’m the guy that was criticizing the fact that every episode, in whatever season it was, was about the characters conning each other. Fortunately the writers worked that out of their systems. They did? Unless you meant “as of last week’s episode.” It’s pretty clear now that Smokey has been pulling a “long con” on the candidates for some time now. And he managed to take out three of them at once, so it didn’t work out too bad for him. > [@randwill](#): > > And based on what Evangeline Lilly said on Letterman last night, I’m not expecting the ending to be very satisfying. What did she say? So far all the cast members have been very positive about the ending (of course, it wouldn’t be very classy to badmouth it at this point), so I’m very curious what she said to make you think this. I’m also bummed that I missed seeing that interview because, while Kate Austen annoys me to no end, I would run away to Hawaii with Evangeline Lilly in a heartbeat. ---
**Author:** ![randwill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@randwill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randwill)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2010, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-what-mysteries-remain-which-do-you-want-answered-most/538188/79 "2010-05-12T01:21:05Z")
> [@Winston\_Bongo](#): > > What did she say? So far all the cast members have been very positive about the ending (of course, it wouldn’t be very classy to badmouth it at this point), so I’m very curious what she said to make you think this. Good point about Smokey’s long con. She wasn’t negative about the ending. It was just my feeling, from what she said, that things weren’t going to be wrapped up as neatly as I’d prefer. Video is here: ![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/DAVOXMgF_uc/maxresdefault.jpg)https://www.youtube.com/embed/DAVOXMgF_uc?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque Draw your own conclusion. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-what-mysteries-remain-which-do-you-want-answered-most/538188.md?page=3)