Lost's Smoke Monster And Further Clues
Solving Lost Mysteries Through Clues and the Smoke Monster
Jul 13, 2009
Nothing is ever as it seems in Lost. There is almost always a twist or a turn in the plot. There is, however the other side of the coin. If an avid watcher of Lost pays close attention, there are multiple clues that can help piece together facts about what hasn’t yet happened.
Clues In Lost Leads To Facts
A perfect example of this comes from Dr. Chang and his son Miles Straume.
During season four when the island, or its inhabitants, is jumping through time Daniel Faraday explains that the nose bleeds and headaches people are suffering from is probably caused by exposure to the island. Longer the exposure to the island equals more severe and immediate health problems.
Miles’ nosebleeds second only to Charlotte, who has a severe reaction from the jumps resulting in her death. Since his nose bled second it can be surmised that Miles has spent the second most amount of time in total on the island.
As far as he can remember he has never been there before which suggests a possible childhood spent on the island long ago. A time machine exists in the eventual Orchid Station of the Dharma Initiative which makes a lot of these time jumping events to take place.
Once we see season five begin we are almost immediately introduced to an oriental family which includes a newborn baby. Miles is oriental and so is this family seen early in season five which lends to the theory.
Miles also has extraordinary powers in the realm of psychic manifestations and parapsychology. He can speak to the dead and know things he shouldn’t be able to know. One of the known fields of Dharma is parapsychology and the like. Is it a coincidence that one of the lead scientists, the same from the orientation videos, turns out to be Miles’ father?
All it took to develop this line of reasoning was a nosebleed. The nosebleed led to questions which in time led to answers. A sharp mind could figure this out approximately seven episodes before Miles reveals Dr. Chang is his father.
The Smoke Monster
What is the smoke monster? There are many theories posted all over fan sites but as of yet there is no definitive answer. The things that are known about the smoke monster are as follows:
- The monster can take corporeal form. This is known for certain because the producers have confirmed that such is the case. We also see forms of Yemi, Mr. Eko’s brother, and Alex, Rousseau’s blood daughter and Ben Linus’ adopted daughter, speaking to their respective ‘family members’ immediately before and after an interaction with the smoke monster. Without the confirmation of the producers it could be inferred that the smoke monster holds the spirit of the righteous dead. This could still be true in a way.
- The monster isn't all powerful. The monster is seen in one episode to be unable or unwilling to cross the sound fence built around the perimeter of the Dharma Barracks, which later becomes the Others home. In addition to this evidence the smoke monster seems to take injury or at least impact from the dynamite thrown down one of its vents as it tries to pull John Locke underground.
- The monster lives in the ground. It pushes up trees from underneath, it has vents or access points coming from the ground all over the island and according to the invisible map drawn on the back of the Swan station’s blast doors by Radzinski it is referred to as Cerberus which is a well known figure in Christian mythology. Cerberus was the keeper of the underworld or afterlife according to many religious texts.
- The monster is a security system for the island. What it is securing is unknown. It reacts poorly to members of Rousseau’s expedition when Jin leads them into the jungle in season five. It also appears to pass judgement on people. This could be what it does that makes some call it a security system. It is possibly a moral security system or a check and balance of the soul. We see it judge both Eko and Ben at different times leaving Eko alone the first time and killing him the second meeting.
- I can be controlled. Ben calls it at one point to deal with Martin Keamy and his mercenaries.
One theory that takes all these facts into account is that the monster could be a manifestation of Taweret, the four-toed statue. She is a protective god which could be why Jacob lives inside her likeness. For more theories and info check out The Time Loop Of Lost, Desmond Is Widmore's Father and Secrets Of Dharma Revealed on Suite101.
