I just don't understand, if it's a whole system of wormholes around the world--the vile vortices theory--surely, they would have been discovered a long time ago and the island would not have been able to be kept secret, right? This is what makes me wonder if the island can be both entry point and exit, but maybe the other special places on earth (Isaac of Uluhru's ranch, for instance) are only for 1-way traveling. They each have strong, magnetic forces associated with them (Isaac says as much to Rose), but none are as strong as the island.

Also, I've been meaning to ask for some time now: Is there a Lemony Snicket joke in the theory name "Vile Vortices"? In fact, doesn't Snicket have a book with a similar name? (The Ersatz Elevator, The Penultimate Peril, The Wide Window, etc.) A fun alliterative name? I'm just wondering because the vortices themselves are neither vile nor the opposite of vile, it's in how they are used...I guess, right?

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