Attempt to change the past

I have looked through previous Theory threads, but could not find one on this particular topic. Apologies if this has already been discussed.

I was thinking that some things could be explained if the Island was a gataway of sorts for people from the future travelling back in time in order to either disrupt or ensure the integrity of the past. Possibly both.

Richard appears not to age, but that could be because he's travelling back and forth in time. There are people who seem to know what is going to happen or what is meant to happen - notably Mrs Hawkings. Her conversation with Desmond is very revealing.

Ben also seems to be able to predict the outcome of many situations. He takes insane risks, but seems far too confident in his ability to survive them. It might explain why he was so shocked that Alex was killed. Perhaps he knows it was not meant to happen. It might also explain why Widmore and Ben can't kill each other - because both know they are required for some future unspecified event.

There are a number of situations where the key players miraculously survive a close shave with death. For example Michael's gun misfires. Tom explained to Michael that he could not die because the Island was not finished with him. But was it just another exaple of the "universe course correcting itself" as Mrs Hawking explained - that is, whatever happens, the players are forced into roles to ensure that the past is consistant with some future desired outcome.

thats pretty good about richard, i never thought of it as traveling through time i just though somethign was weird about him...

When Alex was killed, Ben was shocked and said "He changed the rules". Maybe ben and others can go into the past, but the rules made by whoever knew about time travel (widmore, ben?) were to never change the past even if they do have the ability to?

I posted something about changing the past before, and someone told me the lost writers made it clear you can't change the past and referenced an episode that shows this, but maybe they "can't" change the past because of rules, but "can't" doesnt mean it's impossible?

Great idea... I'd said earlier that Richard may not be aging because along our timeline he hasn't been born yet. I'm no expert in time travel, but this all seems pretty logical. Ben does take risks, that's true... how could he have been sure he wouldn't die when captured by Rouseau and the Losties in the hatch.

I think Ben may gain assurance because he's been told what the future is. Maybe by Widmore, whom I suspect is a time traveler, maybe by Richard. He may have gained the respect of the Others by his ability to know how things would turn out; he allowed himself to be captured by the Losties because he knew they wouldn't kill him; he supposed that Keamy couldn't kill Alex, and when he did, the Others lost faith in his prescient abilities. That's when he knew he had to give up leadership and hand it over to Locke. He visited Widmore, and accused him of changing the rules. It seems to me that Widmore is the one who told Ben the rules. Either he makes the rules, or has been given the rules by someone. I suspect that only those in the future, who know how things turned out, could know the rules. That's what makes me think Widmore is from the future. It also makes me think that he is trying to shape the future in a malevolent way, possibly to his own benefit. If so, that would make him the main antagonist in the show, and Ben could be a potential protagonist. It's impossible yet to say the roles of Richard, Ammadon, or Mrs. Hawking, all of whom I believe are time travelers.

atruewalker, what do you think about Desmond? Is he or isn't he?

Hmmm...In other words, is he or isn't he a time traveler?

You know, the first time he shows up in the stadium with Jack, it seems obvious that Des knows who Jack is. So I guess that when he first had to turn the failsafe key, he may have become a time traveler then. But how would he have known about Jack at that point?

You know, Des could indeed be one of the time travelers; the only unanswerable question is, what's his motivation? When talking to Mrs. Hawking, he seems totally at a loss. Has he been taking the same time journey over and over to try to figure out a way to get back to Penny without destroying the world?

These are just some ideas percolating up...please let me know what you think!

I think Desmnd could very well be a "time traveler"- maybe all we have seen so far is when it happens to him accidentally, maybe over time he will learn to control it.. maybe there is no controlling it? Not sure.........

I agree with Flashback - I think Desmond could be a time traveler. I also do think Richard is a time traveler. I have also thought Walt is a time traveler.

I agree I think Walt definitelt could be. We all know Richard is. Do you think one reason they might want the children is to train them to become time travelers or simply to preserve the "Others" way of life since they cannot reproduce on the island?