15 Questions Lost Has Yet to Answer

Don't look now, but there are only a few more hours of Lost left before the series finale. Does the show have enough time left to answer all the questions it's posed since the very first season, and do the producers even want to? In advance of tonight's episode, "The Candidate," Movieline rounded up 15 burning questions Lost still has yet to resolve.

What is the flash-sideways world?

It was originally assumed that the flash-sideways world was just an alternate reality of what would have happened had Jack's bomb changed the course of history. Still, there are all sorts of hints that things in this color-desaturated timeline are not all they seem.

Likelihood of Answer: High, but it feels like it's building toward a big series finale revelation instead of one we'll get earlier.

Who are Jacob and the Man in Black?

We've gotten tantalizing hints about these two figures' backstories, and the MiB has often seen visions of young boys in the jungle, taunting him. Could these be childhood versions of Jacob and the MiB? Who is the MiB's crazy mother? And what are they doing there in the first place?

Likelihood of Answer: High. Aside from the sideways-world, this is the biggest mystery Lost has been teasing at.

Why was Libby in the mental hospital?

Libby's season-two death was so shocking in part because the show still hadn't explained why she was briefly glimpsed as a mental patient in Hurley's flashback. Since then, it's remained a question that fans continually ask about.

Likelihood of Answer: Low. Though Libby is now a part of Hurley's flash-sideways and an answer could conceivably come there, Sideways Libby appeared to have her own reasons for the stay in Santa Rosa.

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What is Charles Widmore's motive?

There's still plenty we don't know about the mysterious Widmore. Will we ever find out who he had an affair with, resulting in his exile from the island (and is that Penny's mother)? How was he able to return to the island now after its location was unknown to him for so long? And just whose side is he on, anyway?

Likelihood of Answer: High. Widmore is a major player whose agenda has been kept purposefully vague. When he declares his side in the upcoming final battle, we'll need to know why.

Who shot at the outrigger in season five?

During one of season five's nosebleed-inducing time jumps, Sawyer and his posse (including Juliet, Miles, Locke, Daniel and Charlotte) ended up in what now appears to be the show's contemporary island timeline, as proved by a then-mysterious Ajira water bottle and an outrigger on the beach. When they boarded the outrigger and went out to sea, another canoe appeared, firing at them. Juliet fired back and appeared to hit one of the faraway assailants before another time jump whisked them away.

Likelihood of Answer: High. The show seems to have caught up with this time jump. Could this spell bad news for Ben, Richard and Miles, who will probably be the characters to board the other canoe on their way to blow up the Ajira airplane? And will a scene in which they're fired upon make any sense for an audience who may have forgotten this incident from last season?

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Who built the statue?

The four-toed foot statue was revealed last season to be a statue of Tawaret, and this season, we discovered that the bulk of the statue was destroyed when a tidal wave flung the Black Rock into it. Still, we don't know what it was doing there in the first place.

Likelihood of Answer: Medium. This may factor into what we have yet to learn about Jacob, or we may have to assume that it was simply built by island inhabitants that we'll never get to see.

Who are Adam and Eve?

In season one, Jack and Kate explored the caves and found two long-dead corpses, who they nicknamed Adam and Eve.

Likelihood of Answer: High. The corpses were reintroduced this season when Jack and Hurley made a stopover at the caves. It's clear that the writers want us to be pondering this question in advance of its resolution.

What is the island?

Jacob told Richard that the island is a "cork," meant to contain the Man in Black. Will we get any more of an explanation than that?

Likelihood of Answer: Medium. We'll probably learn some more about the island's history, but in the end, I expect the true nature of the island to be something that never gets a 100% explanation. It's ambiguous for a reason.

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Comments

  • Jeff F. says:

    16. What the hell is going on with Walt. Why did he appear randomly throughout the past few seasons?

  • ZOOEYGLASS1999 says:

    I agree with most of these except: Libby in the mental hospital (who cares?); Cindy (I always thought she was just a brainwashed other); and who built the statue (probably just early inhabitants of the island...leaving it a mystery will be better than actually showing them).
    S
    P
    O
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    L
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    As for the frozen donkey wheel:
    AICN reports that it is revealed next week--- http://www.aintitcool.com/node/44917

  • The Evil Marshall D says:

    Mystery: WHAT is the Smoke Monster, not WHO.
    Mystery: Why did Ben let Walt and Michael go, but not anyone else?
    Mystery: What happens to you when the Temple heals you and "you're always one of us?"
    Mystery: What was the U.S. army doing on the Island and what happend to them?
    Mystery: Who ordered The Purge and why?

  • Aaron says:

    Here's a question that's never been answered:
    Who gives a shit about this crap?

  • TurdBlossom says:

    Smokey is probably Sutek.

  • The Evil Marshall D says:

    From Aaron | Reply
    Posted 04 May 2010, 3:48 PM
    Here's a question that's never been answered:
    Who gives a shit about this crap?
    Ha! Funny! But "shit" and "crap" are rather redundant expressions in a very short sentence. It would probably have more "umph" if you said,
    "Who gives a sausage makers dump about this impacted bowel of a mystery?"

  • Michael Strangeways says:

    Here's something funny: Why make a useless, condescending comment on a post about a show you obviously dislike?

  • TheWatcher says:

    it's funny because his name is Aaron.

  • Old No.7 says:

    Most important question not answered: What the fuck is ABC going to do for ratings after this series ends?

  • Jo Dean says:

    Somehow I doubt they will ever answer.
    Lou
    http://www.being-anonymous.at.tc

  • snarine says:

    Hi! Good question, but I would disagree with one thing: Jacob did not say that the island was a cork designed to contain the Man in Black - he said it was a cork designed to contain some kind of evil or malevolence. However, it is a jump to assume that the MIB is the evil that was meant to be contained. I realize that it looks that way now, but it may not be that simple. For one thing, if the MIB was the thing that the island was designed to contain, then why was Jacob so surprised when the MIB tried to kill him? Wouldn't he expect that to be the case if he was the MIB's jailer? Also, why would he be having what amounts to a philosophical argument with the MIB over whether or not humans are inherently evil? So, I don't think that this assumption is warranted, at least not yet. The MIB is definitely evil, but is he just "regular evil" -i.e., the evil of a man/being who has been locked up on an island for a very long time with a mission or for a purpose that he no longer believes in?
    For myself, I'll be very disappointed if the philosophical idea underpinning "Lost" ends up being something as mundane as "good vs. evil". I think it is being advertised that way, but I don't think that is where the creators are going.

  • sweetbiscuit says:

    Here's one: if the island is the cork for keeping malevolence/evil/MiB in check and away from the "real" world, why does Jacob want to keep tempting fate by bringing people to the island? He apparently doesn't live by most human laws except that he can be killed through that "loophole." So why risk it? It seems Jacob's priority is not keeping evil on the island, or he'd make sure no one ever landed on it.

  • Max Berger says:

    Yeah you hit a lot of the big ones but forgot a couple keys.
    First of all, Walt has to be answered. I mean has to has has to be answered. To be honest with you the way I look at lost is a show that had a brilliant first two seasons and then kind of lost its way.
    Nevertheless I would like to tell people that i recommend Lost to that their was not a mysterious weird, incredibly important character season 1-2 who we never learn what the deal is with.
    And on that note the second most important mystery that needs to be solved is the pregnancy issue. Which to give a short sum up- created 100% of the tension with claire season 1, was the reason that juliets character existed, and last but certainly not least is the whole reason sun had to get off the island in the first place. You can walk away from season 1 & 2 thinking that the entire reason the others exist is to solve the pregnancy issue on the island.
    So i am hoping that this somehow gets answered.

  • Dr. Morbius says:

    Another question not really answered is why the "numbers" seem to have magical powers and why they keep popping up from time to time. The "numbers" dominated the first couple of seasons, but have faded from view, except for occasional reference.

  • Bi Polar Bear says:

    Who is "RC" referenced in the engraving on Naomi's bracelet that Sayid removed from her corpse?

  • Annie says:

    I don't understand why everyone doesn't remember that they answered why Libby was in the mental hospital, or at least indicated it. She was clearly having trouble dealing with her husbands death ("Live Together Die Alone) and looked half-crazy already. We know she voluntarily went into the hospital. That's all the explanation I need.
    And as for the fertility problems... it's another one they answered, or indicated: radiation poisoning, obviously! The fertility problems cropped up post-Incident, after they detonated the bomb (which is interesting when you think Juliet set off the bomb and created the problem she would eventually be summoned to fix!)

  • Cstamp says:

    I still think the issue of who Walt was needs to be addressed.

  • Shane says:

    I think we need to be realistic-- there are four hours (or so) left. We are not going to get answers to every single thing listed here and if we do they will be randomly shoved in a line of dialogue and seem redundant (like the answer to the 'whispers'). I think the producers would be better leaving some things for us to just figure out.
    HOWEVER I won't be satisfied unless at least some of the stuff written here are explained. Especially about Walt, the DI, the Others' history and obviously the Island itself. Also Eloise Hawking- she is one of the most left out and important characters. Why did she help the Oceanic 6 get back to the Island? Who told her to and who is she working with/for? I'd also like some explanation about the Temple and what the hell all that is about.