Now that we know their identities- from a February 7, 2007 interview discussing Not in Portland:

What is the meaning or significance of the two skeletons that Jack and Kate found in the cave of season 1?

CUSE: The answer to that question goes to the nature of the timeline of the island. We don't want to say too much about it, but there are a couple Easter eggs embedded in [the Feb. 7 episode], one of which is an anagram that actually sheds some light on the skeletons and hints at a larger mythological mystery that will start to unfold later in the season.

This leads into the familiar "proof that from the very beginning, they always knew that they were going to do this" quote.

So, assuming this is the Mittelos/Lost Time anagram, how does that shed light on the skeletons?

Dunno, maybe 'lost time' works because Jack said that they were maybe 50 years old, when we can safely say that they were around 2000 years old. That is some serious 'lost time'. Hope this makes sense cause it was a vodka night.

Nice find.. It would be nice to figure this out. This is what people love about this show. You can be a casual viewer or you can dig deeper, and all the layers are their for your enjoyment. This is why people on this board are going to be upset when the finale is done. And this is why I am sitting back and taking it all in because there is no more after this.

In the form of a public confession here, I must admit that I have NEVER, in the six seasons of Lost, watched one of TPTB podcasts and/or interviews, and for a number of reasons that made sense to me at the time I made such a conscious decision:

-I discovered The Fuselage; and there was such a wealth of insight, imagination, reference and keen observation here that, combined with the clever intricacies of the show, I considered podcasts as pure promotional and self-serving hype.

-I did not want to contribute in any way to an external distraction that had any potential to detract from my interest in the series, as presented on the screen, without external distortion or inflation.

-I became increasingly adamant in my decision when I read posts here [and elsewhere] that decried a certain willingness to be obscure by TPTB in their podcast clues.

At this late stage in the series, I am happy that I held to my course, although some here may consider that missing these add-ons has deprived me of a fuller picture of the series clues. I can understand that point of view.

However, for me, the show and its legacy are what I have seen televised of each episode without the extras.

TPTB have also alleged, as I've read here, that Annie would loom large in the future of Lost; that there would be some prominence to the volcano; and a host of other seeds planted early that would flourish later on.

I believe I've saved myself considerable gulps of held breath and the prospect of turning ever darker shades of blue, by abstaining.

What an interesting insight, nanwynnfan. It would actually have been better for all of us if we'd just stuck to the stuff on the show. I am not facetious when I say that this would definitely have been better. The lies and misdirection from the producers, (and after fifteen years of dealing with their type, I should have known better), and the different "canon/not so much canon" videos have indeed diminished my experience with the show. One bunny on a shelf tanked it for me, long before this point.

I don't know. For all of Damon and Carlton's lies, all of the extraneous stuff did add to the overall viewing experience for me, at least until recent months.

The Lost Experience stands out at the top as really worthwhile. The Alvar Hanso storyline and orientation video, the explanation of the numbers, the origin of Dharma, Rachel Blake, Joop!, The Apollo Bars, DJ Dan.

People that didn't take part or later hear about it are still waiting for an answer to The Numbers that we actually got four years ago.

Dunno, maybe 'lost time' works because Jack said that they were maybe 50 years old, when we can safely say that they were around 2000 years old. That is some serious 'lost time'. Hope this makes sense cause it was a vodka night.

Haha that was great.

Now that we know their identities- from a February 7, 2007 interview discussing Not in Portland:
So, assuming this is the Mittelos/Lost Time anagram, how does that shed light on the skeletons?

I may have missed this (completely possible!) but did they ever CONFIRM that "lost time" was the solution to the anagram? After all, it could be a LOT of other things. Off the top of my head:

time slot
miles tot (a child of Miles? or Miles as a baby?)
some tilt
tome list, lit tomes (literature references)
stem toil
smite lot (although Lot wasn't smited {smote? smitten?} - his wife was ;)
slim tote
sole mitt (hard to wrangle up a baseball game with only one mitt - haha)
most tile
toms tile (what's so special about Tom's tile? lol)
smile tot
test moil (isn't this the person who performs a circumcision? and how would you test them out beforehand?) :lol:
emit slot
mets toil (If you are a Mets fan, you might agree with this...)
most lite
moist let
site molt
ties molt
silt mote
mote list
emits lot
its motel

OMG, that's it! The Island is just a big motel that you can never check out of! (cue "Hotel California" music....)

:biglaugh:

Sorry, I'm a little delirious, I'm going to sleep now.
:drowsy:

I may have missed this (completely possible!) but did they ever CONFIRM that "lost time" was the solution to the anagram? After all, it could be a LOT of other things. Off the top of my head:

time slot
miles tot (a child of Miles? or Miles as a baby?)
some tilt
tome list, lit tomes (literature references)
stem toil
smite lot (although Lot wasn't smited {smote? smitten?} - his wife was ;)
slim tote
sole mitt (hard to wrangle up a baseball game with only one mitt - haha)
most tile
toms tile (what's so special about Tom's tile? lol)
smile tot
test moil (isn't this the person who performs a circumcision? and how would you test them out beforehand?) :lol:
emit slot
mets toil (If you are a Mets fan, you might agree with this...)
most lite
moist let
site molt
ties molt
silt mote
mote list
emits lot
its motel

OMG, that's it! The Island is just a big motel that you can never check out of! (cue "Hotel California" music....)

:biglaugh:

Sorry, I'm a little delirious, I'm going to sleep now.
:drowsy:

"Oh, you can't help that," said the cat. "We're all mad here." :biggrin:

Yes they did confirm the lost time anagram on the Season 3 blu-ray extras

I always thought the anagram led to "Bones of Nadlers may lay deep in lost cave." The original being "Only fools are enslaved by time and space."

TPTB have also alleged, as I've read here, that Annie would loom large in the future of Lost; that there would be some prominence to the volcano; and a host of other seeds planted early that would flourish later on.

I believe I've saved myself considerable gulps of held breath and the prospect of turning ever darker shades of blue, by abstaining.

Well said. Unless shown otherwise, this interview seems to be another entry into that infamous pantheon.

My take: this further suggests that the original plan for Adam & Eve involved a time loop/travel (ie. Jack and Kate) but that this was abandoned at some point. Perhaps this is related to the expanded "DHARMA Times" storyline alluded to in the Pierre Change Comic Con 2008 video that was likewise abandoned.

Dunno, maybe 'lost time' works because Jack said that they were maybe 50 years old, when we can safely say that they were around 2000 years old. That is some serious 'lost time'. Hope this makes sense cause it was a vodka night.
This is how TPTB answered the question about Adam and Eve:


Question: "What is the meaning or significance of the two skeletons that Jack and Kate found in the cave of season 1?"


CUSE: The answer to that question goes to the nature of the timeline of the island. We don't want to say too much about it, but there are a couple Easter eggs embedded in "Not in Portland", one of which is an anagram that actually sheds some light on the skeletons and hints at a larger mythological mystery that will start to unfold later in the season.

LINDELOF: There were certain things we knew from the very beginning. Independent of ever knowing when the end was going to be, we knew what it was going to be, and we wanted to start setting it up as early as season 1, or else people would think that we were making it up as we were going along. So the skeletons are the living -- or, I guess, slowly decomposing -- proof of that. When all is said and done, people are going to point to the skeletons and say, "That is proof that from the very beginning, they always knew that they were going to do this."

Actually there were two anagrams in that episode. Mittelos Bioscience, where Mittelos could = "Lost Time" and Herarat Aviation, where Herarat could = "Earhart". As in Amelia.

Frankly Amelia Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan would have made more sense than what we got. The timing would have been about right (based on Jack’s guesstimate) and that reveal would have linked the island to a real event and substantiated how hard the Island is and always has been to find -- as their bodies have never been recovered despite extensive searches. Plus the song Hugo and Sayid pick up on the radio at the end of The Long Con was 'Moonlight Serenade' by The Glenn Miller Orchestra a tune from that era.

TPTB have also alleged, as I've read here, that Annie would loom large in the future of Lost; that there would be some prominence to the volcano; and a host of other seeds planted early that would flourish later on.

First off - you cannot take what folks say TPTB said as being completely accurate. Many folk here have colored what was actually said with their own interpretations of what was meant by what was said. This especially happened when people were particularly invested in certain theories.

Annie is a good example. Annie was important to Ben and was important in that we saw that Ben could have a crush and feel love. They never said that she was of looming importance to the entire story of LOST. She was an important part of Ben's story. We saw why, so we can move on from that. Since the Annie storyline was created before TPTB were given an end date for the series, they may well have anticipated expanding that storyline in the future and left the topic as one that could be persued at a later date if necessary.

Problem is, when TPTB say anything was important people assume that it will forever be important and they keep looking for closure that is not forthcoming. I have a feeling that a whole ton of stories were started that will never be concluded because the writers were planting seeds during seasons 1 and 2 that might have to last into seasons 10, 11, 12, etc. There was no set in stone end date.

When they got their set in stone end date, they regrouped. What story lines are important to the conclusion of the series? Let's finish those.

While I can see how those who have not dabbled in the "outside" stuff are probably less frustrated than others, it really bothers me that anyone would base this satisfaction on what others said was said by TPTB rather than what was really said. That reduces such folk to forming opinions based on a bad game of telephone.

So far I am enjoying this last season in spite of some things not being covered that I would have liked to see. I can see why some stories will forever be left open.

Problem is, when TPTB say anything was important people assume that it will forever be important and they keep looking for closure that is not forthcoming. I have a feeling that a whole ton of stories were started that will never be concluded because the writers were planting seeds during seasons 1 and 2 that might have to last into seasons 10, 11, 12, etc. There was no set in stone end date.
Please be kidding.

mets toil (If you are a Mets fan, you might agree with this...)

Take it from this Mets fan,

Mets toil = Lost time...and time again!

:frown:

Please be kidding.

I don't know if they've ever stated that explicitly, but it makes perfect sense considering they've been saying all along that they dragged things out in the first few seasons before they finally got the approval to end the series at season 6.

First off - you cannot take what folks say TPTB said as being completely accurate. Many folk here have colored what was actually said with their own interpretations of what was meant by what was said. This especially happened when people were particularly invested in certain theories.

The first two words there made me brace myself. I get it. Hearsay. However, since I clearly stated I never watched a single podcast, I also implied that I never took anything said about podcasts by others to the bank, either. I thus saved myself that aggravation as well.

I don't know if they've ever stated that explicitly, but it makes perfect sense considering they've been saying all along that they dragged things out in the first few seasons before they finally got the approval to end the series at season 6.So they planned mysteries for almost a dozen seasons and began to put them in place during season 1 and 2, only to negotiate the ending for season 6 with the execs? Hah.

First off - you cannot take what folks say TPTB said as being completely accurate. Many folk here have colored what was actually said with their own interpretations of what was meant by what was said. This especially happened when people were particularly invested in certain theories.

Annie is a good example. Annie was important to Ben and was important in that we saw that Ben could have a crush and feel love. They never said that she was of looming importance to the entire story of LOST. She was an important part of Ben's story. We saw why, so we can move on from that.

Well actually, I believe they said that Annie would be 'seismic' -- and only slightly less so than the volcano. Unless 'seismic' actually means 'shows a character trait that we actually are already getting from another source on the show [i.e. Ben's love for Alex]', then I'd have to disagree with you.

Pretty sure the quote is from the commentary for 'The Man Behind the Curtain'.

Since the Annie storyline was created before TPTB were given an end date for the series, they may well have anticipated expanding that storyline in the future and left the topic as one that could be persued at a later date if necessary.

They got an end date roughly around the time they would have been breaking the story for 'The Man Behind the Curtain', so if this were the case they could have changed it.