When Desmond tried to leave the island, he mentioned that getting out was something like being stuck in a snowglobe. Either Desmond's just lost his talent of sailing, or something's been blocking someone from either entering or leaving the island- unless a certain button was forgotten to be pushed.
Juliet says she's been on the island for an estimate of three years. Desmond also crashed there around that time. So can we assume that another incident happened like when Desmond didn't press the button and brought down flight 815? Or maybe this was part of some kind of shut down and the Others were recruiting and planning on building back up the island.
I dunno about any of that...but I DID enjoy the snowglobe commercial in the middle of the eppy...where it starts snowing inside the family's house...and they try to go outside...but hit the glass wall...including Fido. Pull back...and theres a snowglobe over their house. Too fitting.
desmond sailed in circles because of the magnetic force of the island. remember when one of the others told juliet that the losties had a boat? she said, 'great, let them sail in circles.'
My theory is that even the Others can't leave the island, even if they want to. It's the Hotel California... you can get there, but you can never leave.
Hm, I really believe that the Others at least *can* leave the island. I believe that Ethan and Albert (or Alpert, whichever it was) had been on the Island already and had gone back to the mainland for one reason or another when they made contact with Juliet.
So I believed Ben, for once, when he said that they had a way of getting off of the island.
I think the Swan was holding open a crack to the outside world. Desmond didn't know where to look; that's why he was stuck. Remember the precise directions Ben gave Michael.
But when the Hatch imploded, that crack slammed shut and they are cut off. There are probably still intermittent openings--plenty of people seem to have landed there over the years--but I bet they're unpredictable.
And I'm quite sure Ben wanted that crack closed. That's why he was going for Locke; that's why he planted the seed of doubt in Locke's mind about the button. The only reason he entered the numbers himself during the lockdown was that he didn't want to be in the Hatch when it happened.
I think the Swan was holding open a crack to the outside world. Desmond didn't know where to look; that's why he was stuck. Remember the precise directions Ben gave Michael.
But when the Hatch imploded, that crack slammed shut and they are cut off. There are probably still intermittent openings--plenty of people seem to have landed there over the years--but I bet they're unpredictable.
And I'm quite sure Ben wanted that crack closed. That's why he was going for Locke; that's why he planted the seed of doubt in Locke's mind about the button. The only reason he entered the numbers himself during the lockdown was that he didn't want to be in the Hatch when it happened.
But wouldn't that mean Michael and Walt are trapped in the snowglobe too?
There was a theory floating around (I'll search for it so I can reference it) that 9/11 happened as a diversion so that the Others (or whoever is in charge) could make the island "visible" for a split second to bring Juliet in. Now, I don't really think that the Others caused 9/11 or that's what Lost is trying to say by any stretch of the imagination, but it brought up a good point that the island(s) is/are not visible to the outside world unless the Others choose them to be.
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