Jack will fix Locke in ATL....

[KoKoNut]

It's been speculated before and still has me wondering if Jack fixes Locke in the ATL, how it will affect the outcome of what happens in Island time? Will it have any sort of weight on the showdown between Island Jack and Flocke?

[MachThree]

It's been speculated before and still has me wondering if Jack fixes Locke in the ATL, how it will affect the outcome of what happens in Island time? Will it have any sort of weight on the showdown between Island Jack and Flocke?

My theory - Desmond wakes up everyone to the alt timeline - they all have their memories back.  In the main timeline, Jack defeats Smokey (maybe w/Desmond's help) but the island is destroyed or sunk anyway.  Jack fixes Locke in the Alt and perhaps that redeems both of them in a sense - Locke's faith ultimately prevails even without the Island???  In any case I think the Alt goes on as the main reality where everyone remembers the island timeline but these are their new lives.

[CaseyMac]

Interesting question. While we have seen people in the ATL become aware of the original one, we really havn't seen any effect going the other direction. That can all change in the last episode, but we really havn't seen it yet I don't think.

[nikarro]

Well kind of we have a little with Desmond, but he is special anyway!

[CaseyMac]

Ah, good point nikarro. I forgot about Des there. I knew there was something in the back of my mind I was missing. Like you said, though, he is special.

[trodge]

Is Jack even going to have time in the alternate timeline?

I got the impression that the concert was in a few hours.

[lostlady]

Maybe Jack's operation of Locke will kill him and somehow that affects the events on the island.

[lostfan777]

Interesting question. While we have seen people in the ATL become aware of the original one, we really havn't seen any effect going the other direction. That can all change in the last episode, but we really havn't seen it yet I don't think.

Well kind of we have a little with Desmond, but he is special anyway!

They are all doomed on the island, just like Sun, Jin, etc.  I don't think it matters if they become aware or not.  Desmond is the only one who needs to know.  Jack will show him the way, and he will use his power to sink the island.  Game, set, match.  Then they will live on in the ATL. 

[BobBX542]

I don't know where you're getting the idea that anything that happens off-island will/does affect the on-island at all. I mean, as far as what nikarro is saying, Desmond might be aware of the off-island timeline, but I don't see how that has changed anything On the island.

As to the actual question at hand, my answer is no, Jack/Locke off-island time line will have no affect on the on-island time line.

[lostfan777]

I don't know where you're getting the idea that anything that happens off-island will/does affect the on-island at all. I mean, as far as what nikarro is saying, Desmond might be aware of the off-island timeline, but I don't see how that has changed anything On the island.

As to the actual question at hand, my answer is no, Jack/Locke off-island time line will have no affect on the on-island time line.

I agree, what happens on the island usually shows up in the ATL, but there has been no suggestion that the affects go both ways.

[sillysab]

Maybe Jack's operation of Locke will kill him and somehow that affects the events on the island.

My prediction is that Jack must kill Locke/Flocke in both time lines. Once Jack's memories come back in alt time line and now that he's got all of Jacob's knowledge on the island, this is what he has to do - perhaps Des knows this as well and has pushed this scenario to happening.

[lostfan777]

Maybe Jack's operation of Locke will kill him and somehow that affects the events on the island.

My prediction is that Jack must kill Locke/Flocke in both time lines. Once Jack's memories come back in alt time line and now that he's got all of Jacob's knowledge on the island, this is what he has to do - perhaps Des knows this as well and has pushed this scenario to happening.

I don't think so.  Jack's enemy on the island isn't Locke, it's MIB/Smokey who just happens to look like Locke.  Locke is dead and gone.  No need for him to die in the ATL.

[cookieshoes]

I don't think so.  Jack's enemy on the island isn't Locke, it's MIB/Smokey who just happens to look like Locke.  Locke is dead and gone.  No need for him to die in the ATL.

Maybe that's the point. By Jack fixing Locke and giving him the ability to walk again, Locke is freed from his reliance on the wheelchair, and therefore would never have an allegiance to the island for "fixing him", even if he ended up there somehow in the ATL.  So, perhaps his survival and ability to walk again in the ATL prevents him from ever being able to be used by the MiB.

[sillysab]

I don't think so.  Jack's enemy on the island isn't Locke, it's MIB/Smokey who just happens to look like Locke.  Locke is dead and gone.  No need for him to die in the ATL.

Maybe that's the point. By Jack fixing Locke and giving him the ability to walk again, Locke is freed from his reliance on the wheelchair, and therefore would never have an allegiance to the island for "fixing him", even if he ended up there somehow in the ATL.  So, perhaps his survival and ability to walk again in the ATL prevents him from ever being able to be used by the MiB.

I think this is an over analysis.
We have seen that people dead on the island have 'island memories' first in the ATL - we have yet to see what happens on the island when someone dies in the ATL though.

[lostfan777]

First, island occurences have bled over into the ATL, but we have yet to see anything from the ATL affect the island. 

Second, I don't think the goal in the ATL is going to be preventing the happenings on the island from happening again.  I think the ultimate goal is to stop Smokie on the island, possibly by sinking it, end of that story.  Meanwhile, Desmond is working to bring everybody's consciousness from the island into the ATL so that they can go on with their lives aware of what they had been through.

In other words, I think once MIB is defeated, it is indeed ended and once the island is sunk, it will no longer need protecting (the light won't go out because the power is in the light and the water together).  But if the characters went on in the ATL with no memories of the island, that would be a frustrating ending for the viewers, almost as if they did indeed all die.  However, if Desmond is successful, they will be able to merge with their island lives and retain both, almost as if they had never died on the island.  Life, death and rebirth.