Time travel: the great question debated

You'll remember that in the premiere episode of Lost's Season 5, Dr. Pierre Chang is called to a construction emergency at the burgeoning Orchid Station and tells the foreman to be careful, because that the site may enable them to control time and space.

The foreman asks skeptically, "So you mean like, we can go back and kill Hitler?" Chang snaps back: "Don't be ridiculous! There are rules!"

A story on the speculative-fiction site Abyss & Apex discusses that very scenario and all the rules about why you can't kill Hitler, in hilarious style. The piece is called "Wikihistory." And oh yes, the author is named... Desmond!

Where are Bernard and Rose?

What happened to Rose and Bernard when Ben and then Locke turned the frozen donkey wheel?

Are they alive? Are they dead?

Did they end up in another time?

Are they the Adam and Eve the Losties find early in the series?

Are they living in Dharmaville unseen to us so far?

Post your rank speculation in comments!

More season finale tidbits

Courtesy of Michael Ausellio at Entertainment Weekly, we get a little info about the season finale.

Not major spoilers. But something interesting.

Question: Do you have any snippet to share with us about Lost's season finale? --Megan
Ausiello: We will come to learn that the dude who may or may not be playing Jacob bore witness to pivotal events in the pre-island lives of Locke, Sayid, and Sawyer. Speaking of Lost, I wanna say a few words about Evangeline Lilly's performance in tonight's episode: Wow. (Okay, one word.)

Question: Will we ever find out what happened to Rose and Bernard on Lost? --Lucas
Ausiello: I'm hearing we will.

Recapping 'Whatever Happened, Happened'

Check out what Doc Jensen at Entertainment Weekly had to say about Wednesday's episode.

... the castaways are being made to understand that their participation in past events is shaping the future that they have already experienced. They have themselves to blame for the thing that is Benjamin Linus. We are the causes of our own suffering. Think about your life. At the same time, I didn't quite know how to interpret this idea that Ben would be getting a memory wipe as part of his healing treatment. Did Richard mean that Ben would only be made to forget how Sawyer and Kate helped save his life? I hope so, because if Ben's whole childhood is about to get erased, it really makes me look stupid for insisting to the whole world that Adult Ben remembers growing up with the castaways in Dharmaville.

And, Watch With Kristin.

And, The Washington Post.

Reviewing 'Whatever Happened, Happened

So, do Kate and Sawyer's actions turn Ben into the man he is today? Did they do they right thing?

What do you think Richard Alpert can do to Ben to heal him, take away his memory and steal his innocence? What does it mean that Ben belongs to them now?

And why didn't Kate and Sawyer change their minds?

Do you think the Losties can change the future or the past, for that matter? Or did Whatever Happened, Happened?

More theories from Doc Jensen

As we wait for tonight's episode, here's a little reading from Doc Jensen at Entertainment Weekly to hold us over.

(This post is spoiler free. But if you like to avoid spoilers, wait to click on the article until after tonight's episode. The spoilers aren't answers. Just what questions will be answered in tonight's episode)

Writes Doc Jensen:

''Whatever Happened, Happened'' is the phrase that Daniel Faraday used back in ''LaFleur'' to summarize his belief that the castaways aren't creating a new version of the past, but rather merely creating the past that has always existed. And yet, one episode later in ''Namaste,'' Sawyer says that Faraday ''has some interesting theories on what we can and can't do here.'' I didn't take that to mean that Faraday has reversed his position, but rather that his position has become more nuanced. Might there be permissible exceptions to the ''whatever happened, happened'' principle?

I do have to wonder if history can be changed. Remember, Faraday knocked on the hatch and met Desmond during the flashes. And then, in current time, Desmond awoke and remembered that meeting.

Since he didn't always know about their meeting, you could argue that it didn't always happen.

Can the Losties change the past? Or the future? Post your insight, speculation, questions here.

A note on spoilers

All spoilers will be marked with either a red and white SPOILER ALERT or an orange and black SPOILER ALERT.

All spoilers are always marked as such but these signs should help avoid any confusion. They are usually used but not always.