Golden Compass: Theories, Revelations, and Reveals on "Lost"

Oh. My. God.

Three episodes into its fifth season, Lost is proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that it will not be treading water until its series finale at the end of Season Six but will be pulling out some neck-snapping plot twists on a regular basis.

This week's episode of Lost ("Jughead"), which I had watched during the Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour a few weeks back, contained not one but several gasp-inducing revelations likely to rouse Lost's rabid fanbase into discussion mode.

Those of you who read my advance review of "Jughead," know that I was absolutely blown away by this installment, which focused on Desmond and the time-tossed castaways rather than the Oceanic Six, and that I've been teasing you by withholding a theory I had after viewing this episode. Rest assured, you can read my bound-to-be-controversial theory below.

A brief disclaimer before we begin: With the third episode of the season now having aired, I'm now caught up to the on-air transmissions of Lost and have no knowledge of any future events nor have I been spoiled about any future developments on the series.

Widmore. One of the biggest shockers so far this season is the dramatic revelation that Charles Widmore is... an Other. I was absolutely gobsmacked by this reveal as it puts his war with Benjamin Linus into stark perspective since Widmore (wearing the US military officer uniform of Jones) was on the island as a youth. I have to hand the writers some credit for keeping an inkling of this firmly under wraps. I've always made the assumption that Widmore was desperate to find the island for personal gain but never for a second thought that he came FROM the island and was trying to get back.

How absolutely shocking. It completely changes his role in the grand scheme of things and points to some sort of civil war within the Others' camp between Richard Alpert and Ben on one side and Widmore on the other. Given last week's reveal that Ben has a network of operatives working for/with him (like Jill the Butcher), one can make the leap that so too does Widmore and that these were the people that Ben instructed Sayid to kill off. It also means that people can leave the island far more easily than Ben originally made it out to be. Hmmm... And it was a Very Good Thing that Locke didn't shoot "Jones" as he would have undone the entire space-time continuum by killing off Widmore.

Baby Charlie. I loved the reveal at the episode's start that Penny was in labor with Desmond's child and that, with all of the time that has passed since they left the island (three years, no less!), the baby boy isn't quite a baby any more but a little boy... named Charlie. Seriously, my heart leapt into my throat when they said that they named the baby after our dear departed Charlie, whom Desmond tried over and over to save in vain. A beautiful nod to the history of the series and the relationship between Charlie and Desmond during Season Three.

Kids. It's interesting to me that there's now three children who are connected to the island, between Aaron, who was born on the island, Ji Yeon, who was conceived there, and Charlie, who is the son of the very "special" Desmond after he left the island. (Let's also not forget that Juliet is an aunt.) It's also equally interesting that the series should suddenly be flooded with wee bairns, given the Others' fertility problems and inherent fatalities from pregnancies. Could it be connected to the time-hopping that's going on? Did Ben unintentionally cause the end of the Others' reproductive capabilities by turning that wheel? Curious.

Locke. How awesome was it that an injured Locke just casually walked into the Others' camp demanding to see Richard Alpert? Seriously, John manages to continually impress me with his pragmatic attitude about just about everything. The scene between the two of them as Locke gave Richard the compass (after stunning him into submission by saying that Jacob sent him) was fantastic as Locke tried to plead with Richard into telling him how to get off the island and then told him where and when he would be born. Now we know just why Richard Alpert was present at Locke's birth, as seen during Season Four, and why he made repeated visits to Locke when he was growing up, testing him to see if he was the Chosen Leader.

Charlotte. Could Charlotte be the very first fatality from the Sickness? She's clearly feeling the effects of the time-skipping and her symptoms are most definitely the same as the construction worker who nearly pierced the donkey wheel chamber in "Because You Left." I had a feeling that Charlotte Staples Lewis was a goner as soon as Faraday admitted that he was in love with her... and she seemed to return his affections. Love is never a good thing on this series (just look at poor Shannon) and every happiness turns out to be way too short-lived. I'll be pretty crushed if Charlotte dies before we learn her full backstory (after all, she claimed to have been born on the island and has been investigating Dharma-related sites), so I'm hoping that she sticks around long enough to clear up her past. But poor Faraday, really.

Jughead. Loved that Jughead referred to an undetonated hydrogen bomb that the US military attempted to test on the island, as it did many South Pacific islands in the 1950s. Only problem: this bomb casing is cracked and causing radiation leakage. Faraday claims the only solution is to use lead to reinsulate the casing and bury it in concrete. As he says, the island exists in the future, so the bomb clearly hasn't gone off yet. Which is troubling as it means that the bomb is still sitting undetonated on the island and could go off at some point in the future. The fact that Faraday tells Ellie what to do also concerns me as Faraday has influenced the past now. Could it be that he is just as "special" as Desmond is or Ms. Hawking? Are they able to course-correct the timestream without following the same rules that everyone else does? Hmmm...

Desmond. I loved the stuff with Desmond at Oxford as he attempted to track down Faraday's mother and uncovered a conspiracy that was concealing all evidence that Faraday was ever employed at Oxford. We also learn just what put Faraday into the care facility we saw him in at the start of Season Four. After he was able to send those rats' mind back in time, he clearly attempted to replicate his study on a human subject: his lab assistant Theresa Spencer (who, one might also believe, was his lover), who fell into a vegetative state as her mind drifts backwards in time. Desmond gets a first-hand sight at Faraday's work when he meets Theresa's sister Abigial and also learns that Widmore not only pays for Theresa's medical treatment but was Faraday's benefactor and financed his research. WTF?

Meanwhile, despite promising Penny that her father would never know they were in England, Desmond goes to see Widmore and storms into his office. He's there for some answers and to find the location of Faraday's mother, since he now knows that Widmore knows Faraday. And sure enough, Widmore has the location of Faraday's mother: she's in LA.

All of which brings us to...

JACE'S THEORY TIME!

I've thought for a while now that Faraday's mother was Ms. Hawking since I saw "The Lie" in December. Given that Widmore tells Desmond that she's in LA, it's now all but confirmed that she is his mother. But that's not the interesting bit that has me practically foaming at the mouth.

In the 1950s, Faraday encounters a young blonde woman named Ellie on the island, who is headstrong, good with a gun, and clearly a rising star in the Others' camp. Staring at her, he's instantly reminded of someone he knows; when Ellie questions whether it was a woman other than Charlotte (whom he's just declared his love for), Faraday smirks. The woman she reminds him of his none other than his mother: Ms. Hawking.

But there's more. Ellie and 1950s Charles Widmore are about the same age. In the present day, they're still about the same age. Widmore knew Ellie on the island; he knows Ms. Hawking in the outside world in the present. They're not just mere acquaintances, either; Widmore knows Hawking so well that her location is right within his reach: in his address book in a box on his desk.

We never learn Ellie's last name and we still don't know Ms. Hawking's first name. Both are of British extraction and have similar coloring and facial features.

Therefore, I rest my case: Ellie and Ms. Hawking are one and the same.

Which might not seem like a major revelation but it does raise some interesting questions about just what happened all of those years ago between Richard Alpert and Widmore's faction. And it makes me wonder just how close Hawking and Widmore really are. Is Widmore just Faraday's benefactor? Or is there a closer relationship there? Something like father and son? Hmmm...

It also explains why Hawking had to interfere with Desmond proposing to Penny because she needed to course-correct the time stream in order to ensure that he would eventually end up on the island... and then come looking for her in LA.

Meanwhile, I'm very worried for Penny after Ben promised to kill her last season. Not good now that she, Des, and Charlie are heading to LA...

What did you think of this week's episode? Were you shocked by the revelation that Charles Widmore was an Other? Do you agree with my theory about Ellie/Ms. Hawking? Will Charlotte survive more than a handful of episodes now that she's sick? Discuss.

Next week on Lost ("The Little Prince"), Kate learns that someone knows the secret of Aaron's true parentage; the shifts through time place the lives of the remaining island survivors in extreme peril.