CHAPTER 1 The IslandWe'll start with the island, as it is the basis for everything that is happening on this show. Based on what we know, regardless of Dharma's presence, the island has always drawn people to it (i.e.; the island drew plane/boat crashes well before the DI began). Additionally, I do not believe that the purpose of the show is to discover Dharma and their experiments. I think that Dharma is just a piece of the puzzle. I believe that in the end, this will be more about what was on the island before Dharma (or what made Dharma go to the island in the first place). So what is it that was on the island before Dharma, or, in other words, what drew Dharma (as well as the Black Rock and the Nigerian plane) to the island (in both the physical and academic sense)? I believe that it begins with the crater located on Danielle's map. IMO, this is either a volcanic crater (which is possible as many islands are the results of once active volcanoes) or it is a meteorite crater. If it is a meteorite, which I believe it is, then this could provide the necessary radioactive materials for some sort of natural reactor, which would provde the DI with all the power they need. Also, the meteorite could have landed sometime in the not so distant past (e.g.; 10,000 years ago?) and thus would not have yet decayed. I do not want to get into too many details, so here is a link to discussions on this topic:http://forums.go.com/abc/primetime/lost/thread?threadID=610735#6914403I also want to discuss the black and white, good and evil, and light and darkness allegories persistent throughout this storyline as I believe that they pertain to the island, not Dharma. Specifically, I wan to briefly discuss what MEandtheresa said concerning the black and white "masks" on the mural. Going on the assumption that they are masks, we need to figure out what masks are used for and how that plays into our story (duh!). So here goes... With this being a "deserted" island, the presence of "adam and eve", and the almost tribe-like others, my theory on the black and white allegory is based on masks and indigenous (or primitive, for lack of a better term) cultures (IC). Many ICs use masks in rituals and ceremonies and the masks themselves often represent some supernatural being or entity (often an animal but can also represent someone). So what could these masks represent? Many ICs use black and white symbology to represent the struggle between good and evil (again, duh!) and many of these struggles revolve around creation/origin myths. Thus, imo, these masks represent the origins of the struggle between good and evil on this island. In fact, they might actually represent two people or groups of people (e.g.; test subjects vs experimenters; academic scientists vs Hanso; or even the island inhabitants pre-Dharma). Following this, the mural is then a story of what has happened on the island...the key is that we need to read the story beginning with the masks, as they represent origins. I'll leave that for another day. One more general comment concerning the island, one which I think is very important...and that is that no one has ever left the island. I will talk more about this when I discuss the Dharma Initiative.