The Whisperers Theory
2 months, 3 weeks ago by NickRead more: Lost Theories
Sent in by the always insightful poster Hammer, he explains his theory on the whispers and we posted his unedited thoughts below. Thanks, Hammer.
As most of you are already aware there are whispers that are often heard when apparitions appear, when manifestations of Smokey appear, when Smokey as the black cloud appears and as RGS recently pointed out here sometimes when Others appear. These whispers seem to be from characters that have died on the island (and maybe some that have died off the island). I theorize that when characters die, some or maybe even all of them become Whisperers. Many of the interpretations (done by folks with the needed equipment and accuracy has not been verified) seem to be comments that would or could be made by characters that have died.
For example Boone could have been in the following exchange Sayid and Shannon were in the jungle in “The Other 48 Days”:
**”Shannon”
“She likes the guy, she likes the guy”
“Shannon”
“Your life and time is up”
“Help me”
“Shannon, meet me on the other side”
“Her song” (’Ana-Lucia’ when reversed)
(Gun shot)
This second example seems to show that the Whisperers are part of the security system because of the “intruder” statement and alarms going off. Also one of the Whisperers may by Yemi speaking from experience of a plane crash:
**”There may be something, but it may be slack”
“Let’s go”
“Has he seen us?”
(Alarms go off)
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry”
“Intruder, Intruder”
“Hide against the bushes”
“Open the door”
“I know what it’s like for a plane to crash”
“Complain, complain, complain”
“I know what you said, but…”
There are many more examples.
Because jaime recently pointed out here that the hieroglyphics may be a hint that Ben summoned Smokey and the fact that the whispers and Smokey often appear separately, I now believe that the Whisperers and Smokey are related in that they are both part of the island’s security system but are separate entities.
Danielle Rousseau at one time referred to the “Monster” as the security system. I feel that Ben sort of proved it by inviting Smokey into camp to stop the attack from the freight folks.
Admittedly, the validity of this theory relies heavily on the accuracy of the interpretations of both the whispers the hieroglyphics transcripts.
Please help improve or debunk.
**Quote taken from lostpedia.com.
Comment 1, posted 2 months, 3 weeks ago - Quote and reply
I asked to have this since several folks have asked about it. Now I have a place to direct them and a place debate it.
Thanks again for allowing this.
My latest struggle with this is trying to tie Charlie and Christian to the theory as they have made themselves appear and we know from the transcripts that the whisperers have the desire to expose themselves (not like that Beavis and Butthead).
Comment 2, posted 2 months, 3 weeks ago - Quote and reply
Hurley figured it out. What I believe the characters in this episode are experiencing is not time travel, but some kind of “unreality.” I don’t know whether it’s a drugged state or dream state.
The fact is, that NOBODY that left the island without everybody leaving together, should be happy about it. How could Jack feel happy afterwards, then insane after that?
The writers are messing with us in a really neat, complex way.
It wasn’t as intense as all the others, but maybe it’s nice to have a slow one every now and then. But not too often.
Comment 3, posted 2 months, 3 weeks ago - Quote and reply
Maybe cause its Friday night and I have had a couple of beers….I don’t have much input. I have always thought the whispers were from another dimension.
Comment 4, posted 2 months, 3 weeks ago - Quote and reply
Yeah, I remember you bringing this up before in several posts, and I’ve always considered it a possibility.
When I first looked online and saw transcripts of the whispers, I got the impression that they were…hmm..it sounded to me like one of two things:
1. Voices of characters who were watching, who wanted to help, but somehow were dimensionally estranged and couldn’t interact. This would include dimensional shifting OR death. We have yet to confirm that all the voices belong to people who die during the timeline of the story - I guess we’ll find out more about that as time goes on.
2. Voices that were ‘bouncing around’ in TIME. Things that have been spoken by various people and the ‘echo’ of these things, bouncing around time and space…
I still don’t know which way it’ll go exactly, but we’ll see :)
Not to be irrelevant - but I haven’t commented in a while, and wanted to say one thing: I think Adam & Eve are Desmond & Penny. I got that feeling very strongly (not sure why) when watching The Shape of Things To Come. But I guess that belongs on another page :)
Comment 5, posted 2 months, 3 weeks ago - Quote and reply
Omar Kamel wrote:
Comment 6, posted 2 months, 3 weeks ago - Quote and reply
I guess if I keep hitting submit without entering a post, I can crank up the number of posts. :)
I wanted to say that your first thought is interesting. Seems plausible that not all the Whisperers are from dead folks if dead folks are in another dimention.
I don’t think the voices are just bouncing in time though, they seem to apply to the events happening at the time they are muttered.
Comment 7, posted 2 months, 3 weeks ago - Quote and reply
Hammer wrote:
Hmm - yeah? I’m not that sure - but I haven’t done anything resembling extensive research.
Got any specific examples that fulfill that criterion? I’m curious.
Comment 8, posted 2 months, 3 weeks ago - Quote and reply
This one seems most specific:
In “The Other 48 Days” when Shannon and Sayid are in the jungle just before Ana shoots Shannon. I believe one of the Whisperers is Boone(it will be obvious which one I think is Boone):
Relax dude, I think she likes the guy”
“You’re life”
“Ich weiß nicht” (German for ‘I don’t know’)
“Look out”
“Ana’s the trigger”
“You’re gonna kill her”
“Move on”
(Gun shot)
“See ya”
(Like a chorus singing just after the gunshot)
”
“ “Shannon”
“She likes the guy, she likes the guy”
“Shannon”
“Your life and time is up”
“Help me”
“Shannon, meet me on the other side”
“Her song” (’Ana-Lucia’ when reversed)
(Gun shot)
”
“ “Relax dude, she likes the guy, she likes the guy”
“Shannon”
“I know it all I know it all…”
“Dying sucks”
“Shannon”
“I don’t think you should tell her when she comes”
“Obviously she likes you”
“Who’s the guy?”
“I want to see Shannon”
“Eye to eye”
“Who’s the guy?”
“Fire Lucia”
“The brothers that help us”
“Are you done with it?”
“Her song” (’Ana-Lucia’ when reversed)
(Gun shot)
“Fire”
Comment 9, posted 2 months, 3 weeks ago - Quote and reply
How about in the man behind the curtain (when Ben is standing at the fence):
Man: “Look at me”
Ben’s mother: “Look at me. It’s all right, it’s okay, (-It’s okay, **echo) I’m here. Look at me.”
Man: “Ben, You’re my prisoner and- (inaudible, but most likely: “and we are ready” or “and you are mine”. Perhaps both in overlay.)
Man: [demonic laugh.]
Ben: “I’m scared mom.”
Mom: “It’s all right, (-don’t worry **Over lay**) patience Ben.”
I think this is the strangest one, and if the transcribers are correct, then Ben is hearing himself in the whispers! This seems odd because in particular the “Ben” whispers seem to be from a young child, so it is hard to see how these whispers could be from another time. In this case, at least, it almost seems like this is a conversation that Ben is having at the time with the other whisperers
Comment 10, posted 2 months, 3 weeks ago - Quote and reply
Laura wrote:
I don’t think the male Whisperer is Ben and he is not talking to himself. The “Ben” dialog aren’t whispers (they just included his dialog to show continuity of the scene), remembering the scene, Ben was hearing the man and was scared, his mom showed herself to try to comfort him. Ben was actually talking to the female whisperer I think the male Whisperer is very possibly Jacob himself.
Comment 11, posted 2 months, 3 weeks ago - Quote and reply
If you watch the clip Ben is not talking when “I’m scared mom” is being said.
lostpedia.com/wiki/Whisper_tra...
Comment 12, posted 2 months, 3 weeks ago - Quote and reply
Forgot to say that you are correct that this is another example of how the whispers are not just bouncing around. They are very specific the event happening.
Comment 13, posted 2 months, 3 weeks ago - Quote and reply
Laura wrote:
You are correct, I remember now that when I first tried to figure this one out. I thought that Ben was actually communicating with his mom telepathically instead of verbally?
Comment 14, posted 2 months, 3 weeks ago - Quote and reply
Yea, that is kind of what I was thinking. It does seem unusual though, because (I believe) it is the only whisper where we have any sort of interaction. There seem to be very few situations where the character can even understand what is being said in the whispers, and therefore the interaction is more significant.
It sort of reminds me of Locke’s encounter with Jacob (”Help me…” - - idk if this counts as a whisper, but i’ll pretend) because this is another one of the few situations where a character actually understands what is being ‘whispered’. It makes me think maybe this is a result of Locke and Ben being “special”.
Comment 15, posted 2 months, 3 weeks ago - Quote and reply
Hammer wrote:
Well, yes and no.
I mean - if Ben was hearing himself - then the time-bouncing whispers make more sense than the dead-people whispers. Cause how can Ben (who as far as we can so far tell - is alive throughout the whispers be hearing himself?
Also - if he’s hearing a YOUNGER Ben - then that’s even more reason to believe it’s not whipers from dead people - but maybe voices bouncing around in time?
Comment 16, posted 2 months, 3 weeks ago - Quote and reply
Omar Kamel wrote:
Sorry the the horrible syntax. I meant to say how could Ben (who as far as we know is alive throughout the story as we’ve seen it so far) be ‘whispering’?
Comment 17, posted 2 months, 3 weeks ago - Quote and reply
‘Sorry the the syntax’?!
Jeeez…
Comment 18, posted 2 months, 3 weeks ago - Quote and reply
Omar Kamel wrote:
Sorry the the horrible syntax. I meant to say how could Ben (who as far as we know is alive throughout the story as we’ve seen it so far) be ‘whispering’?
Yes, agreed, I don’t think Ben is hearing himself whisper (I think either the interpretor assumed it was Ben or Ben was telepathically communicating). And I still don’t think the whispers are bouncing.
Comment 19, posted 2 months, 3 weeks ago - Quote and reply
I don’t think it makes sense for the whispers to be “bouncing” because, as Hammer as pointed out, there are far too many distinctly relevant conversations. It just wouldn’t be statistically possible for all of these whispers to have randomly “bounced” to the correct point in time to actually make sense.
It seems to me that there are two types of whispers. There are the whispers that are seemingly commenting on the happenings of the island, like Hammer’s examples, and then there are the whispers that are revealing our characters’ biggest fears. Clearly Ben, as any young child, was missing his mother and scared of the big scary laugh. Similarly, we have Sawyer hearing Frank Duckett saying “It will all come around.”
These whispers could be either a result of the island’s ability to reveal these fears, or simply we are getting a mix of what is really “happening” on the island and what our character is interpreting to be happening (just like we don’t know if Charlie is really there… or Hurley is imagining him).
Comment 20, posted 2 months, 3 weeks ago - Quote and reply
Laura wrote:
There may even be more than two types. Jacob has direct conversations with Ben and tried to with Locke. Maybe “special” characters are spoken to directly by Whisperers as opposed to “over hearing” the Whisperers talking to each other.
Comment 21, posted 2 months, 3 weeks ago - Quote and reply
These things I believe to be true about the whispers-
They seem to be whispering about what is happening at that moment.
They seem to be from other 815ers that are dead and other dead people.
I believe that they could show themselves if they wanted to.
Sometimes they preceed smokey, sometimes not.
I love reading all the transcrips on lostpedia but it totally freaks me out!
Comment 22, posted 2 months, 3 weeks ago - Quote and reply
Whoo-Hoo they gave you a thread!!!! Now all can read the infamous Whispers Theory.
Thanks for the shout out :) I still think that USA Today and the writers/producers declined your theory for print because you hit to close to home.
Comment 23, posted 2 months, 3 weeks ago - Quote and reply
I’ve always wondered about the wispers but never realized there were transcripts. Thanks for posting this. I will definitely be listening more intently next time.
Comment 24, posted 2 months, 3 weeks ago - Quote and reply
jaime wrote:
No problem, I like to give credit where deserved.
re: USA Today, I like to believe that too. :)
Comment 25, posted 2 months, 3 weeks ago - Quote and reply
Kim wrote:
Yeah, I think they are an important part of the show that they haven’t revealed yet. But adding the possible “frozen donkey wheel” theory to this, I think the whispers will get explained or at least more attention this season.
Comment 26, posted 2 months, 2 weeks ago - Quote and reply
I think DocH was right when he said that the Whisperers will be gone because of the timeline collision. I still believe my theory of who they are and why. It seems to me that the dead folks are in full “show themselves mode”. Especially to the “special” folks.
Comment 27, posted 2 months, 2 weeks ago - Quote and reply
sector7 wrote:
Hammer wrote:
tasha wrote:
The whole aging thing with Albert may not be time travel. Maybe he is just dead. Once someone dies they don’t age anymore. Who knows with time travel” and “undead” people things can go anywhere.
+++++++++++++
Agreed. If dead folks can show themselves as apparitions and as show in the whisper trancripts…some of them wanted to show themselves to the Losties, than your point makes sense.
_______________
I disagree. Mittleos = lost time is why. I think that’s a clue that it has everything to do with “time” as to the reason Richard doesn’t age.
Couldn’t the whispers be coming from people who are residing in the future or the past or trapped in a moment in time?
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Of course your theory is possible and it’s likely a mixture of both. The future/past trapped folks can be dead too. Right? There is some pretty good evidence that the whispers were done by folks that have died.
Comment 28, posted 2 months, 2 weeks ago - Quote and reply
Any thoughts on my suggestion that the “dead” folks/Whisperers are starting to feel comfortable showing themselves to Locke? They whispered in the past their desire to expose themselves to the Losties and it seems to me that they think Locke is “ready” to accept it.
Comment 29, posted 2 months, 1 week ago - Quote and reply
Random, but whisperer-ish….
Right after Libby is killed by Micheal, we see Hurley and others walking through the jungle. A “bird” (I thought it looked dinosaur-ish) clearly says “Hurley” and he hears it! and Sawyer makes fun of him. But, i’m 100% certain that bird is Libby.
Comment 30, posted 2 months, 1 week ago - Quote and reply
They never really did explain that bird. We can put it in the group!
Comment 31, posted 2 months, 1 week ago - Quote and reply
I’m assuming the whisperers also covers the apparitions such as Mr Eko’s brother, the one Mr Eko declares as an imitation of his brother.
That said, is the same true for all the others?
I liked Mr Eko’s character, I was completely thrown when he was taken, and Libby of course, Id love to know her back story!
Comment 32, posted 2 months, 1 week ago - Quote and reply
Benny wrote:
Yeah Benny, Yemi was a manifestation from Smokey. As the theory goes, Smokey is somehow related to the whisperers. So I am comfortable with that.
I’m not ready to say that all the others are manifestations or apparitions, but I do feel some of that might be going on as they haven’t explained Harper’s magic act yet.
Comment 33, posted 2 months, 1 week ago - Quote and reply
Okay, I have a theory about the whispers, and I may as well post it here.
I think the island is an anomoly on the planet where time doesn’t behave the same way as it does elsewhere. It may even be a sort of time travel portal, and it exists in dimensions outside the “real” world. Hence, you must approach the island via specific coordinates or risk the consequences. The sickness of some freighter tots, as well as the people Danielle came to the island with, may have suffered from sickness caused by coming to the island on the wrong coordinates.
Perhaps, several timelines exist at once on the island, in different dimensions. So the whisperers, dead or alive, possibly exist in some dimensions and not others. They may be dead in some timelines and alive in others, hence Charlie and Christian being able to appear–and maybe this applies to Jacob as well.
This may explain Ben at the fence (comment 9) and ben’s voice in the whispers at the same time — he exists in several different timelines. It may also explain some of the whispers describing what’s going to happen soon (Ana’s going to shoot) because they are aware of the future as well.
I also suspect that the Swan station, where Desmond pushed the button to reset the magnet every 108 minutes, resets time. What if Ben’s people have figured out a way to suspend time (and therefore live forever)? Then, pushing the button resets the island back in time every 108 minutes, or the island, by staying static, builds up an excess energy that is released by pushing the button. When Des let the charge build up too much the first time, the plane crashed.
This may explain why people don’t get sick on the island, because the clock resets every 108 minutes, sending you back to when you were healthy. Also, the different timelines on one island may help explain why fetuses cannot develop properly on the island.
I also think that the island can manipulate elements to ‘correct’ timelines. One of the themes of “Lost” is fate/desiny vs. choice. You can make choices, but destiny will eventually catch up. Hence Charlie eventually dying. Maybe he was meant to die in the crash, but his choice to walk back to the bathroom to get high changed his location in the plane and he survived. So, the island engineered several attempts to kill him (thus correcting the timeline/destiny), succeeding when Des and Charlie accepted his fate.
I think Smokey is one of the things the island used to correct these timelines. Remember the first episode? Smokey killed the pilot, perhaps because he was meant to die in the crash. Maybe that’s why Eko died as well.
Also, maybe Ben was not supposed to get a tumor on his spine, so destiny caused one of the world’s best spinal surgeons to be on the plane that crashed on the island. And maybe Rose was not meant to have cancer, so in the island’s timeline she was cured.
That’s why some people don’t die at certain times, like Michael not dying despite his desire to kill himself, and Locke surviving an 8-story fall and a bullet in the gut — They weren’t meant to die at those times. I should note here that Smokey did not kill Locke or Kate.
This may also explain Ben’s attitude and fearlessness at times - he knows his destiny, perhaps even knows how and when he is supposed to die, so why be afraid of walking into the enemy camp, since he know it’s not his time to die yet? Might also explain how he behaved when Keamy had Alex at gunpoint. Ben knew his daughter was not meant to die at that time. When she did, he was shocked, and enraged at Widmore for “breaking the rules” — the rules of time.
The more things I think about this series, the more I see how this theory fits the pieces — but this post is getting too long so I shouldn’t go on further.
The only thing that doesn’t make sense is Danielle Rousseau. How did she not get the time sickness her group got? If Alex was conceived on the island (which I think is likely, as I don’t see a pregnant woman being allowed on a long voyage of exploration), how did she and Alex survive? Danielle also created a mayday distress call. Shannon and Sayid used that message, with its iterations, to estimate that the message had been playing for sixteen years. How is this possible, if (as I believe) the island was re-setting back in time every 108 minutes? Until the hatch imploded, that is.
Too much for my brain, must go take a nap….
Comment 34, posted 2 months ago - Quote and reply
spiralturtle wrote:
I agree with much of your theory.
Whisperers: several dims. makes more sense than they voices being echoed in time lines
Comment 35, posted 2 months ago - Quote and reply
It’s very possible that “Danielle” WASN’T pregnant when she set out on the expedition. Her lover was with her on the ship, accidents happen - even happy ones.
Tahiti may very well have been their last port of call on their journey home, after being on the expedition for a year or two.
Comment 36, posted 2 months ago - Quote and reply
I like your whisperers theory Hammer, and I appreciate the thoughtful post from spiralturtle. IMO you’re definately onto something. If time is looping, (perhaps the result of the button being pushed every 108 minutes), then I question what the purpose of this would be. Simply not aging doesn’t seem feasible. As I explore “the big picture” I come up with this possible explanation. The Island, with its special properties, is an attempt to modify the Valenzetti Equation. If the island can keep a constant time loop, yet allow some of its inhabitants to move freely through time, the possibility exists that somehow paradoxes can be avoided and destiny can be altered. The whispers may be a result of certain people attempting to re-visit specific times/events/places which, because they would involve some type of paradox, can not actually participate in. IMO, all of LOST may be very “Dark Towerish”, though I see a somewhat different ending. I am not clearly seeing who is “good” and who is “bad”….in other words, which groups/individuals are attempting to modify the equation and which groups/individuals are thwarting these attempts. IMO, Jacob is important…very important. Possibly the reason that he is unable to be seen and must rely on others to speak for him is because he is losing power due to alterations of destiny in the continual time loop that exists on the island. When Desmond failed to push the button, the time loop lost its constancy and time has started its progression again. As a result, this is everybody’s proverbial last chance to “make things right”. Just a theory……
Comment 37, posted 2 months ago - Quote and reply
Thanks Miss Kim.
Comment 38, posted 1 month, 3 weeks ago - Quote and reply
Here’s my newest thought. Alpert is a whisperer as are most if not all of the group at the temple. Explains why he doesn’t age and Ben’s comment to Alpert about remembering birthdays?
Comment 39, posted 1 month, 3 weeks ago - Quote and reply
New whisperer incidents:
Claire to Kate.
CS to Michael.
Others to mercs.
Comment 40, posted 1 month, 3 weeks ago - Quote and reply
It seems that Alpert’s group may not be “natives” of the island as much as permanent inhabitants, like “dead but here”.
Comment 41, posted 1 month, 3 weeks ago - Quote and reply
Hammer wrote:
+++++++
Also, Eko playing chess with Hugo?
Comment 42, posted 1 month, 2 weeks ago - Quote and reply
Post 546!!
Comment 43, posted 1 month, 1 week ago - Quote and reply
Just an observation:
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think D&C have ever addressed the whispers in any podcast or interview. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
Also, even though I it’s more likely that there were just too many theories to address, but they had the USA Today/D&C collaboration to print some fan theories, this one got ignored. I choose to believe that they ignored it because it was just too damned accurate. :)
But seriously, I believe that they are not addressing the whispers because it is an important part of plot that would give away too much info about the island if they told us where the whispers come from.
Comment 44, posted 1 month, 1 week ago - Quote and reply
Anyone have thoughts on the whispering going on in the Orchid video? They sound much clearer than the most whispers. My first thought was it was just the Orchid video “production crew” talking between takes, but I wonder……..
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