What do we know or think we know?
This season seems to be clearing things up but then its hard to tell, just when I think I understand where a storyline is going, I get twisted around again. But here are a few things I THINK I've learned at this point. Much is supposition, so forgive please. 1. Dharma set up the island hatches for their various areas of study. 2. Dharma is a different entity than Mittelos 3. Mittelos is an anagram for Lost Time or Time Lost which hints to its purpose. 4. Mittelos is now using the Island and some of the Dharma facilities, but Mittelos doesn't know necessarily what they are for. 5. Mittelos' purpose is to prove either destiny or free will. 6. A consequence of their time on the island is infertility. 7. Juliette was brought in to assist them with making babies, but also to determine what is causing the infertility problem. 8. Dharma did something to the island which is now having a negative effect on anyone inhabiting it. 9. Ben was born on the island to Dharma parents. 10. Dharma is still active in the outside world because it continues to make food drops. 11. At some point Dharmas work led to the death of all employees above ground. They abandoned the island except for continuing to monitor the hatch inhabits who were warned they couldn't leave and must continue to push the button in order to protect the world from destruction. The real purpose of the button was the continue the electomagnetic field made to surround the island to protect their research 12. Ben and his parents were left in a hatch doing other research. 13. There is still an inhabitant of yet another hatch . 14. At some point it looked like it was safe to return above ground and Ben's parents established a home for Ben. 15. Ben's parents continued doing research on their area of interest: free will vs destiny and how those concepts may relate to time and dimensions. 16. Likely it wasn't as safe as believed and Ben's parents died leaving Ben to continue with "Mittelos" he has recruited all the "others" to work with him on various areas of this study and to build their own little utopia. 17. "Adam and Eve" in the cave are Ben's parents 18. Ben stole Danielle's baby and raised her as his own. He may have done it because he is a callous jerk or he did it because he saw Danielle kill her husband and did it to protect the child. OK, everyone can now punch huge holes in my theories. Have Fun! :) :laugh:

Great thread, after I see this episode I'll add a few of my own ideas!

Well, it’s taken me awhile but I’m ready to play along. Here is what I think we know: <*>Dharma was doing experiments on the Island in attempt to change one of the values of the Valenzetti Equation and save humanity. <*>They were basing their experiments on 6 fields: Meteorology, Psychology, Parapsychology, Zoology, Electromagnetism, Utopian Socialism <*>Hanso is the main corporation financing the Dharma Initiative. <*>Hanso is also doing experiments but they are trying to build the ultimate weapon, not save humanity. <*>Hanso had 6 divisions for experiments: Mathematical Forecasting Initiative, Worldwide Wellness and Prevention Development Program, Mental Health Appeal, Electromagnetic Research Initiative, Institute for Genomic Advancement, Life Extension Project <*>Mittelos Bioscience is a spin off of Hanso that is controlled by Thomas Mittelwerk. <*>Mittelos hired Juliet to help reverse the accelerated organ aging of the residents of Otherville. <*>Ben is one of the people with prematurely aged organs. So is Rachel and possibly Rose. This is evidenced by the cancer they developed due to the genetic engineering done on them. <*>The experiments of all the above mentioned entities are still on-going. <*>Desmond is involved in Dharma’s parapsychology experiment which includes near death experiences. More specifically, the phenomenon of ones life flashing before their eyes. <*>The Others that we have seen are actually a blend of Dharma and Hanso/Mittelo people. <*>There will be a final showdown between these two groups. The Losties are expected to choose sides in this battle. <*>Other people will be shown to also have connections to specific experiments. We haven’t been shown enough yet to decide who corresponds to which one.

Thanks for playing! You lost me on the Valenzetti Equation. :? I've never understood what that is supposed to represent. I don't keep up with all the extra websites from Dharma, Hanso etc. and I presume that VE is covered elsewhere. I prefer to be a purist and base my theories on the show alone. BUT having said that, I love your take on things. It makes sense and I hope that things play out that way.

Just because it can all fit neatly into a nice little package doen't make it right! I'm just trying to make sense of everything too. The science is what interests me so that's what I chose to base everything on. I'm sure it's not even close to being correct but that doesn't make it any less fun to guess! Thanks for the great thread idea!