Theory - Daniel Faraday's Constant

It is my intention to write this blog as linearly as possible, in order to keep my thoughts organized. For example, I've got a lot of thoughts about Danielle Rousseau and her death, but I'll wait to address those until she at least shows up later in the first season. However, yesterday I had a thought pop into my head about one of the most intriguing new characters of the fourth season, Daniel Faraday. This thought was startling to me in its logic.

"The Constant" was one of Lost's best episodes ever, but I thought it faltered just slightly at the end. The episode reached its perfect natural conclusion when Desmond ended his tear-inducing phone reunion with Penny, and then informed Sayid (who, by the look in Desmond's eyes, he now clearly remembered) that everything was okay. The episode could have ended on a very complacent note (something Lost rarely does); instead, it pushed ahead to one final scene with Daniel on the beach.

Daniel has jotted himself a note that if anything happens, Desmond will be his Constant. That journal is a curious thing: Daniel frequently looks upon his entries as if he has never seen them before, which leads one to believe that Daniel either suffers from memory problems (which would explain the memory card he was playing with Charlotte, if that was the nature of the game) or that Daniel is permanently unstuck in time (at least slightly). The last scene with Daniel on the beach is unsettling: with the successful rescue of Desmond's mind, we felt hopeful that we were now over and done with the Sickness. Instead, we see that there are more problems ahead.

By the end of the fourth season, Desmond is reunited with Penny, and Daniel is presumably transported along with the Island. I was troubled as to how Desmond could now ever be Daniel's constant, since the two were separated. Yesterday, it occurred to me that Desmond might act as Daniel's constant, even if he could not save Daniel's mind. Here's what I predict:

Daniel is transported in the zodiac along with the Island. The sudden displacement causes the craft to be knocked off course, so that they wander away from the safe 305 compass bearing. This, combined with the extreme dose of electromagnetism that they were exposed to from moving the Island (the purple sky) causes Daniel to get the Sickness. His consciousness comes unhinged, and he swings back into a time after he helped Desmond in the past but before Desmond leaves for the around-the-world boat race. Meanwhile, on the Island, all the bad things that John Locke told Jack about start to happen. Daniel, who no longer knows how he came to be on the Island (the same way as Desmond), is instructed by Charlotte to find Desmond (based on what is written in Daniel's journal). Daniel is told to deliver a message to the past Desmond that will carry over to future Desmond, who is now off the Island: they need you. The people on the Island are in trouble, and those who left have to come back. Daniel is able to deliver the message, but sadly, since Desmond is not constant with him on the Island, Daniel soon dies. It is the foreknowledge of his own imminent death and the bad things that are happening on the Island that causes Daniel to cry when he first sees the salvage footage of Oceanic 815: he knows, on some level, the horrible things that will happen to him and others in the future because of that plane.

I would not be happy if this was true. I think Daniel is a fantastic character, and I hope he is around until the end, but this seems to make sense and seem logical. It is also a way to pull Desmond back into the storyline of the Island, since for all accounts and purposes, Desmond no longer has any dramatic purpose (except, perhaps, to fend off an attack from Ben on his beloved Penelope). Again, I hope this does not play out for Daniel's sake, but this covers a lot of the open mysteries about Daniel, and the pieces of the puzzle seem to fit.