The main characters created a metaphysical realm to find each other after their deaths—a place producers and fans called the "flash sideways" world. Though they all died at different times, the characters appeared in the realm together, letting them meet and remember the "most important part of their lives": their time together on the Island, and then finally "move on".

“ CHRISTIAN: I'm real. You're real. Everything that has ever happened to you is real...

All those people in the church, they are all real too.

JACK: They're all... they're all dead?

CHRISTIAN: Everyone dies sometime, kiddo... Some of them before you, some, [sighs] long after you.

JACK: But why are they all here now?

CHRISTIAN:"Well, there is no 'now' here.

JACK: Where are we, Dad?

CHRISTIAN: Well, this is a place that you... that you all made together so that you could find one another. The most important part of your life was the time that you spent with these people. That's why all of you are here. Nobody does it alone Jack. You needed all of them, and they needed you.

JACK: For what?

CHRISTIAN: To remember. And to... let go.

JACK: Kate... she said that we were leaving.

CHRISTIAN: Not leaving, no. Moving on.

JACK: Where are we going?

CHRISTIAN: Let's go find out.

” —Christian and Jack, "The End"



Jack on Oceanic Flight 815 in the flash sideways world.

Much like the Island itself, this realm let them reflect on their lives and revisit past choices. Experiences during the flash sideways—pain, unconsciousness, brushes with death and deja vu—helped them recall their lives. Connecting with something particularly significant, often a loved one, brought back all memories and let characters "move on" to the next world.

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Nature



Helen speaks with Locke in the flash sideways world in (" The Substitute ")

Populace

Besides the main characters, characters such as Eloise arrived in the flash sideways after their deaths. Thousands of others populated the world as well. The show leaves unclear though whether they too died in the real world or whether the main characters created them like they created the world itself. Some of these people—David, Sam, Eva—definitely did not exist in the real world. ("Lighthouse") ("Sundown") Some, such as Helen and Nadia, affected the main character's real lives greatly. ("The Substitute") ("Sundown") A few, like Kim Kondracki and Lynn Karnoff, played minor, arguably forgettable roles in the characters' lives. ("What They Died For") ("The Substitute")

Not all main characters entered the flash sideways. Eko died completely comfortable with the decisions he had made. Michael remained on the Island, whispering, and Walt later came to the Island to help him. ("Everybody Loves Hugo") ("The New Man in Charge")

Character traits

Though many characters' circumstances matched their pre-crash lives, most retained the development they had achieved during the series.



Christian reunites with Jack in the flash sideways world in (" The End ")





Purpose

Main article: Awakenings

According to Christian, the characters created the flash-sideways world to "find one another". Finding one another let them "remember and to let go". To this end, the characters ran into one another repeatedly after a series of coincidental circumstances. Eventually, characters connected with someone or something that let them fully recall their lives.

Before meeting one another, the characters imagined new situations for themselves. Director Jack Bender describes this other life as letting characters see "what you wish for or what you're scared of." (Lost: The Complete Sixth Season (DVD))

Passage of time

According to Christian, "There is no 'now'" in the sideways flashes. Character interactions do not exist on a single time line. For example, between Flight 815's landing and Keamy's death, Sun and Jin experience a single night, but Sayid experiences at least two. Other characters go through an entire week during this time. Characters experience more than a week between when waiters lay tables for the climactic concert and when the actual concert occurs.

Second death

Characters such as Mikhail Bakunin and Martin Keamy were showed to have be killed in the flash sideways world, suggesting those in the flash-sideways were not immortal. Given the nature of the world as a form of afterlife, it is unknown what would become of individuals who experience a second death, or if they were the real versions to begin with, as the show chooses not to dwell on it.

Suggested nature

Red herrings initially suggested the flash sideways world was not a form of afterlife.





Parallel universe

See also: Timeline differences

The first appearance of a flash sideways immediately followed a flashback to Jughead's apparent detonation. This suggested that though the characters traveled from 1977 to 2007, the detonation also somehow created a separate timeline. ("LA X, Part 1") Later episodes alternated between the flashes and the main timeline, suggesting two timelines ran concurrently.

The semi-canonical Lost Untangled recaps claimed that the detonation created the flash sideways as an alternate timeline, one in which the survivors successfully reset time and Oceanic Flight 815 landed safely. Sawyer had believed the reset would send them to LAX. ("The Incident, Part 2") Faraday in the sideways flashes later theorized that a nuclear blast had created his world. ("Happily Ever After")

Despite these red herrings, the producers refused to call the flashes an "alternate timeline". (Official Lost Podcast 2/22/2010) The finale finally explained the flash sideways, completely debunking the alternate universe theory. The question of whether or not the blast contributed to the sideways world's creation remained perhaps deliberately ambiguous.

Man in Black's construct

In the beginning of the season, the sideways flashes revealed the island underwater. The Man in Black later attempted to "destroy the island" by sinking it, but the link turned out to be a red herring. In "Sundown" the Man in Black offered to give Sayid "anything" he wanted, including the woman who'd died in his arms. The episode juxtaposed this offer with the flash sideways, in which Sayid's dead wife Nadia still lived. This juxtaposition too turned out to link unconnected situations.

Unanswered questions

Unanswered questions Do not answer the questions here. Keep the questions open-ended and neutral: do not suggest an answer. More details...

For fan theories about these unanswered questions, see: Flash sideways world/Theories

How did Eloise become aware?

Where are Michael and Walt?

See also



