The Whispers

Retro asked: "Has more than one person heard the same whispers at the same time?"

The 'tube scene' you mentioned is one such instance, at the end of Season 2. It's when Michael is leading Jack, Kate, Sawyer and Hurley to The Others. They all hear 'the whispers' at that moment, and then The Others attack.

Similarly Jack and Juliet both hear The Whispers prior to Harper's appearance. And in the Season 4 finale Keamy, his men, and Kate and anyone else by the helicopter all heard those whispers before The Others attacked once more.

So, in short, yes, there have beem multiple 'hearers' of The Whispers on more than one occasion.

I should clarify that David Fury, mentioned above, wrote the episode Solitary. It was the episode that featured The Whispers. I don't know who wrote the actual content of The Whispers themselves; Fury just had an idea of what he thought The Whispers were but it has since changed. That was the only point I was making by mentioning him.

I have no idea who is responsible for The Whispers, their content and their insertion into the show - in a similar vein to how I don't know who does the reverse speech and some of the embedded voices in the soundtrack. I'd like to, though! How much input and information and they have to the show would be mighty interesting!

Angelo, it's been a while since I've had the chance to comment on one of your theories! I love your take on the 'Whispers' and agree completely! I particularly liked the idea of the 'door'.

Interesting read and excellent work, as usual!

Writer(s) inserted the whispers, writers inserted the backwards speech. To access the whispers and to understand what they relate requires rewind and pause buttons. Their content is not for the characters on the show, it is a breaking down of the wall between the audience and the show, allowing for participation. The whispers are for us. Your analysis is ultimately plot driven. By trying to reduce show phenomenon to the plot line you may be lost.

Retro, I see what you're saying - but I think the 'whispers' you're discussing (such as the "we hate you" voice) are not in the same bracket as The Whispers I am discussing.

The Whispers here, the ones on the Island that have a direct influence over how characters react (and therefore are correlatory to plot), are my main subject.

Those 'other whispers', I agree, are not easy to shoe-in to plot purposes. I haven't even tried.

I've always kinda felt (and stop me if you think I'm insane) that the whispers are the personalities (souls, minds, conciousness' or whatever other term you can inject here) of people "imprinted" in the energy field of the island.
whether that field is magnetic, tachyonic or some other unknown energy, it seems to me that people leave impressions of themselves by interacting with the island and those impressions manifest themselves at various times.

perhaps stressful situations open people's abilities to hear the voices.

if this makes any sense I will be surprised.

Good read AC and Your BSG blog: still a real pleasure to read.

MSHL - if the whispers weren't responding to the events around them, I'd say you could have had a case.

The fact that they seem 'live', and potentially viable to interact, stops that train of thought for me.

Re: BSG blog - thank you very much. (Luckily it's still proving a pleasure to watch!)

I'm thinking that the whispers are similar to if not the same as the whispers heard on board the Enterprise in the episode "Cause and Effect".
They are a direct result of time loop.

I find it most interesting that the whispers are heard just before someone dies or encounters trouble. When the survivors finally realize that they are in a time loop, perhaps they will be able to use these whispers to change the verdict on some things.

Molly - the content of the whispers doesn't indicate any such 'echo' of previous iterations of a time loop.

And, to risk belabouring the point, the whispers are live. They comment on what is happening. They respond to what they see in some cases, and in other cases discuss revealing themselves to whoever is present. For me, that's a staggering concept and integral to what The Whispers are all about.

retroactiveman wrote:Writer(s) inserted the whispers, writers inserted the backwards speech. To access the whispers and to understand what they relate requires rewind and pause buttons. Their content is not for the characters on the show, it is a breaking down of the wall between the audience and the show, allowing for participation. The whispers are for us. Your analysis is ultimately plot driven. By trying to reduce show phenomenon to the plot line you may be lost.

The Whispers are meant for the characters. They are just not meant to hear them properley. Whether it is by accident or intention that they are heard backwards and mixed it makes no difference. They are meant, just like any other aspect of the show, to influence the characters and change their actions. The Whispers for example make our characters feel scared and nervous, what they don't know is the more important part which is what they are actually saying. It is up to us to reverse and change the whispers so they are audible and understandable.

You say that the whispers are only meant for us, but most of what they say is irellevent.(sp?) They have occoured in the show far to often to simply be outlets of information to us. In my opinion, they will be woven into the storyline and will have a purpose on the show.

TheHolyStickman

P.S. Sorry for arguing against you Retro, I'm just in that sort of mood. And I need to get it out.

Hey no need to be sorry. I'd rather be argued with than ignored. Problem is though, I dont see the argument. You have valid points. In fact I dont see anything different between what I said and what you said. Without doubt, the losties hear the whispering, but the content of the whispers in inaccessible. As Lostpedia points out the whispers "are not random noises, but actual speech and can be decoded using audio software." As you say "It is up to us to decode". Maybe in the upcoming seasons, when the losties are moving through the jungle, somebody from the "future" can contact them in the past, and maybe pass along some special decoding software so that they can break down the whispers, analyze and act accordingly.

We know that from the episdoe 'Abandonned' that the whispers can be heard by more than one person or one group of people. The Tailies and Shannon and Sayid both hear them at the same time although they are quite far apart.

Retro, I think it's fundemental, when trying to establish the nature of the whispers, whether the whispers are accidentally communicating with the losties or whether they are intentionally heard by the losties. If it is intentional then maybe they will find a way to 'open the door further' so that they become understandable and audible.

But these whispers are perhaps the most unpredictable aspect of lost. And I have a sneak suspicion that I'm miles off. I really don't have a clue.

Miles off or right on, who knows. (Maybe Miles can not only hear but understand the whispers.) I dont see how the fact that two people far apart can hear the same whispers changes anything. The whispers to the losties communicate anxiety; the content of the whispers are incomprehensible to everybody including us.

I know that science fiction fans want to believe that the worlds of the fiction they escape into is complete and real (like those two guys who sat next to me in high school who learned how to speak klingon). But, unfortunately these words are artificial; the content aspect of the whispers, the aspect that requires decoding software, is an overtly artificial and aspect, evidence that a thrid party's intention writes the show.

Some magic open door which will make things clearer in the future changes what we have now, unintelligible audible whispers, into something else. This something else is derived by speculating on its possible development in the plot. In other words, per yours and Angelo's analysis, for the whispers to have meaning, this meaning, even the unintelligible meaning, must have meaning within the plot line. In making my suggestions, I was merely suggesting an option which wasn't in the possible options that Angelo mentioned.

Just as you, I dont claim to know. But I can tell you how they operate right now.

AngeloComet wrote:Molly - the content of the whispers doesn't indicate any such 'echo' of previous iterations of a time loop.

And, to risk belabouring the point, the whispers are live. They comment on what is happening. They respond to what they see in some cases, and in other cases discuss revealing themselves to whoever is present. For me, that's a staggering concept and integral to what The Whispers are all about.

I disagree.
The fact that some of the whispers are delivered backwards or completely inaudible suggests that they are one of two things: supernatural, which if true, would pretty much put the Others argument to sleep, or they are coming from another time which makes more sense if you believe that the Losties are stuck in a loop.

I have explicitly not drawn the conclusion that The Whispers are The Others. Indeed, I did veer towards a supernatural conclusion. (

And The Whispers remarking independently about how they might reveal themselves to real people, as well as just commenting on events right in front of them, nullifies the idea of a time loop (unless events are playing out exactly as before, in which case the loop plot itself is a non-starter: by default it doesn't go anywhere.

- - -

Retro, I understand your point and, I admit, it's not one I take casually. In simple terms you are saying that the content of The Whispers may not be significant given that they are produced by, say, the equivalent of a prop-maker in the sound department. What input do they have to write down these important whisper narratives?

As I have said, I don't know who is responsible for producing the whispers on the show; how much input and influence goes into the relevance to the plot by way of their voices. (I am hazarding that, since the technology is out there deciphering their words, Darlton would have by now ensured nothing ridiculous was allowed in. I may be flat out wrong about that.)

Of course that's not what I meant. Oh well. Its not that the production department writes whisper narratives. I'm sure they are following orders. It more like the whispers are written for me and you. For our decoders and for our imaginations, and for our fascination. Its akin to sitting a producer down in Jacob's chair, flashing his locke like profile for 3 seconds and letting it fall, and letting the speculation begin. It is about the speculation, not necessarily nailing down one precise and authoritative definition.