Lost The Dharma
Initiative Back to Lost
The Dharma Initiative and its
origins are first explored in the episode "Orientation" by an
orientation film in the Swan Station. Pierre Chang (François Chau),
under the pseudonym of Dr. Marvin Candle, explains that the project
began in 1970, created by two doctoral candidates from the University
of Michigan, Gerald and Karen DeGroot (Michael Gilday and Courtney
Lavigne), and was funded by Alvar Hanso (Ian Patrick Williams) of the
Hanso Foundation. They imagined a "large-scale communal research
compound", where scientists and free thinkers from around the globe
could research meteorology, psychology, parapsychology, zoology,
electromagnetism, and a sixth discipline that the film begins to
identify as "utopian social-" before being cut off.
The Orientation Video
The "Lost Experience", an alternate reality game which took place in
2006, revealed that the objective of the Dharma Initiative was to alter
any of the six factors of the Valenzetti Equation, an equation which
"predicts the exact number of years and months until humanity
extinguishes itself," to allow humans to exist for longer by changing
their doomsday. These factors are represented as numbers in the
Valenzetti Equation and are also the numbers frequently mentioned in
the show: 4, 8, 15, 16, 23 and 42.
Both the Swan Station orientation film, as well as revisions of the map
on the blast door in the station, suggest that there was some sort of
"incident" that took place on the Island at some point, ostensibly
before the time the Swan Station's film was made in 1980. In the edit
of the film (found in the Arrow Station by Mr. Eko), Dr. Candle insists
that the computer at the Swan Station not be used for any other
purpose, specifically to communicate with other stations, and indicates
it had something to do with the incident and the need to prevent
another one. It remains to be revealed just what this "incident" was.
After the incident, according to notations on the blast door map, the
Dharma Initiative's facilities on the Island seemed to fall into
disrepair. The blast door map has many annotations about destroyed
access tunnels, a breakdown in the Cerberus Security System and
mentions facilities being abandoned or destroyed via other 'incidents'
or 'accidents' specifically happening on Dec 7 1987, October 28 1984
and another in 1985. By the time Rousseau and her freighter crew
shipwrecked on the Island, in 1988, many of the facilities on the
Island have been abandoned including the radio tower. At no point did
the Dharma Initiative attempt a search and rescue for Danielle or her
crew, even during the 4 years between Danielle putting her message on a
continuous loop and the time of the Purge.
When the Dharma Initiative arrived on the Island, they fought with the
Island's natives, known to them as the Hostiles and to the survivors of
Flight 815 as the "Others". The "Hostiles" had been living on the
Island long before the Initiative arrived.. The Arrow Station was
eventually given a mission to observe and formulate strategies to
counter the Hostiles. At some point in the 1970's, a truce of some kind
was brokered between the Hostiles. This conflict ended in 1992, when
one member of the Dharma Initiative, Ben Linus (Michael Emerson),
joined the Hostiles and helped kill the remaining members using poison
gas, an event which became known as "The Purge".The bodies were buried
in a mass grave.
In 2001 Kelvin Inman, a man who found Desmond adrift on the beach, was
supposedly still working for the Dharma Initiative in the Swan
station.[8] Lost producer Carlton Cuse confirms in a podcast that
Kelvin was indeed a member of the Dharma Initiative.[citation needed]
In the "Lost Experience", an actor portraying fictional Hanso
Foundation executive Hugh McIntyre appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live, where
he stated that the Foundation had stopped funding the Dharma Initiative
in 1987. However, in season 2, an air drop of supplies arrived for the
Swan station. As an airdop would require a cargo plane, pilots,
parachutes, a loadmaster and the supplies themselves, this would
suggest someone is still providing funding for its activities.
Furthermore, the Dharma Initiative insignia can be seen on the
Secondary Protocol's mission orders that mercenary commander Martin
Keamy accesses in the Freighter's safe, suggesting that the Dharma
Initiative continues, in some way, to the present day.
At the 2008 San Diego Comic-Con, a new ARG began with a booth
recruiting new members to the Initiative. At the Lost panel, Hans van
Eeghen, a Dharma executive, revealed that the results from the booth
were "abysmal," and a few people had been selected to view a video that
had been sent from thirty years in the past. In the video, Pierre Chang
said that the work on the Island is valid, and it is essential that the
Dharma Initiative is restarted. Following this a website was launched,
which allowed users to join the Dharma Initiative.
Research stations
The Dharma Initiative placed several
research stations around the Island, which take the form of hidden,
underground facilities or bunkers. After Oceanic Flight 815 crashes on
the Island in September 2004, the survivors encounter several of these
stations. The first to be discovered is "The Swan" which they refer to
informally as "the hatch". Ten additional stations have since been
visited over the series, each with its own particular logo associated
with it: an octagon, similar to the bagua design, with a differing
symbol at the center.
The Swan Station's Blast Door claims that there was, at one time, an
underground tunnel network that connected many of the stations.
Notations on the map suggest that the tunnels started falling into
disrepair in the early 1980s, around the time the alleged "incident"
occurred.
Station 2: The Arrow
The Arrow station is first seen in "The Other 48 Days". In "Because
You Left", a flashback shows Chang doing the initial recording for the
orientation film, where he explains that it is a station for monitoring
"the Hostiles" and formulating strategies to combat them. He is
interrupted before he can finish. In "The Man Behind the Curtain",
flashbacks of the Dharma Initiative in operation on the Island show one
of the members, Horace Goodspeed (Doug Hutchison), wearing a jumpsuit
bearing the Arrow station logo with "mathematician" written below
it.When rediscovered in 2004, the word "quarantine" appears on the
inside of the station's door. . In LaFleur, when it seems conflict with
the Hostiles/Others is imminent, Horace gives the order to notify the
Arrow and to "Prepare the Ordinance", suggesting some sort of weapon
system was also kept at the Arrow.
When the tail section survivors come across it in "The Other 48 Days",
it has apparently been converted into a storage room. Within, they find
part of the Swan station's orientation film hidden inside a Bible, a
radio, and a glass eye. Producers Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof
stated on a podcast that each object is significant, and not randomly
chosen. In "Live Together, Die Alone", Inman stated that it was
Radzinski that made the edit to the Swan station film. How the film
made it to the Arrow station (which is at least three days away) has
not yet been revealed.
Station 3: The Swan
The Swan is a laboratory used by the
Dharma Initiative for research on electromagnetism. According to the
feature "Access Granted" on the third season Blu-ray, Dharma drilled
into the earth and hit an area containing a large electromagnetic
buildup, which their drilling released. The Swan was built over this
area to act as a cork. Dharma then came up with a scheme to "dam" the
leak but with the drawback that the field built up behind the dam and
would eventually break it. A failsafe key could be used to permanently
"seal" the leak.
On the station's orientation film, Doctor Marvin Candle explains that
an "incident" occurred early in the station's experiments, and implies
that unauthorized usage of the station's computer terminal had
something to do with it. This event caused a consistent build-up of
electromagnetic energy, which resulted in a change of the station's
focus: a two-member crew, replaced every 540 days, were instructed to
enter a numeric code into a microcomputer terminal every 108 minutes.
The station is equipped with a split-flap display timer, which is
interfaced to a microcomputer terminal and connected to an alarm
system.
The station is stocked with food, a record player with a collection of
old LPs, a small library, an armory, a shower, and bunk beds. It is
almost entirely underground, except for an entrance shaft and a
concealed door. The station also has several internal blast doors, with
a map in invisible ink on one of them. This map is very old, and has
been worked on by, at a minimum, Kelvin Inman and Radzinski. Analysis
of the map suggests no less than five unique handwriting styles, and
thus five different contributors. The map has direct revision dates on
it, and as well as the obvious map entry, also seems to serve as some
sort of history to happenings on the island, as there are many
annotations that seem to suggest the writers were attempting to locate
and ascertain the status of many stations on the Island. Kelvin Inman
is seen writing in the lower right hand part of the map in "Live
Together, Die Alone", near a revision dated for 6.26.2002.
In flashbacks in "Live Together, Die Alone", Desmond Hume (Henry Ian
Cusick) shipwrecks on the Island in 2001 and is taken to the Swan
station. Here Kelvin Inman explains about entering the numeric code
then pushing the button to save the world. In September 2004, Kelvin
and Desmond get into a fight, resulting in Kelvin's death. Desmond
enters the numbers too late, resulting in an electromagnetic build-up,
which causes the crash of Oceanic Flight 815. Two of the survivors,
Locke (Terry O'Quinn) and Boone (Ian Somerhalder), discover the Swan
accidentally. Locke manages to successfully open it in the first season
finale "Exodus".Inside they find Desmond, who flees after they break
the computer. The survivors manage to fix the computer, and begin
pushing the button every 108 minutes.
After discovering the Pearl orientation film, Locke believes pushing
the button is a psychological test, and with Desmond's help decides to
find out what will happen if the button is not pushed. The data Locke
collected from the Pearl convinces Desmond that the station is real,
but Locke breaks the computer so he can't stop the countdown. This
causes all the metal objects in the Swan to fly about, and the ground
begins to shake. Realizing the importance of the button, Desmond turns
the failsafe key. The sky turns violet temporarily, and the Swan is
destroyed. The electromagnetic burst released by the destruction of the
Swan Station renders the island momentarily visible to the outside
world. The energy signature is detected by a monitoring station under
the control of Penelope Widmore, which reported to her that they had
"found the island."
The Incident Room
In the video game Lost: Via Domus, the Incident Room is revealed to be
on the other side of the concrete wall in the Swan. The room was
accessed by a tunnel and a large locked door. The room contains a large
reactor and other severely-damaged equipment. The reactor is tilted to
one side and discharging electricity as well as coolant fluid. It has
the appearance of two large electromagnetic coils suspended over an
excavation hole into the Island. The Incident Room has its own computer
much like the Swan's. This section of the Swan appeared on the blast
door map as a blocked off section of the station ("Lockdown"), but was
never seen in the show itself.
The Incident Room has been mentioned several times in Lost. Desmond
mentioned that there was a magnetic reactor behind the concrete wall.
When Sayid first visited the Swan he tried to find a way past the
concrete wall, but it was just too thick get through. Sayid told Jack
that "The last time I heard of concrete being poured over everything in
this way was Chernobyl," ("Everybody Hates Hugo").
The look and design for the "Incident Room" came from never before seen
blueprints given to the developers by the Lost crew for the game.
Although the game has been stated to be non-canon, the designs are the
creators' intended layout for the blocked sections of the Swan station.
Station 4: The Flame
The Flame is the Dharma Initiative's communication station. It uses
sonar and satellite technologies to communicate with the outside world
and other stations on the Island, and can also be used to order food
deliveries. Unlike the other stations, the Flame is not an underground
bunker, but rather a wood-frame bungalow with a large satellite dish on
the roof. Inside the station is a living area, a kitchen, and a
computer room. Below the building is a large basement containing
supplies, including a library of Dharma Initiative operations manuals.
The facility also boasts several gardens, as well as chickens ranging
the area.
On the day Oceanic Flight 815 crashes on the Island, Mikhail Bakunin
(Andrew Divoff) uses the station to access news feeds to gather
information about the survivors. At Ben's request he alters one of the
feeds to allow Juliet to see her sister and nephew alive and well off
the Island. At some point after this, communication off the Island is
no longer possible, as the Looking Glass is blocking all signals. In
"Enter 77", Kate Austen (Evangeline Lilly), Sayid Jarrah (Naveen
Andrews), and Locke discover the station. Locke uses the computer to
send a message saying the Hostiles have invaded the station, and by
doing so he intentionally destroys it by causing the C4 lining the
basement to go off.
Station 5: The Pearl
The Pearl is where the Dharma Initiative studied psychology. It
primarily serves as a monitoring station, to which surveillance feeds
from the other stations are sent. Its orientation film asserts that the
Swan is a psychological experiment, and that the purpose of those
stationed in the Pearl is to monitor the participants in that station.
The station consists of a three-by-three bank of television sets, two
chairs with writing surfaces, and a computer hooked to a printer. A
pneumatic tube is installed in the room, which the orientation film
states is used to transport notebooks to another Dharma location.
According to the orientation film, two-person teams, working eight-hour
shifts over a three-week period, were to watch the video displays and
take notes on their observations. Every action, regardless of how
subtle, were to be recorded into notebooks by the Pearl's team members.
After Oceanic Flight 815 crashes on the Island, Nikki and Paulo (Kiele
Sanchez and Rodrigo Santoro) are the first survivors to encounter the
Pearl, while searching for diamonds. Several weeks later, Locke and Mr.
Eko (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) enter the Pearl and watch the
orientation video. Locke believes this means pushing the button in the
Swan is a psychological test, and resolves to discover what will happen
if it is not pushed. In "Live Together, Die Alone", some of the
survivors discover that the pneumatic tube goes nowhere, dumping all of
the notebooks in an open field on the Island. During season three, some
of the survivors visit the Pearl in hope of finding a way to
communicate with the Others, only to discover that the station is only
capable of receiving data, not sending it.
Station 6: The Orchid
Introduced in the three-part finale of the fourth season, "There's No
Place Like Home", the Orchid station appears at first to be an
abandoned greenhouse. Hidden below the greenhouse is a second level of
the station, a furnished laboratory similar to the Swan station. The
Orchid features a small chamber adjacent to an exotic matter anomaly,
which can be used to warp time and space. An outtake from the
orientation film was shown at the 2007 San Diego Comic-Con, where
Pierre Chang explains that, contrary to Dharma's statements that the
station was for botanical research, the station is used for researching
a "Casimir effect" exhibited by the Island. The producers have
confirmed that the video is canon, and holds relevance to the show
itself.
Hidden behind the chamber is a further level of the Orchid which
consists of pillars and stones with unknown hieroglyphs that have been
seen in a few other places on the Island, and ends with a room
consisting of a giant frozen wheel built horizontally into the wall. As
shown in "This Place is Death", the chamber was in place well before
the construction of the Orchid. A well was connected to it at one point
before the Orchid was built, but the chamber itself predates it. Ben
and Locke enter the station and Ben travels to this room, where he
turns the wheel. As he pushes it, the gap containing the wheel glows
and the Island vanishes. Ben is transported to the Sahara desert as a
consequence of using it. As a result of turning the wheel, the
survivors of Flight 815 and the freighter crew members begin to jump
randomly through time. When Locke returns to the wheel in "This Place
is Death", it is shown to be bouncing erratically and still glowing,
indicating that Ben did not push it far enough. Locke finishes the job,
transporting himself off the Island to the same place Ben ended up. The
time jumps also stop, leaving the survivors in the 1970s.
In a flashback in "Because You Left", Dr. Chang is called to
investigate an incident at the Orchid. A construction worker is shown
bleeding from his eyes and mouth, and six drill bits have been melted
drilling into the future site of the chamber. Scans of the wall reveal
the presence of another chamber with a wheel behind it. Chang refuses
to use explosives to clear the wall, since it might release a limitless
energy source. He believes that they will be able to control time if
the energy can be harnessed properly. During this flashback, the Daniel
Faraday of the present is shown to be working as a member of the
construction crew for the Orchid, having been stranded in the past
along with the other survivors by the time jumps caused by turning the
wheel.
Station ?: The Hydra
The Hydra is a zoological research station located on another island,
about twice the size of Alcatraz Island, two miles off the island the
survivors are on. The Hydra facility has cages outside the station in
the jungle, where it is implied that polar bears used to be kept. An
underwater complex was once used as an aquarium, which housed sharks
and dolphins.[29]. The facility is also shown to have a small jungle on
it, as well as living and research quarters.
At the start of season three, Jack, Kate, and Sawyer are held captive
here by the Others. Kate and Sawyer are forced to build a runway, until
they manage to escape. In "Confirmed Dead", a leather collar bearing
the Dharma Hydra symbol is found near a polar bear skeleton in the
Tunisian desert.
Station ?: The Staff
The Staff is a medical research station, later designed to house
pregnant women who were taken there to give birth and/or die. It
consists of a long corridor, at the end of which is an operating room,
as well as a nursery and a locker room. Hidden inside one of the
lockers is a switch that unlocks a hidden vault that contains medical
equipment and nursery furniture. There is also another hidden room,
where the Others take women who have become pregnant on the Island to
die.
After Claire Littleton (Emilie de Ravin) is kidnapped by the Others in
season one, she is taken to the Staff station. Here she has a drug
administered to her fetus. A renegade Other, Alex (Tania Raymonde),
helps Claire to escape when she learns that they are planning to steal
Claire's baby. When it is found by Claire and Kate later on, Kate
discovers costumes, a fake beard, and some theatrical glue in the Staff
locker room. In season three, Sun-Hwa Kwon (Yunjin Kim) and Juliet
Burke (Elizabeth Mitchell) visit the Staff station to perform an
ultrasound to discover when Sun's baby was conceived.
Station ?: The Looking Glass
The Looking Glass is located on the sea-bed at approximately 60 feet
(18m) depth, some 600 feet (182m) from the beach. The station is used
to jam communications going to and from the Island. The station
receives power from the cable that Sayid discovered in the episode
"Solitary". The station's logo is a rabbit, a reference to the White
Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland (The sequel to which is Through the
Looking-Glass). Its logo can be seen in the episode "Greatest Hits"
when Charlie swims down to it. The Others were under the impression
that the station was flooded. Only Ben knew that the station was still
in operation and there were people working there.
In the season three finale, "Through The Looking Glass", Charlie Pace
discovers that the rescue boat linked to Naomi, the parachute woman,
was not set out by Desmond Hume's ex-girlfriend Penny Widmore. Charlie
locks the door to the control room when Mikhail shatters the porthole
window, subsequently flooding the room. This prevents Desmond from
getting to Charlie, thereby fulfilling Desmond's latest "premonition"
(Charlie was meant to drown in the control room after disabling the
jamming equipment). He quickly writes "Not Penny's Boat" on his hand
and shows Desmond through the glass on the door.
Station ?: The Tempest
The Tempest is a chemical weapons development station on the Island,
first seen in the episode "The Other Woman". It is used to control the
release of poisonous gases over the Island. Every day before his death,
Goodwin would travel to The Tempest to press a button to prevent deadly
gases from escaping. However, Ana Lucia killed him, so the gases built
up. That is supposedly why Daniel and Charlotte travelled to The
Tempest in "The Other Woman". They said they needed to press the button
to save everyone, although they may have wanted to disable the
station's gases to prevent Benjamin Linus from using the Tempest as a
weapon of last resort against the Island's enemies.
Station ?: The Lamp Post
The Lamp Post is the only known off-island DHARMA station. It is
located in Los Angeles under a church, built on top of a pocket of
electromagnetic energy similar to that on the island. It is called the
Lamp Post as a tribute to the lamp post which has become a symbol of
the Chronicles of Narnia Series. It signifies the comings and goings
between two worlds. This station was used by the DHARMA initiative to
find the island. As the island is constantly moving, the researchers
developed an equation to predict where the island would be in the
future, thereby providing a window of opportunity to reach it. A large
pendulum (resembling a Foucault Pendulum) hangs from the ceiling making
chalk marks on a map on the floor beneath. Many computers surround the
pendulum, along with a panel on the wall that marks latitude and
longitude. Eloise Hawking is currently in charge of the station, and
uses it to help the Oceanic 6 return to the island with the assistance
of Ben Linus.
The inside of the station first appears in the second episode of season
five, "The Lie", though no explanation of its purpose (or that it is,
in fact, a DHARMA station) is revealed until the following episode,
"316". The station's logo includes the traditional DHARMA octagon-shape
with a picture of what appears to be a lamp post emitting light to
either side, one of many references in the show to
C.S. Lewis's classic novel
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. This picture can also refer
to the pendulum within the station, due to the pointed tip in the
picture.
Appearances in Lost
Station
First seen in
First visit (onscreen)
Last seen in
Name given in
Station 2: The Arrow
"Everybody Hates Hugo" (2.04)
"The Other 48 Days" (2.07)
"The Other 48 Days" (2.07)
"Lockdown" (2.17)
Station 3: The Swan
"All the Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues" (1.11)
"Man of Science, Man of Faith" (2.01)
"The Little Prince" (5.04)
"Orientation" (2.03)
Station 4: The Flame
"The Cost of Living" (3.05)
"Enter 77" (3.11)
"One of Us" (3.16)
"Lockdown" (2.17)
Station 5: The Pearl
"?" (2.21)
"Exposé" (3.14)
"Exposé" (3.14)
"?" (2.21)
Station 6: The Orchid
Comic Con orientation film and "There's No Place Like Home"
(4.14)
