lockdown in the hatch

[bunnydixon]

I was unaware of this but am sure some folks will know of it.

the lockdown in the hatch is what triggers a food drop. from where i dont know as it would have to be pretty close to hand i imagine to take less than 108 minutes (and thats the maximum time - it could be triggered at any point in the countdown)

we saw that kelvin triggered the lockdown on purpose to work on his map and desmond did it so that he and locke could NOT press the button but what triggered it for locke? was it because a food drop was imminent?

[Dzbabykel]

I was unaware of this but am sure some folks will know of it.

the lockdown in the hatch is what triggers a food drop. from where i dont know as it would have to be pretty close to hand i imagine to take less than 108 minutes (and thats the maximum time - it could be triggered at any point in the countdown)

we saw that kelvin triggered the lockdown on purpose to work on his map and desmond did it so that he and locke could NOT press the button but what triggered it for locke? was it because a food drop was imminent?

Ohh I had no idea Bunny, thanks for sharing that! That makes a lot more sense to me now :) Haha ok not a LOT but a little :p

[werlost]

Actually, I think its the other way around. I think that the food drop is what causes the lockdown. If the lockdown caused the food drop then every time Kelvin and Radinsky had triggered the lockdown to work on the blast door map there would be a food drop and I dont think that happened. Also, since the hatch has been destroyed, there hasnt been any food drops.

[bunnydixon]

yeah you are right - i actually posted on the general discussion that i had realised i had it the other way round lol! forgot to update it on here though so thanks :)

[Turnip Queen]

I didn't understand what made the food drop either Bunny, so thanks for that!

[bobafett]

I think the food was on the way any way.But if it was. Do they not know that all there people are dead.Did Ben order it for the island crashers to keep there health up so he could terroize them.Maybe the blasts doors come down so nobody can see what is delivering the food.The only proof there is that it was a plane is Sawyers word. And I dont know if Id run with that.

[shawdawg]

I was unaware of this but am sure some folks will know of it.

the lockdown in the hatch is what triggers a food drop. from where i dont know as it would have to be pretty close to hand i imagine to take less than 108 minutes (and thats the maximum time - it could be triggered at any point in the countdown)

we saw that kelvin triggered the lockdown on purpose to work on his map and desmond did it so that he and locke could NOT press the button but what triggered it for locke? was it because a food drop was imminent?
I was thinking the same question today, scary.............

[Hurley's Left Sock]

I think the food was on the way any way.But if it was. Do they not know that all there people are dead.

Yeah, this puzzles me.
Who is dropping the food off? It seems unlikely that it's anyone connected with the Dharma Initiative itself. As you said, it should be obvious now to their benefactors in the outside world that something went wrong a long time ago (ie the Purge) & as far as we know, they haven't been in contact or tried to get to the island again.
Also, we know from Season 4 that getting to and from the island is somewhat complicated (ie. the "side effects" mentioned by Faraday if the helicopter doesn't maintain an exact heading on it's way back to the freighter), so the most likely explanation would be that the food drop originated from within the island too.

It's conceivable that The Others were able to initiate the lock-down from one of the other stations & organised the food drop during the distraction.
I guess a motive could be to ensure that those amongst the survivors that they wanted (those on the list and any potentially pregnant women) would have enough food to survive until they could be taken.
The additional fact that it happened whilst Ben was a prisoner there & he was trying to win over Locke would tend to make me favour this theory.

[Glenn2000]

Yeah, this puzzles me.
Who is dropping the food off? It seems unlikely that it's anyone connected with the Dharma Initiative itself. As you said, it should be obvious now to their benefactors in the outside world that something went wrong a long time ago (ie the Purge) & as far as we know, they haven't been in contact or tried to get to the island again.
Also, we know from Season 4 that getting to and from the island is somewhat complicated (ie. the "side effects" mentioned by Faraday if the helicopter doesn't maintain an exact heading on it's way back to the freighter), so the most likely explanation would be that the food drop originated from within the island too.

It's conceivable that The Others were able to initiate the lock-down from one of the other stations & organised the food drop during the distraction.
I guess a motive could be to ensure that those amongst the survivors that they wanted (those on the list and any potentially pregnant women) would have enough food to survive until they could be taken.
The additional fact that it happened whilst Ben was a prisoner there & he was trying to win over Locke would tend to make me favour this theory.

This is one of the many puzzles that drive me crazy...

I agree with you that the Dharma folks are probably not responsible for the food drops - even though the packages all have their logo. Unless Ben has managed to fool the Dharma folks for years it just doesn't make sense.

However, Sawyer and Kate were taken to the other island and put to work with the other people that the Others had captured in order to build a runway. Ben is known to lie when the truth would do better, so that may have been a ruse, but in all the running around on the island no runway has been seen and Danielle never mentioned one. So, I don't think the Others flew in and did the air drop of the food.

But, as you say, the electromagnetic issues with the island make flights into and out of the island very hazardous. And the rigors of putting together a pallet of food and getting it ready for air dropping would, I think, make some people curious as to what is going on.

I just don't know what to think.

[Hurley's Left Sock]

This is one of the many puzzles that drive me crazy...

I agree with you that the Dharma folks are probably not responsible for the food drops - even though the packages all have their logo. Unless Ben has managed to fool the Dharma folks for years it just doesn't make sense.
It's not out of the question that Ben may have done just that.
It seems he's managed to fool the world with the fake plane wreckage of Oceanic Flight 815 and seems to have the resources required to do so (which the freighter captain admits must be vast).

However, I find this unlikely. If Dharma were still active then they would be in constant contact with the island, shipping personnel to and fro. It would quickly become apparent that all was not well. I don't see how even Ben could pull that off. And if they are no longer in contact then it makes the likelihood they would bother organising food drops seem remote, as you said.

However, Sawyer and Kate were taken to the other island and put to work with the other people that the Others had captured in order to build a runway. Ben is known to lie when the truth would do better, so that may have been a ruse, but in all the running around on the island no runway has been seen and Danielle never mentioned one. So, I don't think the Others flew in and did the air drop of the food.
True, but to be fair just because we haven't seen a runway doesn't mean they don't have any. Initially, we only knew of one island. Later it transpired that there was at least two (where the Hydra is situated). It's possible there are still more and we may be looking at some kind of archipelago of small islands. Also, if the Others were building a runway in earnest then it would tend to suggest that they have some sort of aircraft (planes or helicopters) to use it for.

[Hurley's Left Sock]

Just as a follow-on from the discussion about Dharma having no more contact with the Island, it seems that someone on the outside at least knows what transpired.
Faraday and his fellow crew-members have landed well-prepared with gas masks and protective suits. One of their first objectives is to head straight to the chemical plant to neutralise the risk, saying that Ben is easily capable of using poison gas to kill everyone on the island.
They are obviously aware of what happened during The Purge all those years ago, and aware of Ben's involvement in it too.

This also reminds me of Desmond's time in the Swan with Kelvin.
Kelvin wears a protective suit when he leaves the hatch. Is this really because he believes there is some "sickness" or is it a precaution against another gas attack? It's hard to say without knowing how he came to the Island and who recruited him. Most likely explanation would be that the Others recruited him, but there's nothing to suggest he was ever in contact with them. The only person he ever mentions is Radzinsky and he talks as if the two of them are alone on the island. Perhaps Kelvin was working for some other interest (linked with Dharma / Widmore / Unknown) that were aware both of the work Dharma was involved with (the electromagnetic anomaly) and also the potential danger posed by Ben and the Others (poison gas attack).
Then again, if the Others had already found the Pearl then they would have been able to monitor what was going on in the Swan with Kelvin and co.

[Chipper123]

Hi, well da thing i think wen on is that da hole thing is like some sorta u no, uuuuuummmmmmmmmmmm weird thing where they were all meant to be on the island because if they wern't something would happen, it's like that sycic man made clare go on the plane, he musta known dat this was gonna happen or something. Or it might o happend cuz of what happend when they all were connected in some weird way. like seeing the same sycic man or being in the same loony bin. Hee hee

[Archangel-Player]

Here's my take on the Lockdown process and the food drop.
I belive they are two seprate actions. i don't think that either process triggers the other and here's why.

Kelvin and Radinsky as well as Desmond "faked" triggerd the locke down process many times. Had the Locke down process been the way to trigger th efood drop then a pallat of food would drop every time they triggerd the process. The Locke down process I think was a way of protecting you in case the Electromagtism whent hay wire untill the person could press the code in to stop it other wise the person either behind teh blast door or the person in teh computer room would have to turn teh fail safe key to end the Electromagtism. the Lockdown system was pretty faulty due to it being tamperd with so many times with Kelvin, Radinsky , and Desmond. that is why it whent off on Locke an dpined him.