[E gratis?]

Not quite the same thing, but... I guess it's probably come in handy... 

[Sandman2012]

Maybe it's some kind of 'mindless' thing, and it just does what it's supposed to do - somewhat like a computer program - and it's supposed to scan/kill/take prisoners/etc. ...

My theory for a long time (I posted this a while ago) was that Smokey isn't intelligent, but that it was programmed like a cat to follow prey. In the same way that a cat instinctually chases mouse-sized things that move, Smokey chases human-sized things that move. The idea was that that was why Locke and Eko each survived their initial encounters with the monster: both of them stood their ground instead of running.

The problem is that a huge hole was blown in my theory earlier this season because iirc Eko wasn't running away when Smokey attacked and killed him.

I don't believe that Smokey manifests as things, but that it can induce hallucinations with some sort of microwave or em radiation, which is why people see weird shit when it's around (also, the images we saw in it when Eko looked at it was not it "scanning" Eko's mind so much as they were things Eko saw as a result of his proximity to the mind-altering radiation). It would also explain John's religious "white light" experience, Eko seeing his brother and a lot of other things. Still, like most Lost theories, it's got holes.

I've long thought that the smoke itself is not the monster, but that the smoke is some sort of camouflage, that there are one or more flying drones or something else mechanical under the smoke. We've seen Smokey fly around and split up before. I think it was near the end of season one, where Locke almost got dragged underground.

In any case, these are simply the things that seem most plausible to me, but I'm not really attached to any theory about Lost so much as I'm just along for the ride. I think the show's a gas.

[E gratis?]

I like the 'cat' theory, and it's not neccesarily blown to bits; could be the monster was 'programmed' to kill; it simply recognized Eko as prey, again, and pounced immediately. 

[Shiloa]

Here's my little brain tinckler.

The monster, when appeared the second time in the episode, wasn't the black smoke. Check my screen cap for reference. You see this beast like thing, it looks like it has a tail, jump out from the ground and fly into the air. The black smoke then follows this and comes out of the hole created by the beast. I always thought that the black smoke wasn't the main part of the monster, it didn't fit with most things about it such as the sounds, the stomping around, Locke being pulled underground. Most of the time the black smoke is surrounding the beast, like when it killed Eko, but other times it separates.

[Sandman2012]

I just re-watched the Smokey scene in slo-mo. A tree gets uprooted and tossed, then three distinct smoke creatures come together to make one big one. I'm definitely sticking with my "flying drones surrounded by a smoke screen" theory for this. I'm convinced it's some sort of military tech or something gone wrong. Perhaps the drones are a low-level gestalt AI, programmed to attack prey.

I'm pretty convinced there's more than one, but that they act in conjunction. I'm gonna refer to them in the plural from now on.

[Rob G.]

Well, DarkUFO plays up the theory that the three distinct parts of it coming together is another clue that the monster is Cerberus (named after the three-headed dog).

[fritsz]

I just re-watched the Smokey scene in slo-mo. A tree gets uprooted and tossed, then three distinct smoke creatures come together to make one big one. I'm definitely sticking with my "flying drones surrounded by a smoke screen" theory for this. I'm convinced it's some sort of military tech or something gone wrong. Perhaps the drones are a low-level gestalt AI, programmed to attack prey.

I'm pretty convinced there's more than one, but that they act in conjunction. I'm gonna refer to them in the plural from now on.

Yeah the monster is actully a series of small monsters that can combine to one. the monster that ecko saw was a combination of many small monsters since it was so big!

but why was it so big? what did ecko do to make the island so mad?

[crazy_french_chick]

My theory for a long time (I posted this a while ago) was that Smokey isn't intelligent, but that it was programmed like a cat to follow prey. In the same way that a cat instinctually chases mouse-sized things that move, Smokey chases human-sized things that move. The idea was that that was why Locke and Eko each survived their initial encounters with the monster: both of them stood their ground instead of running.

The problem is that a huge hole was blown in my theory earlier this season because iirc Eko wasn't running away when Smokey attacked and killed him.

I don't believe that Smokey manifests as things, but that it can induce hallucinations with some sort of microwave or em radiation, which is why people see weird shit when it's around (also, the images we saw in it when Eko looked at it was not it "scanning" Eko's mind so much as they were things Eko saw as a result of his proximity to the mind-altering radiation). It would also explain John's religious "white light" experience, Eko seeing his brother and a lot of other things. Still, like most Lost theories, it's got holes.

I've long thought that the smoke itself is not the monster, but that the smoke is some sort of camouflage, that there are one or more flying drones or something else mechanical under the smoke. We've seen Smokey fly around and split up before. I think it was near the end of season one, where Locke almost got dragged underground.

In any case, these are simply the things that seem most plausible to me, but I'm not really attached to any theory about Lost so much as I'm just along for the ride. I think the show's a gas.

Ok. What if you were right, except that smokey wouldn't be programmed to chase around and kill human-sized things that run away. How about if it's programmed to chase human-sized things that are SCARED? The first time Ecko stood up to the monster, he wasn't afraid of it - he looked right into it and then it left. Whereas the second time, he was injured, messed up because of the hallucinations of his brother etc - so Smokey killed him.
If it is programmed like this, it would make sense that it wouldnt go after the people that created it, because they would know how to react to it. But anyone else who sees it would freak out (obviously) and it would attack them.

[Peel]

What I found interesting was when Juliet said the others don't know what it is. It goes to confirm the others are not Dharma, that they are using Dharma facilities and equipment but they have no clue as to what some of it really is.

[corps413]

It didn't attack Kate and Juliet. They looked pretty scared to me. More so juliet than Kate. it had an agenda with them. It scanned them or something.

[corps413]

What I found interesting was when Juliet said the others don't know what it is. It goes to confirm the others are not Dharma, that they are using Dharma facilities and equipment but they have no clue as to what some of it really is.

That's right, I don't think they are Dharma. They may have been part of initiative in so far as being test subjects but not recruited as members or whatever title someone gets as part of the DI. 

[Sandman2012]

Ok. What if you were right, except that smokey wouldn't be programmed to chase around and kill human-sized things that run away. How about if it's programmed to chase human-sized things that are SCARED? The first time Ecko stood up to the monster, he wasn't afraid of it - he looked right into it and then it left. Whereas the second time, he was injured, messed up because of the hallucinations of his brother etc - so Smokey killed him.
If it is programmed like this, it would make sense that it wouldnt go after the people that created it, because they would know how to react to it. But anyone else who sees it would freak out (obviously) and it would attack them.

I'm willing to believe that as a possiblity. I tend to be skeptical that the monster can actually read minds as a lot of people think it does, but I'm willing to suspend disbeleif for reading emotional states. Still, I'd prefer a more grounded explanation.

What I found interesting was when Juliet said the others don't know what it is. It goes to confirm the others are not Dharma, that they are using Dharma facilities and equipment but they have no clue as to what some of it really is.

That's assuming DI built the monster, which I think is a pretty strong possibility, but we'll see. It's also assuming Juliet wasn't covering her lie with another lie. It's possible that the Others do know what it is, but Juliet only wanted to admit so much, having been busted for knowing the fence would stop it.

Well, DarkUFO plays up the theory that the three distinct parts of it coming together is another clue that the monster is Cerberus (named after the three-headed dog).

I really like that idea. :up:

[The Island]

Here's a look at the Cerberus Theory:

[***VIRUS***]

Guys could this tie in with the theory of Vincent being the monster/smoke, what with in this epi mr smokes looking like a 3 headed dog, and what with Vincent being a dog and all

[Marcanadian]

Anyone notice how the sound of the plane crash from the Other 48 days is the exact same sound as the monster?