Discharge

After Desmond triggered the Fail Safe, there is some kind of discharge.

The Discharge, chronological

Electromagnetic Anomaly Detected

External link to .ogg recording of the discharge

Facts

• A huge, blinding white glow covers the entire island.
• The sky turns a violet color, as said by Claire and seen briefly by the viewers. (see picture))
• The island shakes, as evidenced by camera movement.
• A painful buzzing sound is heard too, the islanders have to cover their ears.
• Whatever was discharged, it was powerful enough to throw the (very heavy) quarantine door in the air, almost crushing Bernard and Claire; also, other objects were apparently erupted into the sky and then scattered on the ground.
• This event is detected by the men at The Listening Station and reported to Penelope Widmore.

Theories

• The discharge was some kind of explosion, likely killing Eko, Locke and Desmond, still remaining in the hatch.
  • However, if the explosion was that powerful, Charlie would've never made it out alive. Also, there is absolutely no sort of blast or explosion hearable in the sound recording (see above)
  • Also, Charlie doesn't seem too disturbed by the explosion, or the condition of Eko, Locke and Desmond, casually asking "...they aren't back yet?"
    • It should be noted that Charlie is dazed and suffering hearing loss due to his proximity to Eko's use of dynamite on the blast door. This may explain how he could be oblivious to a second blast that The Discharge might have caused.
• Rather than being thrown by an explosion, the hatch door could have been lifted by an outwardly-expanding bubble of magnetic fields (similar to a Gauss gun) and then simply fallen once the field dissappated.
• The discharge was the Electromagnetic Anomaly picked up by Portuguese researchers at the end of Live Together, Die Alone.
• Strangely affected Charlie, maybe even Locke, Desmond, and Eko, (if they are still alive), either with the sickness, or some other way, because they were in the direct path of the new incident. It was magnetic, not necessarily killing them, but affecting them somehow.
• Incident caused the change in climate, (the snow storm), at the end of the episode, if it is the same period of time and the same place.
  • Unlikely. Most likely the two men were in another place entirely.
  • Evidence of this could be that Charlie was acting strangely upon his arrival back at camp. He was frantic in the hatch but appeared calm and at peace when he arrived at the beach. Also didn't seem to worry much about Eko, Locke and Desmond's lack of returning.
  • The researchers are in a "tent" that looks specifically designed for cold weather conditions. It wouldn't be surprising if they were on the south pole (or magnetic north?) as that would be a sensible place to look for magnetic anomalies.
• The fake Gale looks very upset about what happens, so why did he tell Locke that nothing happens if you don't push the button? He basically caused the discharge by telling Locke this, even though The Pearl Orientation Video helps Locke further make up his mind about this.
  • If it is true that the fake Henry was coming to get Locke, he may have lied to Locke so that he would lose faith in the hatch and come to join the Others.
  • Fake Gale may have wanted the countdown to end, and then been upset when Desmond turned the key, activating the failsafe.

• Desmond tells Locke he will "kill us all" , Locke says he "saved us all" and very well could have in the long run by allowing the discharge which is detected by the listening station, ultimately leading to the discovery of the location of the Island by the outside world.
• The discharge may be an Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP). If it is, it will most likely render all unshielded electronics on the island useless.
  • If so, it may have destroyed the compass on the Others' boat that Michael and Walt are trying to escape the island with.
  • Electronic components made with vacuum tubes, or specially shielded, would possibly survive.
• Involved a reversing of the polarity of the magnetic field in the hatch- sending all metal objects flying away from it, rather than attracting them. This easily explains the flying hatch door, but not the other odd effects.
• electromagnetic anomaly Brane Theory
• The electromagnetic generator may have the opposite purpose of what people are lead to believe. It may maintain a low-emission "containment cloak" around the island, obscuring it from satellites and observance by passing traffic. The timer -- functioning as a deadman's switch -- may indicate (as the Hieroglyphs hint) that all of the scientists on the island have died. In theory, when this happens, the generator cycles up in order to tear down the cloak, revealing the island. During Live Together, Die Alone, the generator appears to reach AND MAINTAIN full power output. Outside as the islanders cover their ears, there is no explosion - only a sound/light show. Operators would have likely been safe in the operations room with the blast doors down. As well, the keyswitch Desmond activates is accessible from this room, labeled "Caution - System Termination" which appears like an industrial emergency shut down if the generator runs cataclysmically out of control, rather than to destroy anything.

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