i totally agree. there is alot simmering under the surface of matthew abaddon

The actor who plays Abbaddon is also a major character on the Wire, an HBO show that somewhat unbelievably flew under mainstream America's radar. I think because of the Sopranos. If you've never seen it, I recommend, no insist that you check it out. It's probably the most perfect example of serialized fiction to ever be shown on TV.

As for his role in the overall Lost mythos, I agree with you, WLN. My personal belief is that Abbadon or the faction that he represents will be the real threat to the island, and that this threat will give Locke the chance to prove his chosen-ness while also giving Ben the chance to die heroically after all.

Although another interpretation on the name Abbadon, one from the book of Revelations, implies that Abbadon is an angel who, in the service of God, overpowers and imprisons Lucifer during the Apocalypse. Something like that.

@jimmy zer00

Sorry, I usually don't correct grammar or other nit-picky things, but this is one of my passionate topics! I must point out a common misconception, it's Revelation (singular), not Revelations (plural). Think of it as THE Revelation (Apocalypse) of John.

Neither is Lucifer mentioned in that book either - it's the Beast which is overpowered by God, not Lucifer. While they are thought of synonymously, it's important to make the distinctions because of the imagery.

And last, Abaddon (Apollyon) does not necessarily imprison Lucifer, or in this case, the Beast. Instead, he unleashes scorpion like beings to torture those who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads (Rev. 9). The angel who imprisons Lucifer is unnamed. (Rev. 20)

One more connotation of Abbadon's name:
The name is Greek for "Destroyer" (Απολλυων, from απολλυειν, to destroy). It also echoes the unrelated Hebrew Abaddon (lit. "place of destruction," but here personified) and the name of the Greek god Apollo, also a "destroyer" in his aspect of controlling pestilence[...]

So, Abaddon = Apollo?

And "controlling pestilence"? Sounds like the purge to me...

I doubt the creators have enough of a grasp of ancient/modern greek but there's another meaning. In modern greek the verb mentioned above (απολλυειν) has evolved to mean "to fire/dismiss an employee". Could Abaddon be just in charge of the island's HR department???? :)

I actually disagree completely. Not only based on the fact that Abaddon actually means "angel/guardian of the abyss"which leads me to think he is protecting the island, but also because of the following... He sends the scientists to the island(for real reasons we don't even know yet),who were all chosen for specific reasons according to him.When he says "there were no survivors of flight 815" i think this is just because he knows what is planned for the island dwellers via Widmore / Keamy and company,but I do not think it was his idea,and he has faith in John to stop it.Also when he visits Hurley and asks "Are THEY still alive?" Whose to say the writers weren't throwing us off, and he is just asking about his crew of four...We do not know if he is working for Widmore,with him, or is against him and is just using him to relocate the island himself,I think based on his interaction with Locke though that he is thankful towards the island,and is trying to protect and serve it off island as Richard seems to on island.If he wished the island ill, he would go himself to see it through, Can't wait until him and Locke meet again!

More info on Apollo:
- The ideal of the kouros (a beardless youth), Apollo has been variously recognized as a god of light and the sun; truth and prophecy; archery; medicine and healing; music, poetry, and the arts; and more.
- Apollo was an oracular god — the prophetic deity of the Delphic Oracle.
- Apollo was also seen as a god who could bring ill-health and deadly plague as well as one who had the ability to cure.
- Amongst the god's custodial charges, Apollo became associated with dominion over colonists.
- When Hera discovered that Leto was pregnant and that Zeus was the father, she banned Leto from giving birth on "terra firma", or the mainland, or any island. In her wanderings, Leto found the newly created floating island of Delos, which was neither mainland nor a real island, and she gave birth there. The island was surrounded by swans.
- It is also stated that Hera kidnapped Ilithyia, the goddess of childbirth, to prevent Leto from going into labor.
- Zeus struck down Apollo's son Asclepius, with a lightning bolt for resurrecting the dead.
- Apollo in revenge killed the Cyclops, who had fashioned the bolt for Zeus.
- Apollo would have been banished to Tartarus forever, but was instead sentenced to one year of hard labor. During this time he served as shepherd for King Admetus of Pherae in Thessaly.
- Apollo shot arrows infected with the plague into the Greek encampment during the Trojan War.
- A queen of Thebes and wife of Amphion, Niobe boasted of her superiority to Leto because she had fourteen children, seven male and seven female, while Leto had only two. Apollo killed her sons and Artemis her daughters both using poisoned arrows.

CerberusVenting. Classicly, all renderings of the name Abaddon is in reference to Sheol, the abyss, or a part of hell. Personified, the name refers to a demon, a dark angel, the Antichrist or Satan himself.


Where as I am not suggesting that Michael Abaddon is Satan, or any of the other mythical beings referenced above, I do believe the characters name reflects the way the writers view his nature.


But there is not one suggestion, any where in literature, that Abaddon is connected with a personage that has anything other then evil designs as his motivation.


Through out the whole series, names have been very important clues into the personalities of our Lost characters.


If he is protecting anything, he is protecting his own self interests, and not the safety of the Island.

Another small point. If Abaddon is a "good guy," then why would it be neccesary for him to lie about his real intentions. He certainly lie to Hurley, who would be sympathic to anyone trying to protect the Island.

I'm just going to put this out there and let it sit, because it's more of a hunch than a well defined theory....
Don't be suprised to find that Abaddon and Alpert were both on the Black Rock, one as captor, the other as captive.

MerlboroMan said: "I'm just going to put this out there and let it sit, because it's more of a hunch than a well defined theory.... Don't be suprised to find that Abaddon and Alpert were both on the Black Rock, one as captor, the other as captive."


Good point.


When I developed my theory above, I was considering in trying to come up with some possible ideas for what motivates Abaddon. As yourself, I did consider that he may have been a slave on the Black Rock, which could tie into Abaddon wanting some sort of revenge for his enslavement.


It's possible, but I would wait until we see more of his back story.

I always thought that Alpert and Jacob were on the black rock, Alpert (1st mate) and Jacob (captain) they in turn became, the "Hostiles"

Im not sure why everyone seems to think "the island" is good. Id say the bad thats happened far outweighs the good.
good: Lockes back got cured, Roses cancer got cured.
bad: hundreds (at least) have died.
Locke better think twice about what hes trying to protect.

SithLord -
On an island where the dead regularly visit the living how can death be seen as good or bad?

If Abbadon is bad and he is helping Locke does that mean that Locke has malefic intentions. I think the name is a ruse to throw us off. Most of the names have some sort logical metaphorical relevance to teh character who bears it. Abbadon could be a ruse.

He seems to want to protect the island and sees Locke as means to that end, what if he is another manifestation of Jacob/the island.

I think that he and Richard are on the same team and me cannot forget that Jack "the hero" needs to factor in too. If Abbadon to Locke/Hurley what Christan is to Jack..?

Maybe this is just my temporary ignorance, but what other examples do we have of when a character's name actually revealed something about their personality. Sure, there are tons of literary/philosophical references in people's names, but do they really reveal anything about their personality? Give me some examples to show me why I'm wrong in thinking this (please!)

I appreciate the clarification about Revelation (of John). That was fantastic (and corrected common misconceptions about the interpretation of "Revelations." And the connections between Ben/Locke and Jacob/Esau - those are worth exploring.

I think that if Abaddon is not working for Widmore, but somehow knows the future of the Island, then my guess is that more supports the theory that the Island is bad (some kind of hell) than it is good.

Does anybody see a resemblance in the manner of acting of Abaddon, Alpert, post-mortem-Christian and now Claire? Like they are the same kind of timeless entities now. And if that makes sense, we can be led to believe that both Claire and Christian are ageless now, if only because they are ghosts.. In Claire's case because she really died on the island (from the explosion) and in Christian's because his corpse ended up on the island and somehow his ethereal form sprang up from it. Any thoughts?

ow.. and charlie for that matter.. when he visits hurley he seems to possess that same kind of ominous deadpan expression as those other characters i just mentioned.. i can picture claire roaming around off the island in future episodes.

Hanto said: "Maybe this is just my temporary ignorance, but what other examples do we have of when a character's name actually revealed something about their personality."


1) John Locke = English philosopher John Locke.
From Wiki: He writes “the body too goes to the making the man." The Lockean self is therefore a self-aware, self-reflective consciousness that is fixed in a body. In his Essay, Locke explains the gradual unfolding of this conscious mind. Arguing against both the Augustinian view of man as originally sinful and the Cartesian position which holds that man innately knows basic logical propositions, Locke posits an “empty” mind—a tabula rasa—that is shaped by experience; sensations and reflections being the two sources of all our ideas.


Even one of the Lokce-centric episodes was titled "tabula rasa."


2) Jack Shephard = this one is evident, sounds like shepherd.
Jack is very much like the "shepherd," tending to his flock and most concerned with their health.


3) Danielle Rousseau = Jean-Jacques Rousseau
From Wiki: In his main writings, Rousseau identifies nature with the primitive state of savage man. Later he took nature to mean the spontaneity of the process by which man builds his egocentric, instinct based character and his little world. Nature thus signifies interiority and integrity, as opposed to that imprisonment and enslavement which society imposes in the name of progressive emancipation from cold-hearted brutality.


Danielle was very much the "savage," existing on the Island using basic instincts.


4) We have also see names used as possible metaphors related to Biblical themes. Ben (Benjamin), Jacob, Aaron, Adam and Eve etc.


5) Desmond Hume = Scottish philosopher David Hume
From Wiki: Hume’s scepticism came in his rejection of this ‘insight ideal’,[5] and the (usually rationalistic) confidence derived from it that the world is as we represent it. Instead, the best we can do is to apply the strongest explanatory and empirical principles available to the investigation of human mental phenomena, issuing in a quasi-Newtonian project, Hume's ‘Science of Man’.


6) Charlotte Lewis = (C.S. Lewis), Daniel Faraday = Michael Faraday, "Faraday studied the magnetic field around a conductor carrying a DC electric current." and the list could go on.


My final point on this would be the fact that Abaddon is such an unusual name. It doesn't come across as one of those names a writer would come up with by just throwing a dart at a phone book. And I did a quick search on Google and I couldn't come up with any listing of any person with the last name Abaddon. That may not be scientific research, but indicative of it's rare use as a name.

I had a long drive from Missouri to Texas starting the morning after watching the Cabin Fever episode, so I had plenty of time to mull over what I saw. About midway through the trip I thought, who the heck does Abaddon work for? I'm glad to see that I wasn't barking up the wrong tree.

I think I'll stick with dead being bad. Dont want to encourage any suicide bombers on the island. ; )

Remember when Hurley warned Sawyer that Locke was trying to play them against each other while playing Risk? I'm convinced that Abaddon DOES represent a third party (or individual) that is playing Ben and Widmore against each other. While people seem to be reading into the Australia comment made during the game, I'm surprised a bigger deal wasn't made about this other bit.

-Both seem convinced of the fact that the other is responsible for the found wreckage of Oceanic 815. Leipedus laughs at Michael when he suggested Widmore was behind it.

-The only real link we've seen between Abaddon and the freighter folk was when he was showing Naomi the photos of Faraday and crew. I haven't re-watched the scene, but maybe he was showing her who Widmore's people were... while Naomi, Keamy, and the other mercs were working directly for Abaddon. Could this be why Keamy "changed the rules"?

Just some thoughts :)

WLN...

I would say that this latest episode proved that Locke came into the world as the exact opposite of a "tabula rasa" - he was already chosen, had a destiny, and was filled with purpose before he was even born. A little bit of misdirection in his name then?

Jack's name could be ironic, in that it appears he's about to "shepherd" his followers right off the cliff.

The writers could choose a name because of its direct significance, or because of its irony. I think the true nature of Mr. Abaddon is still up in the air. If he's the protector of the abyss, the meaning of that could vary depending on one's perception of what "the abyss" is...

Abaddon is WALT who has come back to recreate his fate in a space/time jump.

Holy $#!^! I never thought of that theory. Thats kinda mind bending, and could be very cool if its true........

I have a strange suspicion myself that Abaddon is indeed Walt. This comes based on Abaddons visit to Locke in the episode cabin fever. He says Don't give up Mr. Locke anything is possible. You survived falling eight stories out of a window. Thats a miracle Mr.Locke.Do you believe in miracles. I know that almost every line in the script especially in a scene as important as this one is written for a reason. Think. Everyone calls Locke either Locke or John. Walt was pretty much the only one to call him Mr.Locke. And thats what Walt always called him. Remember the Pilot. Locke is playing backgammon and ask Walt. Do you want to know a secret? When Walt talks to his dad Michael about it He tells his dad that Mr.Locke experienced a Miracle. Now in Cabin Fever He says Thats a miracle Mr.Locke then it shows Abaddons face. It has to have some significance that the words between Locke and Abaddon are so simmilar to what Walt Says. Its just my theory.
Thanks