The Purge
From Lostpedia
The Purge is the name given to the end of the long-running conflict between the DHARMA Initiative and the Hostiles. The conflict ended when the Hostiles released a toxic gas that, when inhaled, resulted in violent spasms, bleeding, and then death. The DHARMA Initiative on the Island was effectively wiped out. The Purge occurred on December 19, 1992 at 4 pm, the date of Ben's birthday.
There are two statements which define the Purge. Mikhail Bakunin said "They (DHARMA) foolishly initiated a war against the Hostiles, the Purge they called it." Ben Linus on the other hand said "When it became clear that one side had to go, that one side had to be purged, I did what I had to do."
Another statement by Ben sheds some light on the time frame and death toll: "Not so long ago, Jack, I made a decision that took the lives of over forty people in a single day." ("Through the Looking Glass")
It was revealed in Season 4 that a DHARMA station called The Tempest, which was an electrical and chemical weapons development facility, was what the Hostiles used in the Purge to gas the Initiative. ("The Other Woman")
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Mikhail Bakunin's account
The purge was first mentioned by Mikhail Bakunin to Sayid and Kate. He said that the DHARMA Initiative staff on the Island initiated a war against the "Hostiles". He referred to this war as a "purge". As a result, all the DHARMA Initiative staff on the Island (with the apparent exception of the team at The Swan) died. Mikhail indicates that the submarine resupply facilities on the Island must now be under the control of the Hostiles, but it is unlikely that he was witness to the purge because he said he was brought there on the submarine, and the Hostiles had to have control of the submarine after the purge. ("Enter 77")
Ben Linus's account
Ben Linus said the DHARMA Initiative came to the island seeking harmony but could not even co-exist with the original inhabitants. He said that when it became clear that one side had to go, that one side had to be purged, he was one of the people who sided with the hostiles.
Ben killed his father Roger with gas in a DHARMA van during the Purge while the two of them were transporting supplies between the barracks and the Pearl station on the Island. The bodies of the staff of the Initiative were thrown into an open mass grave in the jungle. ("The Man Behind the Curtain")
Charlotte's account
Charlotte Lewis, the Kahana's anthropologist, states that she had to neutralize the gas in the Tempest station in order to prevent Ben from killing everyone on the Island, noting that "he's used it before". ("The Other Woman")
Incursion
The DHARMA staff was prepared for possible attacks by the Hostiles at the Flame, which they referred to as an "incursion on the station." The Flame was wired with explosives, and in the event of an incursion, the operators of the station were to enter the number 77 into the station computer. This would have triggered the detonation of the Flame.
The staff was also well armed, as indicated by the existence of armories at The Swan and The Hydra, as well as a number of firearms at the Barracks seen during Ben's flashbacks.
Dating the Purge
In Locke's dream in "Cabin Fever", Horace Goodspeed says that he's been dead for twelve years. Assuming that this is accurate, it would place the Purge in 1992.
Trivia
- In an EW.com article published on 6 Mar 07, when asked for a 10-word teaser about "Enter 77," Damon Lindelof replied that only a one-word tease was required: "purge." [1]
- The term 'purge' in politics is usually associated with authoritarian systems. It means to rid a political party or a nation of people whose presence is considered undesirable often by unlawful or undemocratic means. The earliest known use of the term was in Pride's purge during the English civil war in the 1600s. Lists of politically unacceptable members of Parliament were created and the army oversaw their removal from office. The term has also been used to describe events in places like Stalinist Russia.
- Lost: The Complete Third Season (DVD) commentary reveals that the mechanism for the purge at the Barracks was different from the mechanism Ben uses in the van (the canister of gas). The gas canister was added in post-production to give Ben a more active role in his father's death. But the original plan was for something to happen more or less island wide at 4 PM.
- This was later confirmed by Charlotte's statement in "The Other Woman".
Unanswered questions
- Why wasn't there some kind of retaliation against the Hostiles from the DHARMA people in the outside world?
- Did the DHARMA people in the outside world know about the Purge?
- Why does periodic resupply drop activity continue after the Purge?
- If their project was so important why didn't they try to resume it after the Purge?
- Aside from Ben, who else defected from DHARMA and joined the Others?
- What was the geographical extent of the effect of the Purge?
- How do the people on Charles Widmore's freighter know about the purge? ("The Other Woman")
- If the purge occurred in 1992, what do the "Shutdown" dates of DHARMA Stations from the 1980s on the Blast Door Map refer to?
- How did Danielle Rousseau survive the Purge?
See also
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-crash events | Basra Incident • Car accidents • Collapsing deck accident • Count to five • Tampa Job | |||
| Arrivals to the Island | Mid-air break-up • Sailing race • Science expedition • Parachute | |||
| Dreams and visions | Charlie's dream • Claire's dream • Desmond's flashes • Eko's dreams • Locke's dreams | |||
| Various Island events | Distress signal • Fires • Pillar of smoke • Whispers • Major battles | |||
| Others and DHARMA events | Discharge • The Incident • Lockdown incident • The Purge • Push the Button • Supply drop • System Failure | |||
