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The Purge

Conflict

The Purge

Episode

"The Man Behind the Curtain"

Date

December 19, 1992

Combatants

The Hostiles vs. DHARMA Initiative

Place

The Barracks, other Island locations

Outcome

Hostiles victory

Casualties

Over forty members of the DHARMA Initiative were killed, including Horace and Roger

The Purge was 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. This effectively wiped-out the DHARMA Initiative's presence on the Island. The Purge occurred at 4 P.M. on December 19, 1992 - Ben's birthday.

Accounts of the Purge

There are two slightly different accounts of the Purge, one by Mikhail Bakunin and the other by Ben Linus.

Mikhail's account

The Purge was first mentioned by Mikhail Bakunin to Sayid and Kate at the Flame. He said that the DHARMA Initiative staff on the Island initiated a war against the "Hostiles". He referred to this war as a "purge" that resulted in killing all the DHARMA Initiative on the Island, with the apparent exception of himself. ("Enter 77")

Mikhail surrenders

It is likely that some, if not all, of his account is inaccurate. He was deceitful from the moment he met Sayid and Kate, as he introduced himself by saying, "My name is Mikhail Bakunin and I am the last remaining member of the DHARMA Initiative." Later, when Mikhail surrenders while being held at gunpoint, he confessed to the previous lie. ("Enter 77")

The mass grave ("The Man Behind the Curtain")

Ben's account

The end of Ben's flashback in the episode "The Man Behind the Curtain" showed the immediate aftermath of the Purge, including Ben's murder of his father, Roger Linus.

In the same episode, Ben described the Purge to Locke as he showed him the DHARMA Initiative's mass grave following the first visit to Jacob's cabin. ("The Man Behind the Curtain")

Later, while trying to coerce Jack into not contacting the freighter via sat phone, Ben mentioned the apparent death toll as a result of the Purge.

The Tempest

Juliet approaches the Tempest

Warning on the Tempest's computer

It was revealed in Season 4 that a station called The Tempest, which was a chemical weapons development facility, was what the Hostiles used to gas the DHARMA Initiative. ("The Other Woman")

Ben's account of the Purge was supported by Charlotte Lewis's statement that she had to neutralize the gas in the Tempest in order to prevent Ben from killing everyone on the Island, noting that, "He's used it before". ("The Other Woman")

Incursion

C-4 in the basement of the Flame

What happens when you "Enter 77".

The DHARMA Initiative was apparently prepared for an attack by the Hostiles on the Flame, which they referred to as an "incursion on the station." The Flame was rigged with explosives and in the event of an incursion, the operators of the station were instructed to enter the number 77 into the station computer, which would trigger the detonation. ("Enter 77")

The DHARMA Initiative was also well armed, as indicated by the existence of armories at both the Swan and the Hydra stations. There were also a number of firearms seen at the Barracks during Ben's flashback. ("The Man Behind the Curtain")

Trivia

General

Horace in Locke's dream

Ben's gas grenade

• The exact year that Purge occurred was not mentioned during Ben's flashback in "The Man Behind the Curtain"; however, Horace Goodspeed told Locke in a dream that he had been dead for twelve years. Assuming that this is correct, it places the Purge in 1992. ("Cabin Fever")
• In an EW.com article published on March 6th, 2007, when asked for a 10-word teaser about "Enter 77", Damon Lindelof replied that only a one-word tease was required: "Purge."
• The term "purge" in politics means to "remove people considered by the group in power to be 'undesirable' from a government, political party, a profession, or from community or society as a whole, often by violent means." The term is often associated with the totalitarian Stalinist and Maoist regimes.

Production notes

• Lost: The Complete Third Season (DVD) commentary revealed that the mechanism for the Purge at the Barracks was different from the mechanism Ben used in the van. The gas canister was added in post-production to give Ben a more active-role in his father's death. The original plan was for something to happen more-or-less Island-wide to cause the Purge.
  • This mass-purging, rather than a series of individual acts, was later confirmed by Charlotte's statements while neutralizing the Tempest. ("The Other Woman").

Unanswered questions

For fan theories about these unanswered questions, see: The Purge/Theories

• Who ultimately gave the order for the Purge?
• As a result of the Purge, was there any retaliation against the Hostiles?
• Aside from Ben, who else defected from the DHARMA Initiative and join the Hostiles?
• Did the Purge kill anyone or anything else on the Island aside from the DHARMA Initiative?
• How does the Kahana crew know about the Purge?
• Why does the periodic resupply drop continue after the Purge?
• Where was Rousseau during the Purge, and why didn't she die?

See also

• Conflict