Blast door map

Interpretation of the map from Entertainment Weekly

The hidden map on the blast door as seen in the episode Lockdown

Inside the Swan are a series of blast doors which can seal parts of the bunker in a "lockdown" mode, the cause and purpose of which is currently unknown. During the lockdown, a series of black lights reveals a hidden, hand-drawn map on the surface of one of the blast doors.

Chronology of the Lockdown

• Possibly unrelated: The countdown timer reaches zero, displaying hieroglyphics and initiating a mysterious mechanical process until apparently deactivated by pushing the button.
• A garbled message by a female speaker, ending in a countdown to zero, is broadcast through the station's loudspeaker system.
• The lights flicker.
• The blast doors descend, sealing each compartment of the bunker.
• When the countdown timer again reaches zero without completing the protocol, the lights go out entirely and the mechanical "revving up" sound can be heard.
• A different set of "black lights," running vertically along the corners of the bunker, illuminates what appears to be a color-coded map of the island on one of the blast doors.
• Unconfirmed: The man known as Henry Gale claims to have entered the numbers into the computer.
• The counter resets to 108. The power returns and the blast doors retract into the ceiling.
• At some point shortly before, during, or shortly after the lockdown, a large palette of DHARMA-branded provisions lands by parachute near the entrance to the bunker. A connection to the events of lockdown seems likely, but has not been confirmed.

The Hidden Map

File:BlastDoorMap enhanced.jpg

enhanced version of blast door map

File:Lost uv map.png

Another interpretation of the map

• Seems to be a crude map of the Island. The perimeter is octagonal and reminiscent of the DHARMA Initiative's logo.

Locations

• Shows the location of six stations (with a seventh scratched out), all "pointing" to the center of the island, represented on the map by a large question mark. Four of the bunkers have both graphics and text identifiers, apparently their respective names and logos; the two remaining have no titles, and their icons are difficult to decipher. Clockwise from bottom:
  • "THE SWAN" / bird icon - notice what appears to be a detatched section of the bunker on the left
  • unclear: "THE FLAME" / fire icon (notice the text "Alleged location of #4 The Flame" on the left side of the map) or "NEPTUNE" / seashell icon
  • "THE STAFF" (?) / caduceus icon
  • scratched out - notice the note to the left, something about the Incident
  • "THE ARROW" (?) / arrow icon
  • unknown
  • unknown

Notations

• Several smaller areas are marked with the letters "CV," distinguished ordinally by Roman numberals (CV I, CV II, etc.).
• Copious notes written in several scripts, suggesting multiple contributors.
• Legible notes:
  • "I AM HERE" (pointing to the Swan)
  • "RECREATION AREA FOR D.I.M.G. TEAMS"
  • "P.R.D.: every 6-8 months"
  • "FATALITIES: 5"
  • "COMPLETE SHUTDOWN IN EFFECT"
  • "CV I HIGHLY UNLIKELY"
  • "POSSIBLE CV II - INACTIVE SINCE ACCIDENT"
  • "ALLEGED LOCATION OF ABORTED #7"
  • "ACTIVITY UNSUITABLE FOR D.I.M.G."
  • "... ACCELERATED ... AND EXTREME CLIMATE CHANGE"
  • "ALLEGED LOCATION OF #4 THE FLAME" [Note: Some read flame as plane.]
  • The word INCIDENT is found twice on the map, both times outside the octagon. So is the word ACTIVTY
  • "... MDG/AH INCIDENT"

Numbers, dates or math

• • "(4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42)"
  • "108 00, 8, 15"
  • "01" (just below previous numbers, may be part of them)
  • The square root signs of 16 (which is 4), 64 (8) and 225 (15)
  • "The two DiffEQ equations are relating to gravitational pull and magnetic field strength"
    • Both equations look like vector equations...?
    • The magnetic field equation looks like a derivative of Biot-Savart, a formula describing what the field strength is on any given point for a coil or set of coils.
    • 4pi and the 1/r^2 are used to describe the surface area of a sphere not a coil.

Latin phrases (all in the same cursive handwriting)

Aegrescit medendo

• English translation(s): "The disease worsens with the treatment" or "The remedy is worse than the disease."
• Location on map: Upper left corner, directly to the left of the "Staff" station.
• Origin/meaning: Quote from Virgil's Aeneid.

Cogito ergo doleo

• English translation(s): Latin for "I think, therefore I suffer." Also translated as "therefore I grieve" or "therefore I am depressed."
• Location: Appears just under the Flame station and square root symbols on the map.

Credo nos in fluctu eodem esse

• English translation(s): "I think we're on the same wavelength"

Hic sunt dracones

• English translation(s): "Here be dragons"
• Origin/meaning: Used on old maps to indicate places uncharged and likely dangerous

Liberate te ex inferis

• English translation(s): Save yourself from hell

Malum consilium quod mutari non potest

• English translation(s): "It's a bad plan that can't be changed."
• Location on map: Below the "Staff" station
• Origin/meaning: Quote from Pubililius Syrus

Malum non fidit atra

• English translation(s): "Evil has split the dark/black/gloomy things."

Nil actum reputa si quid superest agendum

• English translation(s): "Don't consider that anything has been done if anything is left to be done"
• Origin/meaning: A quote from Lucan

Sursum corda

• English translation(s): "Lift up your hearts."
• Location on map: This phrase appears three times just below the hatch that is scratched out, above the medical (Staff) station.
• Origin/meaning: Used by the the Roman Catholic Church.

Ut sit magna, tamen certe lenta ira deorum est

• English translation(s): "Although it is great, the anger of the gods is certainly slow."
• Location on map: Appears at the bottom base of the octagon
• Origin/meaning: a quote from Juvenal.

Links to interpretations, pictures etc.

• Fan-Anotated Map
• Fan-Anotated Map (2)
• Fan-Anotated Map (3)

Theories and commentary

• There were originally seven stations, one of which (scratched out on the map) was destroyed (or per the map, "aborted") in "the incident," explaining why the orientation film only mentions six hatches.
• The map was apparently drawn by bunker's previous inhabitants (like Desmond, Kelvin, and, judging from the mural, perhaps Thomas), begging the question: were they able to lower the blast doors themselves, or did they create the map only during the automated lockdown mode?
• "CV" stands for:
  • "105" in Roman numerals, meaning "CV I" is actually "106," "CV II" is "107," etc., but what is the significance? CVIV is not a properly formatted Roman numeral. 109 is CIX not CVIV.
  • "Cooling vent," i.e. the underground portals for the security system
  • "Capacitance Voltage," i.e. some reference to the island's strange eltromagnetic fields
• The station at 10 o'clock on the map appears to be The Staff (a.k.a. Medical Station) with the caduceus logo.
• The station at the top of the map is presumed to the the Arrow despite being largely obscured by the ceiling. It may be another station entirely, in which case the Arrow might be one of the smaller "CV" locations.
• The message preceding the lockdown is hard to understand due to static, with one part possibly saying "begin protocol" and ends with a countdown to zero. Perhaps it was being broadcast by a passing aerial vehicle (silent enough not to be heard by the beach residents) as it delivered the fresh supplies.
• The Neptune Station (if that's what it says) could be an underwater station. This could be where the power line that Sayid found in the first season leads to as well as where the shark with the dharma logo came from.
• The 'Neptune' Station definitely says 'The Flame' instead, and is referred to as Station 4. It is between the Swan and Medical stations, implying it is nearby.
• DIMG stands for "Dharma Institute Medical Group"
• PRD stands for "Parachute Rations Drop"
• The blast door was not down all of the way since Locke's legs were caught underneath. There may be crucial information at the top of the map that he (and we) didn't see.
• 108 00 08 15 could be an IP address.
• The Blast Doors may come down because Dharma sent new food to the island.
• The shape of the map seems to echo the shape of the Buddhist Dharma wheel.
• MDG/AH may stand for M. DeGroot/Alvar Hanso.
• The map indicates Cerberus activity. Cerberus was the three-headed dog who guarded Hades, the underworld of the ancient Greeks. He could be considered a...security system.