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Without question there is a presence of time-loop "chicken or the egg" going on. It seems exhausting and pointless to try to speculate where it will go, but I agree with many of that links assumptions.
Personally, I was a little upset when I began to get the impression that free will was in no way present. That's just because I've come to feel with the characters and it's a tough pill to swallow.
But, it's very possible that there isn't. At the same time, I think some instances have shown there is some semblance of free will.
I 100% agree that it all comes down to, (and likely ultimately always will) fate vs destiny. Are they destined to do certain things, and at will to accomplish it however they want? That would seem to be in accordance with course correction.
For instance, when Sayid shot Ben. Did that always happen? At this point I'd say yes, but at first I felt as though that was an instance of their new path affecting the past. Either way, things turned out the way they "did". Perhaps something else happened to Ben during that time frame that led him to The Others, where he was healed and adopted.
After all, Richard told him to "be patient" when they first met. Was he waiting for the specific event of Sayid shooting him to happen? Or was he waiting for something else to happen and it just happened to be Sayid?
The other possibility is that every action is completely pre-destined. This is a concept I would rather not be the case, as the free will w/ course correction seems more fair to the characters. It just seems disheartening. I don't think it's the case though.
Those who travelled back in time to join Dharma in 1977 were presumably "always part of that history"
If they were though, does this mean they will die there in front of Richard? Richard confirms that in the original timeline he did indeed remember them as having been on the island in 1977. Still, he says they died.
If they don't die, which I'm really waiting to see (and I doubt they will), it means they did something different in the timeline us viewers are following. This means there is free will, and even though certain things are destined to happen, they can take the ball and run with it from a certain point.
In essence, there are certain notes that must be hit, like them getting to 1977 and posing for that photograph. But perhaps the rest is up to them. They're "the variables"
If they survive, and get back to 2006 successfully, they're blazing "new ground"
At least that's how it seems to me.
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