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"Room 23" redirects here. For the mobisode, see: Room 23 (mobisode).

Room 23

[[{{{Video}}}|Orientation Video]]

First seen

"Not in Portland"

Last seen

"Not in Portland"

Constructed by

DHARMA Initiative

Controlled by

The Others

Connection

{{{Connection}}}

Number

{{{Number}}}

Purpose

{{{Purpose}}}

Status

{{{Status}}}

Discovered by

{{{Discover}}}

DHARMA Initiative Stations
The Arrow • The Staff • The Swan
The Flame • The Pearl • The Orchid
The Hydra • The Tempest
The Looking Glass

Room 23 is a locked room in a facility within in the Hydra compound where Karl and Walt were held by the Others, and Karl was subjected to a brainwashing video. The facility bears the Hydra logo, although it appears to be separated from the rest of the Hydra station. Room 23 is located at the end of a hall. The door next to it leads outside. Behind it is a stair because the terrain is lower at the backside of the building than at the frontside.

Captives

Walt

Behind Room 23

Later Ben responded to a beeping alarm at Room 23. Juliet is already there and a number of the Others are running away. A person, presumably Walt, is inside and has done something that has frightened them all. Juliet refuses to go into the room and says that neither Bea Klugh, Tom nor anyone else is willing to go into the room. Juliet says that Michael is out looking for Walt and that they could bring him back. Ben says no. Juliet then tells Ben the situation is his responsibility in that he wanted Walt brought there. Ben corrects her saying that Jacob wanted Walt brought there. Juliet tries to convince Ben that Walt is dangerous and Ben responds that Walt is only a child. Juliet then takes him outside the building where she shows him a pile of dead birds on the ground under a boarded up window. Ben then turns to Juliet with a troubled look on his face. ("Room 23")

Walt tells Michael that The Others made him "take tests", after which Beatrice Klugh becomes agitated and threatens to put Walt in "the Room" again. Walt instantly freezes up at the mention of this. ("Three Minutes")

Karl

Inside room 23, Karl was subjected to brainwashing by being forced to watch a video, strapped to a chair, while extremely loud drum-and-bass music was played. He was found with an IV in his arm, and wearing LED goggles. The video contained various quick cuts of images and text, as well as short glimpses of Gerald DeGroot and Alvar Hanso. At the time the facility that housed room 23 was guarded by Aldo. ("Not in Portland").

Video description

10 high by 10 wide octagonal matrix of alternating image squares, with 3 squares missing from each corner

"Plant a good seed and you will joyfully gather fruit" superimposed on

• a yellow flower
• a pink flower
• an orange flower

magenta and blue plaid morphing patterns

"EVERYTHING CHANGES" superimposed on:

• eight various antique coins
• a 1921 silver dollar
• a wax cylinder on top of a scattered pile of 4 CDs
• a wood-burning stoveG
• a thick pipe with a wheel valve
• a drafting compass
• three electronic piano keyboards
• a telegraph
• a close up of a computer keyboard

10x10 octagonal image matrix with the two central horizontal and vertical rows being two cells combined and the central four cells being combined. The images change in symmetrical patterns and include:

• a bright white light shining into a dark cave
• a Sailboat on water in silhouette in front of a setting sun
• fireworks exploding in sequence
• an obstetric ultrasound

a sequence of close ups of doll's faces:

• left side rotated 90° clockwise
• right side rotated 90° clockwise (three images)
• center of face rotated 75° clockwise

a statue of Buddha

close-up of a high contrast painting: a face focusing on the eyes and nose

magenta and blue plaid morphing patterns

a video clip of the Earth's moon as it changes from half-full to full

"We are the causes of our own suffering" superimposed on

• a sequence of about 6 various stills of black-and-white insects
• a sequence of about 5 various stills of orange fish

an energy-saver lightbulb curves to resemble a yin-yang symbol

a 3/4 full moon

a bird's nest

a necklace ornament resembling an eye (from Turkish mythology; see Nazar)

a speedometer from a 1992 or 1993 Honda Accord with the needle at zero.

close-up of gears, probably from a watch

a pasta dish; possibly linguine with spinach

"God loves you as He loved Jacob" superimposed on yellow carpeted stairs

magenta and blue plaid morphing patterns

a changing white squiggle (possibly a lightbulb filament) pattern superimposed on:

• the inside of a factory or similar facility with many pipes (sequence of three different stills)
• close-up of stone wall
• close-up of African wooden mask
• Alvar Hanso in window

"THINK ABOUT" and then "YOUR LIFE" in bold white letters superimposed on a black background morphing into a octagonal matrix of symmetrical image squares that include:

• a bee
• a mask or face statue art
• a black object with a round bottom and three prongs at the top

partially obscured text: "----ER" and "---Y" and "---THE" superimposed on:

• Gerald DeGroot
• another phrase appears to be "ANOTHER WAY".

Image notes

Image	Notes
	Alex discovers the door to Room 23 as Sawyer and Kate follow
	Sawyer enters the room and sees a quote from "Dhammapada"
	the Moon as seen in the video
	"We are the causes of our own suffering"
	magenta and blue plaid morphing patterns.
	a disturbing image of a doll's face, focusing on the eye
	"Everything changes".
	10x10 Octagonal image matrix.
	"God loves you as He loved Jacob".
	the inside of a factory or similar facility with many pipes (Possibly film equipment rotated 90 degrees)
	close-up of stone wall.
	Karl is forced to watch the brainwashing film.
	Gerald DeGroot's image projected on Karl's body. Click the image to the left to see it larger. It shows a faint outline of the likeness of Gerald DeGroot.

Connection to The Lost Experience

• A very similar DHARMA test film, the psychology test video, was seen in The Lost Experience. It included 115 seemingly random (and at times disturbing) images, flashed in rapid succession, with no text and no sound.

Reversed Audio

• The voice of a woman who sounds like Bea Klugh repeating "Only fools are enslaved by time and space" can be heard multiple times in the reversed version of the brainwashing video. This hidden clue echoes similar words found in a so-called 'Dharma talk' entitled the Buddhist Perspective on Time and Space: [1] "The wise know how to use time and space perfectly; they lead free and harmonious lives. Fools are enslaved by time and space; they are busy running around all day. Wise or foolish, the difference is obvious."
• The voices in the beginning of the reversed audio may sound similar to foreign language, but is simply the reversed conversation of Alex and Sawyer at the very end. The following sound that may be described as similar to panting is simply Kate repeatedly saying Sawyer's name to get his attention immediately before they carry Karl out of the room.
• The atrocious noises seem to sound like fireworks in the reversed audio. There is a harsh screeching sound, and as it fades out, it explodes numerous times.

Full Length Video

The Official Full Length video was released with the DVD as an Easter Egg, and it's presented in widescreen.

Trivia

General

• The music heard inside Room 23 was composed by musical score composer, Michael Giacchino. [2]
• In a Season 3 Q&A, Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse said that there were a couple of Easter eggs embedded in "Not in Portland" which shed some light on the Adam and Eve skeletons discovered by Jack in "House of the Rising Sun". It is highly likely that the Room 23 video contained one of these Easter eggs.
• Lost: The Complete Third Season (DVD) Commentary: "Damon Lindelof: The Dharma Initiative was doing all these experiments on animals, so is that room that Karl was in for humans, or what kind of animals were they showing those films to? Like, what was really going on there?"

Cultural References

Movies and TV

• A Clockwork Orange - The video from Room 23 is an reference to the Ludovico technique, a fictitious type of aversion conditioning used in A Clockwork Orange. With this technique, the subject is medicated with a pro-nauseate drug and forced to watch a movie with disturbing images and loud music, thereby associating violent ideas with the sensation of being ill. Additionally, Alex's room number in the prison where he is held before being removed for the Ludovico Technique is 23.
• The Prisoner - It is also a reference to the episode "A Change of Mind" in the cult 1960's TV series, The Prisoner, which featured the 'aversion room', with similar brain washing room features.[3]
  • The film in room 23 even seems to use the typeface "Albertus", which is similar to the iconic font used on The Prisoner.
• Star Wars - Besides 23 being a reference to one of the Numbers, It is possibly also an allusion to cell block AA23, where Princess Leia was held in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. This reference furthers the analogy of Sawyer's explicit reference to "the ol' Wookiee prisoner trick", which is used in Star Wars to rescue Leia.
• The Dark Crystal - The image of Karl being strapped to a chair while a red light shines on him is similar to the scene in The Dark Crystal where the gelfling Kira is being exposed to light from the fractured crystal in order to drain her life essence.
• The Parallax View - The video is reminiscent of the disorienting montage that the Parallax Corporation administers as a psychological test, particularly the abrupt intercutting of words and images.[4]
• The Blood of a Poet - In this surrealist film directed by Jean Cocteau, the main character is walking through a hallway of hotel rooms and peeks through the keyhole into the rooms. In room 23, he sees a statue slowly come to life as well as a hypnotic spiral.
• V for vendetta - In this amazing graphic novel the character "V" was held captive in a concentration camp where misteryous experiments were performed. He was in room 5, V in roman numbers, and 23 = 2+3 = 5. "V" shows some kind of superhuman habilities. Can the same be said of Walt, another prisoner and experiments subject?

Religion and Ideologies

Main article: Religion and ideologies

• The Bible - The "God loves you as He loved Jacob" slide is a reference to Malachi 1:2-3 and Romans 9:13. Paul quotes Malachi in Romans to show that God chose to bless Jacob and his descendants and to curse Esau and his descendants. The blessings/cursings were not based on the two brothers' righteousness or sins, but rather on God's prerogative.
  • Esau gave up his birthright to Jacob.
• Buddhism - "Plant a good seed and you will joyfully gather fruit" is a quote from the Buddhist text Dhammapada: "The kind of seed sown / will produce that kind of fruit. / Those who do good will reap good results. /Those who do evil will reap evil results. / If you carefully plant a good seed, / You will joyfully gather good fruit."

• "We are the causes of our own suffering" and "THINK ABOUT YOUR LIFE" are similar to Buddhist references to the Four Noble Truths.
• The caption "Everything Changes" is similar to a Buddhist sutra that states, "Everything changes, everything appears and disappears; but there is perfect tranquility when one transcends both birth and extinction."

Unanswered questions

For fan theories about these unanswered questions, see: Room 23/Theories

• What is the purpose of the treatment?
• What is the significance of the images and messages?
• Why is God's love for Jacob referred to in the past tense?
• How long was Karl sitting in there?
• Was Walt subjected to the video?
• Was this technique used on anybody else?
• Does the phrase "God loves you as he loved Jacob", suggest that Jacob is no longer loved by God?