Full text of The Dharma/Others Truce

Included in the Dharma Initiative Orientation Kit special edition Season 5 DVD/Blu-ray is a photo copy of the Truce between the Dharma Initiative and the Others. This fabled document, dated August 15, 1973, reveals much about the conflict between the two civilizations on the island, so let’s take a look at it.

Here’s a full transcript of the entire Truce. The document appears to have been typed up by Horace Goodspeed, because it includes handwritten notes and addendums from Richard Alpert. We’re meant to assume that this is the draft of the Truce that Horace has submitted to Richard for approval, but Richard has sent it back with his notes. (Richard’s notes below are shown in bold. All strike-throughs appear to have been done by Richard.)

LETTER OF TRUCE

(Alpert notes 8/15/73)

RESOLUTION OF 15 AUGUST 1973
The DHARMA Iniative and the indigenous island inhabitants,

Desiring to bring about cessation of hostilities on the island without prejudice to the rights, claims and position of the the indigenous island inhabitants or DHARMA Iniative recruits and employees, Goodspeed, is the “legal” language necessary?

1. Call upon all authorities and leaders concerned to order a cessation of all actions of armed force in perpetuity going forward from this date; Fix Period – Finite

2. Call upon all authorities and leaders concerned to refrain from introducing fighting personnel into the DHARMA Iniative or the indigenous inhabitants’ camps during the cease-fire;

3. Call upon all authorities and leaders concerned to refrain from mobilizing or submitting a military army for training during the cease-fire; We’re not the ones with uniforms

4. Call upon all authorities and leaders concerned to refrain from importing or exporting war materials into the DHARMA Iniative or the indigenous inhabitant’s camps during the cease-fire; Please define “war materials”

5. Urge all authorities and leaders concerned to take every possible precaution for the protection of the island, including all shrines and sanctuaries used for whatever purposes by those who have an established right to visit them; I’ve included more specific on this in our counters

6. Call upon all authorities and leaders concerned to respect the established boundaries of the DHARMA Initiative and the indigenous inhabitants’ camps and a zone of five kilometers surrounding each camp, and to not infiltrate or attack these areas during the cease-fire;

7. Urge all authorities and leaders concerned to respect the established right of the citizens of each camp to live freely within their community and to not fear attack during the cease-fire; Redundant – we get it.

8. Instruct the DHARMA Iniative and the indigenous inhabitants to create security teams, in concert with a mediator, to supervise the observance of above provisions, and provide them with a sufficient number of security observers;

9. Instruct the mediators to make contact with all parties as soon as the cease-fire is in force with a view to carrying out his functions; I will be our mediator, you will be Dharma’s

10. Instruct the mediators to make periodic reports to each party as mutually decided upon during the cease-fire; Is this necessary? Our willingness to allow your presence should not be mistaken as continued opportunities for diplomacy

11. Invite the mediators of the DHARMA Iniative and the indigenous inhabitants to communicate their acceptance of the resolution not later than sundown on 16 August 1973;

12. Decide that if the present resolution is rejected by either party or by both, or if, having been accepted, it is subsequently repudiated or violated, the situation on the island will be reconsidered wirh a view to military action and swift reprisal;

13. Call upon all authorities and leaders concerned to take all possible steps to assist in the implementation of this resolution.

Adopted this day. 16 August 1973. Agreed and accepted to. See my counters/addendums on back. -RA

Then, on the back of the Truce document, are a number of additional points handwritten by Richard Alpert:

- If the DHARMA Iniative enters or violates any preexisting ruins on the island, the truce is violated.

- If the DHARMA Iniative digs or drills any more than ten meters into the ground, even in their designated territory, the truce is violated.

- The DHARMA Iniative pledges its term of residency will last no longer than fifteen years. At the end of this term all facilities and personnel are to leave the island.

- The D.I. can only maximum population of D.I. members cannot exceed 216 at any one time on the island.

From this, we can glean several things.

1. Sometime prior to August 15, 1973, the Dharma Initiative came to the island and tried to take up residency on it. But their presence was unwanted by the Others, and the hostilities between the two camps led to open war between the Others and the Dharma Initiative. From the wording used here to ensure that a cease-fire would be maintained, it sounds like it was a particularly bloody war. I can’t help wondering how many lives were lost on each side. Was it this high casualty count that caused both sides to finally come to a rather grudging Truce?
2. Richard Alpert’s language makes it clear that he and the Others deeply resented Dharma’s presence on the island. Not surprising, but interesting. Since it’s believed by the Others that Jacob brings those to the island that he chooses personally, does this mean that no one among Dharma was on one of Jacob’s infamous “lists”? None of them were supposed to be there? (If true, this goes against Ben’s later selection as the Others’ leader, as well as Ethan Rom’s induction into the Others. Then again, neither of them were part of the original Dharma group that came to the island; Ben came later with his father, and Ethan was born on the island to his Dharma parents.)
3. The 5-kilometer boundary around each party’s territory is kind of surprising to me just because of what it reveals about the enormous size of the island. I mean, we knew the island was big, but big enough that 10 kilometers or more could separate each camp? The Barracks are located near a beach on one side of the island (as evidenced by the nearby dock) but the Others have always appeared to make their home deep within the jungle, so they’re not on the far side of the island. All of this adds up to mean that the island is ginormous. I wonder if it’s as big as the big island in Hawaii? Even bigger?
4. Why are the Others so concerned about the sanctity of the island’s ruins? Logic says that the Others want those ruins to be respected, and that Dharma trespassing in them would defile them. But my gut tells me it goes deeper than this. Perhaps the Others don’t want Dharma to learn the more mystical secrets the island holds?
5. The fact that Dharma wasn’t supposed to drill into the ground explains why the Swan station’s construction was to be kept such a big secret. But you have to wonder why the Others didn’t want them to drill. Was it because they didn’t want Dharma to find out about the Tunnels beneath the island? Was it because they feared what might happen if Dharma drilled into one of the island’s pockets of energy?
6. Richard wanted Dharma to agree to a term of no more than 15 years on the island. This is probably the biggest revelation the document provides, as it’s never once been even hinted at on the show. This time limit means that the DI should have vacated the island by 1988. Yet the Purge is believed to have happened around 1992. Did Dharma refuse to leave the island at the end of the 15 years, violating the truce? Is that what incited the Others to massacre them?
7. The 216 maximum residency imposed by Richard upon Dharma, as you’ve probably already figured out, is 108 x 2. 108, of course, is the sum of the cursed Numbers added together.