Though most have bought into Manifest season 3’s Lifeboat theory, there’s a chance that everything about this idea is completely wrong. As a result of the shocking deaths of Pete, Kory, and Jace, “saving the Lifeboat” became a major theme throughout the season’s remaining episodes. This idea was the driving force behind several of season 3’s stories, particularly those involving Ben and Michaela.
After Manifest season 2, stopping the Death Date looked like a reachable goal, but what happened to Kory and Pate changed everything they thought they knew about the Callings. Despite doing everything they were supposed to do, the two characters died anyway, simply because Jace failed to follow the Callings. The reveal that the three characters were judged collectively made the Flight 828 passengers realize that the same thing must apply to them as well. For this reason, they’ve been hard at work to ensure that every passenger stays on the right course and doesn’t endanger what they now call “the Lifeboat”. The concern is that if one of them makes a major misstep, that character will single-handedly sink the Lifeboat and cause all the passengers to die.
Kory and Pete sharing the same fate as Jace gave the characters good reasons to be fearful about their futures, but it could be that their assessment of what happened isn’t at all accurate. What happened to the three meth addicts mirrored an ancient Egyptian story about three people who all died for the actions of one. Jace, Kory, and Pete may have been modern-day versions of the three Egyptians because their situations were so similar, but that doesn’t mean the same scenario is currently playing out for the Flight 828 passengers, whose circumstances are a bit different. The Callings clearly have an old and rich history that expands across multiple civilizations and cultures, which is why they may not have tested everyone in the same way.
There’s still so much that Ben, Michaela, and Saanvi don’t know about the Callings and the Death Date. If they continue to research the Callings, they may learn there isn’t just one set of rules that applies to every group. If so, history may not be a reliable indicator of what their future holds – unless, of course, they identify a situation that more closely resembles their own. Finding out what really happened to Al-Zuras and his crew, for example, may help get them some answers since a ship disappearing and returning ten years later sounds more like what happened to Flight 828 than three meth addicts drowning and immediately coming back to life.
Since Manifest still has plenty of story left to tell, there’s more than enough time for the show to deliver a few massive twists and turns as their journey continues. Among the big discoveries they could make when Manifest returns is that Ben and the others jumped to conclusions about the Lifeboat. Because if Ben really is right, that would mean all the characters who are risks to the Lifeboat (like Angelina) may have to die in order for it to stay afloat.