Quote Originally Posted by ambergris View Post
I'd like to know why the Observers felt the need to control the past.
I thought what they were originally trying to intimate by having the observers be from the future was that it was a self contained future that stemmed completely from Walter inventing and then using the technology to cross universes. Walter's research was then carried on by blue Olivia's daughter which leads to the time travel technology that is used by the observers. In effect it then becomes a red herring when we see September witnessing the moment Walternate fails to find the cure for Peter because he is actually there to distract Walternate which then enables the observers timeline.

That would have made sense because it carries on the main themes of a broken timeline self perpetuating itself.